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This year has been very busy for
Operations. We moved forward on many fronts to ensure the Huntsville Christian Church building and
properties were useable and pleasing to the eye. As in the past, the Team
faced many challenges and with God’s grace we were able to complete several
projects and start the process to complete more. Below is a break down of
the projects and their status. These are just the major projects that took
more time and effort. Several smaller projects did occur which were
completed by one or more Team member.
Roof – We
continued to have leaks in the roof. Leaks started at the corners of the
dormers shortly after the building was built and continued over the years.
We have made many attempts to fix these leaks by hiring contractors and by
getting on the roof ourselves. Alan Anderson headed up a day long effort to
take apart a lot of the metal on the dormers, re-sealed many areas, and
then reinstalled the metal. This had very little effect on the leaks. Other
attempts included resealing some joints and screwheads.
Finally Mark Wheat had enough and took this on as his personal project. He
hired roofing contractor he was pleased with from work completed on his
house. They surveyed the roof and looked long and hard at the leaks from
inside the building. After all these years they discovered the issue. The
roof changes pitch about midway down and at this pitch change the metal is
to overlap several inches so water does not back up under the joint and leak
inside the building. The joint only had about a one inch overlap. During
hard rains water does indeed back up and leak inside. Mark did reseal this
area and we will buy a better sealing compound and seal the joint. This is
a short term fix that will last about a year. A long term fix is to add
more metal and build the joint properly. This is at a higher expense and is
included in next year’s capital expenditures.
Lights – New, very
much needed lights have been installed on the new parking lot to the west and
a larger four fixture unit replaced the existing two fixture unit on the
old, main parking lot. These lights greatly helped visibility at night and
security. Two fixture units have recently been installed at the end of the
main parking lot. As time and money become available, we will install more
lighting along the secondary drove (to the new parking lot) and the back
side of the church.
Clearing – We
continue to clear more of our land to the east of the building. It is hoped
the low area between the building and Dry Creek can be used for a soccer
field. The local soccer administration will be contacted to see if they
will put in a field under a lease agreement. We will clear the tree line
between the church property and the cotton field to the south so the church
is more visible from Old Monrovia. We would also like to clear more brush
and small trees next to Dry Creek so we can have a more “park” like setting
in this area. We need to give many thanks to Eric Stogner
for supplying all kinds of equipment to make this all possible. He has
really stepped up – thanks Eric!!
Land – As we
grow we will need to look at additional land for expansion. Kenny Watts has
been actively researching the possible procurement of the cotton field to
our south – about 5 acres now with the expansion of Old Monrovia taking a couple of acres. In the
past the owner of this property has verbally given us the first right of
refusal. Kenny is putting a plan together to present to the owner. This
plan includes coordinating with the city of Huntsville to accelerate the timeline to
put in a green-way on the sewer easement. If we can obtain the land we
would donate a small section that could be used as the southern entrance
and parking. A pavilion would be installed and dedicated to the Blakes (current owners). The green-way would be called
the Cemetery Trail as there are three old slave cemeteries along this
easement. Frank Fiala has joined Kenny in this
hunt which continues.
Carpet – The
carpet in the office area need to be replaced. We have ordered the carpet
and have it scheduled to install. By the time this report is out it should
be complete. This has been a longer project than planned due to the time it
took to order the carpet and schedules to remove/replace the furniture.
Rewire the Stage – Benny
Sharp put together a team to rewire the stage. This helped remove the
unsightly cords that crossed the stage to the speakers and microphones.
Many thanks Benny!
Scout Projects – Many
scout projects have been completed this year. They include: Clearing a
trail to the amphitheater on the northeast corner of our property. Build
seating for the amphitheater to seat about 100 people. Build a temporary
/removable bridge over Dry Creek for access to the amphitheater. Apply
mulch to the amphitheater seating area to control mud issues the give it a
finished look. Build a fence on the west side of the building to hide the
HVAC units. Future projects include helping with Ms Bobbie’s bridge and
cleaning out and removing the old shed and surrounding brush on the north
side of the building. Many thanks to the Scouts for their efforts, to Kenny
Watts to his guidance, and the Operations Team for their help.
Future Projects –
Baptistery: During a work day Greg Perkins and crew
refinished the lid of the baptistery. We will continue to work on the
baptistery to make it more presentable. One thing we did include in the
next year’s budget is a heater and filter/chemical system. This will help
with the mold issue by the introduction of chemicals in the water and it
will save embarrassing moments by keeping the water temperature consistent.
Walk to New Parking Lot: A walk has been planned to
connect the new parking lot to the church at the back double doors. We have
received low bids but they could not get us in their schedule and the high
bids were, well, too high. We plan to complete this project ourselves if we
can not find a good concrete contractor to give us a good price.
Bridge: This is known as “Ms Bobbie’s Bridge.” Mark Wheat is planning on building this
bridge in the near future. He has a plan together and a scout to help in
the building process to earn his Eagle Scout. It will connect the south
front lawn to the picnic area.
Parking Lots: A capital expenditure
line item has been put in next years budget to
reseal and re-stripe both parking lots. This will help the longevity of the
lots to protect our investment.
Reorganizing Operations – We have
taken the task to reorganize Operations. The goal is to get more people
involved, but more importantly to bring up people to make for disciplines
in Christ’s name. The Team will have Sub teams to include: Outsourcing,
Grounds, Building, Finance, and Publicity. Phil Hall and Frank Fiala are meeting with Bob Csikos
once a week to get this effort underway. Bob will help us understand the
area of discipleship and to assist in bringing our vision to the church
body. We have made good progress and have named Frank as the Lead for
Grounds and Leonard Dollarhide as the Lead, with
Lewis Smith as his alt Lead, for Outsourcing. Naming the Lead for Building
is underway, and Finance is running smoothly so it will remain as-is for
now. We have added internal publicity to the Publicity Team so this Team
will be reevaluated.
In conclusion, many thanks need to
go out to a lot of people that have stepped up to help out Operations
during work days and to fill in as needed. We have a lot of responsibility
to ensure this church facility functions well. It is very important that
new visitors see us as a body that cares about keeping God’s house well
kept and appreciated. Thanks everyone!!
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