&A A32.0 i fl\ P/l t: 12,,/ 1 January 1999 I~ VOL.iNOl GBA to Reopen Garden Room Five years after closing its doors, the Garden Room is scheduled to reopen for business in late January 1999. Included as part of the new Capitol Education Center at Georgia Plaza Park, the Garden Room will offer made-toorder sandwiches and short order items for state employees, city and county employees, and visitors, specifically school groups, to Capitol Hill. Arden Davis, a 22 year employee of GBA, who managed the Garden Room in the mid'80's, will once again manage the facility and the 3 full-time and 5 part-time employees expected to be assigned there. Both the kitchen and seating areas are being renovated including new serving counters, removal of the cedar ceiling in the public area, and new paint and lighting. Seating capacity for the inside dining room will be 250 with additional seating for 600 guests outside in Georgia Plaza Park. The Fireplace Room is also under renovation and will be available as a banquet facility later in the year. The park outside the Garden Room, which for many years was a popular site for entertaining, will once again be available for receptions and barbeques. The Garden Room evolved from a simple hot dog stand erected in the early '70's to accommodate state employees, who had few choices around Capitol Hill, for lunch. In its busiest season, the Garden Room averaged $4000 per day on a lunchtime menu. The opening of Underground Atlanta in 1989, with its extensive selection of fast food operations, heavily impacted the Garden Room's operation. After struggling for several more years, the Garden Room eventually closed in June of 1994. When it reopens, the Garden Room will serve much the same kind of fare that made it originally successful. Hamburgers, hot dogs, made-to-order sandwiches with a few additions such as fresh baked pizza, grab-n-go salads, and hand-dipped ice cream will be offered to accommodate, not only state employees, but the hoards of school children that descend upon Capitol Hill from January to June. Inauguration Set for January 11 at State Capitol Governor-elect Roy Barnes will be sworn in as Georgia's 80th governor at 12:04 p.m. on the steps of the State Capitol. The newly elected Lieutenant Governor, Mark Taylor, will also take his oath of office as well as six other Georgia constitutional officers. The ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at 1:30 p.m. A public ecumenical service will be held that day at 8:00 a.m. at Providence Missionary Baptist Church. Governor-elect and Mrs. Barnes will greet the public at an open house at the Governor's Mansion on Sunday, January 10 from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. Process Team Update The Recruitment Team has completed initial documentation of the GBA recruitment process as it exists today. In the coming weeks, the team will be analyzing and assessing whether the current process meets the needs and requirements of GBA managers and employees. If it does not meet GBA's needs, the team will make recommendations on how to improve the recruitment process. The Computer Network Team has sent a survey to all users of GBA's computer network to determine customer needs and what improvements can be made in this area. Once the surveys are completed, the team will begin tabulating and analyzing the results. From those results, the team plans to work with the GBA Computer Group to develop network improvements. Congratulations to: James Woodruff (CPolice) and his wife, Patricia, who will celebrate 39 years of marriage on January 8. Hajid Ali Shareef (CPolice) and his wife, Cassandra, who will celebrate their third wedding anniversary on January 12. Johnny Smith (CPolice) and his wife, Yong, who will celebrate 27 years of marriage on January 15. Essie and Selwyn Lee Kim (CPolice) who will celebrate 26 years of marriage on January 28. Bob and Cece Satterfield (MTNorth and Shared Services) who will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary on January 28. Terry Carter (MTPtree) who ran the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day at 1:52.24. Dave Otto (Admin) on the birth of his grandson, Wyatt, born December 10 to David and Michelle Otto. Thinking of: John Arndt (CPolice) who has recently been hospitalized with lung cancer. Pat O'Donnell (Energy Mgt) who is recovering from open heart surgery and is expected to return after the first of the year. Billy Reagin (MTSouth) who is out suffering with back problems. Lizzie Kelly (Food Service) who is back at work after a long bout with pneumonia. Sympathy to: Ansley Padgett (Landscape Svc) in the death of his mother, Wita, on November 18. David and Tracy Boswell (CPolice) in the tragic death of David's son, Christopher, on November 23. Lanny and Tim Tucker (CPolice) in the death of their mother, Louise, on November 26. Y2K Update: Inventory of Embedded Systems Completed In its first step toward Year 2000 