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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole October 18 20051 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Special Committee Of The Whole October 18, 2005 Council Chair Laurie Caskey- Schreiber called the meeting to order at 12:20 p.m. in the Council Committee Room, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Present: Barbara Brenner Dan McShane Sharon Roy L. Ward Nelson Absent: Sam Crawford Seth Fleetwood 1. APPROVAL OF A REQUEST TO SEND A LETTER TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATION COMMISSION (FCC) REGARDING RADIO INTERFERENCE IN FERNDALE (AB2005 -071) Brenner asked if the Council has any concerns about the letter she proposes. The Council discussed this in the past, but didn't send a letter two years ago because it wasn't during the license renewal period. A letter from Rick Larsen's office went to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), which responded with the renewal date of February 2006. A representative from Rick Larsen's office worked on this last week with 12 or 14 other people, including a quorum of the Ferndale City Council. One of the City Council Members left because there was a quorum, but first expressed support of the letter. Caskey- Schreiber stated she invited someone from the radio station. Brenner stated that's good. She sent the radio station stuff originally, but she never heard back. Andy Struiksma, KRPI Manager, P.O. Box 3213, Ferndale, stated mail sent to the street address on Imhof Road will be returned. Brenner stated her mail was returned. Special Committee of the Whole, 10/18/2005, Page 1 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. 1 Struiksma stated mail has to go to the mailing address at the post office. 2 Sometimes they will deliver it if it goes to the street address and sometimes they 3 don't. 4 5 Caskey- Schreiber stated people have not complained directly to him. 6 7 Brenner stated people probably sent the letters to the street address. 8 9 Caskey- Schreiber stated all the letters are really old. 10 11 Brenner stated a group met last week who are opposed to radio frequency 12 interference, as well as the majority of the Ferndale City Council, and are still 13 having problems. 14 15 Struiksma stated the main issue is whether KRPI is transmitting illegally. 16 They are not transmitting illegally, according to the FCC and annual inspections by 17 an outside firm. 18 19 Another question is of why the interference occurs. Most of the complaints 20 are for problems with telephones, which are not supposed to pick up interference. 21 If interference occurs, the phones are designed improperly, according to the FCC. 22 Usually, it's simple to solve the interference. Ferndale is not the only city affected 23 by interference. It's a problem across the United States and in other countries 24 when people are near a radio station. When people are close enough and have 25 devices that are improperly designed, it is capable of picking up a radio station. 26 Radio Shack stocks a radio interference filter that is not designed just for people 27 who live in Ferndale. 28 29 A question is about who is responsible to solve the problem. The FCC says 30 that the station is fully responsible both financially and technically to address any 31 issues the first year. That is true any time there is a change in power or other 32 things. The station has done that. After that, individuals with a telephone issue 33 are encouraged to contact the manufacturer of the device. The station has the 34 obligation to assist technically to see that the problem is solved, although the 35 station is not obligated to bear any of the financial burden of that. That is clearly 36 laid out in FCC documentation. He handed out FCC documentation (on file). 37 38 Finally, a question is how the station has helped people in the past. Their 39 logs show that the station has helped people who contact the station. James 40 Kaufman, who is spearheading the campaign in Ferndale, told him that many 41 people have not contacted the station. The radio station phone number is in the Special Committee of the Whole, 10/18/2005, Page 2 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. 1 book. If those people contact the station, the station can give technical advice to 2 solve the problem, which is usually a pretty easy problem. 3 4 He works out of an office right by the towers. Some of his phones don't 5 require filters, but some do. When the phones requiring filters have them, the 6 phones work fine after he puts a filter in place. The problems are very solvable. 7 8 Roy stated this letter is just a comment, which is asked for during the FCC 9 license renewal process. The letter doesn't say that the station isn't doing what it is 10 supposed to do. The letter comments to the FCC that issues have come up in the 11 community. That is what the renewal process evaluates. 12 13 Struiksma stated the FCC's main process is to evaluate whether the station 14 meets the tenets of it's license and broadcasting legally, which it is. He has a letter 15 from an FCC inspector two years ago saying the station is in compliance. He 16 suspects the FCC will say the same thing this time around. The other aspect the 17 FCC will consider is whether the station meets a public need. 18 19 Brenner stated it's too bad Councilmember Crawford isn't present at this 20 meeting. She's not the only one with concerns. She gets interference from that 21 radio station when she's on another radio station when she's on the west side of 22 Ferndale. Councilmember Crawford has experienced that also. It's not just about 23 telephones. It's about communication systems of all kind. They still haven't 24 resolved the problems at the City of Ferndale. Their Parks Department has a huge 25 problem with its computers. 