This winter's persistent snow storms - which have brought record amounts of snow and forced the University to cancel certain operations for a day - have caused wide-ranging damage and long-lasting effects to the area.
Jay Klingel, the University's director of operations and maintenance, said even though his office still is making estimates and waiting for all of the bills to come in, he expects the snow-related expenses for the University to exceed $1 million.
This figure includes maintenance of roads, walkways and the services of the University hospital, as well as "an excess of 20,000 man hours of our own staff and outside contract costs," Klingel said.
It was difficult to ensure that all needed staff members could travel to Grounds during the storms, Associate Chief Housing Officer Marshall Hunt said, even though it was easier to clear the snow because of the lack of pedestrian traffic. In fact, the University had to take some special measures to accommodate them.
"They are geographically dispersed throughout surrounding counties, so to anticipate the bad travel, we provided a large number of our staff with accommodations," Hunt said.
To ensure that these staff members could have hot meals while working, the University also gave them vouchers for Runk and Observatory Hill Dining Halls.
Ultimately, there were no serious injuries to staff members during the snow-removal process, Hunt said, but some workers did suffer from sprained wrists and back pains.
The University prioritized certain aspects when deciding which areas to clear first. For example, staff members focus on clearing facilities that are needed by handicapped students, Hunt said.
"That's one of the first places we go to make sure students have access to the buildings," he said.
Power outages may be another problem often associated with snow storms, but power systems manager Jay Coleman said he has not heard of any storm-related losses of power on Grounds.
"It may be hard to believe, but all of our system is underground, so the storms didn't really affect it that much," he said. "We had a couple momentary blips of power, when the lights dipped down and came back up, but no reports of anything more serious."
Charlottesville Fire Department Chief Charles Werner said the city also suffered significant expenses because of the snow. In particular, the fire department's engines were able to navigate in the city and near the University but ran into problems in rural areas.
"The snow still creates access issues," he said. "Anytime you have snow on the ground, when we get to a fire, it makes it more difficult to move."
The recent fire at a Robinson Avenue home occupied by three University graduate students was yet another example of a time when snow complicated the fire department's operations, he added.\n"Snow loading caused a collapse of the structure earlier than what we usually see in situations like this," Werner said.
Because of these types of complications, the fire department was forced to double the amount of staff on duty during storms, which cost the department between $20,000 and $30,000 in overtime pay, he said.
Despite all the financial setbacks created by the snow, the University may see some of the money come back, Klingel said.
"It looks feasible that we may be getting some [Federal Emergency Management Agency] reimbursement; We are working with them on eligible days," he said.
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