compliance, GBA has completed a comprehensive inventory of embedded systems in GBA facilities, determined all critical devices and devices in vital buildings, and contacted the appropriate vendors for initial remediation or simply the work that needs to be done to bring our systems into compliance. In completing the inventory, GBA Remediation Schedule personnel were asked to look at accomplishing this task from two perspectives: reviewing our systems (building opera- Jan99 CCC/Archives MBC's, Capitol tions, security, life safety, elevators, etc.) Mansion and how they interact with each other; Feb99 Judicial and then go back and look at each Archives individual building or property and what Security components might have any kind of time or date issue. GBA determined that while this dual review was time consuming, it was necessary to ensure that every area had been sufficiently examined. The inventory indicated that GBA's building operations and security control systems, including associated field panels, require an upgrade to meet Y2K Mar99 Apr99 May99 Jun99 Jul99 TW, DOT Health Floyd Labor #2 Peachtree #1,7, 19 MLK Depot CEP compliance. A request for funding has been submitted to the State Year 2000 Office and approval is expected. Aug99 Ed, Pryor/ Mitchell 1150 Murphy Certification of Completeness will be 330 Ponce required from GBA Operations and Sep99 Central Console Capitol Police to complete the docu- mentation of the inventory phase. The remediation phase will begin in early 1999 by Siemens, Inc. and is expected to be completed by September of 1999. GBA person- nel determined the criticalness of each system and property and assigned remediation dates accordingly. Testing of those critical systems and buildings will be completed in February/March of 1999. According to Dave Otto, Special Projects Coordinator, respon- sible for GBA's Y2K compliance, "Contingency planning for GBA's vital business processess should begin soon. Much of what we do affects our tenants, and the sooner we complete our contingency plans, the more time we provide our tenants the opportunity to complete their respective contingency plans," notes Otto. GBA Works Toward Charitable Contributions Goal Five thousand dollars! That's the goal, and GBA is sooooo close! $4872.00 close, and only $128 short to meet the goal! GBA employees have an opportunity to make a difference in someone's life in Georgia by contributing to one or several of the charities approved for the State Charitable Contributions Program. In the last several years, GBA has been extremely successful in meeting its goals for contributions. Help us reach our goal this year! Contact Human Resources at 404-656-3869 for information. Anniversaries 17 Years Valeria Thomas Larry Mulkey 15 Years Eva Pearson B.E. Stewart Chris Walker 13 Years Tim Walker William Marbut 10 Years Barry Buttram William Hoard Mary Crockett 16 Years Julie Kerlin 14 Years Faye Davis Earlene Hollis 11 Years Jerry Nicholson Kim Bradford Hulet Neely Dorothy Jones Clint Lane Willie Barnes 23 years Aloha Software Installed in GBA Cafeterias In continuing efforts to become Year 2000 compliant, GBA Food Service has installed new cash register systems in the Floyd Building and 244 Washington Street cafeterias. The Aloha by Ibertech software, which is used in Picadilly cafeterias throughout the country, replaces the Softstar system that GBA has used for the last several years. Aloha is a Windows 95 based program that is loaded onto individual personal computers installed at each cashier station. The touch screen system is pre-programmed for GBA use and is expected to speed up the check-out process. Unlike the Softstar system which experienced numerous and frequent computer crashes, Aloha is not completely disabled when a problem occurs. When one station goes down, another automatically takes over. In addition to its easy use by managers and cashiers, the software program also provides detailed reports on percentage of sales and food cost as well as a variety of comparisons. For example, the program can provide reports that indicate the percentage of hamburger cost to total sales or reports that indicate the lowest selling items on a menu. Information such as this is helpful to managers in that it gives them an opportunity to restructure menus or prices when needed. Both John DeCicco, manager of the Floyd Building cafeteria, and Debbie Fernandes, manager of 244 Washington Street, are pleased with the program. Adds DeCicco, "This is a great system. We love it. It's capable of meeting our needs- both industry-specific and those that are unique to GBA. 11 Several changes are also being incorporated into the menus in conjunction with the Aloha installment. Three weekly specials will now be offered: a vegetable special and two entree specials. In response to customer feedback, the price of condiments (lemons, butter, etc.) will now be included in the price of the meal. However, there will be a minimal charge for condiments which exceed a limit of four. The Aloha package will not only meet the Year 2000 needs of GBA Food Service, but more importantly, it will provide more financial accountability, a better check-out process, and more customerfriendly menus. Seems like a good fit. January Birthdays Angela Boswell .......................... 