Southbay Chinese Baptist Church

We have come to a critical juncture and a decision must be made by the members of Southbay to either stop the project while we wait for available funding or to continue construction by totally trusting God to provide adequate financial resources to complete this building project.

At the Business Meeting today, the general membership was briefed on the latest construction development. By end of November, we will have paid for the steel and freight for the building. When we begin to erect the building, additional funds will have to be transfered from the General Fund account to Building Fund account to pay the contractor. In essence, all available cash will be spent by year end.

In order to address members on the needed cash, a fund raising joint worship service will be held on Sunday December 9th.

Our loan application with ECCU is in processing. We were asked to resubmit the compiled report with the format suitable for ECCU. With Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in Nov. and Dec. respectively, loan approval will most likely be sometimes Jan. - Feb. 2008.

It has been four weeks since we submitted our application to SJ Planning Dept. to amend our original Conditional Use Permit such that we can keep our existing multipurpose building…. SJ Planning told us that a response is expected Friday before Thanksgiving week. On Friday, we were told the project was assigned to a Planner for review and to expect a response Friday the week after Thanksgiving.

Please pray and ASK God:
1. We will trust God for our every need. praising Him daily,
2. For the fund raising joint worship service - for everyone to begin tithing, make sacrificial contribution,
3. For the loan application and re-submittal to ECCU for funding to begin immediately,
4. For individuals who are on the fence, to put aside our differences and come together with one accord. Giving glory to God,
5. For the steel manufacturer to deliver the steel as promised on the last week of November,
6. Award the erection contract to a worthy contractor and begin building erection asap,
7. For all of us to trust Him, His promise and provision shall be given unto us.

Glory & Honor be to God,
William

Bad news! We were notified by AMStar on Wed. 11/7, that our steel delivery has been postponed to end of November. This is not what we were expecting. I know God is testing us. Let us continue to trust in the Lord for He knows our building project from the inception of time.

We are planning to limit our purchase agreement with AMStar for the structural steel only. All other proposals are subject to change and re-negotiation. The issue we need to address is that on the original proposal, there is a 30% cancellation fee and deposits are non-refundable clause. A formal letter is being prepared by the building committee this week to address this issue with AMStar. Pray for mutual understanding with friendly acknowledgment to conclude the proposals between the two parties. Let us trust the Lord for He will lead us through the negotiation process.

william

On Tuesday 10/09. the foundation pad received just about the right amount of rain the evening before the concrete was scheduled to be poured. Early Wed. morning, workmen came to pour the concrete. At the end of the day, the concrete slab looked marvelous. The weather remained dry two days after, allowing ample time for the concrete to cure. Then, followed by two days of steady rain. Can your believed that it was only a coincidence? I believe it was His perfect timing, another sign that God is watching over our building project. Praise His Holy Name.

We are now ready for the structural steel. Unfortunately, the steel has been postponed to week ending 11/09/07. We can only hope and pray that nothing else will further delay the building project.

While we are waiting for the steel, the project team has been busy looking at ways to save construction cost. We met with SJ City on changing the building occupancy from A2.1 to A3 and B for the classrooms on the second floor. Last week, SJ Fire Marshal informed us that fire proofing the steel structure was required, no exception. This was a set back for us because fire proofing requirements dictates the overall construction materials & labor for the project. Even if we were able to change the occupancy, it would not reduce construction cost. As a result, the Building Committee met on Wed. 10/17 and decided to not pursue the change of occupancy.

Another way to reduce construction cost is by keeping our existing multipurpose building in lieu of building a new Administration Building. The project team has been working with Architect Jack to revise the phase 2 plan. On Tuesday 10/23, Jack successfully submitted a revised plan, using off site parking at near by schools to amend our CUP with City Planning Dept.

According to the construction schedule, by the end of November 2007, we will have spent all available building funds on the work completed to date. In order to complete erecting the structural steel and roof, we need to obtain congregation’s approval to use the funding from the General Fund account. The Building Committee will update the congregation on Sunday 11/18 at a special Business Meeting to obtain the approval.

In order to continue with the building project, funding will have to come from the congregation. At this time, it is highly unlikely sufficient funds can be obtained from our congregation to complete the building project. The decision to stop the construction and wait for adequate funding to commence with the building project will rest on the congregation’s decision on Sunday 11/18.

Please pray for wisdom and unity of the congregation at SCBC. Pray for individual tithing and sacrificial contributions. May God be the glory!

