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Emergency Communications Committee Minutes
Tuesday, July 7, 7:00 to 8:20 pm Meeting was held via Google Meet 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 E
Scott Overstreet N6NXI P
Jay Sutaria KN6JAY E
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Council/Staff
Kavita Tankha, Council Liaison P
Associate Members
Larry Carr KE6AGJ P
Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P
Dave Stewart KJ6JQT P
Neil Katin, EC K2LL P
Guests:
J Logan, LAHCFD P
Denise Gluhan, LAHCFD KM6IFY P
1. At 19:09 hours, Dru KG6LAD, Co-Chair, called the online meeting to order.
a. Roll Call: Ben KK6HH called roll. Attendance: 15 including 8 members, the Council Liaison, 4 associates, and 2 guests. Kjell KD6BPP joined the meeting 13
minutes after the roll call at 19:22.
b. Minutes of June 2, 2020 approved: Scott N6NXI moved to approve the minutes.
Terry KM6LTQ, seconded, and the minutes were approved by roll call. Each of the 8 members present voted “aye”.
2. Update from the Council Liaison Kavita Tankha: This item was moved to the discussion listed on item 5(b) of the published agenda.
3. Nomination and Annual election of officers of LAH ECC Standing Committee.
a. Eduardo KM6LSX nominated Ben KK6HH to continue as the secretary. Terry seconded the motion; the 8 members present approved the nomination by roll
call.
b. Sam K6MSR nominated Dru KG6LAD as chair but agreed to Terry’s proposed modification to nominate again as co-chairs Dru KG6LAD and Eduardo KM6LSX. In a roll call, the motion was approved. Therefore, Dru KG6LAD and Eduardo KM6LSX were re-elected for another term as ECC Co-chairs.
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4. EC Report Update and Activities - Neil K2LL, EC:
a. Neil reported that he received positive feedback from Town Manager Carl Cahill
and Sarah Robustelli, supervisor of LAH Parks and Recreation, about the coordination/communication work performed on the Town’s July 4 celebration with a Caravan Parade. Neil thanked all the volunteers who participated in the event. All participants were ham operators except one. Neil said that
subsequently, this person expressed interest in getting a Ham License. Dru
expressed her appreciation on behalf of ECC for Neil’s leadership in organizing the volunteers’ activity.
b. Neil stated that the present document regarding the Earthquake Activation process could be a little hard to comprehend. He has modified and improved the document and asked for ECC and CERT feedback. An email will be sent to all ECC’s members for the purpose. Dru asked and Neil agreed to have a tech talk
in the August meeting as to how to access various ECC & CERT online digital resources.
c. Dru reported on two items:
1. Dru showed two pictures depicting an Inspirational sign now mounted on a town signboard on Magdalena, just west of Hwy. 280. This sign was submitted by co-chairs Dru and Eduardo on behalf of the ECC and it was
selected as one of the six winners in the town's Park & Recreation department Inspirational sign competition.
2. Dru KG6LAD, Ed Jones W7WPO, Eduardo KM6LSX, and Palo Alto hills “neighbor” Will Radcliffe AA1FD participated on radio in the July 4th Palo Alto Emergency Services Volunteers (ESVs) Safety Watch, operated by Palo Alto ESV DOC and focused on the Page Mill corridor. The team also monitored
for the Town of LAH the hills from Page Mill south and including Rancho San
Antonio Preserve. The objectives were to Identify risks to public safety, to improve radio proficiency, to practice deployment of volunteer capabilities, and to test communications capabilities of ESV DOC. Each volunteer was assigned to a different vantage point to observe and log the time and location
of potential fire hazardous events. If smoke was seen or fire was suspected,
he/she were asked to notify the Safety Watch Command immediately. Dru, Ed, Eduardo, and Palo Alto hills resident Will Radcliffe AA1FD were able collectively to visually monitor the Rancho San Antonio preserve, the El Monte hills area, and the western ridge from Black Mountain, north to Windy
Hill, Portola Valley. They stayed on the job from 3 p.m. well into the night and
signed off at ~ 10:15 pm. Palo Alto ham operators were stationed at locations on upper Page Mill Road near Skyline, and at the PAFD site at Foothill Park.
