Minutes of Meeting – September 01, 2009

The meeting was called to order at 1900 by the President, Mike, KC9AOM. There were no new folks present, so we went right into the regular meeting agenda.

The minutes from the last meeting as printed in the Newsletter were approved upon a motion of Charlie, K9TZJ, and seconded by Seth, KB9ZLP. All were in favor.

As noted in the Newsletter, former member Jack Ballentine, W9ETI is now a Silent Key.

Tim, KB9VE, our Treasurer, wasn’t present so we had no Treasurer report.

.82 Repeater Report – Tom, KA9SYP reported that it had been working fine. No one had any other issues to note. Steve, WA9CWE reported that EMA is still trying to get funding to replace the antenna and feedline. We have committed to pay for the installation fee.

UHF Repeater – No issues. It is working as expected.

Web Site – Paul, KC9BKZ, reports that it is still working OK. No issues.

EMA Report – Tom, KA9SYP went into great detail reviewing the NIMS Forms from the Lapel Grain Elevator response. We talked about not only the fully implemented Incident Command structure but also the learnings from that response. This even had multiple threats including weather. Our Warning Officer Tom, W9EEL provided accurate reports on a regular basis that were critical to the success of the response. Steve, WA9CWE talked about the communications activities and the use of the MCU. The Hamilton County Rescue Task Force (33 responders) were discussed and we discussed how the 75+ responders at this scene were kept safe.

Tom reported that there is a lot going on at the District 6 level, and many Madison County hams are in responsible positions on the various task force development committees. Mike, KC9AOM and Steve, WA9CWE are on the Communications Interoperability Committee, Jamey, KA9WJF is on the HAZMAT Task Force, Tom, KA9SYP chairs the Incident Management Team Task Force, Dick, K9FOI is first Chair of the District Planning Council.

The County H1N1 Task force has been meeting regularly. They are hoping for the best and planning for the worst. EMA is responsible for the Logistics portion of the activity. Right now our personnel are not on the target list to receive the shots. The MCU will respond to each school in the County with the Health Dept. to administer the shots once it’s decided to do it. There are about 21K kids in the schools. Day Care and Anderson University will be handled separately. The MCU will be used about 4-5 hrs/day for about 3 weeks in October while this is going on. The Health Dept. has received 1 shipment of PPE (personal protective equipment) and 3 more are coming. This is to be used by the emergency services after their own supplies are exhausted.

Mike, KC9AOM gave a brief update on the SAFE-T System radio reprogramming.

Weather Report – Tom, W9EEL reviewed the NWS predictions for the winter. As a result of the moderately strong El Nino, they are predicting a mild and relatively dry winter with less snow. We commented that this is exactly opposite of what the Farmer’s Almanac is predicting. Tom also reviewed the weather situation during the Lapel Grain Elevator incident and how he estimates the cell arrival times.

New Member Applications – None

Club Correspondence – None

Upcoming Activities – The Greenfield Hamfest is September 26. Outside only. Also Steve discussed the upcoming Corporate Challenge race that we have been asked to assist in. It’s on September 13, 8AM until about 11AM.

Old Business – None

New Business – Steve, WA9CWE, had continued the “autopsy” of the failed antenna relay that was shown at the last meeting. With this teardown we could see the actual RF connection and what failed in the relay.

Mike reminded everyone of the upcoming Ham-Of-The-Year award nominations and also Club Officer nominations for 2010.

A motion to Adjourn was made by K9TZJ and KA9SYP at 2030 and the meeting was adjourned. There were 12 members on the attendance sheet.

Respectfully submitted, Steve Riley, WA9CWE, Secretary