2008 Woodie Awards
Veteran stresses flagpole upkeep
By: Phil Hornshaw
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Christopher Roe noticed the CMU Veterans Memorial Peace Grove was deteriorating.
The flagpole was rusting, and Roe, a veteran, wanted to do something about it.
After months of unanswered e-mails to Facilities Management in July, August and September, the flagpole was painted Monday, Veterans Day.
"Some people go out of their way to visit it (the memorial)," Roe said. "The flagpole is the first thing they see. I really think if we're going to have a Veterans Memorial, then we should maintain it."
Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management, answered Roe in October. Lawrence told Roe he had not received any of the e-mails until then, and when he heard about the flagpole he started to get it taken care of.
"It wasn't until my secretary forwarded me an e-mail she received from Mr. Roe," Lawrence said in an e-mail to Central Michigan Life. "That same day I asked the (Facilities Management) Paint Shop to re-paint the flagpole as soon as they could, depending on their workload and the weather."
Lawrence said the memorial, which was dedicated in 1995 to honor several CMU veterans who served in World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam, doesn't receive any regular maintenance besides lawn mowing and trash pickup.
"We rely on input from FM employees and everyone else on campus. As you can probably imagine, there are an incredible number of items that require maintenance," Lawrence said. "The FM Service Center receives thousands of calls every year and issued 16,400 work orders during fiscal year 2007/2008 for maintenance performed by FM employees."
FM employees also perform preventative maintenance on all campus buildings, Lawrence said. That adds up to more than another 3,000 work orders per year.
For those 19,400 work orders Facilities Management only employs 206 people, including administrative or financial staff. Many positions are unfilled, Lawrence said.
The FM Service Center receives the work orders and sent out to various shops, such as the Paint Shop, according to where they fit best, he said. Shop supervisors then prioritize items.
Jobs costing more than $1,000 or scheduled to take more than a few days often are given to a contractor, Lawrence said, because FM staff already has so much on its plate.
"Major maintenance items, those that will exceed $10,000, are placed on the deferred maintenance list for prioritization. For fiscal year 2007/2008, 180-plus projects were identified but we were able to fund only 43 projects," Lawrence said.
Members of the CMU community who would like to report maintenance issues can call the Facilities Management Service Center at 774-6547.
news@cm-life.com
The flagpole was rusting, and Roe, a veteran, wanted to do something about it.
After months of unanswered e-mails to Facilities Management in July, August and September, the flagpole was painted Monday, Veterans Day.
"Some people go out of their way to visit it (the memorial)," Roe said. "The flagpole is the first thing they see. I really think if we're going to have a Veterans Memorial, then we should maintain it."
Steve Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management, answered Roe in October. Lawrence told Roe he had not received any of the e-mails until then, and when he heard about the flagpole he started to get it taken care of.
"It wasn't until my secretary forwarded me an e-mail she received from Mr. Roe," Lawrence said in an e-mail to Central Michigan Life. "That same day I asked the (Facilities Management) Paint Shop to re-paint the flagpole as soon as they could, depending on their workload and the weather."
Lawrence said the memorial, which was dedicated in 1995 to honor several CMU veterans who served in World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam, doesn't receive any regular maintenance besides lawn mowing and trash pickup.
"We rely on input from FM employees and everyone else on campus. As you can probably imagine, there are an incredible number of items that require maintenance," Lawrence said. "The FM Service Center receives thousands of calls every year and issued 16,400 work orders during fiscal year 2007/2008 for maintenance performed by FM employees."
FM employees also perform preventative maintenance on all campus buildings, Lawrence said. That adds up to more than another 3,000 work orders per year.
For those 19,400 work orders Facilities Management only employs 206 people, including administrative or financial staff. Many positions are unfilled, Lawrence said.
The FM Service Center receives the work orders and sent out to various shops, such as the Paint Shop, according to where they fit best, he said. Shop supervisors then prioritize items.
Jobs costing more than $1,000 or scheduled to take more than a few days often are given to a contractor, Lawrence said, because FM staff already has so much on its plate.
"Major maintenance items, those that will exceed $10,000, are placed on the deferred maintenance list for prioritization. For fiscal year 2007/2008, 180-plus projects were identified but we were able to fund only 43 projects," Lawrence said.
Members of the CMU community who would like to report maintenance issues can call the Facilities Management Service Center at 774-6547.
news@cm-life.com
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