Lee Co ARES Monthly Meeting and Christmas Party, December 18, 2022

Lee Co. ARES met at Santa Fe Steakhouse for our December meeting and we invited spouses as well. We introduced each other and our guests and we approved minutes and treasury report. We received a good report from the progress on the EOC. The person in charge of the foundation repairs at the Lee County Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center is also the ARES E.C. and RACES CLO for Robertson County. He agreed to help us installing antennas on the roof or tower of the EOC and have the coax passing through the roof. He notified us that the structural engineer signed off for penetrating the wall, and the roofer would help out. We also visited with the Motorola representative who cleared our way to put some antennas on one existing tower, since the Motorola equipment had been moved to the main tower. We also received a report on the EmComm trailer. The generator should be able to run at WFD for 10 hours with one tank of fuel. We are also preparing to operate without generator and we are collecting batteries. A visitor volunteered to donate or have donated fuel tanks and batteries from O’Reilly. Lee County ARES members were offered opportunities to assume the officer responsibility in the General Staff and Command staff at WFD provided they never covered such positions before and a few accepted. we started planning, after WFD, to take the EmComm trailer to local schools nd to contact the Boy Scouts for radio merit badges. The District 7 ARES E.C., also Lee Co. ARES director, spoke to the members residents in Bastrop County about the possibility to start anew Bastrop Co. ARES. We were notified that we need to find a meeting place for January as the cottage is needed for other purposes. We had nominations and election of directors, and KI5QHC was elected new board member. After the brief meeting we enjoyed fellowship and an excellent meal with much Christmas cheer.