William

According to Flory Construction, early Wed. morning 10/10, a total of 13 truck loads of concrete will be delivered to SCBC. At the end of the day, concrete slab for the building will be poured, set and cured. I could only imagine the concrete with smooth finish, sitting pretty and ready to take on structural steel columns, steel decks and roof.

On Wed. evening, I went to inspect the completely poured concrete slab. The super flat and smooth concrete slab was totally covered by a wet & shinny glazed finish. Although I didn’t walk on top of the concrete slab, but the thought of leaving my footprint on the concrete was very tempting. I praise God for He is good. God has given us a new concrete floor.

The building progress has been slow, but WOW, we are ready to go to the next step. After the concrete slab is fully cured, in about two to three weeks, we are ready to erect the steel structure. We are grateful for what God has done and we continue to thank Him for leading us through difficult challenges.

Speaking of challenges, what are we doing to resolve the higher cost estimates? The estimated cost for the building has risen 1.5X. The General Contractor originally estimated the building should cost approx. $175/sq. ft. Last week, our G/C revised the building estimates from $175 to $280/sq.ft., not including fees and markup, plus incidentals.

When we were told of the new estimates, all of us on the building committee were stunned. When the congregation heard the bad news at the new worship center celebration dinner, it was just as hard for everyone to accept it, but most everyone handled the situation with much grace and solace. Thank you for your prayer support! The Building Committee decided to withhold the faith pledge at the celebration dinner.

Meanwhile, we started to discuss with Jack on ways to reduce construction cost. On Tues. 10/9, David Flory, Jack, Ming and I met with SJ and we propose changing our occupancy from A2.1 to A3 for the third time. SJ was receptive and listened to our proposal attentively. In order to proceed, SJ requested a letter from the church, providing details on our class rooms usage, and to use whichever the building occupancy and fire code most suitable for our situation. With that, Jack will be meeting with SJ Fire Dept. later this week to review which code is most suitable for our use. Please continue to pray for the meeting between Jack and SJ Fire. We need God’s intervention in that SJ Fire will allow the change of occupancy and clear passage through the Building Dept. as well.

William

While we were waiting for the final bids from subcontractors to come in, we asked Flory Construction to advise us with a rough cost estimates we can expect for the total cost for the building project, in that we can provide our congregation the pledge goal at the new worship center celebration dinner on Sat. 9/29/07.

When Minette was notified on Friday the higher cost estimates, an emergency meeting was held Friday evening to alert the building committee. The reason for the urgency was because our targeted goal to raise $1.5Million cannot be told as it will not meet the higher cost estimates. The estimated cost is approx. 1.5X higher than what we had anticipated.

We were pretty much at a lost for words. Seems like Satan was determined to upset our building project and dealt us a heavy blow to the eyes. As the meeting progresses, we pretty much resolved to do the following:
1. not distribute the pledge form at the celebration dinner on Sat. 9/29/07
2. talk to Jack Christensen and David Flory to see if we can find ways to cut cost
3. as a church, an organization, how to cut the operating expenses
4. Pastor Larry and William to revise the dinner presentation as to uplift the congregation, irregardless of the challenges…..

Please pray for God’s timing, mercy and grace to fall on us. Pray for wisdom, courage, and understand from everyone at the church.

William

With our permission, Structural Engineer (S.E.) completed the redesign of the foundation plan last week. The revised foundation requires replacement on some of the already installed rebars with larger ones. As part of the foundation re-engineering, tie-downs for the rebars must be made at the bottom of the footings. Some of the footings requiring rework are approx. six feet deep. David, our General Contractor (G.C.) tried to convenience the Structural Engineer to simplify the design was unsuccessful. As a result, the Foundation Contractor was instructed to rework the foundation as specified. Meanwhile, the S.E. and G.C. will present the revised foundation design to SJ Building Examiner for approval. The Foundation Contractor started to rework some of the footing this week.

The foundation is tentatively scheduled to be completed by end of the first week in October. The structural steel is scheduled for delivery by week ending 10/19.

Pray to God that construction schedule can be met without further delay. Pray for His guidance and wisdom in managing our contractors and others.

A letter requesting change of occupancy from A2.1 to A3 for the classrooms on the 2nd floor, affecting the fire rating for the building is being drafted by David Flory. Once it is prepared, Jack Christensen will schedule a meeting with SJ to discuss the revision and approval. If the revised occupancy is approved, the materials and construction cost for the building will be reduced significantly. Please note: the exception of the build code was presented to another City by David Flory and it was permitted after review. However, this has yet to be approved by SJ at this time. Please pray for the presentation and approval.

