George Bisso called the meeting to order at 9:50.  Minutes of the November meeting were reviewed and approved. 

FINANCIAL REPORT

Checking Account Balance:                        $2,841.00

Savings Account Balance:                           $1,241.25

OLD BUSINESS

Washington State Patrol (WSP) Squak Repeater.    National Weather Service, WSP, King County, and BPA have expressed willingness to cooperate in resolving the interference problem to WSP and help clean up the site, which would be the long-term solution.  An interim fix would be for U.S. Customs to move to another frequency; however, an agreement with Customs has not been reached.  WWCIC members recommended that interested parties meet, at the appropriate level, to try and find a resolution to the problem.  (OPEN)

Interference from Nextel IX.   There was continued discussion about forming a committee with the purpose of generating national interest; however, nothing definite was decided.  (OPEN)

2000 Joint Meeting With Canada.  Dennis Reanier volunteered to chair an ad hoc committee to discuss preliminary plans.  Others who volunteered to assist are George Bisso, Don Jones, and Kim Torp-Pedersen.  (OPEN)

Letter of Determination from IRS.  Shirley ordered a form and publication from the IRS automated voice line but they haven’t come yet.  (OPEN)

NEW BUSINESS

New Elections for WWCIC Officers.  Steven Mayes made a motion that nominations for officers be made at the January meeting and votes be taken at the February meeting.  Motion was seconded and passed.  A copy of the by-laws is attached.  (OPEN)

WSP Items of Interest.   Pat Buller sent an application for modification to a microwave license to FCC 21 months ago. FCC just responded for the first time that WSP does not comply with all requirements.  He has left voice mails but, so far, has not received a callback.  (INFO)

Meeting Minutes.   In the future, each item in the WWCIC minutes will reflect whether the topic is open or closed.  If open, it will be carried forward to each meeting until it is stipulated as closed.  In addition, an agenda for the next meeting will be attached to minutes.  Please let Shirley know if you have a new item of business for the agenda.  (CLOSED)

Broadcast Items of Interest.  George relayed the following:

¨      Out of 3,000 visiting broadcasters to Seattle for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Conference, only CNN asked for frequency coordination.  For others, it was a chaotic free-for-all.  (INFO)

¨      In regard to Y2K, broadcast internal procedures are in place.  In addition, all transmitter sites will switch to generator.  Since Seattle is in the west, any potential problems should be identified well in advance.  (INFO)

FCC Items of Interest.  Dennis Anderson reported on the following FCC issues.   Most FCC documents can be found on FCC's web site:  http:/www.fcc.gov.  If you would like a hard copy, please contact Shirley Perry.  (INFO)

¨      Taco Time was fined $11,000 for violating FCC rules.

¨      Rules were amended to establish a Medical Implant Communications Service in the 402-405 MHz band.

¨      Steps were taken to remove impediments to the deployment of enhanced 911 (E911) services for wireless users.

¨      Seattle agents were on hand at the WTO Conference to assist if interference occurred to public safety.  No problems were experienced as most demonstrators used Family Radio Service (FRS) frequencies.  They did, however, investigate a pirate operation on Turner Mountain which was operating on 87.9 in a tree using a generator.  Although they were using less than 100W with a directional antenna towards Seattle, they could be heard from Everett down to Olympia. The pirate shut down shortly after FCC located their site.

¨      The Compliance and Information Bureau no longer exists.  Two new bureaus have been formed called Enforcement Bureau (EB) and Consumer Information Bureau (CIB).  The field offices are part of EB.

¨      Fines in the amount of $15,000 have been issued to broadcast stations for violating rules limiting the amount of commercials aired during children’s programming.  WTB has also issued fines for failure to file license renewal applications in a timely manner.

Secretary-Treasurer