5. Public Comments from the floor:
a. Denise reported in her update that she is planning a variety of virtual training
courses, a project to refurbish the ARK and CERT Trailers, and installing the
radio/internet connections between fire house and ARK. She also asked for feedback on how often the present weekly Wednesday CERT meeting should be held. Neil asked whether her online Wednesday meeting could be recorded to be watched later for those who could not attend at the time. She answered that
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she would ask Victoria Bebee, LAHCFD technical services, to do, beginning with the next meeting, and assuming no objections from the participant audience.
b. Dru asked whether Denise could give a more extensive summary of her weekly Wednesday online meeting. Denise said she and Victoria are planning to start a newsletter covering all these topics that will be distributed.
c. On behalf of Dave Stewart KJ6JQT, Denise said that the vest designs are finalized with the back to be embroidered with LAH Emergency Service so they
can serve both CERT and ECC. Plastic vest pockets would be reserved for the identifications relative to the various volunteer organizations. About 100 vests are planned to be ordered and distributed to active members.
d. ECC co-chairs participation in a digital meeting with Council Ad Hoc Committee members Roger Spreen and Courtney Corrigan on ways to reform the associate
memberships of Town’s standing committees: Kavita, Vice Mayor and the ECC liaison to Council liaison, reported that the Town Council, at the recommendation of an Ad Hoc Committee, is evaluating the role of standing committees in general, and considering a reform to that of appointing associate members directly by the Council as well as establishing
term limits. She requested all present for suggestions and opinions, either orally at the meeting, or later in an email to her. Most present, including members, associates and guests expressed that new measures, are possibly appropriate for some standing committees, but not for all. This is especially true for the ECC where long term training/experience/technical expertise are essential during
activation of an emergency. ECC is in urgent need for more members & associates to staff a town emergency event. Direct nomination by the Town Council and Terms limit of the associate members would be detrimental to the committee’s charter of preparedness of the Town. CERT management team, as represented by J Logan, Denise KM6IFY, and CERT volunteer Dave KJ6JQT,
who is also an ECC associate member, all expressed support for the ECC as a valuable partner in emergency preparedness. Kavita expressed her appreciation for all the feedback and said she would take the comments back to the Council for its consideration.
6. Old Business:
a. Inventory update: deferred to the August meeting as Jay was absent.
b. Development Report: ECC Goals for 2020/21
1. Goal #1: Dru stated that she would redefine some key items for outreach to LAH area hams, hopefully at the August meeting. 2. Goal #2: Coordinate the training and participation activities with the Town’s Emergency Manager team guidelines to ensure common
objectives: Dru asked that this be deferred to the next meeting.
7. New Business: No action items.
8. Tech Talk(s)
Denise KM6IFY talked about the evacuation drill plan for the “Saddle Mountain'' Zone 2 Neighborhood, consisting of about 40 homes. Together with Marsha
KG6CYV, and Dru KG6LAD, she had designed a plan. In Phase 1, they had a
meeting with about 15 neighbors joining in. In Phase 2, a meeting slated for late July will be an actual evacuation workshop to deal with hardship and challenges
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that might be encountered in the drill. In final Phase 3, a drill would be implemented that would involve the Sheriff’s department and LAHCFD engine company. A “Hot
wash” debriefing would then follow. Dru suggested that ham operators could be helpful. She asked Denise if she was considering engaging any ham volunteers during the drill. Denise replied that she wants everyone in Zone 2 to leave during the evacuation exit. However, there may be a need for ham operators to coordinate an orderly return of residents back to their homes. Further discussion is planned.
9. Adjourn:
Before the conclusion of the meeting, as usual practice, Dru did a health & welfare check of all attendees in the meeting and all responded doing well. At 20:28 hours, Bob KC6ZWG moved to adjourn; Scott seconded, and the motion was passed with a voice vote by all eight present members.
10. Reminders: Please check online schedules for activities in the following:
a. LAH town events: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/calendar.aspx.
b. CERT activities:http://www.lahcfd.org/community-programs/public-classes
c. County ARES/RACES courses & events: http://www.scc-ares-races.org/aresraces.htm
d. EMERGENCY ALERTS:
1. LAH: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/381/EMERGENCY-ALERTS
2. AlertSCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx
e. SPECS Monday Night Net information: www.specsnet.org. Northern SCC emergency ham radio volunteer activities.
Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, Secretary