Public Safety Mobile Communications Steering Committee WYDOT Commissioner s Conference Room 5300 Bishop Boulevard Cheyenne, WY January 21, 2004

Transcription

1 Public Safety Mobile Communications Steering Committee WYDOT Commissioner s Conference Room 5300 Bishop Boulevard Cheyenne, WY January 21, 2004 Meeting Minutes MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Co-Chairman Kelly Hamilton, Chairman SALECS Co-Chairman Robert Wyatt, Wyoming Telecommunications Council Dan Perko, Wyoming Associated Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Tim Hibbard, Wyoming Department of Transportation Dave Kinghorn, Natrona County Sheriff s Department Fran Cadez, Wyoming Department of Health Joe Evans, Executive Director, Wyoming County Commissioners Association Dave Johnson, Deputy Director, Wyoming Association of Municipalities MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Jim Narva, Director, Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety Mark Joiner, Bureau of Land Management Billy Janes, Chief, Torrington Police Department OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Representative Wayne Johnson, House District 9 Colonel Steve Smith, Wyoming Air National Guard Jerry Kennedy, Albany County Commissioner William Wagon, Eastern Shoshone Tribal Council Jenny Hansen, Manager, Montana Public Safety Services Jack Spillman, Montana Public Safety Services Bill Jameson, Montana Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee Gary Tanascu, Park County, MT, Sheriff s Office Jason Jarrett, Gallitin County, MT, Sheriff s Office Lane Baker, Deputy Chief Ranger, Yellowstone National Park Vern Nye, Telecommunications Specialist, Yellowstone National Park John Griffith, National Weather Service David Copley, Science Officer, National Weather Service Kent Drummond, A&I Delegate to the WyoLink Project Robert Wilson, WYDOT Telecommunications Program/PSMC Project Manager Ron Kisicki, WYDOT Management Services John Davis, WYDOT Management Services Jerrene Braisted, WyoLink Grant Writer Captain Chad Rogers, Telecommunications Services, FEWAFB Dale Pawling, Cheyenne Fire Department 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 1

2 Blaine Harris, Cheyenne Fire Department Mark Harshman, Casper Fire Department Captain Francisco Romero, Wyoming Air National Guard MSGT Jon Perkins, Wyoming Air National Guard LTC Robert Sherard, Wyoming Army National Guard/Wyoming Dept. of Health SFC David Franck, Wyoming Army National Guard Bill Fleming, Motorola Cari Southerland, Motorola John Mayes, Motorola Margaret Spearman, The Spearman Company Tim Gwin, EFJohnson Steve Howard, M/A-Com Kit Eldredge, M/A-Com Mark Warner, M/A-Com 1. WELCOME/INTRODUCTIONS: The meeting was called to order by Co-Chairman Hamilton at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Hamilton asked everyone present to introduce themselves and describe their involvement in the project. Kelly Hamilton acknowledged a request to move the presentation from Montana forward in the agenda. 2. OLD BUSINESS: Kelly Hamilton called for a motion to approve the December 1, 2003, Steering Committee minutes. Moved by Dave Johnson and seconded by Fran Cadez. APPROVED. 3. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS: Homeland Security Grants - Dave Johnson had a recent meeting with John Heller of the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. Mr. Heller indicated the FY 2004 ODP grant funds were expected to be allocated in March of It was not clear whether that meant the money would be available or just identified for distribution to the states. Without a clear indication of whether or not these Homeland Security funds are going to be available for application to the WyoLink infrastructure, Mr. Johnson felt there were three possible courses of action: 1. Amend the budget bill, 2. Attach a request to the proposed governance legislation (SF16 - Modification to SALECS), 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 2

3 3. Introduce a separate funding bill which would need a sponsor and require a two-thirds majority vote for approval. Joe Evans expressed a concern that it would not be practical for the Steering Committee to ask the legislature for funds, without having the Governor s support. Representative Johnson indicated there was activity in motion to amend the budget, starting with a request for funding. Jerry Kennedy noted that Albany County had just received their FY 2002 Homeland Security grant money yesterday. It was noted that the Governor had indicated the HS money could be used for infrastructure, since the local governments would benefit, however Tim Hibbard expressed concern over mixed signals, adding that it is important to have the design/pilot money to come from the legislature as a show of their support for the project. Dan Perko said if the legislature depends on federal funds for the commencement of the project, how would we be able to proceed with future expansion. We need to have legislative support from the outset. Representative Johnson said it is important to get an appropriation into this session and encouraged everyone who had Joint Appropriations Committee representation from their counties to contact those members and make sure they understood the project and it s importance to the state. Dan Perko moved to give authority to the funding subcommittee to pursue the three options outlined above. Seconded by Joe Evans. APPROVED. Outreach Activities/Articles - In Mark Joiner s absence, Rob Wilson reported he had been issuing frequent status reports via , and that there had been project coverage in the most recent issue of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities News. 4. PROJECT MANAGER S REPORT: Federal Engineering Deliverables - Robert Wilson reported there are two documents currently in publishing status from Federal Engineering. The Phase I document is being printed two-sided to reduce thickness. The Phase II document contains the business case for the WyoLink project and is in the editing process. The high level design issues are complete and the Executive Summary is unchanged. FE will update their website with the final documents when they are finished. Project Update - WYDOT has authorization to hire three at will (AWEC) employees. There have been many interviews. Ron Kisiki was asked to introduce Jerrene Braistad, who has been hired into his office as a grant writer. Her responsibilities include looking at all applicable federal and state grant opportunities, including dollar amounts and deadlines, and to tie them into project specific tasks for WyoLink. Dave Johnson expressed a hope that this process would produce a comprehensive package of funding for WyoLink. 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 3

