Elder and Facility Team Update to the Congregation on the HVAC and Parsonage Projects

From November to February, the team worked to seek bids from other contractors so that we could have multiple bids and thus get our best pricing.  We could only find one contractor to give the church a bid.  As the church has a multiple bid policy and wanting to get the best pricing possible, the Facility Team engaged an engineering firm to design the Heating and Ventilating Air Conditioning (HVAC) equipment so that we could secure bids from other mechanical contractors.

Bids were received the end of April, and after making further design changes to get the best pricing, the Facility Team recommended to the elders to approve an expenditure of $380,000 to do the complete project.  This is about $15,000 above the church budget for this project but the bidding kept the costs from going even higher.  The elders gave their approval this week to the project.  The HVAC project is in the process of being awarded to a team of mechanical contractors the first week of June.

It is expected to take until September to complete the project, taking into consideration time for the equipment to be made and shipped and also not wanting to do the work in the heat of the summer.  The good news is that the existing HVAC equipment is still functioning adequately.  We are cooling the building for a brief period of time each day to protect the building and contents but also to save utility costs.

Funding for the project is as presented by the elders in the Town Hall meeting in April.  A combination of using gifts of monies designated for the project, using the remaining Restore and Renew funds, using existing cash resources the church has in various funds, and borrowing an interest free loan from a member of the church (note: that loan has now been executed).

The HVAC Project has been very time consuming and difficult to pull together.  Many thanks to the team for all their efforts.

Questions about the HVAC Project can be addressed by a member of the Facility Team: John Durham, Tom Hudson, Scott Krone or Ken Bryan.  Questions about funding can be addressed by the elders or Laurence Claus.

For a quick update on the Parsonage Project, the parsonage is in the process of being fully painted by great volunteers from the church.  We are awaiting shipment of cabinets for the kitchen and plumbing fixtures (toilet, sinks etc.)  We are still on schedule for completion in July and anticipate coming in under budget for this project.