Saturday, February 20, 1999
Hamilton Co. expects no Y2K disruptions
BY MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SPRINGDALE — Hamilton County is ready for 2000.
That's the message county and public utility officials hoped to get across to administrators, law enforcement and emergency personnel Friday during a special Y2K informational forum in Springdale.
Well into their own internal plans to beat the so-called “millennium bug” and the “Y2K crisis” by upgrading municipal computer systems, traffic lights, and heating and cooling mechanisms, many local jurisdictions realize that control of vital services come Jan. 1, 2000, is out of their hands.
“The unknown is a big part of this,” said Bob Harrison, Wyoming city manager. “We are contacting critical vendors that supply energy or other services to us. We are reliant on them and have to ensure that their systems are Y2K compliant.”
The fear is that antiquated computers will interpret “00” as 1900, causing system crashes and disruptions.
“We want to make sure our people are able to call for help if they have a fire or can get police protection or have electricity or water if they need it,” said Ray Hodges, Forest Park city manager.
Representatives from Cinergy, Cincinnati Water Works and Cincinnati Bell Telephone all gave assurances that their systems would function properly.
However, they encouraged local authorities to create con tingency plans in case of any unforeseen interruptions to electricity, water or phone service.
Cincinnati Water Works is upgrading its internal systems, as well as creating its own contingency plans in the event of an electrical outage, said Bill Knecht, a Water Works official.
Mr. Knecht acknowledged that the utility would be able to supply water for only three days after an electricity shutdown, and that amount might not be sufficient.
Cinergy officials said a number of the company's computer systems have already been turned up to the year 2001 and are functioning.
“We don't anticipate any major outages as a result of the year 2000. So, if the lights aren't on, you might try the switch,” said Dick Lewis, head of Cinergy's electric division.
County officials also assuaged concerns about emergency communication.
Tom Russell, manager of the county's Regional Computer Center (RCC), which is responsible for all hardware operating systems, applications and software used by law enforcement agencies, said all non-compliant areas will be Y2K-ready by October.
“If you take away nothing else from this meeting, understand that Hamilton County is aware and aggressively dealing with the Y2K issue,” said Don Maccarone, director of the county's Emergency Management Agency.
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