Its that time of the year UI facilities employees work long hours to ensure campus safety during winter months

UI facilities employees work long hours to ensure campus safety during winter months

When the weather gets cold and the snow begins to fall, Charles Zillinger, University of Idaho director of landscape and exterior services, said its the busiest time of the year for him and his crew.

Jett Jones | Argonaut A UI employee clears away snow on a wintery day

Zillinger said its not uncommon for some Facilities Services personnel to start work as early as 2 a.m. during the winter months and workers have an automatic early start when at least one inch of snow covers the UI campus over night.

The best time to remove snow is when no one is there, Zillinger said. (We do) whatever it takes to keep campus safe.

The annual budget for snow removal is around $19,400, Zillinger said. The money is allocated to supplies and equipment costs, but Zillinger said its not enough to cover everthing, so additional expenses are supplemented with Facilities general maintenance funds.

With the goal of having campus cleared of snow and ice by 7 a.m., the main areas of campus are the first priority. Zillinger said its after they get the main areas cleared when they get to work on other areas of the campus.

We prioritize snow removal, he said. That is going to maximize how many people can use (the walkways).

Zillinger said a routine winter morning encompasses 18 people who work throughout the day to clear snow from the 10 miles of road and 100 acres of sidewalks that make up campus. Six large plow drivers, six smaller plow drivers and six hand scoopers work together to clear campus and custodial services clear the building entryways.

With a limited amount of people working to clear campus of snow and ice, everything is not going to get cleared, Zillinger said. He said this is the reason why some areas are left untouched and some stairways are blocked off.

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Its that time of the year UI facilities employees work long hours to ensure campus safety during winter months