Annual event helps ID potential safety hazards
Moonlit Safety Walk attendees document more than 100 issues
CHICO >> Identifying and documenting potential safety hazards on and adjacent to the Chico State campus was the idea behind the annual Moonlit Safety Walk, giving university students and employees, as well as members of the greater community, a chance to see conditions at night.
The moon didn’t hold up its end of the bargain, remaining veiled behind cloud cover, but the approximately 40 attendees divided into six groups circulated through predetermined zones at Chico State with flashlights and clipboards in hand. Their objective: look for safety hazards that could manifest themselves at any time, but particularly at night, when things are more difficult to spot until it’s too late.
Examples include potholes, raised spots in sidewalks, and poorly lighted streets and passageways.
University Police Department officers walked along with the on-campus groups, also testing the blue emergency phones on the routes. Participants returned to the Bell Memorial Union — where they began the evening with an orientation session — following the event to discuss their findings.
Kendra Wright, Chico State Associated Students director of government affairs, conducted the orientation as she explained the process, its objectives and the types of things participants should seek and then write down. She introduced Isaac Brundage, Chico State’s vice president for student affairs; Christopher Nicodemus, interim chief of University Police; Stephen Perez, interim provost; Monique Sendze, vice president for information technology; and Marvin Pratt, director of the university’s Environmental Health and Safety.
Pratt discussed some of the benefits of the event in earlier years, such
as “vastly improved lighting along Warner Street,” as well as the bright lights installed along Ivy Street and Normal Avenue south of West Second Street. He emphasized that some areas aren’t candidates for increased lighting and must stay dark for environmental purposes as well as to maintain good relations with area residents.
“It’s going to stay dark by (Big Chico Creek),” Pratt said. “We can’t light it up like a football stadium.”
Arterial paths, such as the east-west thoroughfare on campus that occupies what was once West First Street, are safer areas because of better lighting, wider areas for walking and the “blue emergency phones” in convenient locations. Those phones allow the user to connect immediately with the University Police Department, requesting aid in an emergency or to get a safety escort — to a parking lot, for example — during dark hours.
Nicodemus said his department was eager to help identify safety issues. “If you see safety concerns, let’s address those tonight,” he told the assembly.
Wright said attendees identified more than 100 hazards for documentation. From there, staff at the Facilities Management and Services department will categorize the issues based on agency responsibility — whether those are Chico State, the city, or Pacific Gas and Electric, as examples. Pending feasibility, the appropriate agencies will create work orders and Facilities Management will monitor the progress of each work order.
“I am grateful for the outpouring support from our campus community for the annual Moonlit Safety Walk,” Wright said. “We had a great group of students in attendance. The one thing we can do for our students right now is show up and that is exactly what we did last night. I look forward to affecting change in regards to safety for our campus community.”