Trustees Report - February

In my last report, I mentioned that the trustees were working on the new handicapped access ramp at the “choir door” entrance to the church. I’m happy to say that the ramp was completed before the cold and snow arrived. We hope you like it.

We are currently in the process of remodeling the kitchen in the parsonage. Dave Elkins was able to find a friend who repaired the broken floor joist under the refrigerator at no cost to us, which allows us to move forward with the rest of the floor repair. We received bids from four contractors prior to contract award, and who is starting demolition work in early February. If things go smoothly, this should be about a three or four week effort. A group of four volunteers is helping in the selection of cabinet stains, granite countertop colors, the type and color of flooring, as well as paint colors and other various details. The parsonage is a great old building (104 years old!), but it takes a bit of upkeep to keep it in good shape.

After completion of the kitchen remodel, we will be turning our attention once again to handicapped access, first by eliminating the 12 inch curb at the end of the sidewalk leading to the original main entrance to the church on Ridge Avenue. We intend to put in a long, sloped sidewalk extension down to street level, so that if someone with a wheelchair or walker is dropped off at the no parking area in front of the church, they can get up to the sidewalk and then on to our new handicapped access ramp to get into the sanctuary level of the church.

The next access project after that will be a wheelchair lift to go from the sanctuary level to the Fellowship Hall / kitchen level of the church. We are still working out the details for this device. The total cost of the installation and machinery will be about $35,000, so we will need to have a capital campaign to raise that kind of money and confirm the congregation’s agreement that the whole idea is a good one. I think it is, and that it is indeed affordable, but I’m only one vote.

Longer term, the Fellowship Hall needs renovated. We’re always looking for suggestions for how to make our building better and more inviting. We’d be happy to hear from you.

Dennis Terry