Facilities denies requests to remove snow from stairs by Aggie Terrace

Hundreds of students are treading carefully this winter as they climb the stairs by the Aggie Terrace, which are fenced off and closed for the winter.

The icy stairs are not a new problem. In 2014, Spanish major Luke Maddox submitted a MyVoice request to then-student advocate vice president of the Utah State University Student Association Daryn Frischknecht. MyVoice is a forum for students to anonymously submit concerns, suggestions and comments to USUSA officers.

Maddox lived at Hillside Apartments, which is down the hill from the intersection at 600 N and 700 E, and used the stairs regularly. Frischknecht emailed him back with a response from USU Facilities. Facilities’ lengthy explanation of their strict snow removal policy said nothing about the stairs by the terrace.

Maddox said his MyVoice submission had the opposite effect of what he wanted, which was to have the snow removed.

“Shortly after sending the MyVoice request, facilities put up fences attempting to restrict access to the two staircases. Before then they only posted a sign that said something along the lines of ‘closed for winter,'” Maddox said.

Maddox is now a graduate instructor in the Spanish department, and — like many students — he continues to use the stairs.

“Anyone can go and see all of the tracks in the snow on the staircases. Students simply go around the fences,” Maddox said. “Facilities can keep trying to keep people from using these staircases, but all of their efforts have failed up to this point.”

Maddox thinks the most sensible solution is to keep the staircases clear of snow and ice so students can use them during the winter and not risk slipping. He said it is more convenient to use the stairs outside the terrace than those inside the parking garage.

Robert Reeder, the director of facilities maintenance, asked that students use the stairs or elevator in the parking garage, as they provide safer access to campus.

“Due to the location of the stairs and the uneven stone stair treads, we are unable to mitigate all of the risk to those who would use them. Therefore, the best option is to close them,” Reeder said in an email.

Wildlife science sophomore Daniel Johnson uses the staircase almost every day. He has worked in snow removal before and said he can empathize with facilities workers.

“I kind of understand why they do it — there’s a lot of walkway around here to keep clean,” Johnson said. “That being said, it’s the easiest route for me to take to get to campus, and that’s why I still use it.”

Johnson said he is cautious when he uses the stairs because of the ice and he thinks facilities should look into cleaning them off.

A few days ago, Maddox noticed some granular ice melt on the stairs.

“I have no doubt that facilities is very effective and expert in their use of different salts and brines… If they’re putting down any ice melt why don’t they just do the job right and get rid of all the snow and ice and the fences and signs?” Maddox said.

Reeder said facilities did not put ice melt on the stairs, and he doesn’t know where it came from. Snow removal policies have changed since Maddox’s MyVoice request in 2014, but another student submitted a MyVoice request in 2015 regarding the stairs.

“We have added additional resources including additional part-time staff and more efficient equipment,” Reeder said in the email. “We have also adjusted some of our work shifts in order to have staff readily available from early morning until late evening.”

Ashley Waddoups, the current student advocate vice president, is in charge of receiving MyVoice requests and delegating them to USUSA officers, who respond to the requests and try to get students the help they need.

“MyVoice is not perfect, and that sounds cliche, but it’s the closest thing to the truth,” Waddoups said.

Reeder encourages students to share their input. He can be contacted at rob.reeder@usu.edu.

“We are exploring options to modify or reconstruct the existing stairs which would allow us to keep them safe for winter use,” Reeder said.

Additionally, anyone can submit a facilities service request or hazard report.

— brennakelly818@gmail.com