Wyoming Chapter
Association of Records Managers and Administrators
Chapter Meeting
March 15, 2005
Cheyenne Police Department 2020 Capitol Ave. (Training Room in Basement), Cheyenne, WY

Members Present: Kristy Anderson, Ramona Christensen, Donna Crock, Wendy Kinkade, Valerie Roybal, Vicki Seals, Dan Siglin, Barb Thomasee, Tim Tyler and Rich Wilson

Guests: Debbie Leonard, Carol Mutschelknaus, Vicki Nemecek, Pat Newbern and Marie Wilson McKee

Speakers: Rob Cleveland, Laramie County Director of Emergency Management Patrick Byrne, Laramie County Combined Communications Coordinator

Topic: "Homeland Security" and Tour of the new joint City/County Communications Center and Mobile Command Center

Kristy Anderson opened the meeting by welcoming everyone in attendance. Kristy mentioned the two scholarships that the Chapter awards each year. Kristy announced a tentative schedule for upcoming meetings: April 12-Tour of Wyoming State Archives Records Center, May 10-Discussion on Preservation of Photographs, June 2-Awards Banquet, June 4-Black Hawk Trip. All members and guests introduced themselves. After enjoying lunch catered by Snake River Pub & Grill, a 50/50 Raffle was held to raise money for the scholarship fund. Carol Mutschelknaus was the lucky winner of $11.50.

Wendy Kinkade gave a brief introduction on the guest speakers. Rob Cleveland began his career in emergency services as a volunteer with Laramie County Fire District 1. Rob has been with the Emergency Management Agency since 1998. He served as Deputy Director and Fire Warden and is now Director of the Agency. Patrick Byrne began his career as a Police Officer for 26 years. He worked for the Cheyenne Police Department for 24 years. He served as Lieutenant of Detectives, Captain of Long Range Operations and Interim Chief. He is now the Combined Communications Coordinator for Laramie County.

Rob Cleveland gave a brief overview of the Emergency Management Agency. The agency started back in the 1940's and 1950's as an agency geared toward civil defense, tornadoes, floods and hurricanes. With the disaster of September 11, 2001, that all changed. Their outlook and approach is now geared to homeland security and preparedness due to this terrorism aspect. As Rob stated, Wyoming has the world's largest rodeo, largest nuclear site on the Air Force Base, Train and Interstate Highways which can be a target. The agency has a National Incident Management System (NIMS) through their Emergency Operations Center which they maintain financial and other records for disasters. They have started a project on Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) on home preparedness. For more information on this subject, check the web sites fema.gov or redcross.org. The Outdoor Warning System currently has 33 sirens. They plan to add 24 more sirens in the future.

Pat Byrne gave a brief overview of the Communications Center. According to Pat, communications between the various agencies (Police, Fire Department, Sheriff's Department and 911 Center) are currently difficult with the myriad of systems. The Wyoming State Legislature authorized 25 million dollars for the design and implementation of a new system .The system "Wyolink" has one high band radio based system for the entire state. Pat has ordered over $540,000 worth of radios to date and plans to order $600,000 worth of radios next year. The Center has a contract with Motorola of Denver, Co to set up a test site for Laramie County due to be done by mid to late summer 2006. Pat envisions that each county will be linked to this system in the future. Pat estimates that over 750 radios will be needed in Laramie County alone. By combining the various agencies into one system, this will promote better communication, flexibility and economic savings to the community.

After the discussion, we toured the Mobile Interagency Command Post vehicle. This vehicle cost over $250,000. The vehicle is equipped with 4 dispatch positions, internet, phone, radio, satellite TV, DVD/VCR recorder, camera, TV, telescopic lens, portable radios, fax copier, dry erase boards, restroom, electronic bank generator, refrigerator microwave, coffee pot and air conditioning. The next area we visited was the Combined Communications Center. This area is the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) which is used for training. The next area, the Dispatch Center, has 8 console areas (3 for the Police, 2 for the Sheriff, 3 for 911 Dispatch). Eventually this area will be consolidated for all agencies involved. The last stop on the tour was the Control Room. This area houses the radios, phones, generator and electronic equipment for the Agency. The room is temperature controlled to 72 degrees and 33% relative humidity.

Submitted by,

Ramona Christensen
Chapter Secretary