ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: April 20, 1999
Author/Local: P. Marfleet/7701
RTS No. 00660

CC File No. 1193

Council: April 27, 1999

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Risk & Emergency Management, in consultation with the Corporate Management Team
SUBJECT:	Year 2000 Project

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council receive this report on the status of the City’s Year 2000 Project for information.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The work done for Y2K readiness has progressed as scheduled. While staff do not anticipate major disruptions to City Service, we cannot be 100% certain in light of the interdependencies among agencies. However, we have practised due diligence in making sure the organization is ready for the year 2000.

The General Manager of Corporate Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

In February 1998 Council authorized a City program and funding to deal with Year 2000 issues. In September 1998 Council authorized an expanded work program which included Terms of Reference, a work program and a Policy on Year 2000 for the City.

SUMMARY

The City’s Year 2000 Project continues to progress in accordance with the work plan. It is anticipated that all City systems, facilities, and equipment will be Y2K ready by September. Between now and then departments will continue the remediation/testing stage of their work.

The nature of the Y2K issue and the interdependencies among agencies makes it difficult to predict with absolutely certainty what the effects of the Y2K transition will be. However, as a result of the work undertaken to date, City departments and related Boards collectively have very high confidence in the reliability of City services through the year 2000 transition and do not anticipate major Y2K disruptions to City services. As part of the work program the City is engaged in a comprehensive public communication program around Y2K. It includes a joint website with other public service providers; a Y2K Guide, and a series of monthly Y2K Community Forums in communities throughout Vancouver. Contingency planning has also commenced around Y2K and an exercise to test the City’s new Emergency Operations Centre and its Y2K contingency plans is scheduled for May.

BACKGROUND

Year 2000 issues arise from the inability of some computers and processors to properly process dates during the transition to the twenty-first century. In February Council approved a program to address Year 2000 issues in the City’s corporate computer programs and hardware. In September Council approved an expanded work program to encompass emergency management, contingency planning and public information related to Year 2000; a City policy with respect to Year 2000; an expanded work program and terms of reference; and Council support for a Maple Ridge proposal to UBCM for legislation exempting municipalities for year 2000 liability. The work program included regular status updates to Council through the Corporate Management Team, throughout the period. The first update was in December; this is the second update as at March 31.

DISCUSSION

The work program approved in September continues to proceed on track and on schedule. The vast majority of City systems, hardware, facilities and equipment are now Y2K ready. Outstanding items are in the process of remediation, most of which will occur in May/June. It is anticipated that all City systems will be Y2K ready by September.

Remediation and Testing

Remediation and testing work continues. While uninterrupted services can never be guaranteed, as a result of the work carried out to date all City departments have a very high confidence level that Y2K will not result in disruptions to their services. While most systems have been addressed, there are some which are still in the process of remediation or replacement, including: the Police and Fire Computer Aided Dispatch System and Mobile Radio System (these will be replaced when Police Fire dispatch operations are relocated to E-Comm in June and July); the Domino system in Community Services which is a document management system for permit information on properties (this will be Y2K ready in June);

the City Payroll and Property Tax systems (these will be Y2K ready in June); the traffic signal management system (this will be replaced in June); the information monitoring system for the Dedicated Fire Protection System (this will be Y2K ready in June) and the telephone system at the Vancouver Museum (this will be Y2K ready in June). As these systems are tested and readied, there may be a requirement for additional funding. However, to date work has been carried out within the $649,000 originally established by Council to deal with Y2K issues.

In December Council approved $75,000 for a study of identified embedded systems in Engineering plant. To date Engineering has spent $7500. The consultant has investigated forty-five embedded systems related to building operations in the Cambie and Manitoba Works Yards and the Delta Lanfill. All forty-five systems were confirmed as Y2K ready. A further forty-three embedded systems are currently being investigated relative to the operations of the Delta Landfill and the Dedicated Fire Protection System. While this investigation is not yet complete, to date only one minor item has been found to be non-compliant.

Y2K Roundtable

As part of its Y2K work program, last November the City initiated the Y2K Roundtable which includes agencies providing public services in the Lower Mainland. The Roundtable is chaired by Vancouver’s City Manager and has broad representation. It includes participation from: Action 2000 (the Provincial Government Y2K project), BC Ambulance, BC Ferries, BC Gas, BC Hydro, BC Rail, BC TELecom, Canadian Coast Guard, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Langley City and Township, New Westminster, North Vancouver City and District, Port Coquitlam, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, White Rock, West Vancouver, GVRD, GVTA, Municipal Affairs, North East Sector Emergency Program, Provincial Emergency Program, VanCity, Vancouver Hospital & Health Sciences, Vancouver Airport, Vancouver Port, Vancouver/Richmond Health Board, and Vancouver School Board.