Let’s summarize:
Pray for God’s timing and supernatural intervention on human errors and omissions.
1. Pray for foundation modification -
a) re-engineering requires approval by SJ
b) re-working the footings = additional cost and delay to construction schedule.
2. Pray for occupancy revision and approval by SJ
3. Pray for foundation completion before steel delivery week ending Oct. 19, 2007

Please reserve Saturday, September 29th on your calendar. You are invited to a celebration dinner on the construction milestone and the sharing of the church building vision.

William

The week after we discovered the error with varying depth of columns, AMStar advised us to expect a six to seven weeks of delay on manufacturing and their will be an additional $10K to $15K of cost for engineering, plus, more steel cost and reseller markup, should we decide to process the change order. We were only expecting a moderate cost adjustment from AMStar with engineering, but the manufacturing delay was significant and unexpected.

We were not prepared to deal with the columns misalignment, nor the missing column on the southeast corner back in June. We were totally stricken when the error with varying depth on columns were discovered by Flory Contraction a week ago. The seriousness of the situation demands immediate response and the project team worked diligently through this issue without delay.

The project team decided to investigate “Option B” by asking Tom Johnson, our Structural Engineer, whether modification of the foundation is more feasible for the church to use. Tom assessed the situation and agreed with us that delaying the steel manufacturing and having the delivery postponed to November is not a viable option. According to Tom, engineering the foundation should take approx. one (1) week, and will not affect the steel manufacturing schedule.

The project team immediately informed AMStar to stay the course with their manufacturing so not to disturb the October 19th steel delivery schedule. Meanwhile, we authorized Tom Johnson to begin engineering to correct the depths on all the affected columns.

While I was upset with the delay, angry and in despair, God reminded me that we must trust Him for His good and perfect timing. Can you imagine, if the depth of columns error was discovered after the steel already arrived on site, and our contractor had started to erect the steel….. Wow, at that moment, everyone will literally be at a stand still. Who knows how much time it will take to correct the mistake, or the cost for engineering, and how many contractors will remain true to their bids and schedule.

Praise God for sending David Flory and his construction team to built our worship center. We are thankful for the delay because it would be a disaster if we uncovered the error in the middle of the erection phase.

Back off Satan. This is Holy Ground!
Praise God! Bless Him! He cares! He is our God and worthy to be praised.

William

Flory Construction received our letter of authorization to hire subcontractors to begin the foundation work last week. Early Tuesday morning, I saw heavy equipment and construction crew working on the building pad. Along the south side of the building perimeter, where the Backhole had been digging, a deep and wide trench started to appear before my eyes. My emotions were overwhelmed with joyful memories recalling when we launched our multipurpose building project in October 1987. Some of the volunteer helpers came to tie the rebars inside the trench The excitement faded quickly when the Project Manger and Site Superintendent came to introduce themselves as they were here to meet with us as representatives from Flory Construction.

During the meeting, Flory Construction raised a number of concerns on the foundation where the columns will be installed. Some of the columns calls for depths to be different at various locations. David Flory suggested to meet with the Structural Engineer to verify this being the case. Minette called Tom Johnson, our structural engineer and a meeting was scheduled at 11:30am. Also, David Flory asked for another chance to meet with SJ Examiner to discuss the possibility of reducing the fire rating of the building. We believed this was a reasonable request and we contacted Jack Christiansen on the phone to arrange for a meeting with SJ Examiner. The meeting with SJ Examiner was scheduled at 3pm the same afternoon.

After meeting with Tom Johnson, David Flory came back to the church and informed us that when they reviewed the foundation drawings and compared it with VP’s anchor bolt plan, they discovered discrepancies with the varying depths of the columns. Wow! How can this happen? Didn’t we just made corrections to the columns locations. Why didn’t anyone on the design team look at the depths of the columns while reviewing the column misalignment?

The discrepancies has taken on more significant meaning, we must rely & trust God for His best timing.

Instead of looking at the faults and holding a blaming party, the team immediately took actions to resolve the issues. Structural Engineer - Tom Johnson, AMStar - Mike Achkar, Flory Construction (conference call) - David Flory, and SCBC - Minette Wong met on Thur. to assess the issues. For correction, Tom provided a list on columns with detail depth dimensions to Mike of AMStar. AMStar will generate a change order to VP to manufacture the revised columns as specified by the Structural Engineer. One of the issue with change order to manufacturing was adding delay to the schedule. As an option, engineering pedestals to correct the depth of columns was considered. Mike will advise us on the negative impact to the existing schedule when manufacturing comes back with their revised schedule. Please pray for God’s timing.

