HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 4LAHECC_02042020-FINAL-Minutes.docx
Emergency Communications Committee Minutes
Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 7:00 to 9:07 pm
LAH Council Chambers: 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Members Call Sign Attendance
Dru Anderson, Co-Chair KG6LAD P
Eduardo Arias, Co-Chair KM6LSX P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E
Ben H. L. Hu, Secretary KK6HH P
Edwin R Jones W7WPO P
Terry Kearney KM6LTQ A
Andrew Kirk WB6CLS A
Scott Overstreet N6NXI P
Jay Sutaria KN6JAY P
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Council/Staff
Kavita Tankha,Council Liaison P
Associate Members
Larry Carr KE6AGJ P
Robert Johnson KG6UWZ P
Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P
Greg Olsen K6XM P
Neil Katin, EC K2LL P
Guests:
Victoria Bebee, LAHCFD P
Jim Clark, Los Altos EC N6JRC P
Marsha Hovey KG6CYV P
Ronald Haley PG1920046 P
1.At 19:01 hours, Eduardo KM6LSX, Co-Chair called the meeting to order.
(a)Roll Call: At 19:01 hours, Ben KK6HH made the roll call. Attendance: 17 including 7
members, Council Liaison, 5 associates, and 4 guests.
(b)Minutes of January 2020 approved: Scott N6NXI motioned to approve the January
Minutes, Ed W7WPO seconded, and all voted to approve the minutes.
2.Council Liaison Kavita Tankha reported some key items discussed in the last Council
meeting:
(a)The number of burglaries in the 2019 calendar year is considerably lower in the Town,
consistent with other cities in Santa Clara County.
(b)Town would start a new survey to ask folk about the priorities of the Town. This time,
the survey also would include information on the costs of priorities in order to allow for
an optimum cost/benefit choice.
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(c)The Town also is drafting conduct standards for Council members, as well as chairs of
all the advisory committees.
3.Drill and related schedule for 1Q 2020
(a)Neil K2LL reported that an email had been sent out for a Feb 22 drill to focus on the
survey of radio signal reception at various Town’s critical locations. There would be a
pre-drill meeting on Feb 19.
(b)In March/April, a table-top drill would be called to exercise the activation, within the first
hour following a simulated earthquake event.
4.Jim Clark N6JRC, EC of Los Altos, reported the successful conclusion of the Los Altos
History Emergency Volunteers Exhibit. There were ~100 visitors every week and 1309
people showed up for the day when the world’s largest mobile earthquake simulator was at
the exhibit. There were 501 persons who participated in the “Big Shaker”, experiencing a
magnitude 8.0 simulated earthquake.
5.Old Business
(a)Victoria Bebee of LAHCFD reported that appropriate vest style/material has been
chosen by polling ECC and CERT Supervisors. Remaining actions are:
1.Finalize the ID designs, such as the sign for Disaster worker, affiliation, and name
and job descriptions.
2.Ensure properly sizing and quantity to be available for all users.
She will work with Dave KJ6JQT, Neil K2LL, and Marsha KG6CYV to complete.
(b)Neil reported the Kenwood D710 has been purchased, received, and logged in the
inventory. The repair of the broken one will be worked on by Scott N6NXI. The repair
apparently needs parts that may have to be purchased. This step would require a
motion to initiate.
(c)Victoria showed slides illustrating the CERT activities planned for the 1Q of 2020. They
were posted on the LAHCFD website and will be updated as necessary during the year.
In addition, LAHCFD is planning a drill involving a neighborhood evacuation. This would
involve 40-50 families in the district.
6.New Business:
(a)Sam K6MSR presented background for considering an alternate repeater site and
described a potential water tank site, in the La Rena Lane area that could be effective
for the Town to make connections to the high-speed internet, as well as increase
effective repeater coverage.
1.Dru asked Sam to get together with David Gilmour, who is the lead for the
emergency WIFI connection from the Town to ARES/RACES of the County, to come
compare and coordinate a joint proposal. Scott N6NXI also expressed the opinion
that a clear objective needed to be defined, to articulate why high WIFI is needed.
2.All these are scheduled to be discussed further at the ECC March 3 meeting.
(b)Inventory Report, Jay Sutaria KN6JAy : Deferred to March.
7.Tech Talks
(a)Neil K2LL summarized online availability of Form training, and stated that Tim Howard
has made excellent Videos teaching us how to fill FEMA forms. These could be reached
via https://www.scc-ares-races.org/training/ar-courses.html#self-paced.
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8.Dru asked for a future tech talk on the subject.
(a)Neil also unveiled the new Credential/Endorsement to delineate skills/training of the
local Hams.
(b)Victoria showed goals with emphasis on the recruitment of CERT. Dru would like to see
a joint exercise of CERT and ECC, potentially this spring or early summer.
9.Reminders: Please check online schedules for activities in the following:
a.LAH town events: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/calendar.aspx.
b.County ARES/RACES courses & events:
http://www.scc-ares-races.org/aresraces.htm
c.CERT activities:http://www.lahcfd.org/community-programs/public-classes
d.EMERGENCY ALERTS:
i. LAH: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/381/EMERGENCY-ALERTS
ii. AlertSCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx
b.SPECS Monday Night Net information: www.Specsnet.org. Northern SCC
emergency ham radio volunteer activities.
9. Adjourn: At 21:06 hours, Scott N6NXI moved to adjourn; Ed W7WPO seconded, and all
members present concurred.
Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, Secretary