informer-summer 2007 (3) - gaapco.com · page 3 summer, 2007 georgia apco the informer board...

Spring Conference Tops them All! The spring conference held at St. Simons Island was the best of the best. The turnout of participants was outstanding and the training offered was phenomenal. The vendor show was the most informative yet and the new conference schedule allowed conference attendees to spend time in the exhibit hall and not miss any training. Judge Paschal English, better known as “Pappy” from the television show Survivor Marquesas, delivered a stirring keynote address that made all of those in attendance think about the really important things in life. The Conference Committee changed the format of evening functions this year. The house band from local nightclub Ziggy Mahoney’s entertained us at the President’s Reception on Tuesday night. Thursday night was changed this year to allow more time for the presentation of awards and special recognitions. APCO International President, Wanda McCarley was in attendance to present Senior APCO Membership pins to Angela Bowen and Wray Hall. Ms. McCarley also presented Cheryl Greathouse with the Chapter Life Membership award and announced that Cheryl has been nominated for and recommended to receive APCO International’s most prestigious award, the Life Membership Award at this year’s annual conference in Baltimore. APCO has so much to offer to professionals in the field of Public Safety. The spring and fall conferences are prime examples of training opportunities and career connectivity. The Board works very hard to bring up to date information and provide the opportunity for all of us to stay connected. If you’ve never had to opportunity to attend an APCO conference, take the time to talk to those who have and learn of the valuable resources and knowledge that can be taken back and applied at your agency. Plans are underway for the fall conference and more information will be forth coming in the next edition of The Informer, so stayed tuned!

THE INFORMER Vol. 5 Issue 2 Summer 2007 Georgia Chapter of APCO E-Newsletter

2006-2007

Board of Officers

Peggy Glaze President

Carolyn Hunter Vice President

Angela Bowen Secretary

Barry Woodward Treasurer

Brian Burgamy Board Officer Mike Smith Board Officer

Jimmy Williams Board Officer Ted Wynn

Past President Executive Council Rep.

Elaine Sexton Ex-Officio Board Member

Wray Hall Ex-Officio Board Member

Larry Chester Commercial Advisory Member

Table of Contents

Message from President pg. 2 APCO Awards pg. 3 Baker County Sunshine Award pg. 4 Training Course Schedule pg. 5 Directors Training pg. 6 Frequency Farm pg. 7 Mission Critical pg. 8 Walk of Heroes pg. 12 Business Mtg. Minutes pg. 13 Membership Update pg. 16

Summer, 2007 Georgia APCO The Informer

President’s Corner

Vacations Recharge

Our Batteries

Have you taken your vacation yet? I did! I just re-turned from an eight day stay at beautiful Santa Rosa Beach, Florida where the beaches are so white and the water so clear! Ahhhhh! Relaxation! We all need a break from work whether it’s a long vacation or just a few days. Our minds need to be away from the emails, phone calls, scheduling, budg-eting, etc., etc. My hardest decision during vacation was…”Where do we eat tonight?”

Our employees truly deserve vacations. They strug-gle through stressful jobs every day of the week. Productivity goes down if they don’t get a break. Investment in good vacation planning reduces work-place stress absenteeism, health care costs and acci-dents. Many employees however, come back from vacation with the half-joking remark about having to return to work to get rest. Far too many people find vacations just as stressful as the jobs they do every day. Below are a few ways everyone can de-stress vaca-tions: ♦ Develop a vacation savings plan so you will be

financially prepared for the expenses. ♦ Prepare a budget. ♦ Research travel plans on the internet for great

deals. ♦ Plan ahead the daily activities. ♦ Accumulate leave time to be able to take a

lengthy vacation if you so desire. ♦ Discuss the dates you prefer to take leave with

your co-workers and supervisors in order to ob-tain the days needed.

These are just a few ideas that may help out. Relax and have fun! Rejuvenate for your return to the hec-tic work environment. Have a safe summer and I’ll see you at the Fall Training Conference!