The purpose of the Roundtable is to collaborate on Y2K issues and strategies. At the last meeting of the Roundtable on February 3rd, the Roundtable agreed to collaborate on a public information program which included three components - a joint website, a Year 2000 Guide, and Community Forums on Y2K. All three components have been implemented.

Joint Website

Y2K.bc.ca is the joint website of the Roundtable.
This site is designed to provide British Columbians with centralized information about what is being done to assure the continued reliability of public services into the next century. The site was developed by the Y2K Roundtable and provides information about the year 2000 work programs underway. It centralizes Y2K information from municipalities throughout the Province and provides Y2K information under the following headings: Utilities, Emergency Services, Health, Provincial Government, Federal Government, Crown Corporations, Transportation, Financial Institutions, Business Planning, and Community Events. As far as we are aware this is the only website that provides centralized information about public services in the Lower Mainland.
Year 2000 Guide

The Roundtable has also collaborated on a Year 2000 Guide (attached) which provides messages from the various public service agencies about the status of their Y2K programs and the anticipated reliability of their services. The 24-page guide includes information on public utilities, telecommunications, provincial government services, municipal services, emergency services, 9-1-1, transportation, health, financial institutions, and insurance. It also provides preparedness tips to help individuals prepare for unexpected disruptions to public services, regardless of whether these are caused by Y2K or by a severe storm. The Year 2000 Guide is available on the City website, on the Roundtable website, in Libraries and in Community Centres. It is also being distributed at Y2K Community Forums in Vancouver. Staff are currently exploring options for providing translated versions of the Guide on the website and hope to have this available by May - if possible this may be done as a collaborative effort through the Roundtable.

Y2K Community Forums

The Y2K Project Office, in conjunction with the Provincial Government Action 2000 team, is hosting a series of community Forums on Y2K. These have been scheduled monthly between now and December, in communities throughout Vancouver. The first Forum was held at the Round House Community Centre on Wednesday, March 31st. It was moderated by the Vancouver Y2K Project Office and included panellists from BC Tel, BC Hydro, BC Gas, Action 2000, Vancouver / Richmond Health Board, Vancouver Engineering, and Vancouver Emergency Planning. The format is a one hour of presentations by the various panellists, followed by a one hour question period. The Year 2000 Guide is distributed and various other Y2K and emergency preparedness brochures and pamphlets are made available. There were 50 attendees as this first forum and it is webcast on y2k.bc.ca for seven days following the forum. The schedule for upcoming forums is attached as Appendix A.

Contingency Planning

A Contingency Planning Committee has been established to develop contingency plans around possible Y2K issues. The Committee includes representatives from Police, Fire, Engineering, Park Board, and Community Services. It is focussed on contingency plans around critical public services. For example the Police Department has limited annual leave during the transition to ensure augmented staffing levels are in place. The Fire Department is similarly increasing staffing levels for the transition period. Other departments are identifying essential staff who will be required

In addition the Y2K Task Force is developing contingency plans to address less critical issues which may arise with respect to ongoing City facilities and operations. As an example, prior to the first business day following the New Year, Information and Technology staff and Building Services staff will have teams established to affirm the functionality of City systems and facilities. Organizations like the Library, Park Board, Police Board, Museums, Theatres, and Art Gallery will likely have similar arrangements in place. This will help to ensure that City services will be “business as usual”on January 4th, 2000.

The VancouverEmergency Operations Centre

Over the past few months departmental staff have dedicated time and effort into ensuring that the City’s new Emergency Operations Centre at E-Comm is operationally ready and that designated staff have the appropriate information and training to coordinate the City’s response to an emergency from the Emergency Operations Centre. Some of the work underway to prepare the has involved configuring and testing systems in the Emergency Operations Centre; developing training programs and providing training to staff who are designated to report to the Emergency Operations Centre in an emergency, outfitting the Emergency Operations Centre with supplies to support continuous emergency operations, finalizing departmental and Emergency Operations Centre plans training City staff on the content of the plans. The Emergency Operations Centre liaises with the Regional Emergency Coordination Centre. The Regional Emergency Coordination Centre includes representatives from municipalities, hospitals, ports, utilities, transportation agencies, emergency services and the Provincial Emergency Program. Parallel work has been carried out to ensure the readiness of the Regional Emergency Coordination Centre.

