East Lansing, Michigan State Merge Some Grounds Operations to Save Money

The university's success has even caught the eye of East Lansing officials.

The department and the city's public works recently combined efforts to improve daily operations and reduce expenses. The departments saved a combined $40,000 through their efforts. Most of the initiatives have included canceling contracts with outside vendors and working together on projects.

Some of the projects during the past year include:

• reducing the city's leaf collection costs by hauling compost to the university, which blends the material into topsoil
• sharing assets such as salt trucks and salt during the winter season
• tree removal and the disposal of the debris, which the university converts into wood chips and burns as bio-fuel in its power plant
• sharing plant inventory for city and university landscaping activities
• asphalting and repaving roads the city and university share.

Future projects could include building more efficient routes for mowing and snow-removal operations, improving turf-maintenance operations, and cleaning sewers on roads adjacent to campus.

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