November 2011 Archives

The close of another season at Gothic has come again as the snow slowly reasserts its grip, apace it seems with its gradual, glacial departure last spring. This year’s late arrival of spring created a summer of challenges for the Physical Plant crew and my hat goes off to all the members of my team. Although it seems simple enough, opening cabins on skis adds a lot of difficulty to a seemingly simple task, not least of all because skis have to come off and on innumerable times in the process. And the impacts of a late snow melt linger well into the summer and require a lot of catch up work even after the snow itself is largely forgotten and the E. grandiflorum have wilted. Unfortunately, a lot of tasks have to be deferred or even remain undone when the early season has several weeks chopped off. The additional work involved in getting water running and the delay in getting the fences up contributes to a backlog that lingers through most of the summer. However, within only the first month of operation the work crew still responded to and resolved more than 60 work order requests.
In 2011, of course, there were the additional challenges imposed by the construction projects occurring throughout Gothic - the construction of the new Research Center and the renovation of the Richards’ Cabin. Difficulties arose not so much from the planned projects themselves but from the sudden surprise imposition of unexpected requirements by regulatory agencies. The development of temporary water storage and a fire line, along with construction of a new access road and turning circle, had to be accomplished quickly to enable the work on the new Research Center to proceed on schedule. Fortunately, preliminary planning work already in progress within the Physical Plant department could be advanced to meet the unexpected need. Even as the season came to a close a new and permanent Dry Fire Hydrant was installed at the intersection of Gothic Road and Copper Creek to meet the requirements necessary for granting a Certificate of Occupancy for the building.
Looking back over the past summer it is difficult to remember all the tasks and projects that were completed. I am still amazed at all of the changes we have seen! Luckily, we had the benefit of having Peter Petroupolis back at Gothic for his fourth season on the work crew, and the value of having a returning employee like Peter cannot be understated. The infrastructure and buildings at RMBL are unique and have idiosyncrasies that make familiarity important in their operation and Peter’s experience helped make a tough summer tolerable. We wish him all the best on his next endeavor as he answers the call to serve our nation. We will certainly miss him!