FRONT STEPS
You will notice that we are making further repairs to the front steps. Last fall just before the frost set in (when the project was first completed) it was noticed that the slope at the landing of the steps was just about 7 degrees, which is not up to code. The greater slope was caused by the overall lowering of the elevation of the sidewalk to accommodate the code for the ADA pad at the corner of Lockwood and 9th Street. It was too late to fix it last fall. Meridian Contracting Services LLC, our contractor, recognized the issue on their part and agreed to come back in the spring to make the necessary modification to reduce the slope to less than 1 degree at the bottom of the stairs. The only way to accomplish that is by adding an additional step and repouring the concrete at the bottom of the stairs up to the sidewalk.
For full transparency, I wanted to share with all of you the total cost of the project already paid: $60,771.00. Meridian has agreed to make the necessary changes at their expense to make it right, including recoating the stairs to make it all match and repairing the places which have already rusted through. However, we did agree to pay an additional $3,153 to extend the handrails and to form and pour the additional step. That makes the entire project cost: $63,924. I’ve been in consultation with the Finance Council throughout this whole process. I want to apologize for the major inconvenience of having half the stair out of commission this weekend and the other half out of commission next weekend – especially for our graduates this Sunday. It will be 10 days until the steps are fully open again.
I want to thank you all for generous donations that more than accounted for this capital improvement project. The funding came from our overage on CSA last year, which far exceeded the cost of the new boiler plus a few additional special gifts from parishioners for about $35,000. Know that our parish staff work hard to ensure that every dollar you give to the parish is spent wisely and prudently.