Property

PROPERTY COMMITTEE – 2022 ANNUAL REPORT 

GSLC PROPERTY TEAM – 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

The physical facilities of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church are where we gather to hear the “Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, share in fellowship and conduct mission outreach. The campus and its facilities serve as the “operations center” from which we implement our many initiatives and ministries serving our community and the Lord Jesus Christ.

During 2022, the Property Team continued its mission of ensuring that the entire campus of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is maintained, attractive and welcoming to members and visitors alike. A special thank you to all who gave of their time, talent, and treasure during 2022 to carry out our ministry through the maintenance, care and enhancement of your church’s facilities and grounds.

In addition to routine maintenance, the Property Team’s 2022 activities and accomplishments included:

⮚  Green Team:  The Green Team was responsible for weekly mowing and maintaining the church lawn from May through October. Thank you to Dennis Christenson and Jeff Fehling who kept the lawns looking great as they mowed most of the weeks during the past growing season. Dennis and Jeff also took it on the project of cleaning out the area around the transformer box behind the church (resulting in several loads of brush and branches hauled to the village compositing sites). Additional projects completed by the Green Team included edging the sidewalks and spraying herbicide on the weeds growing in the numerous parking lot cracks during the summer. While one mounting bracket had to be replaced on the push mower, we were blessed with no major repairs required of the two riding mowers this past year.

⮚  White Team: A special thank you to all who responded to my calls for help with clearing sidewalks following each snow event. Team members ensured that church sidewalks were cleared of snow and ice relatively soon after each event. We continue our contract with Dave Cichocki for snow plowing the parking lots with contract costs based on a per snow event. His fees for snow removal remain unchanged, and we thank him for his continued services to our campus.

⮚     Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC systems): First, a very special thank you to Brian and Michelle Legois through their business, Professional Heating and Air Conditioning, for maintaining the HVAC units in the facility. Their prompt response to problems during the past year and effecting necessary repairs continues to be very appreciated. Their expertise and insights continue to be invaluable as we work on HVAC issues that have arisen during 2022.

These issues involve the three HVAC units serving the narthex and sanctuary. The sanctuary’s 2 HVAC units are rapidly reaching the end of their life expectancy as they were “used” equipment when installed 15 years ago. In addition, all three HVAC units are designed for 3-phase electrical service, but we only have single-phase electrical service currently available to the campus. At the time of constructing the sanctuary, this required the use of a phase converter with each of these HVAC units

Currently the heat in the sanctuary is being maintained by the east HVAC as the heating function of the west HVAC is no longer working. This puts additional strain on the functioning HVAC. Then in August, the phase converter for the narthex’s HVAC was destroyed by a fire, which thankfully quickly burned itself out. A new phase converter has been installed with the church insurance covering the $17,540 cost. However, upon hooking up the new phase converter, it was discovered that the HVAC’s blower motor and two compressors had been irreparably damaged. We are in contact with our insurance company regarding these additional claims.

In the meantime, the Executive Committee and Property Team in consultation with the Legois’ continue to explore options for heating and air conditioning of the sanctuary and narthex. Phase converters are obsolete technology and are no longer a viable option with new HVAC units which require three-phase electrical service (we have been advised that using phase converters with the new HVACs will void all manufacturer warranties). Cost to bring three-phase electrical service to our campus would be approximately $150,000. We have been in contact with an engineering consultant for any cost-effective alternative options that may serve GSLC heating and cooling needs. The congregation can expect to hear more about these issues in the near future.

⮚ Janitorial Services: The Holtz’s, who had provided our weekly janitorial services for several years, discontinued their cleaning services last March. Professional cleaning services have proven to be very expensive. A couple of volunteers have taken over the weekly cleaning of the facilities until an alternative can be found. A special thank you to Don Wiesner for his assistance each week since March with the vacuuming and spot cleaning of the carpets (also, periodic vacuuming of the sanctuary chairs). Thank you to Al Vander Grinten for his assistance with mopping the community room.

⮚     Garden beds: Again, thank you to Jon and Nancy DeCleene for their continuing awesome work with maintaining and caring for the plants and garden beds that beautify the areas around the church building.

⮚     Renewing For Our Future (RFOF): The RFOF project for handicap accessibility with the Narthex entrance doors and the narthex bathroom doors was completed in May. Expenditures (hardware and labor) for this project were $5,135 for the narthex entrance doors, $5,161.50 for the two narthex bathroom doors and $3,739 for electrical service to the 4 automated doors.

The next RFOF project is to renovate the office area restrooms (architect plans have been completed, with the next steps being getting plans/permit approvals followed by contractor bids). This will probably be the last of the approved RFOF projects as the RFOF capital campaign has ended and available funding having been expended with completion of this project.

⮚     Light barrier:A major project during the late summer of 2022, was cleaning up the light barrier along the side of the East Parking Lot. This included removing nightshade vines and other weeds, removing several dead trees, and pruning dead branches off the remaining pine trees. Thank you to Jeff Fehling for “weed wacking” the entire light barrier. Thank you to the Scouts and Scouters of BSA Troop 1107 and Pack 4107 who assisted with the tree removal, pruning and hauling of the resulting debris to the village composting site. Subsequently, several compliments have been heard regarding the improved appearance of the light barrier.

⮚     Plumbing. We were blessed with only a couple of minor plumbing issues during the past year. A leaking toilet in the Education Center’s men’s restroom was quickly and efficiently repaired thanks to Ron Kuhn who also ensured that annual inspections and associated paperwork were completed for the village.

⮚     Computer maintenance: A thank you to Blake Felton for his continued help with maintaining the computers, servers and related information technology issues.

Tom Hansen, Property Team