Capture the Vision

Capture the Vision in
2011

My Sacrificial Offering For The Building Fund

Update: January 8, 2012

Update: April 11, 2011 (pdf)

Update: March 30, 2011

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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My Sacrificial Offering For The Building Fund

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Update: January 8, 2012

Here is the latest as we know it:

Happy New Year to All!

At Sundays Service (1/8/2012, Ron Simonson and Bill McGregor provided a short update to the congregation on the property purchase - commonly known as 1416 26th Ave, Olympia. The recent issue has been in the arena of wetlands and sewer/septic systems.

On the issue of the wetlands: our wetland expert/consultant rated it a lower number that was on the cusp of a type 2/type 3 category. With a Type 3 category wetland, the buffer/setback is 100 feet and with a Type 2 category wetland the buffer/setback is 200 feet. Thurston County contracts with the Department of Ecology to perform any wetland delineations. The County received a report back from the Department of Ecology wetland inspector that the wetland on the property was a strong category Type 2. That was disappointing news and it seriously impacted the parking lot that we will need to construct on the property. In early December, we met with our consultant engineering firm to review what the impact was as well as any options around this rating. Our consultants were very optimistic that this could be addressed with adequate results. During the second week of December, Ron Simonson and Laura Lundin, along with our consultants met with the Thurston County representatives to discuss the report. The short story on this meeting was that the County representative agreed with our consultant that perhaps planting additional treelings, bushes, etc. in the 100 foot buffer/setback would enhance that area sufficiently to meet the need to protect the wetlands associated with the creek that transits the property. However, since the Department of Ecology generated the wetland report , the County would need to consult with them BEFORE it could be agreed to as a way to alleviate impact on the buffer/setback of the wetland. The County representative would make that contact and then report back to us. We had expected a response by the end of December. With the Christmas/New Year Holidays, it did not occur. After numerous calls to our consultant - who has been sending emails, voice mails, etc - to the county but to no avail - he called the Department of Ecology (DOE) inspector directly. The conversation between the two was that DOE would look at the additional plantings design and felt that this was or could be an acceptable solution to the buffer/setback issue. While this was a verbal agreed solution, the County has final say on a variance of this type and we are now waiting for the county to respond in written format.

Now onto the sewer/septic issue. One of the conditions of the sale agreement was that the on-site septic system was in good working order. As has been previously reported in another update, the septic system failed. The property owners were responsible for fixing this situation. One possible fix was design and installation of another septic system/drainfield. The other was to hook up to the sewer system that was located at the intersection of Bethel Street and 26th (about 300 feet from the property). When the property owner started to investigate which way to go, their design consultant learned that the City of Olympia would not allow a new septic system to be installed if there was a sewer line in close proximity to the proposed installation. The City of Olympia is involved (even though this property is located in the County) as that neighborhood area is inside the Urban Growth Area of Olympia. So the property owners have moved forward with an application for a permit to hook up to sewer. All costs associated with this sewer installation project is the responsibility of the property owner. This actually is better in the long run for us as the purchaser. With the type of soils in this area, should a septic system fail in the future, and we owned that property - then the cost of sewer hook up would have been at our expense. This is a far better result for us in the long term.

If you have ANY questions or concerns on the property acquisition, please feel free to contact any Board Member or the Building Committee. Your concern(s) are our concern(s). Your question(s) may be a question(s) others in the congregation may have as well. We look forward to hearing from you and keeping you updated on the progress we are making. While we knew it would take some time to complete this transaction, we had no idea it would take this long.

In HIS name,

Bill

Update: April 11, 2011 - see pdf

Update: March 30, 2011

It has been a "few" weeks since we have supplied an update to you. After we had the pre-submission conference with the County Development and Planning Department on March 11th , we had to wait for an official letter from them on the information we needed to obtain as well as the regulations that would need to be followed for a complete permit application for the parking lot.

