Because nobody knows exactly what will happen, some people are scared, worried, concerned – choose the proper word that fits your feelings.

Friday, December 31, 1999

Because nobody knows exactly what will happen, some people are scared, worried, concerned – choose the proper word that fits your feelings.

Some other people are not scared. The hysteria and hype are unnecessary, they say.

So, what to do on New Year’s Eve as a new year, new century and new millennium dawn?

Maybe there’s nothing to worry about.

Maybe there is.

Should emotion or logic rule?

State, federal and local governments, private industry and countries all over the world have been working to solve year 2000 problems and prepare contingency plans to implement if an unanticipated disruption occurs.

Bob Nelson, the Austin/Mower County emergency management director, has led efforts by public safety and other emergency services agencies in the county to prepare a Y2K contingency plan. Yet, even Nelson is not predicting the end of the world.

"Be cautious of doomsday predictions," Nelson said. "Prepare your home and family as you would for a typical Minnesota winter storm."

"Be sure you have enough essential supplies to last as much as a week for yourself and your family," he said.

A check of some lending institutions did not reveal a "run on the banks." In most cases, bank customers were withdrawing money this week either to cover a weekend when there will be no Saturday banking services or "just in case."

Typically, the withdrawals were for a few hundred dollars or less and most often were made by elderly bank customers.

"There have been a few, but not that many," said Jerry Mohrfeld, president of Sterling State Bank of Austin. "It might be as little as a hundred dollars that some of our customers have taken out as a precaution to any possible glitches over the weekend."

Lynn Koch, president of the Austin branch of Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Blooming Prairie, has not seen anything out of the norm at the North Main Street bank.

"We’ve only seen normal daily transactions," Koch said. "There’s been nothing unusual this week.

"People have asked questions about Y2K, but we’ve assured them the bank is fully compliant and we expect no problems. I think they have been more curious than anything else."

Run for groceries

Paul L. Boisjolie, general manager of Hy-Vee Food Store in Austin, said checkout clerks have noticed customers buying more batteries, bottled water and paper products.

"But, I don’t think they’re buying them to hoard them," he said. "It’s just a precaution in case some glitches happen."

Boisjolie compares the attention being received by the Y2K millennium bug infecting computer systems and therefore bringing a technology-dependent society to a halt to El Nino.

"Remember," he said, "when everything that happened in the weather, in agriculture and virtually all over our society was blamed on El Nino? I think the Y2K concerns are a lot like that. We’re prepared and there will be some glitches along the way, but it’s been blown way out of proportion in my opinion."

Dan Wagner, owner of Wagner’s SuperValu in Adams, says he has seen "nothing noticeable" of customers stocking up on items in the event of a Y2K emergency. "Absolute not," he said. "there’s been nothing noticeable at the store."

However, Wagner did repeat and possibly dangerously so, a theory a delivery truck driver told him this week: "He said he wasn’t concerned, but his wife was and there have been maybe four or five calls, all from women, inquiring about how the Y2K situation could affect the store."

But, Matt Wagner, co-owner with his wife Andrea of Wagner True Value Hardware in Austin, has seen an upswing in the purchases of certain items.

"Definitely, they’re concerned about electrical matters," he said. "They’re buying everything they need for generator hookups. Lamp oil and battery sales, I would say, have been moderate, but portable generators are a hot item right now."

Rick Granahan, LeRoy’s fire chief, and his department’s volunteers will be on duty tonight from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., the typical time frame for emergency preparedness efforts in Mower County.

So will Ed Koppen, a volunteer firefighter and member of the LeRoy Ambulance Service who also is mayor and owner of Koppen Hardware.

"We’ve seen more flashlight and battery purchases than anything else," Koppen said. "People are also buying kerosene fluid for lamps.

"I would categorize these purchases as something to use later. They’re not panicky or anything like that. They are just taking thoughtful precautions."

Statewide, the Minnesota Retail Merchants Association, speaking for all the state’s retailers, said it’s "full-speed ahead" tomorrow.

"It will be business as usual on Jan. 1, 2000, for retailers, " said Annette Henkel, president of the MRMA. "They have worked hard to make sure customers will be able to purchase items they want with cash, check or credit card at their favorite store."

"Equipment, such as cash registers, credit card machines and computers have been tested and suppliers and shippers have assured us that merchandise will be delivered."

One of the people who has worked so hard to ensure there are contingency plans in place tonight is Austin’s fire chief.

"We do not anticipate any loss of the emergency 911 telephone service on New Year’s Eve," Austin Fire Chief Dan Wilson said.

"I think people in service agencies, such as Austin Utilities, have spent a lot of time and money and effort to ensure nothing will go wrong," Wilson said. "Some people may not have paid as much attention to Y2K. If we, in emergency services have done our job correctly, they won’t have to."

The county is covered

Mower County Sheriff Barry J. Simonson has been meeting with representatives of every fire and police department, ambulance service and every first responder squad.

With the assistance of Wilson and emergency preparedness director Nelson, the sheriff has said each community has a contingency plan if a power failure occurs and normal communications sources are rendered useless.

The plan includes volunteer firefighters available at each community’s fire headquarters overnight. The firefighters will have hand-held, portable radios to keep in touch with the emergency operations center at the Austin-Mower County law enforcement center.

Citizens will have to go to their fire department headquarters to summon help if telecommunications fails.

