In the absence of Chairman George Bisso, Vice Chairman Steve Mayes called the meeting to order at 9:40.  Minutes of the January meeting were reviewed and approved except as noted.  Under Old Business, in the paragraph Interference from Nextel IX , “but he can’t determine why” is deleted.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Checking Account Balance:                        $2,841.00

Savings Account Balance:                        $1,242.23

OLD BUSINESS

  Washington State Patrol (WSP) Squak Repeater.  Pat Buller reported there is no change in the interference. The National Weather Service has indicated a willingness to cooperate if they receive a formal letter from WSP documenting the problem.  The letter has been drafted but not yet released from WSP.  Mr. Elston reiterated that Customs would not be willing to move.   (OPEN)

  Interference from Nextel.   The situation continues to spread.  Spencer Bahner of Snohomish County is in the process of preparing a position paper on the status of interference between Nextel and 800 MHz public safety systems.  He is soliciting detailed information about specific occurrences of interference from Nextel.  Call him at 425-257-8538 if you have an input.  Loren Postma gave everyone a copy of a paper authored by Bernie Olson of Motorola, Inc. entitled, “Site Interference to Subscriber units”.  (OPEN)

  2000 Joint Meeting With Canada.  Dennis Reanier was not available to comment. (OPEN)

  Letter of Determination from IRS.   Shirley has prepared a draft of the Form 1023.  She has formed a team with Curt Kyle, Wiz, Pat Buller, and Steve Mayes, and will fax them a copy of the draft for review along with a short list of items that need clarification.  (OPEN)

  New Elections for WWCIC Officers.  The following individuals were elected by unanimous vote:

¨      President:  Steven Mayes

¨      Vice President:  Gerald Broerman

¨      Secretary/Treasurer:  Shirley Perry

  Members at Large will be announced at the March meeting.  (OPEN)

  Changes to Constitution and Bylaws.  Members voted unanimously to amend the Constitution and Bylaws as follows:

  ¨      Article VII, paragraph (1), of the Constitution is changed to:  “ The Secretary Treasurer may serve consecutive terms at the discretion of the Executive Council.”

  ¨      Article IX, Paragraph (2), of the Bylaws is changed to:  “The Secretary-Treasurer shall transmit notices of special meetings to the membership at least two weeks prior to the date of each special meeting.”

  ¨      Paragraph (3) is added to Article IX of the Bylaws: “Minutes of the meeting will be transmitted to members one week prior to the upcoming meeting.” (CLOSED)

  Dues Assessment for 2000.  Deferred to the March meeting.  (OPEN)

  Site Standards.  Several  members had inputs for recommended revisions to the site standards. Pat Buller will incorporate them in a draft rewrite and email to Shirley.  She will, in turn, ensure all members receive them for review.  (OPEN)

  Trunking Protocol.  Wiz will brief the committee on trunking protocol at the March meeting.  His briefing will be first on the agenda.  (OPEN)

NEW BUSINESS

  More Suggested Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws.  Rich Tiedeman presented many more suggested changes.  It was requested that he provide an email copy of his suggestions to all members for consideration and discussion at the next meeting.  (OPEN)

  WSP Items of Interest.   Pat Buller is looking into a case of interference from Pierce, Kitsap and Grays Harbor Counties.  It appears one licensee is operating outside license parameters.  A complaint has been filed with APCO.  (INFO)

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

-          Formation of Licensing Bureau.  Is being considered by a special team.  It would concentrate functions now scattered among several bureaus.

-          Low Power FM.  FCC approved two new classes of FM radio – one operation at maximum power of 100 watts and one at maximum power of 10 watts, limited to 3.5 miles.  Both will be authorized in a manner that protects existing FM service and will be operated on a noncommercial educational basis by entities that do not hold an attributable interest in any other broadcast station.

-          Chairman’s Priorities. Funding E-rate; promote access to communications equipment for the disabled; launch national dialog on the public interest obligations of American broadcasters; adoption of EEO rules to “help shatter glass ceilings”;  keeping nation’s broadband infrastructure open to competition; tracing deployment of broadband services “to maximize use..”; promoting digital TV and making compatible with cable networks; reforming access charges; and making merger review process faster and more transparent.

-          Super Bowl.  The Atlanta Office worked to eliminate seven cases of interference at the event.

-          Violations.  $100,000 for unauthorized PCS station; $20,000 to William Flippo for operation of unlicensed station and malicious interference to amateur communications.

-          24 and 39 GHz.  U.S. and Canada reached an agreement regarding sharing these bands along the border.

-          220-222 MHz.  U.S. and Canada reached an agreement regarding use of this band along the border.

-          EEO Rules.  New EEO rules for broadcasters have been adopted.

-          Public Safety National Coordination Committee.  Has been established to advise the Commission on a variety of issues relating to use of 24 MHz of spectrum in 764-776/794-806 MHz bands.

-          EAS.  The Emergency Alert System National Advisory Committee will meet on February 25 in Washington DC to consider emergency communications matters.

-          Part 95.   FCC proposes to authorize use of 406.025 MHz for personal locator beacons.

-          TV Channels 60 – 69.  FCC has adopted licensing and service rules governing operation of 30 of the 36 MHz of spectrum located in the 700 MHz band that will be auctioned later this year.

-          E911.  Recent petitions by Ericsson, Inc. and ICSA were denied.

-          Antenna Registration.  Registration data is now available on the Internet.

-          IECIC.  Denny will be attending the Inland Empire Cooperative Interference Committee (IECIC) meeting in Spokane next month.  WWCIC gave him approval to take along a copy of the draft site standards revision.

Part 15.  Mr. Ohlson inquired about an FM device that is being used in malls, churches, and other public gatherings.  Dennis explained it is legal under Part 15 and does not need to be licensed.  The range is up to a city block.  (INFO)

City of Tumwater. Jerry Noe gave a heads-up that the City of Tumwater is having a problem with co-channel interference.  They are trying to identify the source. (INFO)

Interference Complaint Form.  Alan Robinson received an inquiry as to whether WWCIC had an interference complaint form.  No one present had knowledge of such a form.  Alan will design one for the web site.  (OPEN)

US/USMC Annual Spectrum Management Seminar.  Rich Tiedeman provided a briefing on subject meeting which he attended in San Diego earlier this month.  There were approximately 140 attendees including representatives from the military branches, the Joint Forces, and FCC.  The topics discussed were GPS jamming, DOD spectrum, NTIA/FCC, warfare training activities that affect home electronics (in particular, garage door openers), Navy interference to systems in the Northwest, coordination between the various military commands to avoid interference problems, Kosovo versus Desert Storm, hindrance of training activities due to FCC and FAA restrictions, and third generation worldwide cellular frequencies.   Rich suggested that WWCIC send a representative next year to brief at the seminar.  He will let Alan know the web site address for the seminar.  (INFO)

The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

Secretary-Treasurer