On March 18th, we received that letter. On March 22, we sat down with Skillings Connolly to review that 4 page document. While it contained many references to different regulations (many that only a civil engineer would understand!) , the overall tone of the letter was very good for this project. Skillings/Connolly have been working on design layouts, drainage requirements, and addressing the other issues raised in the letter. Laura has been working on obtaining septic information such as location of drain fields for the 3 systems on the sight, size of the septic tanks, getting them pumped by the owners and having the drain field for each system certified as working properly. Ron has been busy on traffic study information, the requirements of the ordinances pertaining to parking slots to seats in the sanctuary (for the variance appilication) as well as water flow projections for septic volumes Bill has been working on filing out the SEPA application that must accompany the permit application (SEPA stands for State Environmental Protection Act)

This Monday (April 4th) we will be again meeting with Skillings/Connolly to make a final review of our information gathered in relation to the county letters requirements. Our goal is to make our permit application on or about 4/6. Then the clock starts to tick on the counties review of our permit application - which can take up to 148 days to complete.

We have also mailed out letters to the 20 or so properties that in close proximity to the property to let the neighbors know of our interest, why there is some activity on the property and inviting them to contact us if they have questions. To date we have had 4 responses ( 1 letter , 1 asking for an email response to their question(s), 1 asking for a chance to meet with the pastor, and 1 requesting a telephone conversation - all appear to be positive responses).

While this report is a summary of our activities over the past month or so, we want to make sure that if you have ANY questions or concerns on this project as it moves forward to be sure to express those to us so we can respond. Also, the entire property acquisition paperwork is available for anyone in the congregation to review (and we welcome that review!!)

We will also make every attempt to do an update every week - sometimes it may be as simple as NOTHING NEW TO REPORT!! but at least it will be a report to date. Thanks to all for your faith in God's work and for support of the church and this committee as we move along.

Keep praying for Gods guidance and wisdom for this journey. Praise be to HIM in this whole process.

In HIS name,

Bill

Frequently Asked Questions about Our Facility Plans:

Has the church made an offer on the property on 26th Ave.? After a vote of 95% approval by the members and congregation, the Church Board authorized Pastor Steve to make an offer to purchase the property with several contingencies attached.    The listing price of the property was $1,250,000. Our offer was considerably less and was well supported by the studies and inspections that the building committee had commissioned over the last 90 days. The property owner countered with a price of $899,500 and left all but one contingency in place.   The Building Committee after a review of the counter offer recommended to the Executive Board of the Church to accept the counter offer from the property owner. The Board voted unanimously to accept the counter offer and authorized Pastor Steve to sign and sale and purchase agreement.

What are those contingencies?   Well, in order of presentation: 1. We need to have approval from the Nazarene District properties board (As a church we are under the Nazarene umbrella organization); 2. Seller will remove the old green house and clean up the associated fertilizers stored in that green house; 3. Seller to render all underground fuel tanks inert through removal of fuel and filling with sand or removing such tanks – whichever is required by the county;
4. Seller agrees to work with the buyer (us) to obtain a special use permit and grading permit to construct a parking lot for 180 cars (+/-), 5. Seller agrees to work with buyer in ensuring county approval of special use permit for a church; 6. Seller to pump the septic tanks, provide a pumpers report and the county certifications of working order prior to close; 7. Seller to provide water test for the well if it is used in any function other than irrigation (note: the buildings are on city water); 8. Seller to fix any current roof leaks in areas over classrooms; 9. Seller to replace rotted power pole.

When is it anticipated that the property will become ready to close? We are hoping to close on the property around the end of June, 2011, providing all of the agreed upon contingencies have been completed or permitted.

When can we occupy it for services? That is a great question. Until the parking lot permits have been approved by the county, we really can not use the building for services as the field is very wet this time of year. Right now, the engineering firm of Skillings and Connolly (Lacey) are doing the necessary investigation and design work for a parking lot.   The engineering firm then meets with the county in a pre-submission conference. It then goes to the county for comment, a public hearing will need to be held and then if all goes well – a permit for the parking lot will be issued shortly after.

