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Home My WebLink AboutAugust 4LAHECC_20200804_FINAL-Minutes_SecretaryKK6HH.docx 1 Emergency Communications Committee Minutes Tuesday, August 4, 7:00 to 8:30 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 P Scott Overstreet N6NXI P Jay Sutaria KN6JAY P Sam Wood K6MSR E Council/Staff Kavita Tankha,Council Liaison P Associate Members Larry Carr KE6AGJ P Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P Robert Johnson KG6UWZ P Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P Neil Katin, EC K2LL P Guests: J Logan, LAHCFD P Victoria Bebee, LAHCFD P 1.At 19:02 hours, Dru KG6LAD, Co-Chair, called the online Video meeting to order. a.Roll Call: Ben KK6HH called roll. Attendance: 17 including 9 members, the Council Liaison, 5 associates, and 2 guests. Kjell KD6BPP joined the meeting at 19:08, and Andy WB6CLS at 19:12, delays caused by a technical video conference issue. b.Minutes of July 7,2020,approved:Scott N6NXI moved to approve the minutes and Bob KC6ZWG seconded.The minutes were then approved by roll call vote. Jay abstained as he stated that he was not present at the July Meeting and Andy at the time was not yet able to join the video conference.All other seven members present voted “yes”. 2.Update from the Council Liaison Kavita Tankha: Councilwoman Tankha reported that the Town Council was able to conduct business well via remote online and the Town could issue various permits at an outdoor setting. She said that the issue of Associate membership of the standing committees has not yet returned to the Council but expected all feedback from the ECC and other committees would be considered thoughtfully. LAHECC_20200804_FINAL-Minutes_SecretaryKK6HH.docx 2 3.EC Report Update and Activities - Neil K2LL, EC: a.Neil reported that he would send out email notice to advise all members on the CERT and ECC rosters to receive the new vests in the coming days. This would involve sending the RSVP to Victoria and picking up at three possible date/time slots with minimum physical contacts, i.e. Drive-by pick-up. b.Neil related that the County training classes are mostly on-line, and he encouraged attendance. The next class is Field Operations and will be held outdoors. c.DSW requirements should be completed for all volunteers. Currently, Jay KN6JAY needs to complete and Robert KG6UWZ, being a Town’s employee, has completed the DSW qualification procedures through the Town. Neil also suggested a work-around to help Jay complete the necessary procedure in today’s Covid-19 situation. 4.Public Comments from the floor: a.Update from LAHCFD Emergency Services Manager: i.Victoria reported various meetings and activities in the LAHCFD. She noted that details will be published in the Newsletters that occur twice monthly. b.She also gave an update on the refurbishment of ARK/Trailer in the Foothill College lot. An awning has been put up and various items in the ARK are being resupplied. For the first week of August, ethernet, and WiFi to connect ARK to the Firehouse will be installed, as well an antenna for Ham radios. i.A CERT schedule for general meetings and training has been established. The first Wednesday of the month is a general meeting, Second and 4th Wednesdays are for CERT training and the third Wednesday is for CERT supervisor meetings. Larry KE6AGJ is scheduled to train CERT RECON on the 4th Wednesday of August (8/26). Victoria indicated that she did not have the opportunity to get Larry’s consent prior to this meeting. Nevertheless, Larry graciously assented to the task shortly after Victoria’s presentation. ii.PG&E Webinar on Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) will take place on August 12 & 19 5:30-7:00 pm. iii.On, August 8, there is Covid-19 testing scheduled at the Town Hall. 5.Old Business: a.Inventory Update: Jay KN6JAY reported he had completed inventory inspection at both Heritage house and ARK and inquired about the ownership and the operation status of antennae at the administration building of Foothill college and Westwind Community Barn. Scott N6NXI responded that these two antennas are Diamond X-50, are operational, and are the property of the Town. He said he installed the one at the Foothill and the Town paid for the installation of the other one at the Westwind Barn. Therefore, both should be included in the town equipment inventory. Duncan KI6MVY noted that he originally had these antennae included in the inventory list. Jay will double-check the inventory list to verify. Dru asked whether a mobile radio that is loaned to Purissima Hills Water District is in the inventory list and will work offline with Jay to get him the LAHECC_20200804_FINAL-Minutes_SecretaryKK6HH.docx 3 information. Dru asked whether the obsolete orange ECC safety vests currently in the possession of some in ECC were included in the inventory list. Neil K2LL pointed out these issued vests were unlikely on the list but those present at the Heritage house were. Dru responded that she would check with the Town staff to make sure these vests could be written off the book/inventory. b.Development Report: ECC Goals for 2020/21 i.Goal #1: Dru had obtained a copy of an outreach letter to Hams of the Town that originated with Cupertino and asked some volunteers to help to edit, re- frame, and to adapt for the use of Town. ii.Goal #2: Coordinate the training and participation activity with the Town’s Emergency Manager team guidelines - to be discussed in Section 6 New Business. 6.New Business: a.Group ideas for training or drill exercise for on-going virtual ECC meetings: Dru solicited the whole ECC group for opinions and ideas for the ECC meetings and training either during the current virtual meeting or email to her. b.Potential for developing training specifics for CERT/ECC volunteers for Town/LAHCFD: Eduardo KM6LSX asked all present for ideas/proposals verbally now or later via email to him. 7.Tech Talk(s) a.Neil K2LL demonstrated on Screen how to access various ECC/CERT Google Docs, Sheets, and the email archive. b.Dru KG6LAD described the current progress of the fire Evacuation Drill being worked out for the Zone 2 Saddle Mountain neighborhood. She stated that her neighborhood has only one regular exit road and many other neighborhoods of the Town are in similar situations. This fire drill is equally applicable to an earthquake exit. She shared a well-thought-out Wildfire Emergency preparation list for a family in case of an emergency evacuation. Neil K2LL thought the list is helpful and asked the list to be included in the August minutes. Terry KM6LTQ showed a few CAL FIRE slides illustrating how rapidly the fire could spread. He commented that the recent Apple fire had spread from 300 to 30,000 acres in less than 6 hours. Neil K2LL reported that the Red Cross was looking for volunteers. 8.Group health and welfare go-around share. Dru did a health & welfare check of all attendees in the meeting and all responded that they were doing well. 9.Reminders: See 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 LAHECC_20200804_FINAL-Minutes_SecretaryKK6HH.docx 4 e.SPECS Monday Night Net information: www.specsnet.org. Northern SCC emergency ham radio volunteer activities. 10. Adjourn: At 20:36 hours, Bob KC6ZWG moved to adjourn and Eduardo seconded. Andy WB6CLS was unable to vote again due to technical on-line difficulty, thus it was passed with a roll call by all eight other members present. Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, Secretary