January 5, 2007
A deluge of snow in November required the University to spend about two-thirds of its annual snow-removal budget, and there is still plenty of winter left to plow through.
Howie Wall, director of operations and maintenance with Facilities Management Division (FMD), said if snow falls at a relatively normal rate for the remainder of winter, FMD will have to dip into reserves in other areas of its operation to cover the cost of snow clearing.
“You don’t stop moving snow because of overspending,” Wall said, noting that FMD usually spends about $225,000 per winter on snow removal for the campus.
November was particularly bad for the small, rough ice mounds on walkways that form when snow melts, turns to slush, and then freezes again, said grounds manager Murray Zook. From Nov. 8 to Nov. 20, FMD used 120 bags of ice melting material, an amount that usually lasts the entire winter, he explained.
“I have to provide the safest conditions possible with the means that I have,” Zook said.
Most years, crews don’t plow the parking lots until the end of December. This year, the lots had been cleared twice by the first week of December, Zook said.
Parking Services covers the cost of snow clearing in parking areas, which last winter totaled $146,000. Given the large amount of early snow this season, the cost will likely be higher, said Parking Services acting manager Judy Wall.
FMD contracts snow removal on roadways and parking lots to outside firms, and Zook noted campus roads are often in better shape than city streets.
Zook and his eight-person snow-removal staff aim to clear high-priority pedestrian areas including wheelchair access routes and sloped sidewalks by 7 a.m. the morning after a snowfall. He said his crews can usually respond to calls about slippery patches in about 15 minutes, bringing out “the whole nine yards” – salt, sand, and ice chippers.
In November, the task of clearing snow and ice seemed daunting and it was difficult to keep staff morale high, said Zook. “You did it yesterday, and today, and will do it tomorrow,” he said, adding it has been a “very unusual” winter so far.
“We can do what we can,” he said. “It keeps us a little bit on our toes.”
FMD is looking for students to work in the early mornings to clear snow away from about 250 building doorways and fire exits. Ideally, Zook would like to have a team of 20 students, but one morning in November there were only two available.
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A bobcat clears snow outside Kirk Hall. Photo by Silas Polkinghorne |
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