While it is not anticipated that Y2K will produce emergency conditions in the City, the year 2000 transition provides a good opportunity for staff to test the Emergency Operations Centre and test the City’s emergency response capability. The Emergency Operations Centre will be activated on December 31, 1999 and will remain activated through the Y2K rollover.

Staff at the centre will monitor news reports from around the world and any Y2K issues that emerge. Should Y2K issues result in Vancouver the Emergency Operations Centre will be ready and staff will be available to coordinate response, based on the best information available and utilizing the latest technology to manage information and communications. The Regional Emergency Coordination Centre will also be activated for New Years’ eve and this will provide an opportunity to test liaison and operations within the Regional Emergency Coordination Centre itself and between the Regional Emergency Coordination Centre and the Emergency Operations Centre.

Y2K Emergency Exercise

A Y2K exercise is being organized for May 19th at the Vancouver’s new Emergency Operations Centre at the E-Comm building. This exercise will give City staff an opportunity to practice operations at the Emergency Operations Centre and to test the capabilities of the Emergency Operations Centre. The exercise will simulate events, such as system and service failures and will provide City staff with the opportunity to test the adequacy of contingency plans and ensure smooth coordination with other agencies.

The Utilities will be running a similar exercise in parallel with the City and the Regional Emergency Coordination Centre will also be participating in the exercise. As a result the exercise will not only test the new facilities at the E-Comm building, but will also test the ability of multiple public service agencies to coordinate their response efforts. The exercise will be just after National Emergency Preparedness Week (May 3rd to 9th). The exercise will help highlight any modifications which are required to the emergency plans or the Emergency Operations Centre operations.

Y2K Inventory for Website

As part of the City’s Y2K work program a comprehensive inventory has been compiled of all City equipment, systems, software, facility-related systems etc. which may have Y2K vulnerabilities. Suspect items are tested and remediated, as appropriate. The inventory is massive and is not, on its face very enlightening with respect to the overall picture and how the various items on the inventory relate to specific city services. (For example it contains 17,000 items peripheral to computer hardware) The Y2K Task Force thought, however, that an inventory which the public could look at would be useful and informative. The Task Force members have therefore taken the large inventory and distilled out of it the major systems which impact public services. This inventory is attached as Appendix “B”. This inventory will be included on the City’s website as well as the joint Roundtable website and will be updated periodically.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the City’s Y2K program continues to proceed on schedule and the City is anticipated to be fully Y2K ready by September. The nature of the Y2K issue, and the interdependencies with other agencies, makes it difficult to be totally certain of the anticipated effects of Y2K. However, as a result of the work done to date, City staff do not expect significant problems arising with respect to City services as a result of the Y2K transition.

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APPENDIX A

City of Vancouver
Year 2000 Community Forums
Public Information Presentations

The following is a list of dates and locations for these presentations. A map is located on the reverse for your reference.

Date	Location	Time
Wednesday, March 31	Roundhouse Community Centre 181 Roundhouse Mews (refer to #2 on map) Located on Pacific Boulevard west of Davie Street	7-9 pm
Tuesday, April 27	Trout Lake Community Centre 3350 Victoria Drive (refer to #18 on map) Located on Victoria Drive and East 15th Avenue	7-9 pm
Wednesday, May 26	Kerrisdale Community Centre 5851 West Boulevard (refer to #8 on map) Located on West Boulevard at West 42nd Avenue	7-9 pm
Thursday, June 24	Dunbar Community Centre 4747 Dunbar Street (refer to #5 on map) Located on Dunbar Street at West 33rd Avenue	7-9 pm
Tuesday, July 27	Renfrew Park Community Centre 2929 East 22nd Avenue (refer to #13 on map) Located on East 22nd Avenue, east of Renfrew Street	7-9 pm
Wednesday, August 25	Hastings Community Centre 3096 East Hastings Street (refer to #6 on map) Located on East Hastings Street, east of Renfrew Street	7-9 pm
Wednesday, September 29	Britannia Community Centre 1661 Napier Street (refer to #1 on map) Located at Napier Street at Commercial Drive	7-9 pm
Wednesday, October 27	Champlain Heights Community Centre 3350 Maquinna Drive (refer to #22 on map) Located on Maquinna, east of Kerr Street	7-9 pm
Wednesday, November 24	West End Community Centre 870 Denman Street (refer to #19 on map) Located on Denman Street at Haro Street	7-9 pm

APPENDIX B

INVENTORY

The Task Force has completed a comprehensive inventory of all City items which may be vulnerable to Y2K issues. The inventory is massive and includes, for example, 17,000 switches, batteries, printers, cables etc. Rather than reproduce the entire inventory, the following is a summary of the major systems which impact public services, along with their Y2K status.

