City of Lone Tree
The City of Lone Tree needed a maintenance system like Limble to keep their one-man facilities team on top of everything.
Introduction
The City of Lone Tree, Colorado is a suburb of Denver with a population of about 15,000 people. Their motto is “It’s a great day to be in Lone Tree,” and they take great pride in their city.
Their facilities division maintains about 10,000 square feet in four different buildings. With only one full-time facilities worker, it could be a daunting task. The Lone Tree Arts Center, their performing arts venue and flagship facility, is truly the heart of their city.
The Challenge
Justin Russell joined the City of Lone Tree in 2019 as the Facility Manager. As the only city employee dedicated to maintenance, he relied on contractors to help get the work done. And it was no small job. His work included four main facilities, including their 400-seat performing arts center, as well as their municipal building that houses all government operations and their police department.
When he arrived, there was no maintenance system to speak of and most communication to the maintenance department and contractors occurred via email. “It was so very time consuming,” Russell said. “A lot of time was wasted when it came to figuring out what each building needed, coordinating the work, and also coordinating contractors.”
Russell had worked with maintenance management systems in the past and decided that was what Lone Tree needed. “We stumbled across Limble. We talked to one of the sales reps and realized this was quite the program, especially with all that it offered”
They wanted a system that could coordinate their work, the work of their contractors, and most importantly, provide a good return on investment for taxpayers. It needed to be mobile-friendly and effective at tracking and organizing work.
Lone Tree’s list of needs:
- Reasonably priced
- Mobile-friendly
- Organized communication, work orders, and records
“Over the last three years that we’ve been using it, Limble has met and exceeded our expectations.”
Justin Russell, Facility Manager
The Solution
Within the first couple of months, Russell realized Limble was going to work extremely well for their needs. His team began keeping track of work while on-the-go through the mobile app. Communication was at simultaneously more effective and less time-consuming. “It allowed us to give real-time updates on work orders and their progress, and also kept our service levels extremely high.”
A one-man facilities team, Russell needed to be organized. “Everything is within a couple mile radius, which makes it nice. But Limble gave me a way to communicate updates to all 150 city employees on a daily basis without having to send a single email.”
Everyone in the city offices quickly came on board and loved Limble’s mobile app which gave them the ability to request work orders, take pictures of what was wrong, and communicate directly with Russell about any issues.
The Result
Limble is now the behind-the-scenes system that keeps everything well-organized and allows Russell and his team to stay on top of their work. Now, instead of spending hours every day sorting through emails, Russell is able to get all the work orders prioritized quickly and easily. “The whole process takes 30 minutes, max.” Limble has streamlined processes and fundamentally changed the job for Russell and his contractors.
For Russell, the impact has also been personal. “It has changed how I do my job dramatically.” He’s now able to do more preventive maintenance in addition to his regular day-to-day work. Not only that, it allows him to take time away from work, knowing that emergency repairs can be addressed quickly even if he is away. “Limble allows me to step away from the job for a day or a vacation… My team can get it fixed without it just sitting for two weeks while I’m gone.”
When asked to sum up his experience, Russell says without hesitation, “Limble is a vital part of our maintenance operations.”