Fall Conference November 6-9, 2007

Helen, Georgia


Board Members RECEIVE APCO SENIOR

MEMBERSHIP Designation

J. Barry Woodward, Sr., Chapter Treasurer, Senior Member

Senior Membership from National APCO is the second highest award that APCO can present one of it’s members. It is a culmination of years of hard work at both the chapter and association levels. Georgia Chapter Secretary Angela Bowen, and Georgia Frequency Advisor Wray Hall received their Senior Memberships at the Spring Conference in St. Simons Island, GA on March 15, 2007. These presentations were made by National President Wanda McCarley who was in attendance at the con-ference for the first time.

Georgia Chapter President Peggy Glaze was presented this high honor during the Gulf Coast Re-gional Conference on May 14, 2007. This presenta-tion was also made by national President Wanda McCarley. Congratulations to Peggy, Angie, and Wray on this important achievement in their careers. It is well deserved.

CHeRYL GREATHOUSE RECEIVEs CHAPTER LIFE AWARD,

RECOMMENDATION FOR NATIONAL LIFE AWARD

J. Barry Woodward, Sr., Chapter Treasurer, Senior Member

Past Chapter President Cheryl Greathouse received the highest Award that can be presented by a chapter of APCO when she was honored with the Chapter Life Award on March 15, 2007. The Georgia Board of Officers was able to surprise Cheryl by having APCO International President Wanda McCarley, who is a close friend of Cheryl’s, in attendance at the closing awards banquet of this year’s Spring Conference. The Board of Officers has also submitted a nomina-tion and recommendation to APCO International on behalf of the Georgia Chapter, for Cheryl to be awarded the National APCO Life Membership Award. The award must be voted on by the quorum of the business meeting at the National Conference in August, and will then be presented by the National Board of Officers. Life Membership in APCO is the highest award that a member can receive. This honor recognizes Cheryl’s years of dedicated professionalism and hard work on behalf of Georgia and APCO International. We are all proud of Cheryl and her accomplishments. She will be receiving this award at the national conference in Baltimore, please make plans to be there at the first business meeting on Sunday, August 5 at 5:00 p.m.


GEORGIA APCO BRINGS “SUNSHINE” TO BAKER COUNTY

SHERIFF’S OPERATOR J. Barry Woodward, Sr.,

Chapter Treasurer, Senior Member We all know about the devastating tornados that oc-curred on March 1 of this year in South Georgia, es-pecially in the Americus-Sumter County area. After checking with Middle Flint Regional 911 Center Di-rector Ellice Fancher, the board determined that none of her operators were directly affected. However, while watching news coverage of the storms, Board Secretary Angela Bowen recognized a recent gradu-ate of the Basic Communications Officer Training Course. Ms. Cynthia Broadway of the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, and her parents all lost their homes in the tornado. Angela was touched by the story, not only because of the complete devastation of the events, but because of Cynthia’s sparkling personality and “smiling heart”. Baker County is a very small county in South Geor-gia, and Ms. Broadway is not only the radio operator, but the records clerk and jailer as well. During her time in class at GPSTC, Cynthia always had a posi-tive attitude and enthusiasm for the job. Now she had lost everything she had to this storm. During the Spring Conference in St. Simons, Cyn-thia’s story was relayed to National APCO President Wanda McCarley. President McCarley set the wheels in motion access the APCO International “Sunshine Fund”. The Sunshine Fund began after Hurricane Katrina to help Communications personnel devas-tated by disasters. It is funded completely by dona-tions from APCO members and others. President McCarley and Georgia President Peggy Glaze con-tacted APCO Executive Director George Rice who authorized a check of $250.00 from the Sunshine Fund for Ms. Broadway. The Georgia Chapter Board of Officers in conjunction with it’s membership, con-tributed a matching donation of $250.00. On Friday, May 4, 2006, members of the Board of Officers traveled to Albany, Georgia where Ms. Broadway is currently staying until her residence can be rebuilt, to personally deliver these checks from

both National APCO and Georgia APCO. These kind of actions make us proud to be APCO members, and that we can bring a little “Sunshine” to someone’s life.

Pictured left to right: Board Members Larry Chester; Jimmy Williams; Brian Burgamy; Peggy Glaze, President; Sunshine Fund recipient Cynthia Broadway; Board Officer Barry Woodward; and, Sherada Morgan, APCO Regional Ambassador for Southwest Georgia.

