| Camp Maintenance and Property Personnel Share TheirInsights and
Challenges
by Wynne Whyman, M.A., M.S.S.
As part of the 13th annual Camp Maintenance Conference, participants
were asked to complete an optional one-page, eighteen-question survey
on camp maintenance (pdf - 44k). The survey responses are helpful
to all camp staff responsible for site maintenance.
Ninety-nine surveys were returned, which represents a 56 percent return
rate. Camps were fairly evenly represented (see chart on page 59). Below
is a summary of the camps and personnel that responded to the survey:
- The average age of the camp was 66 years, with the youngest
- Seventy-seven camps were ACA-accredited; 18 were not.
- Sixty-six operated year-round; 30 were summer only.
- With 99 camps, the average size of the camp was 371 acres, with the
smallest 17 acres and the largest with 2300 acres. Total 36,800 acres
(57.5 square miles).
- Ninety-five were owned, 3 were leased, and 1 was owned/leased.
- Staff had worked an average of 7.4 years at their current camp (least
6 months, greatest 30 years).
- Staff had an average of 9.2 total years with camp maintenance (least
6 months, greatest 36 years).
- Sixty-eight camps reported a total of 352,716 participants served
yearly (5,187 average; least 500; greatest 35,000).
- Maintenance records were predominantly a paper-based system (70 responses),
followed by Word (10 responses), Excel (10 responses), database (4 responses),
other (1 response). Six people indicated that technology was one of
the things that had changed in the past 5 years in camp maintenance.
Site/Facility
Emphasis on Site/Facilities
A considerable number of the camps (thirty-five responses) reported positive
changes over the past five years regarding camp maintenance. A shift toward
a greater emphasis on site/facilities is being placed: “from Band-Aids
to real repairs and upgrades”; “state and federal codes and
ACA standards being met”; and “a new importance placed on
facilities safety and maintenance.” Many people described the specific
projects they had accomplished and the purchasing of needed equipment.
People mentioned not only the work being done, but how the work was being
accomplished — “more openness to share ideas” and “new
ways of doing repairs.”
Camp’s Age
For the question describing their “greatest maintenance challenge
currently,” the largest concentration (thirty-one responses), as
could be expected, relates to the camp’s aging — “lack
of repair and maintenance for years”; “updating older buildings”;
“antiquated water maintenance issues were being addressed in the
long-range planning, the majority of responses were related to the aging
facilities — “replacements or total redo of buildings”;
“updating seventy-year-old buildings”; and with a bit of humor,
“a new maintenance garage — but they don’t know it yet.”
Twenty-one camps listed water quality as their top water issue/problem.
Several projects focused on the utilities — “water system,
septic system.” When asked what advice they could offer their supervisors,
suggestions included — “If you want a new building built,
find money to maintain it,” and “Maintain current structures
and fund maintenance, not just new construction.”
Property/Land
There were only a few comments relating to the land, ecology, etc. One
camp included “forestry issues — lots of deadwood and trees
around” in the long-range plan, and another camp was addressing
“slope run off and flooding.” “Milfoil” was mentioned
a few times.
The Work Itself
Changing Participants’ Needs and Programs
Seven people offered comments about the changing types of facilities in
the past five years, such as “more elaborate buildings and systems
to maintain.” In describing their current maintenance challenge,
they stated, “Our camp visitors/campers expect more services, more
conveniences, and they leave more of a mess behind,” and “Water
— because of high consumption, we need more storage.” When
they expressed their wishes from camp participants, one comment was “how
they can help by taking care of buildings and cleaning.”
Planning and Prioritization
Only four camps reported not having a long-range plan. Eight camps mentioned
site development in their long-range planning — “site plan
for future growth” and “(urban) encroachment.” However,
a few had some advice — “Not everything is or needs to be
in crisis mode, more planning time versus top-down delegation, observation
of work force — season when more staff is needed,” “Doing
the job ‘right’ might cost a bit more up front but will save
in the end,” and “The importance of communication —
to define what maintenance priorities are — what staff priorities
are and how they will eventually all fit together.”
