Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / southpaw3
Editor’s Note: This column, “LBWA” (Leadership By Wandering Around), is based on the premise that, in order to find out what’s going on in the field, a parks and rec leader has to leave his or her desk and “wander around” the area of operations, talk to people, ask questions, and kick around ideas with the individuals in the thick of delivering services to the public. So the author will bring up issues and ask the leaders among the readership to share their knowledge and experiences.
When to winterize? That is a question many parks and rec maintenance professionals ask almost daily as the fall breezes hint at the upcoming colder weather.
It’s a conundrum, really, a catch-22. If you take all the normal precautions—close outdoor facilities, drain the water, put antifreeze in the pipes, and turn on the heaters—and the temperatures remain in the 60s, you look like Chicken Little. If you don’t, and everything freezes, you’re left with frozen egg on your face as pipes burst and facilities flood.
An old axiom suggests that if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute and it will change. That may be an extreme analysis, but I think most people will acknowledge that winter-temperature patterns have generally trended to the warmer side in the past few years. Places that normally experience cold temperatures in October or November have been basking in 70-degree temps well into traditionally cold months.