Tornado damage is Southwest Georgia in early March, 2007.

communications Training course dates for

July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008

Basic Communications officer training

July 23-27, 2007

August 20-24, 2007 September 10-14, 2007

October 8-12, 2007 November 26-30, 2007

December 3-7, 2007 January 14-18, 2008 February 25-29, 2008 March 24-28, 2008 April 21-25, 2008

May 5-9, 2008 June 2-6, 2008

The original PostForm 2 (P-2) with the embossed seal must be attached to the student authorization form when submitted to the Registrar’s Office. Copies or Facsimiles can not be accepted. Students cannot be accepted into class until the original P-2 has been re-ceived. Register early. Students who have been employed more than six months, tuition in the amount of $480.00 must be paid on the first day of class unless other arrangements have been made prior to the start of the class. Additionally, those students will not be eligible for free meals or lodging. Meal tickets and lodging in the dormitories are available for an addi-tional charge. Lodging is $14.00 per night. Meal tick-ets are available for $12.00 per day. Additional course dates have been reserved but not published, to accommodate increased demand.

Communications training officer (CTO)

40 hours

October 17-19, 2007 April 15-17, 2008

June 24-June 26, 2008

This course is designed to teach certified and regis-tered Communications Officers how to train others during one-one-one and small group teaching sessions. Included in the course will be information on objec-tively evaluating and documenting performance, and other topics. See the GPSTC Course Calendar for further details.

Suicidal callers 8 hours

April 2, 2008

Open to all Communications Officers.

Professional survival

8 hours

September 19, 2007 (Date subject to change)

Open to all Communications Officers.


New Training in development Angela Bowen, Senior member

GPSTC communications training coordinator Georgia APCO chapter secretary

The Georgia Public Safety Training Center is in initial stages of the curriculum design process for a new train-ing course designed specifically for Communication Center Managers. The process is expected to take ap-proximately eight months from the initial occupational analysis to the delivery of a pilot course. Invitations to attend the pilot course will be extended to those Managers and Directors who assist in the Occu-pational Analysis Workshop (OAW) conducted at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center on June 19-21, 2007. The panelist for the OAW were selected from a recommendations of the 9-1-1 Directors Association, Georgia APCO, and Georgia NENA. These panelist represent all of the highly effective Communications Di-rectors and Managers throughout the State. The development of this course is in response to the enactment of House Bill 394. (See the full text at http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2007_08/sum/hb394.htm). Section 2 of the bill, under 46-5-138.2 (b) reads “In addi-tion to any training required under federal or state law, any persons serving as a director may enroll in, attend, and complete satisfactorily a course of training and instruction on the management of public safety answering points and the establishment and operation of 9-1-1 systems. Such course of instruction for directors shall be developed and made available by the center subject to the availability and receipt of funding.” While this training is still in the early stages of development, the course promises to make history. Georgia will be the first state in the nation to offer training of this kind. It is my goal that every Communications Course offered by the Georgia Public Safety Training Center meet or exceed the standards set by industry ex-perts. Stay tuned for future updates!


The Conference Committee is soliciting presentation proposals for our annual

Spring Training Conference to be held the week of March 3-7, 2008 at the King and Prince

Beach Resort on beautiful St. Simons Island. Check our website at www.gaapco.com for

details as they become available.


