MABAS Special Communications Committee
Meeting Minutes
December 15, 2003
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The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. at Lisle-Woodridge Fire Station 1. Present were committee members Paul Maplethorpe, Round Lake; Steve Rauter, Lisle-Woodridge; John Lozar, Ducomm; Dave Riddle, Channahon; Gregg Riddle, IFCA/Wescom; and Bob Mierop, Bolingbrook.
FCC Licensing Decision
A brief discussion was held concerning the FCC’s action on December 1st to stay the wideband channel licensing restrictions after January 12, 2004. It was agreed that the FCC could reverse their decision at any time and immediately implement the restriction after January 12th. Everyone was encouraged to continue to submit required license modifications.
Chief Maplethorpe reported that Richard Kinsman from IMSA thanked the Illinois fire service for supporting the public safety request for reconsideration by the FCC. He expressed that our letters and telephone calls to the Commission and federal legislators impacted the FCC’s decision.
MABAS Statewide License
Chief Maplethorpe reported that President Reardon approved the MABAS request for statewide licensing on the eight (8) “MABAS” frequencies. An application was submitted, approved by IMSA and has been filed with the FCC. The application included 25,000 mobiles and 20 temporary fixed base stations. Also included were both wide and narrow band emissions on the existing wideband frequencies.
Proposed Advocacy Statement #7 was distributed for review and comment. Several proposed changes were considered. Chief Maplethorpe will update the proposal and e-mail to all committee members for final review before submission to the Executive Committee.
Narrowband Frequencies
A/C Rauter suggested that since implementation of the narrowband frequencies will be new, that we recommend the immediate use of CTCSS (private line) on these frequencies. The members present felt this was an excellent idea. Chief Maplethorpe will draft a memo to President Reardon for circulation through the MABAS e-mail network.
Division 15
Chief Riddle distributed a detailed cost proposal for relocating dispatch of several Division 15 departments from Blue Fireground to a narrowband frequency secured by Wescom. The estimated cost is $27,879.00. This request will be forwarded to Chief Reardon so a formal funding request to the ITTF can be processed.
Chief Riddle left the meeting at 11:00 a.m.
Narrowband Conversion
A brief discussion was held concerning the need for planning for the eventual conversion of statewide frequencies, like MABAS, IREACH and ISPERN, to narrowband operation. It was agreed that a Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC) must be formed to address these issues.
Training Issues
B/C Mierop reviewed Division 10’s incident communications plan and MAYDAY procedures. The need for a MABAS communications training program was identified. It was recommended that Bob work with D/C Tonne and the Procedures Committee to develop an updated communications training program.
Communications Survey
A/C Rauter discussed the proposed communications survey. Costs for mailing were discussed. It was recommended that we send the survey electronically through the MABAS website first. After the initial run, divisions and counties with low response can be contacted via mail to increase the rate of return. The concept of funding by the IFCA Foundation was presented.
MABAS Website
A/C Rauter reported that information on the MABAS.org website is continually expanding.
Video Conferencing
No report.
Meeting Location
A/C Rauter reported that Lisle-Woodridge will be remodeling the headquarters station beginning in March. Other meeting locations were discussed including Bolingbrook Station 4.
The meeting adjourned at 11:35 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 19, 2004 at 1000 hours at Lisle-Woodridge Station 1. Please mark your calendars.
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