What really sucks is shoveling off a hockey rink and then having an ice fisherman chop holes in the middle of it.

Studded tires work really well.

I am guessing they might be referring to how deep snow “sinks” the ice because of its weight? Water seeps up through ice fishing holes, cracks, and the edges of the ice and soaks the bottom layer of the snow making a slushy mess for anyone trying to walk on it. ATVs and snowmobiles make it even worse by rutting it up, which then refreezes.

My definition of “snow ruining ice” is when I can’t ride my bike on the ice anymore because the snow is too deep.

I mean that’s great if you spend all your free time indoors shopping, eating, playing video games, going to a stinky, crowded gym, whatever. But winter with without snow is the worst for anyone who likes fresh air and outdoor activities, and knows that snow is friggin FUN. The only reason people in places like Scandinavia are so happy throughout the winter is because… snow is friggin FUN. And when the temps are colder you usually have more blue sky days. The gray, rainy crap we are now experiencing is torturous.

And don’t forget the ecosystem that depends on a snow pack insulating the ground all winter and then SLOWLY melting away in the Spring. And then there’s the water resources, including aquifers, that depend on snow pack gradually melting, unlike rain which can just drain off into streams and rivers and head to the ocean.

And snow is friggin FUN.

EDIT: Oh yeah… thank you for your service.

Snow

The tax payers are the ones in charge of determining how this money is spent.

You can’t have people flipping things on and off when an automated system is trying to manage everything. Most likely it uses room occupancy senors.

This is what happens when you are forced to go with the lowest bidder, which I am assuming was the case.

Many new schools seem to have problems like this, unfortunately, whether it be leaky roofs, cracked floors, inadequate or faulty heating/cooling systems, etc.

Another factor is that vendors sell schools “the latest and greatest” and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of forethought by the community and administrators about how something is going to be maintained or supported over the long term, or what the cost of that maintenance and support will be.

I don’t think there is anything nefarious in all this. You have people with competing priorities trying to build something, so money doesn’t always get spent in the best way possible. Then other people inherit the problems and only have so much money to spend on fixing them.