WINTER STORM EVENT ACTION PLANRevised: 11/27/06
The following outlines the objectives, strategy, and tactical plans for responding to cold weather precipitation.
I. OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this plan is to keep the University safe and operational in snow and ice conditions.
A. The primary goal is to keep open a predetermined network of pedestrian routes that will allow students safe access to central campus from their respective dormitories.
B. The second goal is to enhance the usability of the main vehicular routes within the Domain needed by faculty, staff, and students who drive to campus and to make useful designated parking areas.
II. STRATEGY
The strategy is summarized in the following five points:
A. Vigilance and proactive response to threatening weather. Responsibilities are assigned for keeping close track of weather reports and sending out a call to the response team. A response team with clear responsibilities is established to arrive on site when called, with flexibility to add and equip manpower reinforcements as necessary.
B. Effective, prioritized response plan. An orderly plan is established which defines the sequences of actions for groups and individuals on the response team. The plan covers flexible adjustments to strategy due to changing conditions and empowers each member of the response team to adapt his/her actions to immediate conditions or needs.
C. Appropriate equipment and materials. Equipment is procured, maintained and held in readiness for quick use by the response team. Dispersible materials for melting ice or increasing friction are held in proper quantities and readiness.
D. Training. The response team receives appropriate training in the mission, response plan, use of equipment and materials.
E. Communication with students, faculty, and staff. A Winter Storm Pedestrian Path Map may be posted outside the Residential Life offices and in the dormitories. (When students are not present or during other special situations when the University has non-typical operational needs, a reduced, customized network will be used). Up-to-the-minute weather advisories can be received through the Police Department.
III. TACTICAL PLAN
A. Pre-Season Preparation.
1. Operation Supervisor:
a. Maintain inventories of a variety of ice melting materials.
b. Maintain inventory of turnout gear for response team.
c. Maintain inventories of hand-held equipment for support crews.
d. Maintain and update route and building maps.
e. Maintain and update response checklists.
f. Train response team and support personnel.
2. Equipment Mechanic:
a. Install cabs, chains, weights and prescribed attachments on riding equipment.
b. Maintain readiness of all mechanized equipment.
c. Maintain inventory of tire chains for all designated "Call-Out" PPS vehicles.
d. Maintain inventory of spare equipment batteries.
e. Service, maintain and verify operation of snowplow by no later than October 15.
f. Maintain readiness of truck-mounted Cyclone spreader.
g. Maintain inventory of moderate-cost spare parts for tractor, skid steer loader, snow plow, riding equipment, spreader, snow blower, and sweeper attachments.
h. Coordinate the use and temporary covered storing of front-end loader at the bulk salt storage building.
3. Mechanized Equipment Operators:
a. Identify and correct impediments along mechanized route prior to November 15.
b. Verify all equipment systems are operational and review owner/operator manuals.
4. Support Crew:
a. Maintain materials used in the clearing of porches, steps and other inaccessible areas along the route.
b. Insure assigned portable radios are in good working order and fully charged.
c. Insure Groups A and B Plan Books are available and complete.
B. Vigilance and Emergency Response. During normal PPS working hours the operation supervisor will observe the local weather conditions and predictions and direct appropriate responses. During hours when PPS personnel are not present, the Police Department Officers/Dispatcher on duty will monitor the weather situation and will call Connie Gall (931-394-2001) and Wayne Caldwell (598-0655) sometime after 1:30 am, when accumulation of snow is approximately one inch deep or when icing conditions will effect the general safety of students, faculty, or staff, hence a Winter Storm Event.
*(Note: When students are not present, the response will be abbreviated.)
Connie Gall will call Wayne Caldwell to appraise the situation and Connie will then call Dale Masuda (931-454-0414) to reach a decision about the level of response.
Wayne Caldwell will call Dan Sargent (931-592-6536) and Donnie McBee (598-9493), who will report to the PPS maintenance shop as quickly as possible.
