STATE
OF WASHINGTON
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Approved by the
Federal Communications Commission, March
3, 1997
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September 9, 2010
Present: Clay Freinwald-NWPR; Don Miller-WSEM; Ted Buehner-NWS Seattle; Jim Dalke-Dalke Broadcast Services; Marty Grisham-City of Tukwila; Roland Robinson-Bates Technical College
Via Phone: Kris McGowan-FCC; Terry Knight-FEMA Region 10; Elray Rasmussen-Comcast Spokane; Andrew Kinney-Thurston County; Tom Sharp-Pierce County; Terry Spring-KWPX TV; Shad Burcham-King County; Debra Needham-City Of Renton; Anthony Cavallucci-NWS Spokane; Phil Johnson-CPS Local Chair; Dennis Hull-NWS Pendleton
There were problems with the state’s phone bridge. This was related to the problems with the bridge at the last meeting in July. Once again, Ted Buehner stepped up and offered the NWS phone bridge for our use. Ted put out a message with the phone info on the remailer. Our apologies to anyone who missed the message.
Clay Freinwald called the meeting to order and introductions were made. The previous minutes were approved.
Gary Timm has been involved in EAS for quite some time. He has retired from his job in broadcasting and now works for Touchtone Consulting. As Touchtone is a FEMA contractor, this is a positive development for the EAS system.
The Society Of Broadcast Engineers recently hosted a webinar on the new EAS. It is archived on their website at http://www.sbe.org/WebinarsbySBE-TheNewEAS.php.
The City Of Auburn is involved in National Emergency Preparedness Month. City of Auburn Emergency Management is sponsoring the 4th Annual Disaster Preparedness Fair. The Fair will be held at Les Gove Park on Saturday, September 25th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be booths and activities for the whole family, including disaster response demonstrations. In addition to the Disaster Preparedness Fair, the City will be participating in the annual statewide Drop, Cover, Hold exercise on September 15, as well as offering two Community Emergency Response Team classes beginning the first week of October. Additional information on preparedness activities can be found at www.auburnwa.gov/disaster or by calling 253-876-1925. (From their news release.)
The local SBE Chapter will present the Taste Of NAB on Friday, September 10. Some new generation EAS boxes will be featured. See http://sbe16.com/?p=244.
The SECC is still looking for a cable representative for Western Washington. Eastern Washington will be represented by Elray Rasmussen.
The 180 day clock has not started yet for the replacement of EAS equipment. When it does, broadcasters will probably ask for an extension.
Northwest Public Radio is participating in EAS. They have received 24 of the new IP boxes from the state in the last few weeks. More of the state boxes will go to state institutions with radio stations.
The former FCC EAS web site is now under Homeland Security. See http://www.fcc.gov/pshs/services/eas/. It contains a lot of good information.
The problem of the broadcast week being different from everybody else’s week comes up every once in a while. It could mean receiving two tests or no tests in a week from a source. Should the SECC request that stations follow the regular week when scheduling tests? Another option would be to not schedule tests on Sunday. A third option would be to do nothing. The FCC does not seem to have a problem with the present system, as long as the reason for a lack of test is noted. Comments on the remailer, please.
HazCollect and Mystate (http://mystateusa.net/) was discussed. Mystate will pull info from HazCollect. HazCollect is still somewhat of a work in progress.
The Washington State Emergency Management is continuing to update the EAS system in Washington. There are currently 33 units out in the field. When they are done, 95% of the population will be covered.
In the Central Puget Sound area, the LRN repeater is still being worked on. Phil Johnson is working on a EAS 101 Power Point presentation. A rough draft is being circulated.
At the National Weather Service, they are originating the September Required Monthly Test as part of the annual statewide Earthquake and Coastal Tsunami Warning Communications Test. A test feedback web page has been established at weather.gov/test and all western Washington coastal broadcasters are encouraged to provide feedback just after the tsunami comms test. NWS Seattle is also holding their annual Media and Emergency Management workshops on September 29 and 30 at the NOAA Sand Point facility in Seattle headlined with the latest winter weather outlook. (See http://www.weather.gov/seattle/workshop.php.) NWS Spokane will also hold a similar workshop for their area at the Spokane Fire Training Center. In Pendleton, revised forecast zones that are more aligned with elevation rather than political boundaries will be implemented in mid October.
Roland Robinson presented the 2011 EAS RMT schedule draft. It is a re-working of this year's schedule. The local chairs need to review it and provide their feedback before the next SECC meeting in Nov. The draft has been distributed on the remailer. The 2011 EAS RMT schedule will finalized during the Nov SECC meeting.
The next SECC meeting is Wednesday, November 10, at 9:30 AM at Camp Murray.
Terry Spring
Chief Engineer
KWPX TV/DT
ION Media Networks
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