December 13, 1998 - 1:00 pm
Present: Lynn Bell, Hope Bitzer, Steve Calkins, John Coggins,
Maureen Conway, Tony Corradino, Bill Dewey,
Gene Katz, Maha Labbe, Laura Marcy, Robin Messing,
Terry Ricklefs, Sarah Spearman, Bob Yavits,
Rai Hanna Zaman
Agenda:
1. Approval of Minutes
2. Show & Tell
3. West Danby Fire Dept. (H. Bitzer)
4. Second Expo (R. Zaman)
5. Apage Bible Church (G. Katz)
6. Committee Reports
- Presentations Committee
- Liason Committee
7. Hours Grant
8. Treasurer
1. Approval of Minutes - November 22nd meeting.
Strike that "Gene said that the Forum was set up poorly." M. Labbe will
make another correction at a later time. Motion to accept the minutes in
lieu of further changes was moved by M. Labbe and seconded by R. Messing.
Approval was unanimous.
2. Show & Tell
G. Katz:
- The Ithaca Journal did not cover the Business Forum, which they had
recommended that the public attend in an editorial.
- G. Katz distributed this week's Ithaca Times, and recommended reading
his "Viewpoint" column.
- An article on the United Nations and Y2K was in Saturday's Ithaca
Journal. It was buried.
- G. Katz urged group members to stop the argument on how bad the situation
will be. Various viewpoints on the need to predict the severity of the
problem ensued. Some believed that we need to so that we can have a basis
for a recommendation. Others felt that this argument can go on forever,
distracting us from any real accomplishments.
- The current edition of the Herald Examiner has an article about Y2K.
G. Katz moved that "We adopt a position that there is a wide spectrum of
opinion as to how severe the problem will be." Bill Dewey, seconded. The
motion was approved unanimously.
R. Messing moved that "We include the anti-Gary North site along with any
literature or other information that includes the Gary North site,
including the web site." M. Labbe second - the motion was passed unanimously
R. Zaman: Described and passed around several articles.
M. Labbe: The Red Cross just announced that everyone should prepare for up
to a week of disruption. He is including information about shelters. M.
Labbe offered the following motion: "A priority of the ad hoc group should
be to encourage the County to increase the number of Tompkins County Red
Cross sanctioned Emergency Care Shelters". G. Katz seconded. The vote
passed: 11 in favor and 1 abstention.
There is a link to every board member in every town in Tompkins County.
The Town of Danby has no shelters. Dryden has 7,000 shelters.
G. Katz said that the Red Cross figures show that up to 1/3 of the
population requires shelters during disasters. Tompkins County has about
100,000 people.. Shelter space exists for 15,425.
H. Bitzer described the process by which Red Cross manages contract
agreements for the shelters. Food and medicine are acquired after a
disaster begins.
3. West Danby Fire Dept. (H. Bitzer)
H. Bitzer passed around a proposal from the West Danby Fire Department to
develop a community shelter. There will be a meeting there tomorrow night
for interested citizens. Meetings will occur on the first Monday of each
month.
The fire department has an agreement with Red Cross, which has the ability
to access federal food supplies. If we can get "special needs cases"
min-shelters working with the West Danby Fire station, then the shelters
can have access to the food and other resources to which the fire station
has access. Community members should be stockpiling necessary food,
medical supplies, and containers for food and water. Other items, such as
hand tools, that should be stored for use during emergencies were listed.
G. Katz suggested that H.Bitzer's document on shelters would be useful for
the Liaison Committee to have. There was general agreement to this. H.
Bitzer thinks that this is good information for the Presentation Committee
to work with as well.
4. Second Expo (R. Zaman)
This can be held at March 6 at the Women's Community Center for a cost of
over $294. The Salvation Army would cost $30, but is not available on
weekends. It is available Fridays. G. Katz suggested waiting before we
decide on the location, as other locations, such as at the VFW, are
possible. He will investigate the VFW. Rai Hannah will inquire about The
Elks, the Woolhworth buildings, Southside Community Center, GIAC gym, and
Henry St. John's gym.
G. Katz suggested that we get more agencies involved in the second expo.
5. Apage Bible Church (G. Katz)
This is a Spirit lead Church in Enfield. A member of their congregation
developed a presentation on Y2K. They mentioned that they were using much
of the information that they received from the Expo. They provided an
explanation of the problem, and discussed the gathering of important
papers, water storage, developing a library, finances and many other
issues. There was little or no discussion on grabbing guns and running to
the hills. CB radios may be more practical that HAM radios, as more people
will have them. Walkie Talkies for family members may be useful. Do not
use with milk containers for water. Platic soda bottles are much better.
It was suggested that people not take large amounts of money out of the
bank at one time. It was also suggested not to buy gold. G. Katz will
provide the Presentation Committee with the agenda as a model.
6. Committee Reports
- Presentations Committee
G. Katz said that the committee has met. B. Dewey worked up a set of
slides. They want to set up a standard presentation that we could all use
that would be consistent, given the caveat that we do not all agree on what
the magnitude of the event might be. The next step is to develop a list of
groups at which the presentations can be made.
- Liaison Committee
M. Labbe said that this committee met and set up a plan. They will
have a meeting with Mike Raffe (Red Cross), Pat Vaughn (Ithaca City rep.),
Charles Evans (Tompkins County rep.), Lee Shurtliff (Asst. County Disaster
coordinator), and Brian Wilbur (former fire dept chief who heads up a
county wide disaster group). G. Katz said that each of theses people sees
our group as a necessary part of Y2K planning. They do not see us as
adversaries. The meeting will be some time after the Christmas holidays.
The committee is recommending that we suggest that individuals and shelters
have a supply of necessities that can last 2 weeks (minimum) to 1 month
(preferably). They also recommend expanding shelters and to make sure that
they have fuel supplies that can last this long. They are also encouraging
a mailing to citizens by the county and city that every citizen stockpile
at least one week's worth of water and 2 weeks of food. They will also put
packets together for participants of the meeting.
7. Hours Grant
R. Zaman said that a grant is available that could cover expenses for the
second expo. Laura M. will look into what is needed to receive this.
8. Treasurer
B. Yavits will continue to perform this function until other needs arise.
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Next Meeting, Sunday, Jan. 10, 1-4 pm.
Aternative Community School
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- Respectfully submitted: Bob Yavits