Connie Gall will, in turn, call some or all of the following individuals, who will report to the PPS maintenance shop as quickly as possible:
1. John Weaver 598-9085
2. David Barnes 967-0382
3. Danny Anderson 598-0485
4. Willard Bridges 598-9718
5. Mark Cowan 598-0731
6. Darrin Hampton 931-592-8287
7. Steve Johnson 967-3534
8. Terry Turner 931-924-2896
9. Adam Nelson 962-4484
10. Delores Taylor 962-1528
C. Response Plan for Pedestrian Network. The initial efforts and first objective will be to open and maintain the predetermined pedestrian network. Responsibilities are as follows:
1. Operation Supervisor: Connie Gall (and/or Dale Masuda):
a. Supervise and direct the response efforts of emergency team members, all of whom are empowered and trained to make and report flexible adjustments to the strategy due to local and changing conditions.
b. Make decisions concerning overall strategy based on types of snow/ice, accumulations, predictions, equipment effectiveness, etc.
c. Rotate personnel for rest and relief from cold.
d. Organize accommodations and food for response team in extended situations.
e. Reports of condition status will be transmitted first to PPS weather dispatcher at ext. 1999, then to Gerry Smith (598-1144 office, 580-5001 mobile, 500 radio) who, in turn, will contact, first, the Vice-Chancellor to make decisions regarding the University, and subsequently Susan Blettel, W: 598-1617, H: 598-3496, Cell: 931.636.5552 or if she is not available, Peg Palisano, W: 598-1577, H:598.0897, Cell: 931.224.4762 by 5:00 a.m. in the case of a nighttime emergency, who will notify the following radio and television stations (found in the Staff Handbook): Radio: WCDT (1340) in Winchester (967-2201), WZYX (1440) in Cowan (967-7471), WDEF (92.3 FM, 1370 AM) in Chattanooga, and WAHR (93 FM) in Huntsville. Television: WRCB (3), WTVC (9), WDEF (12) in Chattanooga and WSMV (4) and WTVF (5) in Nashville. Gerry Smith will contact Jeanne Jansenius for recording status messages on the University phone lines.
f. Contact the District 1 County Road Commissioner, Joe David McBee (598-5819) or John Woodall (967-2755) to request assistance on clearing county roads on the Domain, namely, University, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky Avenue, Alabama and Mitchell Avenues, as well as Dubose Lane.
g. Contact snowplowing contractors to initiate pre-negotiated agreements for assistance in clearing parking lots and other areas: R & W Construction (Roy: 931-808-4378) or Henley's Construction (Jimmy: 598-0908).
h. Establish communication with Police Station and Deans' Offices to advise students, faculty, and staff regarding travel conditions on the domain.
2. Equipment Mechanic: Dan Sargent and/or Donnie McBee:
a. Start and warm up tractor/spreader, mower/snow blower, and mower/sweeper.
b. Install tire chains on PPS vehicles beginning with Grounds vehicles, followed by other designated vehicles that provide emergency maintenance services for students, faculty, and staff.
c. Maintain presence for the duration of storm to address any equipment malfunctions.
3. Mechanized Equipment Operators: Mark Cowan, Terry Turner, and Willard Bridges. The best use of mechanized equipment depends on the type of weather conditions, which are generally described as three types:
a. Cold dry snow. In this condition the first objective will be to reduce the accumulation of snow on the pedestrian path. These paths may include paved sidewalks, gravel paths, or a narrow path alongside a street. This will consist of a first pass with a rotary broom and, in some cases, closely following with one or more support staff utilizing hand-held power blowers. A tractor with attached spreader, applying the appropriate ice melting pellets along the designated path, may follow this. In hard snowfall conditions over extended periods, this chemical dispersal may be delayed until the rate of snowfall lessens.
b. Wet snow. Again, the objective is to reduce accumulations of snow on the pedestrian path. The procedure is the same as for dry snow, except that in this case the first pass will be with a two-stage snow blower, which vacuums up the snow and ejects it out to the side and away from the path.
c. Freezing snow or ice. The condition where precipitation is icy or freezing is the most serious condition and also the most difficult, in that physical removal of the ice may not be possible. In this case, the objective is to melt the ice through dispersal of ice melting pellets.
In actuality, snow and ice conditions will often fall somewhere in between the three regimes and will be changing. Under actual conditions, the choice of equipment type will be determined by the effectiveness observed at the time. It may be, for example, that passing with the rotary broom followed by the two-stage snow blower in sequence, or vice versa, may work best in some conditions. Likewise, in many cases, snow removal will be immediately followed by dispersal of ice pellets to prevent bonding.