It is important to plan for funding. Fourteen camps reported funding
as their greatest maintenance challenge — “need more tools
to do the job” and “funds to make improvements.”
Regulations and Paperwork
Camp maintenance/property staff and volunteers reported an increase in
regulations and the associated paperwork and listed specific areas of
water testing, chlorination, and insurance — “I seem to be
doing more paperwork than anything else.” Listing the biggest maintenance
challenge, the same theme permeated — “keeping up with new
local and state rules” and “time management — combining
paperwork with actual maintenance work,” — or as one person
said more directly, “Get someone to do my paperwork so I can work.”
Work Understanding
In response to the question: “If you could educate the camp administration
on one camp maintenance area, what would it be?” twenty-one people
responded with a comment about the administration not understanding their
work. “A five-minute discussion in a meeting can take five months
to complete in the field”; “having city owners understand
that weather has an awful lot to do with maintenance: water, mowing, painting,
etc.”; and “to trust maintenance capabilities.” Eight
people mentioned the “importance of preventative maintenance.”
Several mentioned the partnership with maintenance and administration
“trying to get higher ups to consider us as part of management.”
Some people described why their camp administration was effective with
comments such as “they’re all up to date” and “listen
well to our maintenance staff about the issues they have to deal with.”
Green Building
When asked to “Describe how or where you are using ‘green
building’ techniques,” the majority of respondents were not
doing anything or didn’t know the term. A few camps were doing various
projects — “recently built a new shower house with Clivus
toilets, sun filtering, automatic lighting, and low-flow water, etc.”;
“trying to get it started with bath houses, a pavilion, and a pump
house”; “energy use”; “we are attempting to think
‘green’”; “water-saving showerheads”; and
“conversion to fluorescent bulbs.”
Future Considerations
From this survey and the conference as a whole, some important considerations
arose that your camp or conference center may wish to address:
- Ensure maintenance funds are sufficient for an aging infrastructure.
- Partner with camp/property personnel in decision-making processes.
- Share the latest maintenance projects and the work that maintenance/property
staff and volunteers have done in newsletters, bulletin boards, and
Web sites. Possible headlines could be “Have You Noticed . . .
.” or “Behind the Scenes,” and include a short paragraph
on the projects’ funding sources.
- Examine the long-term needs of land, vegetation, and forest to support
the camp’s mission.
- Decide the camp’s philosophy/long-term plan of adopting and
implementing green building principles.
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For either new or retrofit construction, green buildings
are healthy, resource-efficient buildings that minimally impact
the ecosystems:
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Sustainable site
planning Consider a building location that minimizes
environmental impact, maximizes winter sunlight, utilizes
natural cooling breezes, minimizes impact to trees and topsoil
during construction, and is designed for timeless architecture
and for opportunities to create strong communities of people. |
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Safeguarding water and water
efficiency Equip your facilities with low-flow toilets
and showers, faucet aerators, natural wastewater treatment,
minimal chemical usage in wastewater, and watershed protection. |
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Energy efficiency and renewable
energy Use “R-value” for walls, ceilings,
and hot waterlines; high-performance windows; Energy Star
rated appliances and equipment; solar heating; and high-efficiency
lighting. |
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Conservation of materials and resources
– Minimize waste, spillage, pilferage, spoilage, and misuse
of building materials during construction.
– Use recycled,
renewable, and reused building materials.
– Avoid
using materials that generate pollution/toxics during manufacture
or use, such as not using pressure-treated lumber with arsenic.
– Use lumber from independently certified well-managed
forests. |
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Indoor Environmental Quality Fresh air ventilation —
monitor/minimize radon, avoid mold and mildew problems, and
plan for minimal chemical impact from use of toxic cleaning
products and pesticides. |
For more information about how to incorporate green products
and strategies into your plans and projects, see the Building
Principles column, “Environmentally Sound,” on
page 66 of this issue.
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References
US Green Building Council, www.usgbc.org.
www.buildinggreen.com/ebn/checklist.cfm.
www.energybuilder.com/greenbld.htm.
Originally published in the 2003 November/December
issue of Camping Magazine. |
