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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10061992 - IO.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 1 .0. 1 L. Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa County DATE: September 28, 1992 STqcot;Nt� SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY BODY SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Express to the members of the Emergency Communications Advisory Group the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors for the cooperation and coordination which has been evident in the work of the Advisory Group over the past two years and with the progress which has been made on a number of critical emergency communications issues . 2 . Accept the attached report from the County Administrator' s Office which was presented to our Committee on behalf of the Emergency Communications Advisory Group, and endorse the directions which are being taken by the Advisory Group on the issues which are outlined in the report. 3 . Request the County Administrator to place a discussion of emergency communications on the agenda for the next City/County Relations Committee meeting and request staff from the County Administrator' s Office and Office of Emergency Services to make a brief presentation to the City/County Relations Committee on the work of the Emergency Communications Advisory Body. 4 . Confirm the membership of the Emergency Communications Advisory Group as is set forth on the attached roster. 5 . Request the Emergency Communications Advisory Group to make a further progress report on each of the issues touched on in the attached report, plus any others which come to the attention of the Advisory Group, to the 1993 Internal Operations Committee by June 30, 1993 . CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMI ST R RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHE SIGNATURE(S): R S SUNNE WRIGHT McPEAK ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS �( I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE L UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THEDATE SHOWN. I' ATTESTED "�- Contact: PHIL BATCHELOR.CLERK OF THE BOARD OF CC: Please See Page 2 . SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY DEPUTY I .O. - 1 6 . Remove this item as a referral to the 1992 Internal Operations Committee. BACKGROUND: On December 3, 1991, the Board of Supervisors outlined a number of issues on which they wanted the Emergency Communications Advisory Group to do some further work and on which they wanted report made to the 1992 Internal Operations Committee. On September 28, 1992, members of the Emergency Communications Advisory Group met with our Committee and reviewed the attached report with us in some detail . We are very pleased with the progress which has been made in the past two years in addressing some of the communications problems which have been identified, as is documented in the attached report. We are particularly pleased to see that the replacement of the microwave tower at 40 Glacier Drive has been completed and is now operational, following the completion of lease negotiations with Cellular One. There have been some changes in the membership of the Emergency Communications Advisory Group which we would like the Board of Supervisors to ratify by approving the attached roster of the membership of the Advisory Group. Since in most cases these issues are still in process, we would like the 1993 Internal Operations Committee to continue to monitor progress in the whole area of emergency communications . cc: County Administrator Sheriff-Coroner Health Services Director Director, Office of Emergency Services Chief, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Chief, Riverview Fire Protection District Chief, West County Fire Protection District Chief, East Diablo Fire Protection District Chief, Moraga Fire Protection District Chief, Orinda Fire Protection District Director of General Services Terry McGraw, CAO' s Office Members, Emergency Communications Advisory Body (Via CAO) � F. Contra Costa TO: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE County FROM: Emergency Communications Advisory Body DATE: September 28, 1992 SUBJECT: Status Report on Emergency Communications Advisory Body Specific Request(s) or Recommendation(s) & Background & Justification RECOMMENDATIONS. Acknowledge receipt of follow-up report from the Emergency Communications Advisory Body (ECAB) on the status of issues reported to the Internal Operations Committee in November 1991 . REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND: In December 1990, the Board of Supervisors established the Emergency Communications Advisory Body (ECAB) to provide for improved communications among emergency communication agencies. The ECAB was also charged with the responsibility of reviewing the existing emergency communications systems in the County to identify economically feasible ways