HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 6LAHECC_20201006_FINAL_Minutes_Secretary.docx 1
Emergency Communications Committee Approved Minutes
Tuesday, October 6, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The meeting was held via ZOOM Online Video Conference
Members Call Sign Attendance
Dru Anderson, Co-Chair KG6LAD P
Eduardo Arias, Co-Chair KM6LSX P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P
Ben H. L. Hu, Secretary KK6HH P
Edwin R Jones W7WPO P
Terry Kearney KM6LTQ P
Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P
Scott Overstreet N6NXI P
Jay Sutaria KN6JAY P
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Council/Staff
Kavita Tankha, Vice Mayor Council
Liaison P
Associate Members
Dave Stewart KJ6JQT P
Bill Lattin KK6PCA P
Larry Carr KE6AGJ P
Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P
Craig Miller WA6OXK P
Guests:
Marsha Hovey, EM, Town of LAH KG6CYV P
Raj Reddy, LAH 2020 Council candidate P
Denise Gluhan, LAHCFD Emergency Ops Mgr.KM6IFY P
Janice Carr, LAHCFD Commissioner KI6PNR P
J Logan, LAHCFD General Manager P
Mauri Okamoto-Kearney, CERT KM6LXC P
Phil Witt, General Manager, PHWD P
1.At 19:05 hours, Dru KG6LAD, Co-Chair, called the online Video meeting to order.
a.Roll Call: Dru called roll. Attendance: 23 including 10 members, 5 associates, the
Council Liaison, and 7 guests.
b.Minutes of September 8, 2020: Motion for approval was made by Scott N6NXI,
seconded by Eduardo KM6LSX. The motion was approved unanimously by roll call.
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2.Guest Presentation: Phil Witt, General Manager, Purissima Hills Water District.
Remote Monitoring Communication System
The PHWD serves much of Los Altos Hills town and unincorporated areas. It is a public
agency, served by an elected 5-member district board of supervisors. Phil presented an
illustrated and comprehensive discussion on the remote monitoring of all the tanks and
valves in the PHWD water tank system, including the telemetry of water level, water
pressure as well as the remote control of pumps and valves. Dave KJ6JQT and Scott
N6NXI inquired about the power backup for the communication system and tank/valve
management. Phil responded that the current power system is backed up with batteries,
then with diesel generators, the fuel of which is delivered daily.
The communication link primarily uses radios with cellular service as a backup. He
indicated that the system is constantly being upgraded. For instance, Tesla batteries are
being considered to replace the current system. Dave then asked how CERT could be
helpful to supplement the telemetry data monitoring of water tank systems. Phil replied that
while water tanks are well-monitored, the leakage of pipe networks is less so, especially in
those areas with less human traffic. Because the 70-mile pipe network spreads vastly within
the service area, it is difficult to detect an abnormality beyond the tank and valve system.
Thus, eyes on the downside or span area of the tanks’ service would be helpful; the tanks
function, flow, and pressure are all on remote monitoring. However, a pipe leak and its
impact would need “eyes” to find. Thus, when they detect a water leakage, they send out
crews to locate. Denise KM6IFY pointed out a video is being prepared to shed light on
these infrastructure operations and monitoring, and the video would be available soon. The
group thanked Phil for his presentation and helpful information.
3.Guest Presentation: Marsha Hovey KG6CYV, town emergency manager consultant.
Results of the Town’s first Wildland Evacuation Neighborhood Drill.
Marsha summarized the town’s first wildland evacuation drill that occurred September 16
for the Zone 2, Saddle Mountain neighborhood. The streets evacuated included Saddle
Mountain Dr., Saddle Court, and Stirrup Way. all of which exit by one access street to
Arastradero Road. She showed slides of the activities during the drill. The team involved
included one CERT volunteer – who was LAHCFD commissioner Janice Carr, who checked
in the evacuees at the Purissima Park destination; Capt. Denise Gluhan KM6IFY of
LAHCFD; an LAHCFD engine company, two SCC Sheriff department units, as well as
neighborhood leads involved. Of the 16 families participating in the drill, 14 were in a hot-
wash (the immediate "after-action" discussions and evaluations) Zoom meeting. The first
lesson learned is that not everyone participating in the drill had received the “Nixle”
message sent out by the Town. Marsha pointed out it is essential for everyone to go to the
emergency alert section of the Town’s website to sign up for a “Nixle” account to ensure
reception of all future alerts. She said that just signing up via a text message does not give
one any access to Nixle to verify that your phone number is actually in the system. In
addition, NextDoor is a good info sharing tool, but with so many people chatting about the
emergency, official notices can quickly get buried. The County Fire Department is working
with a new software called “Zone Haven,” which would allow geographic locations of the
future evacuations to be easily identified on the Nixle message. This will help people
understand the location without a map. She cautioned, however, that these Zones might be
larger than, and different from, those defined by LAHCFD. There was additional discussion
about alternate routes out of the neighborhood when there is only one road. Denise pointed
out it was essential to stay on the primary road and avoid fire access routes used by
emergency vehicles. This is because the emergency roadway could easily get blocked or
people get stuck, thus interfering with emergency vehicle access. Only in rare cases could
such fire access roads be used, such as when the exit through an emergency route could
be easily seen and a suitable vehicle, such as a 4-wheel drive is used. She further pointed
out that it is important to evacuate as soon as one feels unsafe and to do so as early as
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possible to avoid traffic jams, and to allow extra time for mobility-challenged or folks with
large animals, or other complications of exit.