City Clerk’s Office	Voting System	tabulates votes in municipal elections	Ready
Building Management	City Building Systems	systems integral to City buildings eg. security systems, parking garage doors, access systems, elevators, air conditioning and ventilating etc.	95% ready now; full readines s Sept
	Property Management System	tracks rent collection on city properties	Ready
Civic Theatres	Building systems /stage support systems	systems to support full operation of City theatres	Ready
Engineering -Electrical & Equipment Services	Traffic Signal Management System	Monitors and controls traffic signals at major intersections	June
	Street Lighting	ensures automatic lighting of City streets	Ready
	Fleet management system	tracks and monitors City vehicles and equipment	Ready
Engineering - Solid Waste Operations	Vancouver Landfill systems	supports full operations of the Vancouver landfill	Ready
Engineering -Water, Sewers & Yards	Sewers system	supports full operation of the sewer system within the City	Ready
	Water system	supports provision of water throughout the City	Ready
Corporate Services - Financial Services	Payroll System	processes pay for City employees	June
	Purchasing System	processes purchase of goods and materials	Ready
	By-Law Fines System	processes fines for by-law infractions	Ready
	Property Tax System	processes property taxes to property owners	June 1999
Fire and Rescue Services	Computer Aided Dispatch System	manages dispatch of field units to fire incidents	July 1999
	Voice radio system	allows voice and data communication between fire field units	July 1999
	Fire Hall systems	supports operations at 20 Fire Halls located throughout the City	Ready
	Fire vehicles and onboard equipment	aerial ladder trucks, pumper trucks etc. as well as onboard equipment such as jaws of life, defibrillators	Ready
Park Board	Park Board facilities systems	supports continued operation of community centres, swimming pools, skating rinks etc.	Ready
	Community Centre Registration system (newer system)	Supports registration for community centre programs in most community centres	Ready
	Community Centre Registration system (older system)	Supports registration for community centre programs in six community centres	Sept
	Golf Tee Booking System	books tee times for Park Board golf courses	Ready
	Field Booking System	books field time for Park Board fields	Ready
	Parking Meter Equipment	supports pay parking in Parks	May
Community Services	Business License System	supports monitoring and issuance of business licenses	Ready
	Permit Review and Inspection (PRISM)	supports issuance and tracking of City development and building permits	Ready
	Inspection systems	supports scheduling of property use, electrical, plumbing, and building inspections	Ready
	‘Domino’ document imaging system	tracks official permit and inspection documentation for all City addresses	June
	Building systems for City lodges, residences and drop-in centres	supports ongoing operations of Evelyn Saller Centre, Roddan Lodge, New Continental, Old Continental, Antoinette Lodge, Gresham Residence, Barclay residence, Alexander, Oppenheimer, Gathering Place, Carnegie Centre	ready
	Building systems for Dog Pound	supports ongoing operations of City Pound	ready
	Mountainview Cemetery Systems	support ongoing operations of cemetery	ready
Police Department	Computer Aided Dispatch System	manages dispatch of field units to police incidents	June 1999
	Voice radio system	allows voice and data communication between police field units	June 1999
	Breathalyzer equipment	supports Counter Attack services	ready
	Radar Equipment	supports speed monitoring services	ready
	Crimestoppers systems	supports crimestoppers operations	June
	Fingerprint System	supports fingerprinting activities	June
	Criminal records check system	supports background checks on suspects	June
Pacific Space Centre	Space Centre systems	supports full operation of Pacific Space Centre	June
Vancouver Maritime Museum	Maritime Museum systems	supports full operation of Maritime Museum	Ready
Vancouver Museum	Vancouver Museum systems	supports full operation of Vancouver Museum	June
Vancouver Public Library	Public Library systems	supports full operation of all branches of the Vancouver Public Library	Sept
Vancouver Art Gallery	collection inventory system	maintains information relative to the Art Gallery collection	June
	hardware and software systems	supports development and sharing of public programs	Sept

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver