Hello WEACT team!
I had a chance to sit down with Rayvon last week to update him on WEACT progress. The overall message I took away from our meeting was that Rayvon and the airport staff supports WEACT completely.
Good news.....WEACT now has a seat at the city EOC table top exercises held semiannually. Rayvon just completed one with the city and arranged for a representative from WEACT to participate on a regular basis from now on. The new police chief, David Honda, is excited to have WEACT as an asset!!
A gas generator has been installed near the conex boxes. It is in Hank Wempe's hangar so we will have to contact him to access the controls. The generator has a push button to start; it does not automatically start upon an electrical shutdown. I will add Hank's name and number to our contact sheet in the notebooks. The generator will power the comm shack and supply electricity to the conex boxes.
I presented Rayvon with a list of items we have talked about purchasing to see if there was a WEACT budget. We aren't really a line item in the airport budget but Rayvon indicated he could use his discretionary airport funds. He asked that I give him the same list with prices attached and he'll see what he can do. I'll attach the list I made up......please add any items I missed or you think you might need in your department.
I will speak with Mitch Robinson of Freedom Signs about making up 2 or 3 "Relief Flights" direction signs.
Rayvon is checking with the city to determine the requirement for an annual volunteer form to be filled out by each WEACT volunteer and pilot.
Rayvon confirmed that during our exercises, pilot will get the "charity fuel rate"...$1.00 off the truck price or $.60 off the fuel island price. During an actual emergency, the airport will prioritize who gets fuel and WEACT will be at the top of the list. The airport will supply the fuel to the WEACT pilot at no charge and get a reimbursement from FEMA later. The airport backup generator should be able to power the fuel island.
Rayvon asked that we come up with a list of ways to make the conex boxes better suited for our mission and needs. So please bring your ideas to our next meeting on October 4th. Some ideas: electrical lines from the generator, overhead fans, lighting??
Bob, I apologize! I think I sent my last round of emails to your old email address. I suggested we move the meeting from 9/27 to 10/4 so those of us participating in the SCAPA DART exercise on 10/1 could bring back our feedback. I hope this works for you.
Next meeting......Tuesday, 10/4, 5pm. How about we start the meeting at the conex boxes? See you all then!!
Blue skies!
Marjorie
