Western Mass Emergency
Medical Services Committee, Inc.
Meeting:
Communications Committee
Date: August 2, 2001
Place: McCallum Building Living Room, CDH,
Northampton
Presiding: Dave Keefe, Co-Chairperson
Called
to Order: 8:32 am
Adjourned: 10:15 am
Attendance:
Present
- Brian
Andrews, Timothy Brock, Anthony Cerini, Stephen Cote, Bernard Forgea, Dan
Harrington, Robert Hopkins, Dave Keefe, Guy Manners, Jeff Rawson, Heather
Quinn, and Mike Zlogar.
With these corrections noted, the committee accepted the minutes.
Committee
Chairmanship:
Discussion –
Mr.
Keefe reports that Mr. Hopkins talked to him about a change of leadership for
the committee. Mr. Keefe feels that
this is a good idea, and after thinking about this believes that with the
committee approximately a year old it is time for change. Mr. Keefe also expressed relief and is
pleased with this change. Mr. Hopkins
also spoke with Mr. Rawson regarding a new chairperson, and Mr. Rawson
expressed that he feels that he does not know a great deal about the
communications field, but with time feels that he would have liked to learn
more. He also expressed his relief that
there would be a change. Mr. Hopkins
commended both for all of their hard work and time that they put into this
committee.
As
president, Mr. Hopkins would like to have a meeting of all committees to see
where they are going with their committees. Mr. Keefe asked Mr. Hopkins when he
expected to appoint a new chairperson and Mr. Hopkins stated that at the
Executive Committee meeting following this, they will discuss and appoint
chairpersons.
Mr.
Hopkins would like the Communications Committee to continue but would like
input about upcoming projects and any new missions for the committee. Mr. Hopkins is wondering if Region 1 would
be the template for the state on regional communications issues.
Mr.
Keefe stated to the committee that through conversations with Brad Prenney he
felt that we are leading the state with addressing communication issues.
Mr.
Hopkins feels that the committee needs to prioritize our regions needs.
Mr.
Keefe mentioned that there is some dissent among the committee about the money
that was received from the state. There
is a feeling that there wasn’t a great deal of discussion about where the money
was going to be spent. He feels that in
the future, there should be a lot more discussion and then a decision made as
to where the money should be spent.
Project
Planning:
Discussion –
Mr.
Cote suggested that members from the committee that represent each county
discuss projects in their areas. He
asked if the committee would like volunteers to do this.
Mr.
Harrington asked if this could be done at the County committee meetings.
Mr.
Keefe responded that anyone is welcome at the monthly communication meetings,
and the county committee members do not need special invitations to
attend. Mr. Cote stated that he hasn’t
heard any complaints about not being included.
Mr.
Keefe wants it noted in the minutes that the Region 1 Communications Committee
meetings are open to all that are interested.
Mr.
Hopkins suggested that someone from this committee meet with the chairs of the
County Committees to let them know what is going on. The chairs could put communications on the agenda at the county
meetings and then bring any information back to our committee meetings.
Mr.
Cote would like to finish going to all of the county meetings to let them know
what this committee is about. He has
been to Franklin and Hampshire counties already, but still needs to go to
Berkshire and Hampden Counties.
Mr.
Cerini feels that if we could get more people involved from all areas in the
region we could learn more about the problem that there are. Also, he feels that we could make
connections with different organizations, such as tower sites, etc.
Mr.
Cote told the committee that Mr. Kupernik has given him a letter about an
agreement that they are in the process of establishing with a cell company in
regards to putting a tower on the town hall in Becket.
Mr.
Hopkins made a motion for Mr. Cote to contact the county presidents and report
back at the next communications committee meeting. This motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
Mr.
Zlogar feels that Mr. Cote needs to give the presidents an agenda so they know
what direction they should be going in.
Mr. Keefe feels that we need to tell them what we feel the end result
should be.
Action – Mr. Cote to contact the County Committee
Presidents regarding communication issues in their areas and report back at the
next meeting.
Hampden
East Project:
Discussion –
According
to Mr. Cote, we are in the process of concluding our agreement with National
Grid for using their tower site. Their
engineering department has designed the multi coupler and the antenna
arrangement for triple use between Wilbraham Fire Department, National Grid,
and ourselves. We are in the process of
looking into rates for liability insurance that is required by the power
company in order to complete this agreement.
Once this is completed, we will submit this to legal council and get
everything signed off by August 24.
Mr.
Cote will be meeting with Bruce Marcus from Marcus Communications Monday
morning and they will do a walk-about on these sites and tinker with the actual
equipment list reflecting the equipment that the National Grid has supplied us.
On
the VHF side, we are developing a memorandum of understanding with the State
Police who control that tower.
Lieutenant Pinkham has expressed that they are happy to have us up
there. They have a security standard
for their site and we will need to make sure that we will have access to this
site, and that we will be able to get repairmen here if something goes
down.
