Grounds crew aims to keeps campus clear
Kurt Oberreither
-News Editor-
Last winter St. Louis had a total of 29 inches of snow. According to STLCC-Meramec Meteorology Professor Joe Schneider’s predictions, St. Louis could see around 20 inches of snowfall this winter.
The Meramec building and grounds crew is a team that works through the storm to make sure sidewalks, parking lots and entryways are completely accessible to students, faculty and staff.
“We do get a jump on [snow removal],” said Meramec Manager of Building and Grounds Willie Wright. “We know about it before anybody else does.”
When a storm hits campus, Wright is responsible for relaying its condition to the chancellor to decide if classes will be cancelled.
Wright said he and Dennis Bannister, building and grounds supervisor, work closely with campus police. Even while the crew is at home, they can monitor the campus with the use of the security cameras located around campus.
“The patrolmen ride around the parking lot and they call us when it starts getting slick,” Wright said. “A lot of times we can see snow itself but you may not know that the ground is freezing sometimes because you can’t really see ice – unless it’s sleet.”
When calculating winter temperatures and snowfall, Schneider looked at analog years in St. Louis as far back as the 1950s. He looked at years where the La Nina weather conditions affected weather patterns for the second year in a row, like this year.
Schneider predicted average temperatures and snowfall amounts for December, January and February.
“If we get 22 inches in total snowfall for the season, it’s going to mean some tricky commutes,” Schneider said.
Wright said he and Bannister rely on weekly weather reports to prepare for upcoming storms.
Bannister said the most difficult weather conditions to take care of are those that hit campus in the early morning.
Schneider said this winter season could bring similar conditions and storms as last year. The storm in February last spring semester brought freezing rain, sleet and snow.
“Sleet attaches and once [there is] more sleet on top of it, it just acts like a glue to the concrete and even to the grass really,” Schneider said. “Snow will go away a lot faster; sleet attaches and really attaches to that surface.”
Bannister said the first preventative measure is to spray liquid salt on walkways and steps. When ice has attached to the surfaces, Bannister said the grounds crew employs the use of calcium chloride, salt and plows.
“It’s just very hard to get up under that ice when it’s frozen solid and the ground’s very, very cold. You have to go over it and try to break it loose and go over it and salt it and break it loose,” Bannister said. “It’s a very tiring process.”
Bannister has a team of five grounds crew employees, along with himself, to combat slick conditions on the campus and he can add to the team depending on the severity of the storm. He said if more help is needed, housekeeping can join the effort.
“We generally just go out there and try to get it done as quickly as possible,” Bannister said. “And if it takes plowing and salt together, that’s what we do – try to get it done so we have a safe environment.”