of improving inter-agency communications. In December 1991, the Board of Supervisors approved the status report on the activities of ECAB and requested a follow-up report on the following issues that were unresolved at the time of the status report: 1. Investigate implementation of the "All County Criminal Justice Information Network" (ACCJIN) as an EOC datalink system. Discussion: One of the issues identified in the 1991 status report was the need for backup systems to the telephone communications system between city EOC' s and the County EOC. One of the suggested solutions to the backup issue was ACCJIN. The Board of Supervisors requested that ECAB investigate the system further. Continued on Attachment:—X— YES Signature: Z Recommendation of County Administrator Recommendation of Board Committee Approve Other Signature(s) : Action of Board on: Approved as Recommended------Other Vote of Supervisors: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN Unanimous (Absent ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes: ) BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Contact: T. McGraw, 646-4855 Attested: cc: County Administrator Phil Batchelor, Clerk of County Counsel the Board of Supervisors Members, Emergency and County Administrator Communications Advisory Body (via CAO) By: , DEPUTY Status: ACCJIN is a long-term project involving at least two stages: ( 1) user-friendly software must be developed and paid for by each city (currently in process) , then ( 2) adoption for disaster use can seriously be pursued. This may require software and/or computer purchases by cities. There are several possible funding sources, but in order to determine the amount needed, some technical hurdles, such as compatible mapping systems, must be overcome. ECAB is attempting to work with its members who represent the interested emergency groups (e.g. , fire, police, OES) , to develop a County-wide standard for a disaster .management system. Then the determination of data needed, hence software needed, can be made; and a proposal for a standardized software system will be specific. Assisting this process is Senate Bill 18411 Petris, which will require a standardized state-wide emergency management system by December 1993 (based on the Firescope Incident Command System) . The bill has passed the Senate, and is expected to become law this year. ECRB will continue to follow the progress of this legislation. 2. Pursue implementation of the California on-scene emergency coordination radio system (CALCORD) Discussion: The CALCORD radio channel ( 156. 075 MHz) was established to provide common radio frequencies to be used statewide by state and local public safety and special emergency agencies during periods of disasters or other emergencies where inter-agency coordination is required. For many years, the idea of purchasing a cache of CALCORD portable radios was discussed in general terms. However, upon scrutiny by the ECAB members, issues such as purchase, .storage location for easy accessibility on a County-wide basis, maintenance, training and testing were not feasible. Upon surveying police, fire and public works agencies for their CALCORD radio . inventory, many agencies were found to already own or be in the process of purchasing radios with the CALCORD channel. At that point, the ECAB members developed an alternate concept of operations. Status: The disaster preparedness concept that is being suggested for communications is that equipment which is in place and can be tested on a regular basis, will provide more familiarity for emergency services personnel than equipment which is stored on a shelf and never used. In addition, stored equipment is more difficult to maintain, and purchase of single-purpose radio equipment is costly. Rather ,than buy a cache of CALCORD radios and store them in various locations, the County General Services ' Communications Division will keep an inventory of city and County- owned radios with the CALCORD channel, update it semi-annually and distribute to key communications personnel. There are many radios with CALCORD distributed throughout the east, central, south and west areas of the County. During major incidents or disasters when the Incident Commander ( IC) requests assistance with inter-agency communication capability, those agencies listed on the inventory may be asked to loan their radios with CALCORD to the incident, including personnel to assist with radio operation. Based on their own priorities, cities or other public service agencies may or may not assist. Alert communications staff could suggest using CALCORD or ham radios to the IC. Appropriate agencies should be encouraged to obtain the necessary equipment to take advantage of the CALCORD system. Equipment 2 procedures should be developed and personnel should be trained and tested periodically through emergency or disaster exercises at both agency and inter-agency levels. To implement the above concept, ECAB is developing an Emergency Communications Plan For Inter-Agency Communications. 