January 11th, 2024

Even as we have celebrated Christmas and the New Year, the work of the Living Waters Project has continued! 

The Isaiah Project team has been evaluating organizations that could be partners in its effort to heal the breach of racial injustices. The team has identified a handful of organizations to engage with and anticipates beginning conversations with many of them soon. 

Our architect, HY, has been developing a comprehensive set of detailed construction plans. These plans cover all of the Living Waters work - refurbishing the Parish Hall, the elevator, renovation of the kitchen, renewal of the chapel and undercroft. The plans should be completed shortly. They will be submitted to Berkeley as part of the construction permit application in January and then be used by subcontractors to submit formal cost bids in the first half of February. Having these subcontractor bids come in as anticipated in the ROM budget we have been using so far will be a key factor in firming up our budget and scope. 

We have a revised elevator plan!

The option to place the elevator in the foyer/lift location that would not require a new vestibule in the nave is moving forward! The contractors and architects have developed a construction plan that is feasible and a cost estimate that stays within the budget parameters set by the Vestry. With this option the current interior of the church would need only minimal changes to accommodate the elevator. 

On December 17th, the Vestry voted unanimously,11-0, to adopt this elevator option as part of the overall Living Water scope that the architect will move forward with. This option will be included in the construction plans to be completed at the end of this month. 

The PG&E application for upgraded service has been pushed back a bit. In the last update we anticipated filing the PG&E application for upgraded service in mid-December. That application must come after the construction permit has been filed with Berkeley, so the PG&E application will likely be filed at the end of this month. 

More news soon!

Richard