4 PSWN Report - The final report from the PSWN/SAFECOM one day conference on November 6, has been received and posted on the WyoLink website. There will be a PSWN one day conference in Salt Lake City on January 22 nd, and another one in Lincoln, Nebraska on February 24th. Frequency Acquisition - Larry Sheridan passed around a sketch of the preliminary coverage based on sites recommended in the Federal Engineering study. It helps to determine sites for which frequency assignments will be requested. Hopefully, pursuing this course of action will eliminate waste with respect to having to build any new repeater sites. Mr. Sheridan said that he has been working with others on a preliminary talk group plan for WyoLink; this is helping firm up the scope of work for a Statewide Frequency Plan for the State of Wyoming WyoLink Digital VHF Trunked P25 Radio System. We envision retaining consultant services for RF System Engineering and Design Services, Frequency Coordination, and Formal FCC License Application Preparation and Submission. He is also looking into integrating conventional VHF channels into the trunked digital system, including the VTAC (VHF tactical) frequencies. The process is benefitting from prior efforts of Colorado and Nebraska. Interoperability Plan - Robert Wilson passed around a draft outline for developing an interoperability plan for Wyoming, to include coordination with adjacent states. This was created from a brainstorming session also including Larry Sheridan, Kent Drummond, and Brian Grimm (Wyoming Office of Homeland Security). Completion of the project could be assigned to a specific agency or the WyoLink governance body could make it a subcommittee task. This should be included on the next meeting agenda. 5. JOINT INITIATIVES/MONTANA: The agenda was modified at this point to accommodate travel schedules of some attendees. Montana - Jenny Hansen, Manager of Public Safety Services under the Montana Office of the Chief Information Officer, gave a very thorough report of communications development in her state. Ms. Hansen started off by saying that two years ago a senate bill created the Office of the Chief Information Officer and gave him authority over all IT activities, including public safety radio services. This bill also reactivated the Montana Public Safety Council which functions as the Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC), and represents both public and private sector public safety communications concerns. The SIEC serves as public safety communications advisor to the Governor. Montana held a two and a half day conference which was attended by most sheriffs and chiefs of police from around the state, to discuss their communications needs. The consensus was that the state needed to take the lead in solving the problem. To this end, they have developed six concept demonstration projects, for which federal grants have been requested and several received. They have followed the Alaska model and process and it has been very 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 4

5 successful. They re also working with the Military Department on threat assessment and are tied to the Homeland Security Task Force for access to the Office of Domestic Preparedness (ODP) funding. She said that people at the federal level want to hear about shared systems, including neighboring states. More information about the Montana project can be found at: Yellowstone National Park - Lane Baker, Deputy Chief Ranger, Yellowstone National Park, said that Yellowstone public safety communications plays a significant role. They have dignitaries through the park all the time, who then travel into Montana and Wyoming. Her dispatch center serves as the 911 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for the park s portion of Park County. Coordination with Montana and Wyoming public safety entities is important and being able to participate in the newly developing systems would be very helpful. Wyoming National Guard - Colonel Steve Smith said the Guard wants to be involved, but his troops are not considered first responders. He sees the guard s role as that of utilizing a cache of WyoLink compliant radios in the event the Guard would be involved in an incident requiring coordination with local public safety entities. This cache of radios would need to be supplied by WyoLink. Col. Smith introduced Captain Cisco Romero as a future representative to the Steering Committee and would like to have him involved in the interoperability working group. FE Warren Air Force Base (FEWAFB) - Captain Chad Rogers, Chief of Maintenance for Communications, said that the Air Force has mandated P25 narrow banding by January 1, 2005, so he is working in that direction for all his communications services. He will be the FEWAFB liaison to WyoLink. Capt. Rogers told the committee that their new system would: meet NTIA mandates for narrow banding, and will be trunked and encrypted. They expect to be operating in the NTIA VHF frequency band of MHz. Tribes - William Wagon, Eastern Shoshone Tribal Council, was a first time visitor to a Steering Committee meeting, but said he hopes to become involved in SC activities, as there is considerable interfacing between Tribal law enforcement and Fremont County law enforcement. Additionally, the Wind River Indian Reservation experiences areas of no coverage, which he would like to see enhanced. National Weather Service (NWS) - John Griffith stated that the NWS should be included in the WyoLink system, for purposes of expediting weather alerts to public safety personnel. Also, it would give personnel a means to check directly with NWS to receive information in the event of a weather occurrence in their area. NWS has five offices in the Wyoming area, three of which are physically outside the Wyoming borders; these five offices need some mechanism to participate in appropriate WyoLink talk groups. 6. PROJECT MANAGER S REPORT (cont.) 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 5