What happens if a permit is not issued for a parking lot? Per the contingencies listed above we are not obligated to complete the sale and the only impact (while very important from a stewardship angle) is that we would have spent about $25,000 in engineering and permit fees. We believe that is still good stewardship since the only way to positively confirm that parking can be built on the property is to go through the formal permit process. We would much rather complete that process prior to purchasing the property than after purchasing it. The owner is fully cooperating with us during the permit process.

Have we qualified for a loan? If so, how much? The church has applied for and has been pre-approved through Wesleyan Investment Foundation (WIF) for an amount of $1.4 million. WIF specializes in church mortgages exclusively.   A project budget of $1.5 million was presented to the congregation prior to the vote. In addition to purchasing the property, our project budget includes allowances for engineering fees, some repair costs for materials, retirement of an existing equipment loan and contingency funds.

What is the disposition of the AV equipment in the facility we currently use? The AV systems installed in the gym are owned by SSC. At times, those systems are also used by the school. We will offer the fully functioning systems for sale to the school at current market value. The value includes both the value of the equipment as well as the value of the labor and materials in the installation. Should the school choose to purchase the equipment, we will use those funds to install systems at the new property.   If a reasonable price cannot be agreed upon with the school, then we will remove the AV equipment and install it at the new facility.

What is our down payment requirement for the property purchase? That is a great question! As you know, real estate financing has changed dramatically over the last three years. The days of low or no down payments are long gone. This is particularly so with commercial property. In our discussions with local banks and lenders, down payment amounts of a minimum of 25% and as much as 35% were mentioned. We believe that God has brought to us an incredible opportunity with Wesleyan Investment Foundation. After reviewing our financial and project information, they are only requiring us to come up with 10% of the project budget as a down payment!   Our down payment amount is $150,000, which is 10% of the $1.5M project budget. This is very achievable with the sacrificial giving that our congregation is known for. The down payment will need to be raised within the next few weeks in order to release the lender’s funding for the project.

Why does the Church Leadership or Executive Board feel a need to re-locate our church? South Sound Church has been located on the existing campus for 15 plus years. We have been paying rent for that entire time.   We want to be good stewards of the funds that are entrusted for the church by its members and congregation each week.   Renting is not “buying” a facility. At the end of every month, we still do not own a door handle, window, etc.   Use of the current facility is limiting the ministries that we could be providing our community as the school has needs during the week nights that at times conflict with our needs.   In addition, over time, the school has needed additional space and will continue to grow into the future as will South Sound Church.

What other options have you considered?   The Executive Board over the years has looked into alternatives and offerings of other properties both on the existing campus and off the existing campus. The costs involved for any of those options was very expensive (far more then today’s opportunity). Although it would be fantastic to build a building from scratch, the purchase of land and associated development costs would exceed the costs of our entire project before we even started a single building. In other cases, we could lease the land, but still be responsible for all development costs as well as the building. Existing buildings we have looked at are running in excess of $2.5M and still do not have sufficient parking.

I just heard about this. It seems kind of sudden. About two years ago, after looking at various opportunities to move or build, the Executive Board decided that timing was not right and we needed to spend our time on other church matters. We made a conscious decision to not look any further.    About six months ago, this property was brought to the attention of the Board and Staff. We prayed for wisdom and leadership from God. If this was an opportunity that we should move on, then God would open doors. If it was not, then He would close doors.   It was decided to take a careful and measured approach to examining the opportunity prior to bringing it to the congregation. We didn’t want to build up hope only to have a door slammed in our face. A small building committee was formed and the people of that committee have spent over 200 hours in meetings, discussions, communications and analysis. Professionals were retained to examine the facility and property. Reports were made. The staff and executive board were totally kept in the loop. We can assure you that everything done so far has been totally open and with due diligence. Once it was clear that the 26th Avenue property had potential, we brought it to the congregation, along with a plan, facts and figures. Our journey is not completed, it is only starting. To date, not a single door has closed. We have not had any obstacles discovered that were “door closers.” We firmly believe that God is taking us in the direction He wants us to move. It may seem sudden, but it’s really not. We believe it is in God’s timing.