The sun has yet to rise. The snow on the Quad’s pathways lies unmarked with footprints. And a steady fall of snowflakes starts to build drifts as winter weather continues its assault on the Syracuse University campus.

For two hours, Jim Foster, a grounds crew worker, has been behind the wheel of a tool cat, a cross between an ATV and a small truck, clearing the powdery snow off the university’s sidewalks on Comstock and Euclid avenues.

‘This snow here is from a winter storm,’ said Foster. ‘You can tell because of the smaller flakes.’

He waves to another university truck, armed with a large plow in front and a trough of salt in back.

The two are part of an army of shovelers, snow plowers and dump truck drivers who are working to clear a path in a system that the Central New York weather has worked to perfect over time.

CLUNK! The 4-cylinder tool cat comes to an abrupt stop, throwing Foster back in his seat. He smiles.

‘That’s another thing about this job: you learn where every little thing in the sidewalk is after hitting it only once,’ Foster said.

Brian Lee is also still working to perfect his snow removal skills after three years operating a large bulldozer-like machine with wheels.

‘It’s a skill to be able to work (this machine) and know when to lift up and down,’ he said. ‘You gotta have a feel for it.’

Brian Lee removes snow from the university’s loading docks. He said he pays special attention to the buildings with dining halls so food trucks can make their deliveries.

Another worker who said he takes special pride in his work is Ed Lee.

‘He’s one of our best guys,’ Foster said of Ed Lee, who has plowed snow for 15 years.

Ed Lee wasn’t always a natural at snowplowing, though.

During his first winter, Ed Lee was called in to plow South Campus late on a Friday night. In his rush to clear Small Road, he accidentally sprayed a wave of snow into a bus shelter of students who were ready for a night on the town.

‘When I turned around to go back and apologize, they started running in the other direction,’ he said through laughter. ‘They thought I was going back to get ’em again!’

Typically, Ed Lee and his 300-horsepower dump truck clear the campus roads and the larger parking lots outside the Carrier Dome.

‘No one cares for this route, but I don’t mind it,’ he said, ‘I like the challenge of racing the clock, trying to get it done before everyone gets here.’

Six cars parked in the middle of the lot can slow him down by 45 minutes, he said.

Many grounds crew workers prefer working early in the morning, before students can interrupt their rhythm.

‘I know students have a lot on their minds,’ Foster said. ‘The only thing I don’t understand is, if you see a 5-foot-long snow blower, why would you walk towards it?’ His tone reflected more amusement than annoyance.

Joseph Quarantino, the ‘new guy’ who shovels the sidewalk from College Place to Syracuse Stage, said students sometimes take notice of his work.

‘You get some strange looks when you hop up on the sidewalk and start driving,’ he said from his small truck.

About 30 groundskeeping employees are scheduled to work at 4 a.m. during the week. During the winter months, they work outside mostly, either shoveling or repairing university property.

These employees work year-round, so their jobs range from field work to landscaping to small construction.

‘This job is never boring,’ said Kempton Taylor, who has worked with the university for 19 years. He began in the Schine Food Court, making $8 per hour, but he opted for a shoveling position outside for $14 per hour 11 years ago.

The extra money has helped him buy a car, shortening his commute from a 30-minute walk to a 5-minute drive. Taylor said he prefers shoveling to food service.

‘You gotta be in shape for this,’ he said, jokingly flexing his biceps.

The shovelers at the university work closely with a union that always pushes for better working conditions, said Rich Stach, the grounds utility manager.

‘We get new equipment like snowblowers all the time,’ he said. ‘It cuts down on your back where you’re just pushing a gas powered snowplow.’ About 10 of the 40 ground employees shovel; the rest work in machines.

Stach constantly tunes into weather information to try to predict if the 30 to 40 temporary ground employees will be needed in the next days.

So far, though, this weather has been average compared to some legendary winters, he said.

Syracuse got 192 inches of snow during the winter of ’92-’93, a year that some employees still revere.

‘I remembered it snowed nonstop for two days,’ Taylor said. ‘God couldn’t have made that snow stop.’ That winter was the only one where Taylor worked a 24-hour shift.

Robert Smith, a groundskeeper for 26 years, said CNY’s guaranteed snowfall gives him more security in his job.

‘With big companies laying people off all the time, it’s hard. I know that this job is gonna be here in a couple years,’ said Smith, who drives a small truck around smaller campus parking lots to clear and salt the lot.

On average, the university uses about 3,000 tons of salt and sand each year, Stach said.

And as the work load changes, so does the mentality of the 4 a.m. snow crew. Even though this year seems mild, Stach and his staff take the work day-by-day.

‘We just keep doing our job and hope for spring,’ he said.

Published on March 12, 2005 at 12:00 pm