DOWN ON THE

FREQUENCY FARM... Summer 2007

By Wray Hall - State Frequency Coordinator

HEADLINES – FCC NPRM Amendment of Part 90 of the Commis-sion’s Rules 800 MHz Band Reconfiguration 700 MHz Region 10 Plan 821 MHz NPSPAC: (National Plan) ------------------------------------------------------------- FCC NPRM Amendment of Part 90 of the Commis-sion’s Rules – On May 14, 2007, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order, WP Docket No. 07-100 FCC 07-85, which may induce drastic changes and measures to the licensing rules and requirements for Part 90 users. Specifically, the public land mobile radio systems (PLMRS) in all parts of the frequency spectrum. Licensees are prospective licen-sees are invited to peruse this NPRM at the following web site: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-85A1.pdf Comments on the NPRM may be filed by July 14, 2007. Some of the affected portions and provisions are as follows: Frequency Coordination and Related Mat-ters, Paging on Public Safety VHF Frequencies, Cross-Banding, Mobile Repeaters, Expired Licenses, Multiple Licensing, Transit Systems and Toll Roads, Industrial/Business Pool Eligibility, Disturbance of AM Broad-cast Station Antenna Patterns, FB8T Station Class, Reorganization of Part 90, and 4.9 GHz Band. 800 MHz Band Reconfiguration: Georgia as a region is in the third wave during the three year period which began in January 2006. The project continues through Phase I and Phase II, but expect some changes to completion dates. The Transition Ad-ministrator will be at the RPC meetings Wednesday, June 20, 2007, to discuss progress and issues (see next column above).

REGION 10 (GEORGIA) PUBLIC SAFETY RE-GIONAL PLANNING COMMITTEES AN-NOUNCE 700 MHz REGIONAL PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING AND 821 MHz RE-GIONAL REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING PR Docket No. 92-189 The Region 10 (Georgia) Public Safety Regional Plan-ning Committees will hold two planning meetings on Wednesday, June 20, 2007. The 700 MHz Public Safety Regional Planning Committee will convene at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, Conference Center Bay B, Exit 188, I-75, Forsyth, Georgia, from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. The purpose of this meet-ing is to review and approve the draft Region 10 700 MHz regional plan. The 800 MHz Public Safety Regional Planning Com-mittee will convene at the same location from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. The purpose of this meeting is to re-view the progress of the 800 MHz band transition in Region 10, to discuss the latest revision of the plan, reallocation of channel assignments, and the feasibility of reengineering the plan. Both of the Region 10 Public Safety Regional Planning Committee meetings are open to the public. All eligi-ble public safety providers whose sole or principal pur-pose is to protect the safety of life, health, or property in Region 10 may utilize these frequencies. All interested parties wishing to participate in the plan-ning for the use of the public safety spectrum in the 700 MHz / 821 MHz bands are encouraged to attend. COORDINATE AND COMMUNICATE

CONTACT INFORMATION: Wray Hall, State Frequency Coordinator GTA Support Services - Operations Division 254 Washington Street SW, Ground Floor Atlanta, GA 30334-8400 Tel: 404-656-2042 Fax: 404-657-0320 E-Mail: [email protected]

The following article was originally published in the June 2007 issue of RadioResource Mission Critical Communications and

is reprinted here with the express written permission of the publishers.


APCO International WALK OF HEROES HONORS TWO GEORGIA MEMBERS

By: J. Barry Woodward, Sr., Chapter Treasurer, Senior Member

A few years back, after the untimely deaths of members Judy Bryant and George Murray, the Chapter voted to purchase two bricks to be displayed on the “Walk of Heroes” at APCO International Headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. After waiting to what seemed like an eternity for these bricks to be done, they were finally in-stalled last year. While on vacation on Orlando in February, Trish, the boys and I took a side trip over to Daytona, and stopped by APCO International Headquarters and took some pictures of the “Walk” and of the 2 bricks the Georgia Chapter purchased. There are a lot of memories attached not only to these 2, but a lot of others of the leaders of APCO over the years. If you are ever in the Daytona area, stop and spend a little time there, it is certainly a history lesson. APCO Headquarters is located 351 N. Williamson Boulevard, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114.

These minutes will be voted on for approval at the Chapter Business Meeting on Tuesday, November 6, 2007

APCO Spring TRAINING CONFERENCE 2007 Business Meeting Minutes

St. Simons Island, Ga. Tuesday, March 14, 2007

Welcome and Call to Order President Peggy Glaze welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 12:02 pm. She recognized first time attendees, new members, and vendors. The invocation was offered by Board Officer Stanley Savage. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ed Marsden. Keynote Address The keynote address was offered by Judge Paschal English. Old Business Secretary’s Report Angela Bowen reported that our current membership is at 292, with 111 that have not renewed. She encour-aged anyone who is not current to see a board officer. The minutes of the November business meeting were posted on the website and in The Informer. Brian Bur-gamy made a motion to accept the minutes of the November 7, 2006 business meeting. The motion was sec-onded by Gayla Riddle. There was no discussion and the motion passed unanimously.

