November 7, 1998 - 1:00 pm
Present: Hope Bitzer, Steve Calkins, Maureen Conway, Christie Cox, Jill Ferguson, Arno Finkeldey, Gene Ira Katz, Laura Marcy, Robin Messing, Jean Nowack, Wayne Nowack, Mary Richards, Louise Sheddon, Sarah Spearman, Bob Yavits, Raihana Zaman Agenda: 1. Introductions 2. Approval of Minutes 3. Show & Tell 4. Expo 5. Advertising for Expo 6. Transportation to Expo 1. Introductions 2. Approval of minutes. A. Zaman provided more correct Directions to the meeting of the Y2K group in Moravia. At the cross section in Moravia go straight for 1 mile. New Hope Bible center is on the right . G. Katz moved to approve the minutes of October 4. H. Bitzer seconded. The motion was passed unanimously. 3. Show & Tell The Y2K group in Moravia, which is Menonite, affiliated is meeting Tuesday, November 10 at 7:30 pm. The topic of the meeting will be, "How to get off the power grid". R. Messing mentioned Rick Cowles' web site (http://www.euy2k.com). Cowles is doing a speaking tour, delivering a secular view of the Y2K issue. He'd like to schedule a talk in this area. He charges a nominal fee. He also has a book that can be discounted in bulk, after which it can be sold for a profit. C. Cox talked to Bill George, NYSEG's person in charge of Y2K. He told her that as of the end of October the NYSEG mainframe should be Y2K compliant. They are in process locating and fixing embedded chips now, and they expect to replace all those that they know about by June. They say that they have contingency plans in case they miss some. They plan to have a backup telecommunications system to communicate with other power companies around the state. They are also keeping extra (more that one week's) coal on hand. The natural gas for this area is kept in salt mines under Seneca Lake. When asked about his personal feelings, he said that he had a fireplace and would buy extra wood. He also said that he believes that people will pull together in an emergency situation. J. Ferguson mentioned that in Nigeria, people tried to tap into a gas pipeline and caused an explosion. R. Zaman said that AT&T and Bell Atlantic have been working on the problem and expect to be okay, but do not expect that local phone companies will be properly prepared. S. Calkins and H. Bitzer mentioned concerned about the international telephone system, which relies upon satellite service. G. Katz said that Bell Atlantic will be at the Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday, Nov. 19 at the State Street DSS building from 5-7pm. G. Katz said that there is a lot of the definition of the term compliant can be vague. Tompkins County Trust and the Computing Center have said that a second test after remediation is necessary for true compliance. H. Bitzer had a conversation with a person at Cornell who works with administrative systems on Y2K issues. Cornell staff are being sent to MIT to learn about the embedded chip problem. They are also finding that compliant systems are crashing when interacting with non-compliant systems both within and outside of their own organization. G. Katz is doing a piece on the upcoming Chamber of Commerce meeting. He spoke with Tom Dorazio, NYSEG's Vice President of Informational Services, who said that NYSEG's internal power system is "pretty much" compliant. G. Katz then asked if they take data from other systems, which could indicate a supply chain problem. Non-compliant information can be input that could pollute the data stream and show up in strange ways. The NYSEG representative said that NYSEG is therefore developing contingency plans such as the use of radios and the examination of trucks, etc. He also said that they are planning more community outreach.. A. Finkeldey says that remediation tools have been developed that correct corrupting data in the system. L. Marcy recommended that everybody take the Red Cross "Introduction to Disaster Services" course. W. Nowack is concerned about the meltdown of nuclear reactors. G. Katz said that the NRC has handed down an advisory that the nuclear plants have to be compliant by July 1, 1999 or they must be shut down. M. Richards has been collecting information about how the school districts are approaching the Y2K issue. Many of the schools do not rely heavily on computer systems. School Districts have no budget to deal with these problems. J. Ferguson is a national Red Cross volunteer. She has concerns about the functioning of the transportation system with regard to food distribution, etc. The Red Cross may not be able to function if they are