Digging Trenches

Digging Trenches for the Fire System
February 27, 2010

What an AWESOME Crew!!

We are making progress....but we still have to do more

Chiawana High School – Proposed Released Time Seminary
Road 84 Education Center
January 2010
Progress Update
Construction of the new seminary building at Chiawana High School is well under way.
The roads have been constructed, the site has been developed (except for the
landscaping), and the building has been framed. The building has also been roofed and
the electrical and HVAC equipment have been installed.
Over the next couple months the building will have the block and stucco added, as well
as the interior insulated and sheet rocked. One major interior item remaining is the fire
sprinkler and monitoring system.
We have also had many questions asked about the project that we want to address.
1) Why are we building a new seminary building? - In September 2009 the
Pasco School District opened the new Chiawana High School. In September 2010 we
will have an estimated 103 students attending Chiawana High School Seminary. While
this is approaching enough students to qualify for a new building, and teacher funded
by the church, because of the church’s backlog with seminary buildings we would not be
eligible for a building for an estimated 5 – 7 years. If we did not have a building to
continue released time seminary at Chiawana, and had to change to early morning
seminary, we may have lost released time seminary and our teacher at Pasco High
School. We felt it critical that we maintain released time seminary at Chiawana.
2) Why is the building costing so much? – Many have not understood that the
new building is nothing like a house construction. Because this is an educational facility
we are required to comply with much different building requirements than a house.
• We were required to obtain a special use permit with the County that put
requirements on the site and building construction. This was a costly and time
consuming process.
• We had to create a lot for the building from a 5 acre parcel. Creation of the lot
required a short plat of the 5-acre parcel and then we had to purchase
approximately 1.3 acres of land that had to essentially be zoned for commercial
use.
• The project was required to construct a new street, Sterling Road, on the south of
the parcel and widen Road 84 on the east side of the parcel. In addition, we are
required to install curb, gutter, and widen Road 84 all the way to the canal north
of the site. The site is located within Franklin County, but Road 84 is within the
City of Pasco so we had to develop the roads to City of Pasco standards.
Chiawana High School Seminary
• Because the site is in Franklin County, we are not able to connect to sewer. So
we had to install an on-site septic system and because it was a commercial
system it was extremely large and costly.
• Also, because it is an educational facility we had to install all of the electrical in
conduits. Additionally we had to install a fire hydrant on the site and a fire
sprinkler system in the building. This required a ductile iron water line into the
building and a very expensive fire sprinkler system inside the building. Because
of the sprinkler system, we have a suspended ceiling that adds additional costs.
The HVAC system was also more expensive inside the building as it will have an
occupancy load much higher than a home would have.
• Finally, the doors to the building are similar to a storefront with aluminum framing
and with glass panels, and we are required to have multiple exit doors, that are
much more expensive than a home.
• The Church estimates that a two room seminary building will cost approximately
$750,000 plus land costs. Our total project is expected to cost approximately
$600,000 including land and site development.
• The temporary construction trailer and associated insurance, utilities, etc are
costing approximately $1,000 per month that is also coming out of the
construction fund. Once the permanent building is constructed, the Church’s
Education System responsible for seminary will rent the building and cover at
least a portion of the monthly costs.
3) Who is Road 84 Education CTR? – This is a nonprofit corporation established
to accept donations to purchase property and construct the new seminary building. The
principals of the nonprofit corporation are Ferris Naef, Lowell Barber, and Paul Hatch.
4) Why can’t we build it with volunteer labor? – The days of building churches
with volunteers have been over for years. With insurance requirements and current
laws, it is extremely difficult to build these types of buildings with volunteers. For
example, during construction of the roof a strong wide blew down the trusses. If we had
been constructing the roof with volunteers we would not be covered by insurance to
cover the repairs. Additionally, if one of the volunteers were injured during construction
the nonprofit would be liable. Finally, if the volunteers were to do something wrong in
the construction that damaged other portions of the building, we would also not be
covered by insurance.
5) How many youth will we have at Chiawana? – The first year we projected that
we would have 52 youth in the Chiawana seminary. We have actually enrolled
approximately 75. The second year we estimated that we would have 66 youth
enrolled; however, at this time we are currently estimating that we will actually have at
least 103 youth in September.
Chiawana High School Seminary
6) What is the status of the fund raising? – We have currently collected
approximately $460,000 and we have pledges of an additionally $75,000. However, it
will be a few months before all of the pledges will be paid. We still need to collect at
least an additional $65,000.
7) What do we do if we collect too much money? - We will likely need to own
and operate the building for at least a few years so any additional funds will be used for
that purpose.
8) What do we do if we don’t collect enough money? - We will only construct as
much as we have money to pay for. If the funds are not available we will delay
construction temporarily.