By Lance Naismith
Routine maintenance checks, increased staff awareness and year-round commitment from senior staff will go a long way in ensuring your camp’s facilities management plan is properly implemented and executed.
With more than 25 years of experience in the camp business, John Malcolmson knows a thing or two about facility management.
“In camping, the facilities are vital to the success of [any] program,” insists the general manager of Tim Horton Onondaga Farms in St. George, Ont. “You can run a program anywhere, but what really enhances a program is the quality of facilities that you have and the upkeep you provide for it.”
The value of proper and consistent facilities management recently came to the forefront of the camp industry a few years ago when several camps — some that have been in existence for 75 years — were forced to close after the water scandal in Walkerton, Ont. For these camps, their demise was due, in part, to their inability to maintain proper facility standards, over time, and the fact that the costs needed to adhere to newly imposed government safety regulations could not be raised.
The key to any camp successfully managing its facilities and property, asserts Malcomson, is leadership: firstly, by a camp’s hierarchy to make a commitment to the upkeep of its facilities; and secondly, by having the right people on board to ensure ongoing analysis of every facet of its operations and facility.
Never-ending Process
Properly addressing a camp’s facility management strategy starts long before any of its employees or contract workers touch shovel to ground. So whether a camp is planning to move to another site, add buildings to an existing site or upgrade any aspect of its operations (e.g., sewage system), its decision makers have to be prepared to deal with issues far removed from camp and budgeting.
For example, building a camp on a new site takes more than simply finding a nice piece of property with acres and acres of land, and a picturesque waterfront. In this scenario, Tom Smart, director with BLS Planning Associates, suggests to start the process by reviewing the district, region or county official plans, as well as the local municipality’s official plan, where the desired site is located, to ensure the camp falls within allowed usage. Next, if the plan entails building a camp next to water, a Lake Capability Study must be conducted. Most of this information can be obtained through a municipality’s web site or by contacting the municipality’s planning department.
Regardless of the type of work needed on a new or existing site, facility maintenance must be seen as an on-going project.
“Maintenance considerations should not be conceived as after-thoughts but rather planned for as hand-in-glove essentials to be implemented concurrent with initial development,” says James K. Fletemeyer, principal landscape architect with Fletemeyer and Lee Associates, adding that to decrease costs, pre-planning of maintenance operation, facilities should be centralized for ease of access.
“Camp people love camps but don’t necessarily get into camps so they can run property,” states Richard Stryker, a professional engineer with Camp Facilities Consulting, adding camp owners must be willing to manage their risk from all angles.
This includes demanding hired architects and engineers, who may have different mindsets, work together to ensure the project proceeds, is completed according to plan, future problems are minimized and that the project is not only safe, but reflects the owner’s viewpoints and wishes.
It also involves enlisting a camp’s staff members — the people who walk around camp on a daily basis — to keep their eyes open to what areas of camp might need to be repaired and/or replaced.
“When a camp is in session, it’s crawling with your representatives,” adds Stryker, noting that properly training staff on facilities management issues (see checklist) can go a long way to protect your “camp’s interests.”
To ensure that all aspects of his camp’s facilities are monitored, Malcolmson uses an organized “monthly internal risk audit.” In addition, his senior leadership team conducts a bi-annual audit that helps them prepare for the camp’s Ontario Camping Association accreditation visit that occurs once every three years.
A regular maintenance program, augmented with checklists for your staff, would be considered a bare minimum in order to ensure the ongoing operation of any camp in terms of facilities.
John Knox, vice-president of Chamberlain Architect Services Limited, recommends that camps — to assist in their ongoing facilities management plan — issue appropriate service contracts for more specialized mechanical and electrical concerns. He feels it is important that camps “establish contacts with local area contractors and suppliers capable of providing maintenance and repair work as and when required.”
Stryker agrees, adding that a retainer not only allows camps to assess the skills of their professional contractor, but also ensures they become fully cognizant with the camp’s facilities, allowing them to support the camp in the event of an emergency.
“The key to every facility is to have a plan,” remarks Malcolmson. “Have a yearly and five-year plan and visit them regularly.”
Advice that probably should not be taken lightly.
Lance Naismith is a freelance writer based in Oakville, Ont.
|
