A New York State Thruway Authority skid steer, with a snowblower attachment, clears a path near Mason Hall (photo by Rich Newton).
A team effort across multiple departments enabled SUNY Fredonia to clear massive amounts of snow so classes could re-resume.
“Nobody could believe how much snow we got. Four feet in three days was something none of my guys were alive for the last time that happened,” reported Grounds Head Supervisor Rich Newton. “In 18 years here, I’ve never had this much snow in such a short period of time.”
“We started planning for it when I was getting the forecast about a week in advance, to get as much equipment ready as possible,” Newton said.
I was extremely pleased with the effort of my staff as well as other Facilities crews, crews from the electrical shop, the garage and Custodial [Services] who helped to clear snow from fire hydrants, shoveling sidewalks.” - Grounds Head Supervisor Rich Newton
Indeed, snow that began falling around noon the Friday after Thanksgiving brought much of Western New York – and neighboring Pennsylvania as well – to a grinding halt, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency. Early on, Newton, who was already on campus Friday, summoned workers from his department.
“Just to maintain roads was all we could do,” Newton commented, with the volume of heavy snow that was coming down. Five Grounds workers and Newton alternatively rotated in what were initially 12-hour shifts that quickly expanded to 16 or more hours to try to keep up with the snow throughout the weekend. The Grounds crew amassed nearly 300 overtime hours between Nov. 29 to Dec. 7 in addition to regular work time.
Campus snow-clearing efforts were around the clock that weekend. Fortunately, the Grounds staff was able to put into service a newly purchased salter for one of its trucks three days before the snowstorm.
The effort to obtain assistance from the state involved University Police Chief Gordon Carpenter, Director of Marketing and Communications Jeff Woodard, Emergency Planning Coordinator Chuck Holder of the campus Environmental Health and Safety and Sustainability office and SUNY System Administration.
Interim Co-director for Facilities Services Mark Delcamp identified resources that the campus needed. Staff from the New York State Thruway Authority in Batavia, NY, and S. St. George Enterprises and S. Tabone Construction, both Fredonia, NY, firms, provided loaders, trucks and a skid steer with a snowblower to clear sidewalks and parking lots.
“It was all hands-on deck and everyone chipped in to get the work done,” Mr. Delcamp said, adding that he’s beyond grateful for those who helped.
It was a true team effort, echoed Chief Carpenter.
Large banks of snow were scooped up and offloaded at Lots 7, the double-tiered parking along Ring Road, and 9C, near the stadium.
“We had staff traveling all over campus to different buildings that they weren’t normally scheduled to cover,” Delcamp said. “There were trades and custodial staff that also worked to help shovel out students that were already on campus that got plowed in, and were also out clearing fire hydrants.”
Because the storm started late Friday, the campus relied heavily on those already scheduled to work to keep up with the snowfall, Delcamp said. By Sunday morning there were driving bans and restrictions on top of people getting stuck at home and unable to get to campus. Many staff did their best to dig themselves out and get to campus despite the delay of classes and campus opening.
The snow was very heavy and persistent, Delcamp added, “and we were very focused on getting the residence halls open for the return of students.”
“I was extremely pleased with the effort of my staff as well as other Facilities crews, crews from the electrical shop, the garage and Custodial [Services] who helped to clear snow from fire hydrants, shoveling sidewalks,” Newton said.
“It was a team effort – everybody worked together to get this taken care of,” Newton added.
The campus has an emergency plan in place to respond to snowstorms, “but you really can’t prepare for this major of a storm,” Newton commented. “I don’t think we’ve had anything like this since 1978.”
Just a few sidewalks remained to be opened as of Monday, Newton noted. “It’s still a work in process, but at least it’s under control,” he added, ahead of as much as 10 inches of snow that’s predicted to fall by Friday, Dec. 13.
