Facilities workers tackle huge snowfall problems in campus walkways, lots

By William Knox
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

While many vacationing Norwich students were gulping down their last martinis and cervezsas in the tropics during spring break, members of the university's buildings and grounds staff were battling one of the biggest snowfalls of the last 20 years.

During the spring break, a storm front moved in from the Atlantic and dumped over 28 inches of snow on Norwich and the surrounding area, leaving workers with a huge mess to clean up before the students returned.

According to Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Gary Atwood, the men who cleared the snow from the university campus sprang into action with the three tractors, three plow trucks, loader, salt truck and hand shovels the weekend before the students returned.

By Monday, March 12, the roads and parking lots were accessible to students, but it would take another day and a half to completely clear the campus stairs and walkways of snow.

"This year, we had to get more snow plows than we had in the past, because we got more snow," Atwood said. "We've got more snow right now than we've had in quite a few years."

The university's loader, the largest of the vehicles used to move the snow, was working so many hours each of those days that Atwood rented a second loader and driver to give the 30-year-old work horse and its operator a break.

"My loader was averaging 14 to 17 hours a day," Atwood said. "That thing is old, believe me."

The cost to the university for the second loader and its driver was about $62 per hour.

"I don't really call that too big an expense," Atwood said. "The guy that we hire from Dubois Construction really knows what he's doing. He moves a lot of snow in the time he's here. We had him for a day and a half, but the rest of the time my loader did it all."

Given its location in central Vermont, Norwich receives a large amount of snow during winter months. Atwood and his team face many challenges in their efforts to make the snowy months easier for the students, staff and faculty.

"We try to get here early enough in the morning so that we get it cleaned up," Atwood said, "but I only have six guys who do all this. There are only six people who really remove snow on this campus."

John Hatch, Tom Barker, Larry Hopkins, Larry Cruikshank, Richard Magoon, and Bob Quelch are the heart of the team, according to Atwood. Two part-time employees, Craig Clark and university sophomore, Matt Spalding, also help with the work.

"We have a lot of ground to cover, and I think my guys have done a real good job with it," Atwood said. "If it's a two-to-three inch snow storm, my truck driver will start to work at about three in the morning, and we're usually done by noon."

Accessibility is Atwood's greatest concern. When the team goes to work in the morning, the order of their work is dictated by what areas of the campus need to be accessible earliest in the day.

"The parking lots and the roads are our biggest concern because (students) have to get in and out," Atwood said.

According to Atwood, parking lots are cleared according to priority. First to be cleared is the parking lot behind Harmon Hall so that Marriott employees have a place to park at 4 a.m. when they come to work.

Once the lots are cleared, the team can move to the stairs and walkways, which Atwood said are important to clear for two reasons, "1) it's not comfortable, your feet get wet and 2) you could slip and fall."

All the stairs must be cleared by hand using the shovels and salt, since, according to Atwood, workers "can't get much of a truck on those stairs."

Atwood said that the janitorial staff helps on the weekdays, coming to work at 4 a.m. to help clear the stairs to the dorms, but for the most part and especially on weekends, there are only the six men.

"On weekends I just have my six guys to do all the clearing," Atwood said. "I think they do one heck of a job."

According to Atwood, his office often receives complaints from students about the condition of the resident parking lots. He tries to explain to them that it's impossible for his personnel to properly plow the lots with the students' cars still on them.

"If you'd move your car so that we could plow, we'd be more than happy to," Atwood said. "By letting it build up, it makes it a lot harder for us to move, because it freezes down. It's harder on the equipment, and it takes longer to do it."

To clear the snow and properly sand and salt the parking lots, Atwood's team first needs the lots to be cleared of cars.

"If we can just shuttle the cars out and down to the field house, give us one day, and it's all done," Atwood said. "You're back in your parking spot. Sometimes, the students just don't want to cooperate. You can't blame them. They've got classes or other things to do."

According to Atwood, plans are being made to implement a program in the coming years which will allow for more regular removal of snow from the resident parking lots. Atwood indicated that he was anxious to get such a system in place, if for no other reason than to put a stop to the billing of students for having their cars towed.

"It's so foolish for someone to have to pay to have their car moved from this parking lot to that field just because they don't have the time, they don't want to take the time."

In order to cut the cost of towing, Atwood pays the towing company by the hour rather than by the car and passes the savings on to the students.

"That way, it's not such a great charge to the (student)," Atwood said, "but on the other hand, we have to wait for these guys to finish towing. Last time they were here, they spent eight hours moving cars so that we could plow."

While Atwood waits for the plan to materialize, he and his staff are happy to help any student whose car is trapped by the snow.

"If the kids get stuck, I always send my guys to go help them get out," Atwood said. "If they need shovels, I give them shovels. But they could really make it so much easier on themselves with just a little bit of cooperation, a little bit of understanding."

Like many teams, the snow shovelers could use some extra help, but Atwood explains that more workers simply can't be found.

"I would have 10 or 12 workstudy kids, if I could get them," Atwood said. "They don't want to work. They don't want to shovel.

"Once in awhile I'll get a bunch of the kids from the tours up here on a Saturday, but you can't really plan on having them when we get snowfall like we did while the students were on break," Atwood said, adding that it would be very helpful if the university could give him more staff for snow clearing, "but they can't. So we make due with what we have."

The six-man team took two and half days to completely rid campus walkways, stairs and parking lots of the 28 inches of snow.

"I had no cars to work around, and it went fast," Atwood said. "But if we got that much snow while school was in session, oh boy, that would be a mess."

Back to Guidon index