[MRIC] Meeting Minutes for the April 23, 2011 MRIC Meeting

[Chuck Hodell]

Copied below are the Minutes from the April 23, 2011 MRIC Meeting.  Any
additions or corrections should either be forwarded to me or be presented at
the meeting on Saturday before our vote for approval.

73 chuck n8adn
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Maryland RACES Interoperability Committee (MRIC)
 
Minutes for April 23, 2011 Meeting
 
Location: MEMA Headquarters, Camp Fretterd, Maryland
 
The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. by the Chair.
 
Attending were:
 
Frank Winner ­ Ann Arundel RO
George Remhof ­ Cecil ARO
William Hatfield ­ Montgomery DRO
Kenneth Greenhouse ­ Prince George RO
Al Fitzsimons ­ MEMA RO
Jim Devilbriss ­ Frederick RO
James Ridgley ­ Frederick
Russ Plante ­ Washington
Henry Black ­ MEMA
Bill Clark ­ Kent ARO
Kristin McMenamin ­ MEMA President
Tom Velvin ­ Kent ARO
Fred Bader ­ Montgomery RO
Brett Hammond ­ Talbot RO
Paul Tackish ­ Charles RO
Chuck Hodell - Queen Anne¹s RO and MRIC Chair
 
An agenda was presented for the meeting as follows:
 
- Welcome, Attendance and Introductions
- Update RO Contact Info
- Update MD RACES Frequency List
- Comments from the Association President - Kristin McMenamin
- Comments from the MEMA RACES Officer - Al Fitzsimons
- Uniform Credentialing and Resource Matching
- RACES 101 Presentation Concept
- Presentation by the Chair
- Staffing/training for the monthly MEMA Commex
- Winlink Demo by Bill Clark
- MRIC Website continuation
- Oct 2011 Meeting date and location confirmation
- Health and Welfare
- Adjournment

A Master copy of the MRIC RACES Contact List was circulated and changes made
as necessary by attending representatives and returned to the Chair for
amendment and distribution.
 
A Master copy of the MRIC RACES Frequency List was circulated and changes
made as necessary by attending representatives and returned to the Chair for
amendment and distribution.
 
A motion was properly made, seconded and passed to approve the minutes from
the October 23, 2010 MRIC meeting.
 
MEMA President Kristin McMenamin spoke to the group and reminded
participants of the MEMA meeting in Ocean City on May 31 to June 4, 2011.
 
At this time President McMenamin and MEMA RACES Officer Al Fitzsimons
presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Hank Black on the occasion of
this retirement from MEMA.  Mr. Black spoke about his work and career with
MEMA and many favorable comments were made by the group concerning Mr. Black
and the group¹s appreciation for his service and leadership to both MEMA and
the RACES MRIC group.
 
A discussion was held concerning the issue of uniform credentialing and
resource matching and the Chair read an email from Hartford RO Pat Scolla
representing Mr. Scolla¹s views on the issue. Also part of this discussion
were legal issues and the associated issue of the Good Samaritan Law and its
applicability during a RACES activation. It was agreed that the group would
continue the discussion at the October meeting.  Al Fitzsimons agreed to see
if any further information might be available.
 
The group discussed the concept of a RACES 101 presentation for
implementation across the state for a variety of audiences including
Emergency Managers, Health Departments and other groups that might benefit
from the information and potentially the support of RACES.  Brett Hammond,
Tom Velvin and Bill Clark agreed to work on the concept and report back at
the October meeting.
 
The Chair discussed the idea of having different jurisdictions attend and
work the monthly MEMA exercises from the Camp Fretterd location. Queen Annes
has already done so and found it very useful both for the county group and
MEMA.
 
The issue of the MRIC website was discussed and after viewing the site and
some discussion it was decided that the topic would be revisited at the
October meeting.
 
Bill Clark of Kent County made an excellent demonstration of his WinLink
portable station and an in depth and enlightening discussion followed.
 
There being no further business a proper motion was made, seconded and
passed to adjourn the meeting to reconvene again on October 22, 2011 at
10:30 a.m. at Howard County or another site to be determined and
communicated prior to the next scheduled meeting.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m.
 
Submitted by the MRIC Chair
 
Chuck Hodell