4. Support Crews: Two, two-person support crews (Adam Nelson, Wayne Caldwell, Danny Anderson, Darrin Hampton and/or designated staff) will clear and keep clear portions of the pedestrian path not accessible by mechanized equipment, namely areas that connect the mechanized route to porches and steps of buildings or other identified features. This will be accomplished through the use of hand-held power blowers; snow shovels, and manually spread ice-melting pellets. Crews will follow a pre-planned sequence (shown in the Appendix) and check in with operation supervisor every hour to chart progress. Other PPS trades staff in extreme cases may supplement these crews.
5. Custodians. In some situations, the PPS custodians may support the efforts to clear and maintain the porches and steps of assigned buildings. Efforts of custodians will be directed and supported by custodial supervisors, Delores Taylor, Steve Johnson, and David Barnes.
6. Troubleshooting Crew: (Donnie McBee and John Weaver) This mobile crew will carry supplies to custodians or support crews as needed, as well as respond to atypical situations and requests called in to the operations supervisor or the PPS Work Order Desk. This crew will be responsible for clearing select pedestrian crosswalks and road intersections as indicated by the winter storm pedestrian route.
Up to six designated persons will rotate on and off to serve either as mechanized equipment operators or as part of the troubleshooting crew during storms of greater than 12 hours duration.
D. Response Plan for Improving Pass ability of the Main Vehicular Routes Within the Domain.
AVOID THE INTERSECTIONS AT CURLICUE & FLORIDA AVENUES; SOUTH CAROLINA & UNIVERSITY; NORTH CAROLINA & UNIVERSITY DURING PERIODS OF SNOW & ICE. THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WILL MAKE AVAILABLE THE RE-ENFORCED EMERGENCY PATH FOR NECESSARY VEHICLE TRAFFIC BETWEEN CURLICUE AND MORGAN'S STEEP ROADS. ALWAYS PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
TEMPORARY STREET SIGNS MAY BE POSTED PROHIBITING PARKING DURING PERIODS OF ICE & SNOW.
E. Response Plan for Enhancing Usability of Parking Areas. The actions of the mechanized equipment operators or trouble shooting crew to improve vehicular parking shall be undertaken only after efforts directed at the pedestrian network and main traffic routes are well under way and proving sustainable. This work MAY be accomplished and/or supported by pre-negotiated agreements with private companies. The priority for clearing parking lots is as follows:
1. PPS Warehouse
2. duPont Library (East side)
3. PPS Administration/Police
4. Gailor Hall/McClurg/Telecomm
5. Hamilton Hall/Cravens/Tennessee Williams Center
6. Fulford Hall/Rebel's Rest
7. Fowler Center
8. Bishop's Common
9. Sewanee Inn
Please notify the police dispatcher or operations supervisor of any regularly used handicap parking spaces so that accommodations for clearing can be coordinated and integrated early on.
F. Contingency Plans.
1. If spreaders fail, distribute by hand.
2. If tractor fails, use golf course or equestrian center's tractors.
3. Cross train all PPS Grounds/Motorpool/Forestry staff for “two-deep” coverage for all tasks.
G. History and Post-Event Evaluation. In January of 1994, a campus-wide task force was formed to provide input for improving our Winter Storm Emergency Response. This group helped to define and improve our winter storm preparedness. After each storm, members of the community are encouraged to send their comments to Connie Gall (cogall). These responses are valuable and will help us improve the process and better coordinate with other county and state agencies during such conditions.
We continue to research new methods, experiment with new materials, and provide training to improve our performance.
Our "Winter Storm Pedestrian Path" is over 13 miles long and services over 70 named locations. It takes a trained, mechanized equipment operator about 4 hours to travel the path in its entirety. Each support crew has about 35 locations to service, where they clear areas that cannot be reached by mechanical means. This requires about the same 4 hours per crew. Finally the troubleshooting crew has the additional responsibility of treating and/or clearing about a half-acre of intersections, plowing nearly 6.5 acres of parking lots.
