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 News from the Field
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| Camp Maintenance |
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USABlueBook provided hats and other materials
for the Camp Maintenance Conference. |
By Rick Stryker,
Civil Engineer
As an engineer working with children’s camps, I encounter a large number of professionals who never dreamed that they’d be dealing with the operational and regulatory issues that public utility folks handle every day.
Imagine working for a small town where operating water supply and distribution, and sewage collection and treatment systems were only a fraction of the duties. Other work on these camps includes maintenance on aging buildings that spread over 300 acres or more, overseeing new building construction, plowing snow, fixing potholes, and property management of numerous recreational and educational areas.
Maintaining facilities on a seasonal basis
Many of these camps need to provide and treat 30,000 to 60,000 gallons of water a day. Each spring they start everything up, and each autumn, they turn off the lights for the winter.
As all utility employees know, clean potable water magically comes from the tap and goes down the drain to, well, who cares where as long as it’s someplace else?
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It’s an extraordinary undertaking, and often the work associated with the buried utilities is overlooked by owners who are much more focused on a fresh coat of paint. As all utility employees know, clean potable water magically comes from the tap and goes down the drain to, well, who cares where as long as it’s someplace else?
Like your job, operating a camp has its ups and downs. Beyond the annual water main geyser and the weekly backed up toilet (“weekly” if we’re lucky), there is deteriorating buried infrastructure to contend with. Normally, I’m the facility manager’s first call after the Department of Health or Environment has stopped to chat or left a love note.
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| USABlueBook helps make campers happy |
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| Once we have an idea of what the situation is, the next call is almost always to the folks at USABluebook. As an engineer, sometimes I think up answers which are more complicated or expensive than they have to be, and BlueBook’s insight and suggestions are always helpful. Also, that same level of professionalism, knowledge and patience has helped my clients put solutions in place the best way, the first time—saving time and money in the long run. |
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| USABluebook generously supported the annual Camp Maintenance Conference, held at YMCA Camp Chingachgook on Lake George, New York in March this year. At least half of the people I spoke with received the catalog already, and the other half heard about USABluebook from the first half! |
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| So, on behalf of the camp maintenance community, and our conference attendees in particular, thanks USABluebook, for sharing what you know and making camps safer. |
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| Rick Stryker is a Professional Civil Engineer providing planning, design and regulatory consultations for land developers, municipalities and camps. You can reach him at rstryker@ptd.net or 570-828-4004. |
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| Copyright © 2008, USABlueBook®, All rights reserved. |
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