HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Non-Agenda ItemReceived After Agenda Printed
July 13, 2021
Non -Agenda Item
From: City Clerk"s Office
To: Mulvey. Jennifer; Rieff. Kim
Subject: FW: Comments 7/13/2021 City Council Meeting
Date: Monday, July 12, 20214:20:34 PM
From: Peter Putnam <ni6e@twc.com>
Sent: Monday, July 12, 20214:20:25 PM (UTC -08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: City Clerk's Office <CityClerk@newportbeachca.gov>
Subject: Comments 7/13/2021 City Council Meeting
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content is safe.
Item One
Newport Beach Emergency Operations Plan
The City of Newport Beach has a plan for coping with an emergency situation in the city.
Curiously, it's called the Emergency Operations Plan. You can read a copy at the library or
download it from the City of Newport Beach website.
One of the elements of the plan is the RACES program; the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency
Service, a group of amateur radio operators trained to provide communications in an
emergency.
The Newport Beach Police Department cancelled their support for the RACES program in
March of this year, effectively editing the Emergency Operations Plan on the fly and
preventing the city from fulfilling the requirements of the program.
I repeat my request, previously presented in wring to all members of the City Council, for the
City Manager, acting as the Director of
Emergency Services, to appoint a new RACES Coordinator that can take full advantage of the
group's technical capabilities and restore the missing element of the Emergency Operations
Plan.
Item Two
Emergency Equipment Sitting Idle
The City of Newport Beach spent more than $23,000 in early 2016 to provide radio voice
repeaters enabling amateur radio operators as well as first responders from the fire and police
departments to communicate from one area in the city to another in case of an emergency.
Five repeaters were installed at the City Yard and one was installed in the radio room at the
Police Department.
All have been quietly serving their intended purpose for more than five years.
In a surprise move, all six repeaters were directed to be turned off by the Newport Beach
Police Department on May 2nd, 2021, without notice and without cause. The equipment has
been sitting idle for more than two months, unusable by the citizens, and, ironically, unusable
by first responders as well. This action adversely affects the safety of all of the citizens of
Newport Beach who can no longer communicate from one area to another due to terrain that
blocks direct radio signals.
Therefore, I request the radio repeater equipment be put back on the air so it can be used as
intended by the nearly 500 licensed amateur radio operators living in Newport Beach who paid
for it.
Peter Putnam
1700 Dover Dr
Newport Beach, CA
92660
From:
Peter Putnam
To:
City Clerk"s Office
Subject:
City Council Meeting Notes
Date:
Monday, July 12, 20214:58:34 PM
[EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content
is safe.
Dear Council:
As a 47 -yr resident of NB, an FCC -licensed radio operator and a
professional geologist, I was more than dismayed to find that the NB
Police Department recently eliminated the citizen -volunteer, emergency
communications group known by the acronym of "RACES" (Radio Amateur
Civil Emergency Service). Some 31 of 34 incorporated cities in Orange
County participate in this volunteer program to provide back-up
communications for all City departments in the event of natural or
man-made disasters. And Newport Beach is likely one of the most
vulnerable cities in the County.
Specifically, Council members representing the densely populated
Peninsula, our islands and any area immediately below the Bluffs, should
be particularly concerned, for these areas especially prone to floods,
tsunamis, high -seismic ground shaking and related liquefaction.
Likewise, many Bluff -view residents are subject to landslides and other
ground failures, particularly during and immediately after "El Nino"
rainfall and seismic events. And our Canyon residence are inherently
prone to wildfires. And, topping off these natural hazards, NB
residents off the end of the main JWA Runway inherently face yet another
catastrophe. It seems painfully obvious that organized citizen
volunteerism should be lauded, rather than dismissed.
A volunteer communications colleague recently noted that City -financed
radio repeaters were installed at the City Yard and at the PD. All were
maintained and operated by the FCC -licensed volunteers. Various drills
sustained the integrity of the system for potential emergency
communications with, and between NB HOA's, Orange County Communications
Center and our bordering cities, the latter particularly required in
event of essential mutual aid. But all this time and City funds are now
seemingly "lost." What a shame to lose such human and technical
resources that benefit our citizenry. We can only hope that our
present Council will review the recent PD decision and react accordingly
for the benefit of all our residents."
Respectfully,
Roy J. Shlemon, Ph.D.
PO Box 3066
Newport Beach, CA 92659-0620
(0)949-675-2696
Cell: 949-874-7966