unable to receive the needed resources. M. Conway sent around information printed from Web sites. She will make copies for each of us for the next weekend. G. Katz said that The USDA sent Cooperative Extension a memo with the heading, "Time Is Running" out. He is concerned that they've said nothing about it yet. H. Bitzer said that we are waiting for the County to tell "us" to make contingency plans. J. Fergusion stated that Jack Miller is Tompkins County's Emergency Coordinator. He does not have a great deal of confidence in civilian organizations, and does not do much with the Red Cross or Cooperative Extension. She thinks that this may be where some of the road blocks to activity may be. G. Katz urged members to write a letter to the Ithaca Journal responding to R. Messing's guest editorial. 4. Expo H. Bitzer drew a map of the Expo room showing the placement of the tables for the various topics. 12 tables plus the Y2K table Y2K Calendar table are this group's responsibility. In addition, there will be several "vendor" tables. Hope is supposed to receive final handouts from table managers today. The staffing of the following tables was discussed: "Staying Warm Without Grid Electricity": Khafiya and L. Sheddon. "Houses of Worship as Shelters and Soup Kitchens": Terry Ricklefs. L. Marcy will talk to Terry and ask her to contact H. Bitzer. "Creating Mini-shelters": G. Katz. He has completed the shelter map. He is expecting information from the Red Cross. "Storing Food, Canning, Salting, Smoking, Drying": R. Zaman and S. Calkins. "Assisting the Infirmed": M. Richards knows a nurse who will staff this table. "Cooking for Large Numbers. R. Zaman will copy recipes from this book. "Safe Potable Water": R. Messing "Sanitation and Composting": H. Bitzer People are needed for the following - Staffing the "Assisting with the Infirmed" table - Staffing the refreshment table. - Requesting about 60 helium balloons from Wegman's or Top's. - Helping H. Bitzer to pick up equipment on Friday, November 13. Vendor tables will include: Erhardt Propane will have a propane refrigerator, a propane generated light, and a propane heater. ETM Solar Works will have a solar hot water heater set up. Ithaca Stove Works will have a wood stove. Colt Stove Bill Dewey: alternative medical and emergency preparedness information. All vendors pay $20 toward the rental cost. Xerox corporation, on Tioga St., is lending us a brand new copy machine. Staples donated 2 reams of paper. Jill Cicera has collected 2 boxes of paper that Kinko's was going to get rid of. Gallagher Television and Electronics has donated 2 large screen color TV sets and VCRs. There was discussion about what should be played. G. Katz will take responsibility for what will this will be. WordPro will charge only 2.2 cents per single sided page for copies Generic single page handouts will be copied by H. Bitzer. Volunteers who can, should meet at the Women's Community Center at 10:00 am. G Katz, S. Calkins, M. Richards. R. Messing, M. Conway, L. Marcy, and J. Ferguson will be there at 10:00 am. Sarah S. will be there at noon. 5. Advertising the Expo R. Zaman placed an announcement in the Ithaca PennySaver. A letter will be in the Lansing News. H. Bitzer would like to get more input on the radio stations. G. Katz said that four 30 second spots went out to all the local radio stations. It is up to their discretion whether they play them or not. M. Conway will contact Christian radio stations in the area and ask them to get out the message. G. Katz also went to all of the area newspapers. M. Richards produced posters which were distributed to members who will place them throughout the community. They should not go on telephone poles. To get more posters contact H. Bitzer. H. Bitzer requested access to somebody at WSKG. She would like to get this issue onto All Things Considered. Mary Richards recommended contacting National Public Radio, which runs the show nationally. Their web site is http://www.npr.org. Bob Y. will get contact information. The next regular meeting of the whole will be held from 1:00 - 4:00 pm on Sunday, November 22 at the Alternative Community School. Agenda for the next meeting: 1. Expo de-briefing 2. Rick Cowles visit (R. Messing) 3. Communicating to teachers (Mary Richards) 4. Committee Reports 5. Networking 6. Food Resources/over arching plan 7. Group presentation and training plan 8. Fund Raising Event 9. Getting information to officials Finances: $95 was distributed to members for reimbursement - Respectfully submitted: Bob Yavits