6 WyoLink Compatible Subscriber Equipment - Kent Drummond reported that he expects to have the WyoLink compatible equipment list ready for distribution next week. In order to save the time of having to issue separate RFP s for subscriber equipment, Motorola, EFJohnson, and M/A-Com have agreed to meet or beat the subscriber equipment prices published in the National WSCA purchasing agreement. These vendors are supplying lists of their respective WyoLink compatible equipment, from which counties and municipalities will be able to purchase with their Homeland Security grant funds MHz/VHF INTERFACE: Robert Wilson gave an overview of text modifications to the original resolution (Steering Committee minutes, October 29 th, 2003) which were proposed by Casper Fire and Police. He outlined concerns agreed to by the Steering Committee in an dialog since Casper s proposal, centering on two sentences to be added to paragraph three. Steering Committee members noted that funding is uncertain, but trust is essential. Chief Harshman encouraged the group not to give up on agreement too quickly. After wide-ranging discussion, Fran Cadez, Robert Wilson, and Mark Harshman agreed to meet after the mee6ting to work on rephrasing. (Note: The text of this effort appears at the end of these minutes. Casper FD/PD and Cheyenne FD chiefs signed the resolution before the end of the week.) 8. WYOLINK GOVERNANCE: Kelly Hamilton reported that Senate File 16 appears exactly as proposed last year. Fran Cadez has made suggestions and a draft of the modified version was passed around. Dan Perko voiced a concern about the increased size of the membership. Joe Evans thought that it was not correct to combine representation of the Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, as they have different responsibilities. It was agreed the membership should show individual representation of these two entities, which has the added benefit of creating an odd number of members, thereby ensuring no tie votes on any issues brought before this body. Fran Cadez agreed to coordinate with Representative Johnson to clean up the wording. 9. NEW BUSINESS: Design/Pilot Phase Location - Robert Wilson explained that the initial expenditure of $5.1 million is the amount planned for the design/pilot phase of the WyoLink project. The design/pilot phase could be located elsewhere in the state, but from a technological standpoint it makes the most sense to start it in southeast Wyoming. WyoLink will depend on microwave sites that are being gradually upgraded by WYDOT, starting in Cheyenne. If the pilot is done in the north or west, there is increased risk of the microwave being unready to link the pilot radios to the primary system controller in Cheyenne. Tim Hibbard added that technical personnel important to the pilot phase are located in Cheyenne, and he would prefer to minimize 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 6

7 windshield time when they are called to work on the pilot phase equipment. Dan Perko asked who all would be included in this phase; Mr. Wilson responded that it would incorporate at least 90 state, county, and municipal radios; with coverage over most of Laramie County, and possibly eastern Albany County. Joe Evans observed that southeast Wyoming also made sense for the design/pilot, due to the larger population in the Laramie/Albany county area. Mr. Wilson noted that the intent of the pilot will be to exercise the functionality of the new technology with realworld operations, before cutting over all public safety radio users from their old systems to WyoLink. across the state. Tim Hibbard moved that due to technological considerations the design/pilot phase should be concentrated in southeastern Wyoming. Seconded by Dave Kinghorn. APPROVED 9. NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT: Next meeting of the steering committee is March 15, 2004, 9:00 a.m., in Cheyenne, WYDOT Auditorium. Dave Kinghorn moved to adjourn, seconded by Dave Johnson. APPROVED. Meeting adjourned at 1:06 p.m. TEXT OF THE MODIFIED RESOLUTION FOLLOWS: To accommodate interoperability between the statewide public safety VHF network [i.e., WyoLink] and local 800 MHz systems in Casper and Cheyenne, the WyoLink Steering Committee RESOLVED, and the Casper and Cheyenne representatives concurred, that if funded, WyoLink will be designed and equipped in the following ways: 1. WyoLink will acquire a system that will overlay the Casper and Cheyenne 800MHz trunked systems; WyoLink will buy the connections necessary to provide "seamless interoperability" between the WyoLink and these other systems. WyoLink will not upgrade the Casper and Cheyenne 800 MHz systems beyond what is required for interoperability in areas where the existing systems' coverages overlap the WyoLink coverage area. WyoLink will not extend 800MHz system coverage elsewhere in the state. 2. "Seamless interoperability" between WyoLink users and the Casper and Cheyenne 800MHz users includes: shared talk groups, talk group merge, console priority override, and encryption functionality. WyoLink will interconnect such existing features with equivalent WyoLink features, but will not build them into the existing 800MHz systems if they do not already exist. Unit ID functionality is desirable between users of the two systems, but is not vital for seamless interoperability. 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 7

8 3. Interconnect of the WyoLink system with the Casper and Cheyenne 800 systems must not degrade any function or feature now provided to users within the existing 800MHz system. The interconnections between the WyoLink and Casper, and the WyoLink and Cheyenne 800 MHz systems will not employ an audio patch solution. END OF RESOLUTION 01/21/04 WyoLink Meeting Minutes -- Page No. 8