ParkTalk Podcast: Winter Park Maintenance

Friday, January 9, 2026

Episode Description:

Superintendent of Trades Operations Mike Piszynski, and Park Specialist II Trevor Stibbe discuss the work the Naperville Park District does to maintain parks and facilities during the winter months.

Quotes from the Episode:

What are some examples of park maintenance?

Anything within the facilities, we are responsible for: electrical systems, plumbing systems, HVAC – anything you can think of is a part of the facility. We also do monthly playground inspections, and we’re responsible for the safety surfacing that’s at the playgrounds. Basically, the Trads Division takes care of anything that doesn’t grow. – Mike Piszynski

We take care of everything that does grow. The area we probably spend the most time on year in year out is mowing. We also take care of trees and natural area maintenance. We cross paths with Trades on some of the trails areas as well. – Trevor Stibbe

What is the timeline for winter season prep?

Most of our park restrooms get winterized, we shut them down for the winter. That takes a great deal of some of our staff’s time in the fall. Once soccer season wraps up, which is mostly by the end of October, we will start to winterize some of those park restrooms. – Mike Piszynski

We probably pay attention to the weather a little bit more in terms of maintenance than the Trades staff does because we do have mowing and if we get snow earlier in the year, it limits the time we’re able to mow. Typically, we have a hard stop date around Thanksgiving or that week before when we do the last of our mowing or mulching up any leaves. After that, we put the mowers to bed and get them to cold storage. – Trevor Stibbe

Why do we invest in winter maintenance?

It does help with summer stuff as well. Another big thing we do is turf work. In the fall leading into the winter, we usually lay down turf blankets and make sure those green spaces stays covered and protected from the elements and also insulated and moisturized from any snow we do get. It helps that turf reestablish in the spring. – Trevor Stibbe

A lot of the heavy lifting is done getting ready for the winter. During the winter, the actual investment for winter type maintenance is done before, and then as a result after winter getting things ready for the spring. – Mike Piszynski