For residents of Austin, Austin Transportation Service will have a school bus outside Neveln, Woodson, Southgate, Banfield and Sumner elementary schools tonight. Inside the vehicles will be volunteers from the Austin Amateur Radio Club, also with hand-held, portable radios. If Austin residents need help and lose their telephone service, they may go to the nearest elementary school where an Austin Amateur Radio Club member will be on duty to summon the appropriate emergency service agency.

The county sheriff also said patrol deputies will be making their rounds throughout Mower County with extra staff on duty at the law enforcement center in downtown Austin.

The Austin Police Department has not beefed up its patrols, but Chief Paul M. Philipp and Capt. Brian McAlister will be present at the emergency operations center tonight. Also there will be Wilson and Nelson.

In addition, extra sheriff’s personnel and communications center workers will be on duty.

KAUS AM 1480 has backup power and will be the designated emergency radio station for information tonight if needed.

Utilities guaranteed

Austin Utilities has spent two years checking and double-checking that it can continue to provide natural gas, electricity and water to city residents.

As 1999 came to an end, it triple-checked its systems and hired a consultant.

In other words, Austin Utilities is Y2K ready.

General Manager Jerry McCarthy said 25 utility employees will be working overnight New Year’s Eve. The downtown power plant will be online, but not connected to the grid that brings electricity to Austin.

The northeast plant will be running and connected to the grid.

"The reason that we will have the downtown plant up and running is just in case something happens to the national grid and we lose power to the northeast plant," McCarthy said. "We would need the downtown plant to start the northeast plant."

The utility’s gas service will be staffed, including the propane air plant, both power plants will have employees on site and directors and supervisors will be working tonight.

That includes McCarthy, the general manager.

The city of Austin’s two water towers will be filled this afternoon to ensure there is water and the utility has purchased Austin Medical Center’s old generators to back up the city’s water service pumps and other equipment.

That fact indicates that Austin Medical Center-Mayo Health System also has taken the necessary precautions to ensure there is power to guarantee all the necessary medical equipment functions properly this weekend.

Austin Utilities will have employees on duty from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

"We’re taking every precaution to ensure that Austin Utilities is prepared for any eventuality," he said of the utility’s contingency plans to ensure the flow of natural gas, electricity and water to Austin residents.

Early in 1999, the utility did receive several inquiries from its customers whether or not Austin Utilities was Y2K ready, but those calls quickly diminished in number.

McCarthy said the utility’s workers support the precautions being taken and have been involved throughout the planning stages for tonight.

"Our intent is to make people as comfortable as possible," McCarthy said.

He also praised the efforts of the Mower County Sheriff’s Department and Austin Police Department as well as Austin Fire Department in working together on a contingency plan for the city. McCarthy said Bob Nelson, the Mower County Emergency Preparedness director, has done a "great job" in leading the effort and said the Austin Amateur Radio Club’s members will be an invaluable resource for the utility and others tonight.

McCarthy also played devil’s advocate about the hysteria/hype given Y2K problems.

"You have to ask yourself what did we gain by doing all the things we did and I think Austin Utilities did in several areas," he said. "We updated our own emergency preparedness plans so that we are better prepared for any kind of emergency that occurs.

"We also found outdated and defective equipment that we got rid of. And, finally, we gained efficiencies in how we do things under normal circumstances. The efforts Austin Utilities took were worth it."

Nelson’s helpful hints

Here are some other necessary things that Austin/Mower County emergency preparedness director Bob Nelson recommends families prepare for tonight:

n Start by going room to room and taking note of all the devices that may contain embedded microchips that are time or date sensitive.

n Keep current records of all personal financial accounts, including checking and savings, credit cards, retirement funds, investments, Social Security earnings and benefits estimates, mortgage payments car payments and student loans.

n Beware of Y2K fraud and the individuals who try to take advantage of the Y2K situation.

Telecommunications

The two hours surrounding midnight tonight and again from 8 a.m. through noon New Year’s Day are expected to be the busiest times for phone calls and Internet usage.

As the result of an extensive three-year, $250 million effort, U S West, the major telephone communications provider in the Mower County area, has prepared for Y2K emergencies

Officials do not expect any problems with U S West telecommunications systems when the Y2K date rollover takes place tonight.

The one possibility that exists is that every telephone customer will pick up the telephone at nearly the same time to see if their telephone works. This could cause a temporary loss of dial tone.

U S West advises people not to call the emergency 911 number just to see if their telephone works.

MnDOT prepared for Y2K

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has spent the last several months going over equipment, stockpiling sand and salt supplies and checking backup power sources.

To ensure safe highway travel, at least one snowplow operator will be on duty at each of MnDOT’s 23 southeastern Minnesota truck stations beginning late tonight and through early Saturday morning.

If snowplow operators are not needed for snow and ice control, they will travel on predetermined routes to check the functionality of traffic signals, rest areas and serve as a communication link to the Minnesota State Patrol.

The city of Austin has only one traffic signal with a date-sensitive microchip embedded and that is also the city’s newest one at the intersection of Fourth Street and Ninth Avenue NW and it is compatible for the calendar rollover. All other city traffic signals are not dependent upon microchips.

MnDOT is confident that all of its traffic-control signs will continue to operate past 2000 provided there is uninterrupted service from electric utilities.

Government, banks closed

All local, state and federal government units are closed today in observance of the New Year’s holiday.

They will resume normal business hours Monday.

Also, all banks closed early today and will be closed Saturday. They also will resume normal business hours Monday.