Minutes of February 13, 2001 Meeting

FINANCIAL REPORT

Checking Account Beginning Balance, January:                                                $3,255.44

-  Less check #1255 to Alan Robinson for annual website fee                          -    215.40

Checking Account Ending Balance, January                                                     $3,040.04

Savings Account Balance:                                                                                $   735.43

Total Bank Balance:                                       $3,775.47

  OLD BUSINESS

Interference from Nextel.   Chuck Zappala reported that AT&T is experiencing interference from Nextel in northern Washington counties in the Bellingham/ Mt. Vernon/Arlington areas.  He said the interference has previously existed but is now getting worse.  Nextel is working on it.  (OPEN)

Suggested Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws.  Shirley will email members a copy of the current Constitution which incorporates changes made last year.  Members will discuss it at the next meeting. (OPEN)

Unsolicited Faxes to WA EMD.  Kris McGowan contacted FCC/ HQ regarding the faxes EMD is receiving on their emergency fax line.  She has followed their instructions-- which is to send the faxes to the Enforcement Bureau Telecommunications Consumer Division.  Curt stated that EMD is still receiving faxes on that line.  (OPEN)

Nomination of Member at Large.  Harlan Ohlson emailed Shirley that he was glad to accept the WWCIC Member-at-Large #2 position.  (CLOSED)

461.075 MHz Interference to Wiztronics.    Dennis Anderson has been working with the surveying company to resolve the interference on 461.075 MHz to Wiztronics’ trunked system in the Mt. Vernon area.  Dennis asked the surveyors not to use that frequency in the Mt. Vernon area. (CLOSED)

700 MHz Planning Meetings.   The next meeting is scheduled for March 28 at 10:00 at the Washington State Patrol District Office in Bellevue.  Wiz is Chairperson of the Bylaw Subcommittee which met to draft bylaws.  They will be going out for final review and will be presented at the March 28 meeting.  Wiz encouraged anyone interested in 700 MHz to attend.  (OPEN)

Joint Meeting 2001. Shirley researched some websites in the Bellingham area for a new meeting location since Sudden Valley has been undergoing some alterations.  She had not found anything conclusive.  Jerry Noe suggested a couple of places that she will look into.  She will also touch base with Tom Lam of WCTC to coordinate the event.  So far, suggested items for the agenda are 700 MHz, Canadian ECOM system, and interference from Nextel.  (OPEN)

NEW BUSINESS

IX on 450 MHz.  Pat Buller brought up a case of interference from Inter-City Transit on 450 MHz.  He gave the technical readings and asked if the committee thought it was acceptable or if he should make a formal complaint.  The consensus of committee members was that it seemed unreasonable and that Pat should contact the licensee’s technician and try to get it resolved.  (OPEN)

Dues.  Discussion centered on annual expenses.  Shirley stated the website costs approximately $250.00.  Postage and printing have been reduced because of email capability.  Wiz asked if he should delete the Bulletin Board line. That will be decided at the next meeting.  A motion was made, seconded and passed to reduce dues for 2001 to $20.00.  (CLOSED)

Change in Meeting Location.  George Bisso gave notice last month that Sandusky wants WWCIC to move its meeting to a time after 2:30.  This would give WWCIC more accessibility to parking and give Sandusky use of their conference room in the morning when they need it most. George said that Sandusky would be expanding in the future and have a bigger conference room.  Members decided that commuter traffic would be a problem if the meeting started as late as 2:30.  Alternatives were discussed.  Steve Mayes will check into some possibilities and make an announcement before the next meeting.  (OPEN)

ITEMS OF INFORMATION

FCC.  Kris McGowan 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.

1)      FCC Seattle responded to a complaint of cellular phone interference from a device designed to light up upon call receipt.  The user was in the process of shipping back the “toy” which had only a small sticker in Korean affixed to the outside.  Spectrum analyzer tests confirmed the device was emitting signals in the cellular band.

2)      A clarification was made regarding Color Dot Frequencies.   Only VHF have been deregulated and are now under Part 95.

3)      FCC has a new Chairman—Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell.  He is concerned with slamming, supporting regulatory actions, defending broadcasters, scaling back FCC’s agenda, cutting regulatory red tape, and is a determined enforcer.  He dissented, in part, from FCC effort to provide low-powered radio licenses to religious and community groups.  Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth will not be seeking another appointment.

4)      FCC’s policy of permitting applicants one extra business day to file applications has ended.

5)      In the future, licenses will refer to ASR for tower marking specs so make sure ASRs agree with how the tower is actually painted and lit.

6)      Violations/Forfeitures/Contributions.

·        Two tower companies were assessed fines of $212,000 and $80,000 respectively, for violations relating to painting, lighting and registration of antennas.

·        Two paging company, $5,000 each, for operating a paging systems without authorization.

·        Two more tower companies, $18,000 and $17,000 respectively, for failure to post antenna structure registration numbers near base of antennas and for failure to file change of ownership information.

ULS.  Wiz commented that a recent license application on ULS went very well.  There has been a problem downloading some of the forms since FCC is in the process of converting from Word Perfect to Word.

The meeting adjourned at 11:15.

Shirley Perry

Secretary-Treasurer