HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 4LAHECC-FINALminutes_20210504_KK6HH-Secretary.docx 1
Emergency Communications Committee Minutes
Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 7:00 pm to 9:02 pm.
The meeting was held via ZOOM Online Video Conference
Members (9)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 E
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Council/Staff
Stanley Mok, LAH City Council Council
Liaison E
Associate Members (5)
Neil Katin K2LL P
Peter Evans AI6MV P
Larry Carr KE6AGJ P
Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P
Dave Stewart KJ6JQT P
Guests (7)
J Logan LAHCFD Guest P
Victoria Bebee, LAHCFD KN6HOU Proxy
Car Cahill, City Mgr., Town of LAH KG6MOD P
Lisa Schmidt, LAH City Council P
Meera Mishra KM6GPX P
John Montrym W6PTM P
John Adachi KM6RVD P
1.Dru KG6LAD called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Ben KK6HH then made a roll call of
members. Since 8 out of 10 members were in attendance, a quorum was present. Later,
Andy WB6CLS was able to join in via audio link.
a.Roll Call: Attendance: 21: 9 members, 5 associates, and 7 guests.
The minutes of April 6, 2021, prepared by Ben KK6HH, were approved unanimously by
all 8 members present at the time after first being motioned by Scott N6NXI, and
seconded by Eduardo KM6LSX.
2.Tech Talk #1: Guest: Carl Cahill, KG6MOD, LAH town manager
a.Carl KG6MOD opened the discussion on the LAH Emergency Data Network (LAHEDN)
by stating what he had understood from a brief by Dave Gilmour WQ1K in 2019 that the
LAHEDN would enable the Town’s EOC staff, during an emergency, where all
commercial networks might be impacted, to still be able to communicate with the
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County EOC by using a laptop at a reasonably high data rate. An important remaining
logistic task is to work with the Purissima Hills Water District to set up a microwave
antenna at a water tower site on high-ground land leased to the Town.
After so many months, many things have changed significantly since 2019. It was a
very fruitful and extensive discussion/exchange of information between Carl, Neil K2LL
who now leads the volunteer effort to set up the LAHEDN, and Peter AI6MV, a member
of the water board providing the board perspective while not the opinion of the board
management. Others, including ECC co-chair Dru KG6LAD, and ECC members Scott
N6NXI, and Sam K6MSR also offered additional inquiry, comments, and suggestions.
The discussion lasted for an hour, covering the appropriate way to add an addendum or
modify current ground lease terms, the proper administrative bodies to approve the new
additional agreement, and other technical issues involving the microwave antenna
placement, or any potential 5.8 GHz interference issues.
Carl summarized the next steps toward LAHEDN being operational and effective
assumes the following:
1. When he receives the sketch of the antenna installation from Neil K2LL, he can then
start to work on an amendment to the current lease with the PHWD.
2. He would then work with Phil Witt, PHWD general manager to finalize the
amendment.
3. Then, he said, the amendment would be moved forward to secure the approval of the
PHWD board and the LAH Town Council.
Carl would take the lead for the town to complete the LAH administrative/business side
of the installation of LAHEDN antenna, working with Phil Witt of the water district. Neil
would lead the ECC subgroup to work on the technical sides, with an aim to enable
LAHEDN to be functional and effective in an emergency. Dru asked Carl to return to
June's meeting to update the progress.
b.Update on Town emergency matters
Carl reported that LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission), an independent state
agency, is currently conducting an extensive review of Town and LAHCFD for safety
elements of fire, EMT, and other processes. The review was started on 4/19 and is
expected to last about a year. J Logan, general manager of LAHCFD, said that it needs
to be clear that fire prevention is emphasized as much as the fire fighting.
Dru asked Carl whether he thought a joint emergency communication drill between
ECC, Town’s EOC staff, and CERT, likely to be in July or August, would be helpful in
this vein. Carl responded in the positive and pointed out that Cody Einfalt of LAH staff
would be the contact for the Town. Furthermore, he suggested that the drill take place
on a weekday during working hours in consideration of the Town staff schedule.
3.Tech Talk#2: Guest - Lisa Schmidt, LAH Town Council Member
Council member Schmidt gave an interim report on the Town Fire Safety Task Force that
she is leading as a council project. The purpose of the task force is to create a plan for
reducing the loss of life and property damage in the event of a major fire in LAH. The final
plan is scheduled to be presented to the Town Council on 5/20. The discussion prompted
much interest, comments, and questions. Among them were concerns about the fire hazard
posed by open space reserves, and the question about the past tree removal program to
reduce fire hazard. Both Council member Schmidt and J Logan of LAHCFD urged the
audience to have an evacuation plan ready to implement in case of an emergency fire
evacuation order as well as taking preventive measures to secure one’s own property from
potential fire hazard. Both the Town Council and LAHCFD are formulating plans to help
residents to mitigate the risks, but the residents, they noted, would also have to take
responsibility and efforts.
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4.Committee Liaison Update: Councilman Stan Mok: He was traveling, and unable to attend.
5.Public comments from the floor
a.LAH CERT Training/activities/special events - Victoria Bebee KN6HOU, LAHCFD
CERT program General Analyst
There were a lot of learning opportunities shown in the slides. Victoria KN6HOU was
not able to join the meeting, but Dru KG6LAD and J Logan of LAHCFD pitched in to
elaborate on the slides (See Appendix attachment of slides.)
b.Planning and coordination with ECC - the subject was covered on 2.b.
6.EC Report: Neil K2LL
a.For his lead role on LAHEDN, he had agreed with Phil of the water district to move the
original location to a new spot for the microwave dish. He also will send the sketch and
documents to City Manager Carl KG6MOD for his negotiation with the water district.
b.Neil encouraged everyone to tune in on net every 3rd Tuesday of the month to either
participate or listen to the practice of message passing, sponsored by the ARES/Races
of the County of Santa Clara. Peter AI6MV reinforced the value of the Tuesday night
practice, saying that even listening in on the practice had been helpful for him to gain
the skills, especially for obtaining the County Certification.
c.QRG info update: Neil has trimmed down and standardized the first 20 channels to the
useful frequencies listed in the QRG. Other optional channels could be added after
these 20.
7.Old Business:
a.Suggested “ECC membership recruitment invitation.” Eduardo KM6LSX, ECC
co-chair. ECC Goal #1: Next steps for membership recruitment outreach -
Eduardo KM6LSX reported that the LAH Town has agreed to publicize the
message generated by Eduardo and send a recruitment mailing.
b.Inventory Report: Deferred. Procedures for on-going updates. Jay Sutaria KM6JAY. Unable
to attend.
8.New Business - None for this month.
9.Health and welfare check-in. Dru inquired about the well-being of all meeting attendees and
received nearly all cherry responses.
10.Adjourn. At 21:02, Bob KC6ZWG moved to adjourn, Scott N6NXI seconded, and all
consented in a voice vote.
11.Reminders: See online schedules for activities in the following:
LAH town events: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/calendar.aspx.
EMERGENCY ALERTS: LAH: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/101/Emergency
AlertSCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.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
SPECS Monday Night Net information:
www.Specsnet.org Northern SCC ham activities/Monday night net script.
Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, ECC Secretary
Appendix - Victoria Babee’s slide presentations on 5/4/2021
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