3 . Conversion of Sheriff ' s simplex/duplex radio conversion plan: Discussion: The 1991 report discussed the need to convert the Sheriff ' s radio system to a duplex system to enable the Sheriff' s Office to maintain contact with field units in the event of a microwave failure or loss of the Communications Center. Conversion to the duplex system is dependent upon the availability of radio frequencies. It was anticipated that frequencies might become available in the future because Oakland and Alameda County were planning to convert to another radio system. Status: The Oakland frequencies have become available but have proven to be inadequate for our needs. Alameda County is in the early stages of converting to another frequency which will release high quality frequencies for our use. Alameda County has signed a contract for the conversion project which the County estimates to be completed in approximately one year. Although not included in the Board' s request for follow-up reports, another important issue that has been resolved is the construction of the replacement microwave tower at the Sheriff ' s Communications Center at 40 Glacier Drive in Martinez. After months of delays caused by negotiations with Cellular One over the terms of the lease arrangement, the construction process began in May and was completed in late August. The tower became operational on September 10, 1992 in time to comply with the FCC deadline. ECAB members played a vital role in the completion of this project by monitoring the construction process on an almost daily basis. In addition to any necessary follow-up on the above-discussed issues, the ECAB will be exploring the following issues: 1. Police/Sheriff Communications Police departments in West and Central county have not been able to talk to each other car-to-car because police are on UHF and the Sheriff is VHF. The General Services Department Communications Division (GSD) has built a "cross band repeater" to allow car-to- car communication. One repeater has been built and will be installed in West County by early fall. There are plans for two more repeaters to be installed in Central County (one in Walnut Creek and one at the Sheriff ' s Communications Center in Martinez) . 2 . Communications Center Managers Association (CCMA) Liaison ECAB has begun a dialogue with the dispatch facility managers, the Communications Center Managers Association (CCMA) , to determine their emergency communication needs and to keep them informed about relevant communication issues. 3 . Emergency Communications Centers Disaster Preparedness ECAB is looking into recovery preparedness of communication systems in the face of disasters., e.g. , do the communication centers have a back-up plan, generators, data storage, etc. The ECAB will continue to pursue the above items as well as any other appropriate emergency communications issues that come to the attention of the group. 3 MEMBERSHIP ROSTER EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY BODY County Administrator's Office Animal Services Department Scott Tandy Ted Brasier 646-4087 646-2935 Administration Building 4849 Imhoff Place k 651 Pine Street, 11th Floor Martinez, CA 94553 t' Martinez, CA 94553 County Police Chiefs' Association Sheriff-Coroner's Office +: Chief Ted Barnes Captain John Hart _ 724-8950 646-4463 Pinole Police Department 40 Glacier Drive 880 Tennent Avenue Martinez, CA 94553 Pinole, CA 94564 Disaster Council General Services Department Larry Kaye (RACES) Communications Services c/o GIGA-Tronics Bob Guaspari/Howard Korpus 2495 Estand Way 646-5900 Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 2371 Stanwell Drive Concord, CA 94520 Health Services Department Office of Emergency Services Emergency Medical Services Janet Grenslit Art Lathrop 646-4461 646-4690 50 Glacier Drive 50 Glacier Drive Martinez, CA 94553 Martinez, CA 94553 Emergency Medical Care Cc®ittee: County Fire Chiefs Association: Regional Ambulance Company Contra Costa County Fire Linda Tiller Protection District 657-9999 Alan Nielsen 41300 Christy Street 930-5550 Fremont, CA 94538 2010 Geary Road Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 San Ramon Valley Fire Public Works Protection District Maurice Mitchell Chris Suter 313-2204 838-6606 255 Glacier Drive 1500 Bollinger Canyon Road Martinez, CA 94553 San Ramon, CA 94583 City/County Emergency Coordinators CARR Group (Ca®unity Awareness Captain Neil Stratton Emergency Response) 943-5844 Dave Dorman (510) 231-1066 Walnut Creek Police Department ICI Americas, Inc. 1666 N. Main Street 1200 S. 47th St., Box 4023 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Richmond, CA 94804-0023 Copies to: Communications Center Managers Michael Mickelberry Association (CCMA) 347-4712 Gloria Sutter, Chair 1940 Woodmoor Court 646-4463 Concord, CA 94518 40 Glacier Drive Martinez, CA 94553 9/18/92 i i I