Snow Daze: While Most of Us Stayed Home, Facilities Management Personnel Were on the Job
By Steve Daniel
Most of us had the luxury of sleeping late and relaxing in our warm homes over the two days ODU closed as a result of the recent snowstorm, but that wasn't the case for personnel in Facilities Management, who were on the job to clear the campus ahead of the university's eventual reopening mid-morning on Friday, Jan. 31. (It was a drill similar to the one they carried out following the lighter snowfall a week earlier that closed the university for one day.)
All employees in Facilities Management are designated as "essential personnel," including administrative staffers who provided communications and other support services during the two days the university was closed. (Patricia King-Alvis, landscape coordinator, and Chris Pewterbaugh, facility assessment and improvement administrator, took several pictures of the operation as well as some scenic "ODU in the snow" pictures, which can be viewed at left.)
"We had approximately 150 people working the snow event Wednesday and Thursday and on Friday morning to check areas that may have iced over," said Dillard George, director of Facilities Management. "We worked about 10 hours on Wednesday and were able to have the campus ready with about 3-6 hours' work on Thursday, depending on the shop. Friday morning our shops reported at the normal time, starting at 5 a.m. with our housekeepers, to be able to have the campus ready to open at the designated time."
Facilities Management has well-organized plans in place for snow removal/de-icing operations. The campus is divided into six snow zones, with a manager that monitors each zone and other managers overseeing equipment repairs, communications and other support functions. The snow zone managers - Chad Peevy, Tony Tyler, Trevor McPherson, Mark Flanagan, Monish Bhan and Harvey Logan - are responsible for clearing walkways and building entrances in their zones. King-Alvis oversaw the use of larger equipment to clear some of the bigger areas on campus.
"Our snow removal operations are an 'all-hands' effort for Facilities Management," George said. "Our strategy is to clear as much as we can with equipment to minimize labor-intensive hand work by our staff."
Staff members were armed with various pieces of equipment to tackle the 9-inch snowfall, including, snow blowers and hand-held motorized brooms that were used in the snow zones; a front-end loader; and two carts with power brooms. Facilities Management also rented two Bobcat loaders and four ride-on "brooms" to clear wider walkways and entry areas, etc.
Transportation and Parking Services contracted for snow removal of many of the university lots, and Facilities Management hired a contractor for snow removal at the Virginia Beach Higher Education Center and the Tri-Cities/ Higher Education Center/VMASC.
Facilities Management personnel cleared approximately 14 miles of major walkways and put down about 15 tons of Ice Melt.
King-Alvis said it was a wonderful team effort. In addition to commending the work of her colleagues, she said that many of the students they saw outside enjoying the snow expressed their appreciation for the work being done. "Some of them even brought hot chocolate out to our workers and helped push cars that got stuck in the snow," she said.
George also commented on the work of the employees in his area. "I am extremely proud of our Facilities Management staff, who proved themselves again in the two recent snow events. When others are able to stay home, our folks display their dedication to ODU by showing up and working whatever hours it takes to get the campus ready to open," he said.
"We received compliments from President Broderick, COO David Harnage and Vice President Bob Fenning for all the hard work by our staff to have the campus ready to open."
Harnage held an appreciation event on Feb. 6 to express his thanks to Facilities Management, as well as ODU Police personnel - who, Harnage said, "spent lots of time helping people that were having driving difficulty during the storm" - for their dedication and hard work during the snow days.
"We all agreed we have seen enough snow for the year and are looking forward to spring weather," George said.