We
are expecting to see some actual construction beginning in September.
Mr.
Hopkins asked if the VHF was going to have repeater capabilities and Mr. Cote
stated that it would.
After
some lengthy discussion about equipment, who would own what, and who would pay
for what, it was agreed that Mr. Cote would come up with a concise list of who
is providing what equipment and what the prices are for this equipment. This list will be distributed prior to the
September Communications Committee meeting.
Mr.
Hopkins feels that the committee needs to define this type of arrangement for
the future, if we should happen to be involved in similar situations.
Mr.
Keefe stated that he has been involved in similar situations and he asked if
National Grid has a service company that deals with their system. He is concerned that National Grid wouldn’t
allow just anyone to work on the equipment because it is attached to
theirs. He feels that we need to define
who is responsible for what equipment.
Perhaps if one repair agency is responsible for all equipment then only
the bill will have to be figured out later.
Mr.
Forgea and Mr. Zlogar both feel that Hampshire County is in a mess with many
different agreements. They feel that it
is vital that we have a concrete plan for the future.
Mr.
Andrews stated that if one service gets to hook up to this site without paying
for anything, how can we prevent other towns/organizations from doing the same
thing. Also, if a service pays to hook
up to this system, what does the money represent? Do the people that invest own
it, or are they responsible for part of the expenses, or do we retain ownership
and are responsible for the equipment?
We need to clearly define this arrangement.
Mr.
Hopkins feels that this needs to be voted on by Executive Committee. Mr. Andrews feels that the Communications
Committee needs to come up with a recommendation and then present it to Exec.
Committee. Mr. Andrews is a little
distressed that there appears to be a slow down on the progress of this Hampden
East Project and feels that by next month we better have a timeline to complete
the whole project.
Mr.
Zlogar made a motion that in the user agreement we retain rights to make
decisions. This was seconded and
discussion followed. Upon voting, all
were in favor with no opposition.
Mr.
Andrews stated that we need to check with the state regarding this because he
believes that we need to retain ownership.
It was suggested that we propose to Wilbraham Fire Department that we
retain ownership of equipment and that they contribute a set amount annually
toward service and maintenance.
Wilbraham Fire Departments prior development work would be accepted as
in-kind contribution.
Action – Mr. Cote to send list of who is
providing what equipment and the costs for all items prior to next months meeting.
Shelburne
Mountain:
Discussion –
Mr.
Manners told the committee that the tower is still down. They have a repairman working on it
currently. Apparently, the radio itself
had been struck by lightening and is still inoperative. A meeting has been scheduled on August 16 to
discuss this and Mr. Manners would like Mr. Cote and Ms. Moriarty to be present
if possible.
Action – Mr. Manners will call
the WMEMS office with the meeting time and location.
State
Communications Committee Meeting:
This
meeting was held on July 25 and hosted by Region 1 at CMED in Springfield. Some key points:
Requirements
of EMD that are specified in EMS 2000:
The Department of Public Health has put this in EMS 2000 but has no idea
how it is going to be regulated. Should a study be made of these protocols and
taken back to EMCAB? That committee will communicate their concerns directly to
OEMS.
Diversion
Website: Representatives from OEMS stated it was a done deal. Only 3 people
spoke up at the public hearing. Region 1 will be covered by CMED and Dispatch
agencies with online service. Mr. Forgea asked how will CMED be in touch with
areas that have no coverage? Mr. Cote
stated that dispatch agencies will let the services know. Mr. Forgea asked who is going to pay for all
of this and Mr. Cote believes that this hasn’t been worked out yet.
Mr.
Andrews stated that the state says there is no money available for this and we
are on our own.
Mr.
Forgea is very upset about the way that this diversion website is being
handled. He wondered if there is
somewhere that we should send a letter in opposition of this. Mr. Andrews was also upset, because he
warned the committee about this for the last 2 months that this would be coming
up in the future. Mr. Forgea made a
motion that the committee develop a letter to send about our outrage. Although this motion was approved, after
lengthy discussion the motion was changed to the following:
A
motion was made to express to the state via a letter our concerns about how we
are going to implement with system without any funding or guidance. This motion was seconded and approved
unanimously with 0 abstentions.
The
next State Communications Committee will be held in September.
Action – Mr. Cote to draft letter to
OEMS.
Miscellaneous:
Discussion –
Mr.
Cote announced the passing of Diane LaCasses’ father. A motion was made to send the committees condolences to her and
her family. This motion was seconded and
approved unanimously.
Action – Mr. Cote to send
condolences to Mrs. LaCasse.
Next
Meeting:
Discussion –
The
next meeting will be held on September 6, 2001 at 8:30 am. This meeting will be held in the McCallum
Living Room.
Adjourn: A motion was made to adjourn at 10:15 am. This motion was
seconded and approved unanimously.
Lisa
Herringshaw, Secretary, Recorder