1st Nicolas Dials .............................. 3rd Stacy Williams .......................... 4th Johnny Wright .......................... 4th Perry Stewart ............................. 6th Greg Prater ................................ 8th Joe Watson ................................ 8th Joe Chapman ........................... 9th Larry Foster ............................... 9th Ed Tucker .................................. 9th John Fletcher ........................... 10th Joel Nantz ............................... 11th Phillip Scott ............................. 12th Ethelene Allen ........................ 13th Dave Mathieson ..................... 14th Shirley Atkinson ..................... 15th Ken Johnson ........................... 15th Paul Medard ........................... 15th Bessie Mosley .......................... 16th Bobby Presnal ......................... 16th Mary Malloy ........................... 17th Brady Banks ........................... 18th Gloria Beverly ......................... 19th Doug Ivey ............................... 19th James Pressley......................... 19th Stan Thomas........................... 19th Bobby Tinsley ......................... 19th William Hoard ........................ 20th Sandra Mack ........................... 21st Lisa Mitchell ............................ 21st Albert Bynes ........................... 22nd John Carter ............................. 22nd Ray Roberts .............................. 23rd Linda Smith ............................. 23rd Steve Bagley ............................ 24th Toney Hayes ............................ 26th Jennifer Hones ........................ 26th B.E. Stewart ............................. 26th Walter Haralson ..................... 27th Mark Mashburn ..................... 27th Dan Dueltgen ......................... 28th John Williams ......................... 28th Arthur Cardell ........................ 29th Jerry Bradford ......................... 30th Hollis Ball ................................ 31st Jason Hill ................................. 31st Perry Hogue ............................. 31st Dorothy Jones .......................... 31st Employees of the Month November 1998 Congratulations to Stacy Williams (Capitol Police), James Daniel (MTPeachtree}, Tommy Kelly (Landscape Services) and Johnny Wright (Motor Pool) who were selected as Employees of the Month for November 1998. Not pictured is Keisha Stein (Human Resources). Health Benefit Change Takes Effect January 1 As reported in the Georgia Merit System Updater, the benefit year for standard and high option members of the State Health Benefit Plan will change from a calendar year (January 1 to December 30) to the State's fiscal year (July 1 to June 30). This change brings the benefit year in line with the State's fiscal year as well as the same time as an employee's open enrollment coverage selections. Instead of January 1, annual visitations and dollar limits on a benefit will begin on July 1. A six-month transition period will be necessary with the new benefit year beginning July 1, 1999. During the transitionperiod, most benefit visitation and dollar limits will be one-half of current levels. The following are brief examples: + If your general deductible for a family is $750 per year, the deductible during the transition period will be $375 or one-half the current amount. + If your out-of-pocket spending limits for a family in the high option plan is $1300, your spending limit during the transition period would be $650. + Under the current plans, a patient is allowed 40 visits for chiro- practic care. During the transition, a patient will be allowed 20 visits. These conditions only last until July 1, when visitation numbers and dollar limits return to their regular rates. For more information or questions, contact the State Health Benefit Plan at 404-233-4479. What's Going On ... Administration + Cindy Harden leaves GBA to take a position in the Governor's Office. Nancy Negris (MTNorth) transfers to the Executive Director's Office as Special Projects Coordinator. + Welcome to Yolanda Mason who joins the Executive Director's Office as a receptionist/secretary. Capitol Police + David Simmons joins Capitol Police Division as the new administrative manager. He is retired from the Detroit Police Department. Operations + Ronnie Whitehead and Clarence Webb (Shared Services) transfer to MTSouth. Ronnie is assigned to Archives as a maintenance services supervisor and Clarence is now a facilities painter. + Welcome to Gary Barrett who joins MTSouth as a facilities maintenance mechanic.