March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bangor ready for New Year’s Eve trouble

BANGOR — The city has a master plan in place for Friday and Saturday, just in case problems crop up with Y2K, as the date in computers rolls over to the year 2000.

Local officials have put together a Bangor Area Y2K Readiness Task Force to coordinate efforts with businesses and agencies.

“The members of the task force are cautiously optimistic that there will be no significant disruptions to essential services due to the Year 2000,” explained City Manager Edward Barrett, but contingency plans have been developed.

“The city will be at a higher level of readiness on New Year’s Eve and into New Year’s morning,” he emphasized. That’s in addition to the precautions Bangor has taken in the past couple of years by upgrading computers and software.

An emergency operations center will be set up at Central Fire Station on Main Street from 10 p.m. Friday until at least 2 a.m. Saturday, Barrett explained.

The city manager, Fire Chief Jeff Cammack, Police Chief Don Winslow and City Engineer James Ring will be at the station or available during that time.

In case there are problems and residents can’t get hold of anyone, they may go to the city’s eight polling places and speak with public safety officials between 11 p.m. Friday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday:

Mary Snow School, off Essex Street.

Bangor High School, 885 Broadway.

Abraham Lincoln School, 45 Forest Ave.

William S. Cohen School, Garland Street.

Fourteenth Street School.

Bangor Community Center, Davis Road.

Bangor Civic Center, Dutton Street.

Fifth Street Middle School.

There also will be police officers available at the police station, 35 Court St., and in the emergency departments of both hospitals: Eastern Maine Medical Center on State Street, and St. Joseph Hospital on Center Street. Emergencies also may be reported at Central Fire Station, 289 Main St.

Extra police and fire personnel will be on duty, Barrett said, not only for security and enforcement of OUI laws and other traffic issues, but to help with any problems.

Most segments of the community said they have been ready as of late September, according to a report card issued by the local task force. The segments included banking, electric power, food stores, the medical community, public safety, telephone, Bangor International Airport, public works, and the water and sewer departments.

Various city departments have tested their systems for Y2K compliance, including telephones and radio equipment. Generators and diesel pumps are in place where necessary.

Much of the preparation took place during the past two years as the city spent some $100,000 replacing computers in various departments, and $40,000 to $50,000 to upgrade software.

“We’ve upgraded all our automation stuff, and upgraded operating systems at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and at the airport,” Barrett said.

“We’ve really run into very few problems,” he explained. The telephone system at City Hall is new, and other components are fairly new as well.

“We started upgrading in the mid-’90s, getting away from homegrown software and into packages,” Barrett said. The finance system switched over to its new operating system in October, he said.

New traffic signals have been tested, “and they all work,” Barrett said. In addition, “in some cases we are blessed with equipment that is so old it’s not affected by Y2K.” That includes some of the older traffic signals, he said.

The sewer department has tested its contingency plans and backup equipment. And the Bangor Water District, an independent agency, has tested its systems, doing updates or replacements where needed. A diesel generator will allow the district to run for up to 10,000 hours if power should be interrupted.

City Hall will be closed Friday for the New Year’s holiday, Barrett said, “but over the weekend we will have some people come in to make sure everything is working.”

The city manager said he expected that for the most part Y2K glitches would be minor things no one had thought of, and that they might show up over the next couple of weeks.


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