NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 29, 1999

CARY IS READY FOR Y2K

CARY, NC – With only hours left in this century, officials in Cary are encouraging citizens to ring in the New Millennium without worrying about Y2K service glitches. The Town has been working on Y2K preparedness for the last several years. Every system has been double-checked, and contingency plans are in place.

"We’re ready," said Town Manager Bill Coleman. "As far as government services go, we are confident that our citizens will be able to ring in the New Year without any significant problems."

On a cautionary note, Cary is joining other service providers in asking citizens NOT to dial 9-1-1 at 12:01 New Year’s day unless there is a real emergency. "We’ve got a great system, but if all 35,000 households in Cary call at once, folks with real emergencies may not be able to get through," said Cary’s Management Information Services Director Bill Stice. Stice has headed-up Cary’s Y2K preparedness activities.

Cary began dealing with Year 2000 compliance issues in 1995 and had most issues resolved this summer. Specifically, the Town of Cary has addressed the following:

• Water and Wastewater Plants:

All compliance testing is complete, with all areas actually having been tested completely TWICE. In the event of a power failure, generator power can take over the load and continue plant operation. Additionally, all plants can be operated manually, and, as a contingency, staff will be on site the night of December 31st to switch to manual mode to continue operations.

• Emergency Radio System and 9-1-1 Support:

All systems and equipment have been vendor-tested and certified.

• Facilities Systems:

All facilities testing and verification are complete.

• Fire Department Equipment:

All equipment is compliant.

• Computer Hardware and Software:

All network infrastructure hardware and software checks are complete, including all business and public safety computer applications as well as utility billing software, voice mail, and handheld devices for water meter reading. As a contingency, MIS staff will be on standby in the unlikely event their services are needed.

• Vendors and Suppliers:

This area is complete. If there is doubt as to the readiness of any vendor, alternate sources will be researched and contingencies put in place, including stocking additional parts or materials inventory in the warehouse.

• General Contingency Plans:

All contingency plans for internal operations are in place. The Town has also evaluated the preparedness of other agencies and businesses in Town.

Staffing levels at Cary’s water treatment plant and two wastewater treatment plants will remain the same over the holiday as those plants are always on 24/7 operations. However, Cary will have extra police patrol officers on the road—about double the normal level—from New Year’s Eve afternoon to New Years Day morning. The extra officers have been scheduled to ensure safe roads during what officials expect to be a heavier than usual number of holiday celebrations as well as to deal with a higher number of calls from those anxious about Y2K. Finally, several staff from the Town’s MIS department will be on site during the switch to 2000 as part of the Town’s contingency planning.

As a final precaution, the Town is disconnecting its Internet email system over the holiday weekend. Anyone who tries to email the Town during this time will get an error message. Folks may still visit Cary’s website, but once there, they will not be able to send emails directly to the Town as they could normally. Internet email service will be restored when the Town reopens on January 3^rd.

To help address citizen concerns, Cary held two public forums this year to discuss Y2K preparedness with more than two dozen agencies that provide ciritical services to the community. The Town also set up a special section on its website—www.townofcary.org--covering its comprehensive attention to the potential problems of January 1^st.

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