University of Idaho Facilities Services start preparing the campus for winter conditions months before snow hits the ground. This year, the team began a little sooner than usual due to expected early snowfall.
UI hires temporary employees to assist the full-time grounds crew when winter comes. The team ensures the safety of campus through maintaining the trees, preparing equipment for winter weather and protecting buildings from damage.
Facilities Services prunes trees year round to maintain the health of trees and minimize hazards, especially during the winter. This year, crews were out and about on campus “in response to the first snow fall because dozens of trees and major branches fell,” according to Brian Johnson, assistant vice president for UI Facilities Services.
Johnson’s team works with UI’s Parking and Transportation Services to clean up leaves on campus.
“(Leaf cleanup is) a big deal,” Rebecca Couch, Parking and Transportation Services director, said. “We’ve got to clean up the leaves so that they don’t all plug the drains and when the snow comes and it’s melting, then we have flooding issues.”
Other than leaf cleanup, PTS waits to see weather conditions and the forms appropriate plans, Couch said.
Facilities Services starts to use and prepare equipment for winter in mid-October or mid-November. The team uses a street sweeper, small tractor, plows and snow blades to prepare and respond to snow.
When winter weather appears, crews and students are hired to shovel snow in the early morning, around 1-2 a.m., snowplows plow campus roads and a small tractor plows campus sidewalks by 4 a.m.
The university provides sand buckets outside every major building on campus and Facilities Services throws rock on the roads to counteract icy conditions. Some stairways close to minimize accidents as well. Johnson said staff usually know where buildings tend to freeze and ensure pipes and cooling systems in those areas don’t get damaged when winter arrives.
Facilities upkeep doesn’t maintain campus winter safety alone, though. UI’s Public Safety and Security reminds people to be careful of slippery conditions and other winter weather dangers.
Facilities Services does its best to make conditions as good as they can be, but it is ultimately up to individuals to dress appropriately, wear the right footwear and take appropriate precautions when visiting campus, Johnson said.
Keely Burnes can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @keelyburnes.