Remodel and Construction News

3/27 - This is a long, but full new update!  Take your time to read through it, and feel free to ask any questions (if you don't know who to ask, send a note via the "contact us" form, and it will get to the right person).

3/27 – Fellowship Hall:  It was a busy (and noisy) week in and outside the hall.  Inside the hall we were once again up high and down low!  

The “high” part was the installation of the air conditioning ducting.  This took several days for the team to install.  Right now, you will see it is bright silver, as it is just the basic metal installation.  Later it will be primed and painted to blend with the overall colors of the interior.

Down “low” we excavated the trenches for the new plumbing.  Last week we cut the concrete but this week the team dug into the underlying dirt so the plumbing will be buried [Side note, we found out last week the old plumbing wasn’t buried and accidently hit a water line.  This caused us to shut down water to the hall and the two small ladies’ bathrooms for a week or so – we won’t have this problem with the new plumbing as it will be nice and deep!].  This is not only in the kitchen area, but also one line that runs across the hall to meet the main sewer line on the south side of the hall.

3/27 Children’s Courtyard: You will also see hole new developments in the small courtyard between Fischer and the Hall [pun intended].   First, there is a good-sized hole just as you enter the area, just past the Fort entrance [don’t worry, we coordinated with Heather on making sure kids are safe as they walk by].  This hole is for the new grease interceptor required for the kitchen sewer lines.  The other excavation is for the Electrical Upgrade.

3/27 – Electrical Upgrade:  This week we started in earnest on the underlying infrastructure needed for the electrical upgrade.  We mapped out the location for the new switchgear.  Switchgear is the main electrical box that receives the electrical main from the city service and then distributes it throughout the site.  Our current switchgear is antiquated, poorly located, and the company that made it went out of business years ago.   The new switchgear will be in an external box (per current code) on the angled west face of Fischer [note this will be enclosed from the public by a new fence].  So besides mapping out its location and preparing for that installation, there was a lot of planning for the overall transition from the current Switchgear to the new equipment (the new Switchgear is a long lead item, meaning that we will not see the actual final equipment for about six months).

3/27 Fischer Bathrooms:  We are also continuing to remodel the upstairs west bathrooms in Fischer.  These awkward shaped bathrooms are being remodeled to the new look, but also these will become single user bathrooms, meaning anyone can use either one.  This past week we worked on plumbing (including replacing some badly degraded lines) and rebuilt the floor, especially around the toilets.  Walls were opened for various reasons, and we are set to drywall them next week.

3/27 Sanctuary Addition:  I know, the biggest project is the slowest – and even though it looks like not anything is happening, a lot is going on in the background with the city.  This past week we took care of several administrative items with the city.  They are a little hard to describe, so ask if you want more information, but basically, we worked on two items, 1) Street Improvements, and  2) Codification of our lot lines.

Street Improvements: To beautify the area, the city has certain requirements for street improvements when new construction goes on.  The Sanctuary addition is the only set of plans that adds new construction to our site, the others are within the current building footprints (they are remodels), and that is why this requirement gets assigned to the Sanctuary addition.  While an admirable idea, we were able to talk with the city, and they agreed that it did not make sense to adjust our sidewalk and parkway at this time.  However, we were required to contribute to a Street Improvement Fund.  And while this was a chunk of money and not originally in our plan, it was less than it could have been if we were required to change our sidewalk and make other improvements out front.  We paid this fund this week, eliminating one administrative item with the city.

Lot Line Codification:  This is harder to explain, and I am not sure I can do it adequately even in person; however, the bottom line is that a 1982 State Law (the Subdivision Map Act) required all subdivisions/lots to be surveyed and certified in a specific way.  Everyone’s current property was grandfathered in, and we didn’t have to do anything (and neither do you) – UNTIL we add new space, specifically over 1,000 square feet of new construction.  Our new addition is about 2,400 square feet, so this kicked in.  As a result, we re-engaged our surveyor for the proper documentation, then did a search in the Orange County Recorder’s office for old records, filled in the application, and submitted the paperwork (and of course with the proper fees).  However, this all was completed and submitted (and accepted) to the city this past week, eliminating one additional administrative action with the city.

3/27 Summary:  I know this update is filled with a lot of boring administrative stuff, but we wanted to make sure you knew that things ARE progressing, but a lot of it is in the background.  These items were significant administrative items holding up our permits for construction.  We have a couple more minor items to work off, but these will help a lot.  However, they come with a cost of both schedule and money – obviously it has taken weeks to clear these items because of the detail they required, but also money.  Between the fees and work involved, we have spent about $35,000 clearing up these two administrative items, and while we still operate well within our reserves, we continue to monitor costs and adjust.

Continue to pray for:

- Finding cost effective solutions to the work, while building in a way that shows good use of God’s resources,

- Safety for those working on our facility, we have had one significant accident/injury on the job already, pray for his healing and for the safety of others at our site,

- Quick and favorable review and approval of the remaining plans that are in with the city review.