Conference Report Angela Bowen gave a report on the current conference and announced that we will just about break even. She asked the attendees to let the Board of Officers know of any suggestions or problems they might have. Executive Council Report Barry Woodward gave the Executive Council Report for Ted Wynn. A motion was made by Elaine Sexton to approve the report. Trish Woodward offered a seconded of the motion. There was no discussion, and the quo-rum voted unanimously to accept the report. Treasurer’s Report Barry Woodward gave the Treasurer’s Report. A motion was made by Ed Marsden and a second was offered by Trish Woodward. There was no discussion, and the quorum voted unanimously to accept the report. A copy of the report was made available to the membership.

The Informer Summer, 2007 Georgia APCO

Regional Ambassador’s Report Brian Burgamy recognized the Regional Ambassador’s and introduced them according to their region. Brian told the attendees that the Board will contact Subject Matter Experts to conduct training within the regions. No motion was required.

Frequency Advisor Report State Frequency Advisor Wray Hall gave the Frequency Advisors Report and encouraged everyone to attend the regional NPSPAC meetings. GEMA Update Elaine Sexton told everyone that GEMAs current efforts were focused on the SW Georgia Area affected by the tornado on March 1. She also gave an update about the 911 Heros Appreciation Day and encouraged everyone to keep track of calls involving kids under the age of 12 that report a true emergency. She also told everyone about the Governors Emergency Conference in May and encouraged everyone to attend. New Business Fall 2007 Conference Carolyn Hunter talked about the possible venues for the Fall conference, including Unicoi and Brasstown Bald. She asked for other suggestions as well and told everyone to put suggestions on their Attendee Survey Sheet. Spring 2008 Conference and Survey Mike Smith explained the survey and asked for feedback about the conferences. He explained some of the con-cerns including space issues and room prices. He talked about the site exploratory committee that was formed to identify alternative conference venues for the Chapter. Legislative Update Mike Smith reported the HB394 made it out of the full committee and is going to the House floor to be voted on. He encouraged everyone to contact their State Representative and encourage them to pass the bill. Once the bill is voted on improved in the House the bill will move to the Senate and the process will start over. He encouraged everyone to make sure they contact their representatives and encourage the bill to pass. Brian men-tioned that if anyone is not receiving e-mails about legislative updates to see him. It is important that everyone keep this bill alive. National Telecommunications Week President Glaze reminded everyone of National Telecommunicators Week the second full week of April and encouraged everyone to recognize their Communications Officers.


Telecommunicator of the Year Peggy Glaze mentioned Kelly Hutchinson of Fayette County 911 as the Georgia APCO Telecommunicator of the Year. Nominating Committee Report Barry Woodward gave a nominating committee report. Candidates were given two minutes to speak to the quorum. Kelly Barnard spoke first, followed by Jimmy Williams. Barry gave an overview of the election procedure. Active Members were asked to leave the room by the door on the left, where they would receive a ballot. If there were questions about voting eligibility, those were re-solved as they came back in the door on the right. After making their selection, members dropped their ballot in the ballot box. After all the ballots were cast, the Election Committee, Chaired by Barry Woodward and comprised of Angelia Jennings and Elaine Sexton counted the votes. After the votes were counted, Barry an-nounced that Jimmy Williams had won the election. There being no further business, a motion was made by Angela Bowen to adjourn the business meeting. The motion was seconded by Trish Woodward and carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted by: Angela Bowen, Chapter Secretary


The Informer Summer 2007 Georgia APCO

Membership Update

The Board of Officers of Georgia APCO would like to welcome the new members who have joined or renewed their membership in APCO since our last newsletter.

We value your membership in our organization and will work with you to shape the future of public safety communications in Georgia.

WELCOME new and renewing members!!

The more members we have...the stronger our organization will be. We have accomplished so much yet there is so much more we need to do.

Help us make our organization grow stronger…

Recruit a new member today!

400

369 Current Georgia

Chapter Membership Total

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