26 27 It was brought to her attention at the meeting that people believe they are 28 getting burns from radio frequencies on certain things they touch. It's not a simple 29 thing of doing something with the telephone. There are a bunch of issues. Maybe 30 all the FCC will say that's too bad for the community. However, these are issues 31 that have been brought up by the Council's constituents and the City of Ferndale 32 numerous times. This is the renewal time. It's the time to let the FCC know about 33 it. 34 35 Struiksma stated he doesn't know of any current problems with the City of 36 Ferndale. He has been in communication with the Mayor pretty regularly and 37 talked to him a couple of weeks ago. To his knowledge, there are no problems at 38 all. If there are problems, he has not been notified to help them with it. 39 40 Brenner stated four City Council people were at this meeting last week, 41 including Marianne Elgart, Susan Cole, Steve Oliver, and Ron Wilson. Marianne Special Committee of the Whole, 10/18/2005, Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Elgart left because it would have made a quorum, but said she was very aware of this issue and supported the Council sending a letter. Caskey- Schreiber asked about the burn allegations. Struiksma stated he has no idea. Brenner stated they are called RF burns. She doesn't know anything about them. That's why they are asking. These are things that have been brought to the Council's attention, and they're asking. Struiksma stated his station is not the only 50,000 -watt station, either. There are two in Whatcom County and several in the state. Brenner stated certain people feel the problem is that the station is located low in a valley. The radio waves hit right into the hill in Ferndale. The other 50,000 -watt station is located on Yew Street Hill. One in Blaine just went in. The Councilmembers may hear from people in Blaine. This is the only station she knows of that is located in a valley. It seems to be doing something to a certain part of Ferndale, but not all of Ferndale. That leads her to believe there is something going on with the fact that it is in a valley and there is a hill there. Struiksma stated the other thing that was mentioned was problems with radio. He has a similar problem when he drives down Sunset Drive. KPUG comes across everywhere on AM. It is a problem with all radios. If a radio has a selective tuner, it won't be a problem. The FCC would say that is a problem with the radio. Brenner stated it's unfortunate. She thought they were just having a Council discussion. If she'd known the radio station had been invited, she would have invited the people who are concerned about the problem. Those people have been complaining to her and others for years. This letter just requests the FCC to understand and respond to the complaints that have come in. Caskey- Schreiber suggested the letter be referred to committee, when those people can talk to the committee. She wasn't trying to ambush Councilmember Brenner. She talked to Mr. Struiksma yesterday. Mr. Struiksma told her that no one has ever talked to him. Before she sends a letter complaining about the station, get the two parties together to work it out. Brenner stated people have been complaining about this for years. Roy moved to approve the letter. Special Committee of the Whole, 10/18/2005, Page 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. McShane moved to strike the third paragraph. He has not received such complaints. The complaints about RF burning are not included in the packet of information. The Council as a whole should receive those complaints before he will sign a letter. (Clerk's Note: The motion was not voted on.) Roy stated she supports the motion. Nelson stated people who have those problems should send that information to the FCC. He doesn't know what RF burns are. Struiksma stated he has heard about RF burns in the instance of people working on a tall tower several years ago. Those people said they had them, but he can't verify or deny it. Nelson referenced the fifth paragraph. What the Ferndale City officials believe is causing interference is not clear. Brenner stated the Ferndale city officials believe the problem is the radio frequencies and the location in the valley. Struiksma asked if they have verified that with an engineer. Brenner stated these are average citizens who don't have a whole lot of money. Their route is through the County Council and the FCC. It costs quite a bit of money to hire an engineer. They made that point to the representative from Rick Larsen's office. They said that either the County or the FCC should do that. Roy stated she doesn't have a problem saying people believe something. It's up to the FCC to say peoples' beliefs are right. The purpose of the FCC comment period is for people to comment. Nelson stated he can't measure what interference level is undue, as mentioned in fifth paragraph. McShane stated they could attach the complaints the Council received as evidence and exhibits. The Council has no role other than acting as a conduit for comments to the FCC. He doesn't know enough about FCC rules to get into the details of whether or not the station is in compliance. It's okay to pass on concerns to the FCC for the FCC to make a decision. Also, clarify the fourth paragraph and the amount of money the City of Ferndale has spent and plans to spend. He's not Special Committee of the Whole, 10/18/2005, Page 5 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. 1 trying to weaken the letter. They can strengthen it. He's not sure he's ready to do 2 this today. 3 4 Caskey- Schreiber stated she wants to make sure this is an issue the Council 5 needs to get involved in and if there has been action to work with the person who 6 holds the license. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Roy withdrew her motion. It's not the Council's job to resolve this. It is the Council's job to send in comments during the FCC comment period. Nelson stated it doesn't need to go to committee if they are sending community comments forward. He would like something formal in writing requesting the Council's support. Get something new from the City of Ferndale or citizens to send along with the letter. The City and citizens can send in comments to the FCC just as well as the Council can. Brenner stated she will get more information and schedule more discussion with the people who have made complaints. They can go into far more detail about their problems. They should have their time to talk. Nelson stated he would like to have something in writing. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 12:48 p.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription The Council approved these minutes on November 9 , 2005. ATTEST: Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Laurie Caskey- Schreiber, Council Chair Special Committee of the Whole, 10/18/2005, Page 6