4.Update: Council Liaison Kavita Tankha:
a.She reported on the County Supervisor meeting regarding the status outcome for the
LAHCFD (Los Altos Hills County Fire District). There was a proposal for a total
consolidation to a single fire district for the County of Santa Clara. More than 1200
written communications, and 136 persons at the meeting responded to the public
hearing on the matter. The public response was “Don’t disband the LAHCFD.” A petition
signed by residents of the town and unincorporated area served by the district had been
submitted to the BOS. There were some 1200 signatures as well as individual letters to
the supervisors opposing the abolishment of the locally managed fire district (LAHCFD).
b.There were 136 individuals who made public comments in a positive, respectful way
during the Oct. 6 Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting in support of LAHCFD. All
comments were held to the allotted one-minute time per speaker. Even so, it took nearly
3 hours for the supervisors to hear the public comments.
c.Supervisor Joe Simitian made a strong argument about the past agreement and local
control in support of the continuation of LAHCFD. He expressed concern that the
consolidation proposal had not been discussed publicly and thoroughly and a plan for a
consolidation was not properly developed. He explained that the LAHCFD had worked
with the county to properly resolve the issues pointed out in the audit of LAHCFD.
d.In the end, after discussion among the public, and then among the supervisors, the
consolidation motion was voted down by a 4:1 margin. The single vote was from
Supervisor Cortese. Going forward, an independent group will work with LAHCFD as
well as the general SCC fire protection operations and a monthly progress report will be
reviewed by the supervisors.
5.Public Comments from the floor:
a.LAHCFD Emergency Service Management: Updates on LAHCFD event/activities:
Capt. Denise Gluhan, in the absence of Victoria Bebee KN6HOU, LAHCFD technical
services, Denise noted the upcoming CERT training/Zoom meeting: 10/7 7:00 pm; the
regular CERT Meeting on 10/14, for CERT Training; on 10/21 the CERT supervisor
meeting, and on 10/28 the CERT Recon meeting.
6.EC Report Update and Activities - Neil K2LL, EC not available.
7.Old Business: Dru KG6LAD told Jay KN6JAY that she would soon get the serial# from the
mobile radio that was lent to Purissima Hills Water District, to complete the inventory list
that Jay has been working on.
8.New Business: No current pending action.
9.ECC Goals Report:
a.Goal #1: Develop an outreach letter to registered LAH area Hams: Dru reported that
Co-chair Eduardo KM6LSX has offered to help.
b.Goal #2: Coordinate training/participation activities with plans of the Town’s Emergency
Manager consultant. Dru noted that she would work further with Marsha KG6CYV.
10.Group health and welfare go-around share: All seemed to be well, although the go-around
was skipped due to the lateness of the hour. Everyone wished all well.
11.Adjourn: At 20:42, Bob KC6ZWG moved to adjourn and Scott N6NXI seconded. The
motion was carried with voice vote by all 9 members without objection. Andy WB6CLS did
not vote because he needed to leave the meeting early.
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12.Reminders: See online schedules for activities in the following:
●LAH town events: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/calendar.aspx.
●CERT activities: LAH County Fire District:
http://www.lahcfd.org/community-programs/public-classes
●County ARES/RACES courses & events:
http://www.scc-ares-races.org/aresraces.htm
●EMERGENCY ALERTS: LAH:
http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/101/Emergency
●AlertSCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx
●SPECS Monday Night Net information:
www.Specsnet.org Northern SCC ham activities.
Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, Secretary