As the end of 1999 and the beginning of the new millennium approaches, I wanted to take an opportunity to let everyone know what Mayor Kusaka’s Y2K Task Force thinks we can expect. This multi-month effort has been as much
As the end of 1999 and the beginning of the new millennium approaches, I wanted
to take an opportunity to let everyone know what Mayor Kusaka’s Y2K Task Force
thinks we can expect.
This multi-month effort has been as much an art as
it was a science, so what we cannot do is predict what everyone else has or has
not done.
As for the Task Force, we’ve accomplished quite a bit in our
14-month existence including:
1. Provided community awareness for the
County and the State.
2. Assisted businesses and government to reach Y2K
compliance together.
We shared resources, information and most of all, our
time and passion for this issue and the people of our community.
We are
continuing to monitor the contingency plans of all participants to know how to
prepare the public for any possible problems.
3. Led the state in the Y2K
effort.
4. Encouraged Kaua’i citizens to prepare for all potential
disasters similar to their preparations for Y2K.
I want to thank all the
Task Force members and participants, too many to name here, for their
dedication and the long hours they have devoted.
None of us are or were
Y2K “experts.” Each person brought a different, but valuable, perspective. As
we all learned about Y2K we came to agree it wouldn’t be the end of the world
as we know it nor would it be the
greatest hoax either.
This feeling
is due to the thousands of hours spent by individuals and the corresponding
money spent to solve those problems as discovered.
We now feel there will
be issues to be dealt with at New Years and beyond although those issues will
not be
far-reaching or unsolvable.
I realize much of the concern
lies with the utilities of our small island. As the Y2K program manager for The
Gas Company and Kauai Electric, I can tell you that we do not expect to have
interrupted service due to Y2K. No utility can ever guarantee service every
moment of every day, but we will assure you the Y2K bug will not be the cause
of an outage.
The Water Department and many others say if they have power,
they will provide their services. We expect they will do just that.
Here
are a couple of words of advice for the citizens of Kaua’i during the
millennium roll over.
If your power does fail, call the power plant
(246-8200). The outage may be weather-related or it may be that someone drove
into a pole. On New Year’s Eve, we will be manning an Informational Center
where you can reach us at 246-4300 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the KE offices in
Lihu’e in case you have any questions.
Additionally, our KE employees
will be at the following locations throughout New Years Eve:
Waimea Fire
station, KE’s Westside Service Center, Koloa Fire station, KE’s Eastside
Service Center, and the
Princeville Fire station.
Our taped Y2K
message can be heard at 246-4360 24-hours a day, or you can reach us at
246-8208 during
regular business hours.
As we move into the final
days of this year, I hope there is a calm throughout the island. If you plan on
stocking up on additional foods, fuels, and cash, do so now. Don’t wait until
the end of the month to shop.
As a community, let’s spend this New Year as
we do all other events here on Kauai—with kokua and aloha.
Barry Hubbard
Chairman, Kauai County Y2K Task Force
