The Office of the Physical Plant is cutting some of its services because of overall University budget cuts.

The office will not fill vacancies if any of its 920 staff members quit or retire, and will delay some scheduled projects, said Maintenance and Operations Director George Schimmel. He said the OPP's $39 million budget was cut by $800,000.

The cuts represent 1.5 percent of OPP's total budget, and the University also cut specific projects from its major maintenance budget, said James Wagner, vice president of business and operations. Academic units' budgets have been cut by 1.25 percent, he added.

Due to a high rate of employee turnover, janitorial services will be particularly hard hit, Schimmel said. He expects about 10 janitorial positions will be empty by July.

"The impact from this won't be seen immediately, but we will see it down the road as some things don't get cleaned," said Amy Olenick, administrative assistant.

Routine maintenance projects may also take longer because of the expected manpower shortage, Olenick said. Problems requiring immediate attention -- safety concerns, heating, lighting and other utility problems -- will remain a priority, she said.

"I have several pages of projects that have been delayed," Wagner said. He said projects including sidewalk repairs near Osmond Building and the replacement of a damaged dance studio floor in White Building have been delayed.

Schimmel said repairs to the roof of McAllister Building and replacement of electrical switch gear in Rec Hall have also been delayed.

"My guess is that there won't be any problems evident this year, however, if we have these problems next year we will see a greater impact than just burnt-out bulbs and leaky roofs," Wagner said.

"The president and staff wanted to have as small as impact as possible on the academic programs," Wagner said.