The meeting with SJ Examiner on Thur. afternoon to discuss changing our building occupancy from A2.1 to A3 was held. After the meeting, Ming gave me a brief update from the meeting. David Flory also called me in the afternoon and informed me that he had consulted with another Architect and was briefed of another (rarely used) building code that was suitable for us to use. In addition, Jack also wrote us a letter, requesting a written respond from the church, citing safety concerns should we decide to not install the fire sprinkler system or reduce the use of it.

As you can see, we have our hands full, so does speak. Please pray for wisdom for the team and proper management of the building project.

William

On Friday, 8/24th, our church building project took another giant step forward. On Tuesday morning, the project team met with David Flory. We reviewed bids from several foundation, plumbing and electrical sub-contractors. To further our building project, we agreed to start the foundation work as soon as possible. On the same evening, the building committee met and a unanimous decision to hire Flory Construction to start the foundation work immediately was reached. As we were fine tuning the exact wording for the letter of authorization, we received words from David that a subcontractor will be on site this Monday 8/27, to start the foundation work. On Friday, our letter of authorization for Flory Construction was complete and we faxed it to David, authorizing his company to hire sub-contractors and commence the foundation work. Please note, this letter of authorization was needed because the contract to hire Flory Construction as General Contractor is in progress, pending bids from other sub-contractors.

Can you say “Thank You God, we love you?” Yes, He is good and He is worthy to be praised. In deed, this is another major milestone for SCBC building project.

At our Tues. evening building committee meeting, we also agreed to hold a Ground Breaking Ceremony on Sunday 9/2, in that our brothers and sisters can join us to celebrate this major milestone.

Hear ye, hear ye, (read this important notice): Immediately following Chinese worship service and Sunday school for the English congregation, all who are present will (symbolically) occupy the new sanctuary and classrooms. Well, how can we do that? Come, brother Izi will show us. He will bring balloons for the kids (young and young at heart). Come, let us celebrate together. This will be another photo-op for the congregation. By the way, we will have tasty hot dogs, crispy chips and thirst quenching soda for your culinary enjoyment.

William

It’s really amazing when we discover God’s provision! On July 24th, we signed a letter of intent with Flory Construction, bringing us one step closer in the hiring this company as our G/C. I know many of us have been praying for the building project. More specifically, praying for a Christian, a Church Builder, who we can together built this building for His Kingdom. God answer our prayers. He knows our every needs. Let us praise Him, He is Lord, He blesses those who seek Him on all things.

It was approx. six weeks ago, while we were busy talking to the design team to correct columns misalignment, the architect informed the church that one column at the southeast corner was omitted on the architectural drawing. We also learned that one parking stall has quickly disappeared in favor of the missing column. What could be worse? The Architect informed us we must move the building approx. 2 ft to the north, as the new column encroaches onto Santa Clara Water District’s easement. Working to resolve some of the issues pertaining to moving the building, the Architect informed us that we can rotate the building counter-clock slightly and by doing so, we don’t need to move the building northerly by 2 ft. In addition, we can recover one parking stall next to the newly added column. These solutions were worthy of our praise and thanksgiving to our God.

While we were working together on resolving some of the outstanding issues, the high cost of trenching for the underground utilities was before us. We met with the PG&E representative to discuss possibly relocate the power transformer to the front of the building and closer to the power pole from across the street. In essence, this move will reduce the trenching and underground construction cost. The PG&E representative agreed with our suggestion. As such, our Architect was able to incorporated all the above changes: adding the missing column, rotate the building to avoid the easement, relocate the transformer pad to the front of the building on to the revised drawing. Three complete sets of drawings were submitted to the SJ Examiner for review on Monday 8/6/2007. Although some of these changes were insignificant, but none-the-less, the re-submittal was required. Please continue to pray that no negative comments will come from SJ Examiner on the revised drawing.

During our initial meeting with Flory Construction, David suggested a reduced fire rated building will lower the construction cost. We proceeded to talk with our architect. Meetings were held between our Architect and SJ Examiner to review the building code, occupancy and area analysis to determine whether reduced fire rating is applicable. Architect informed us that our request was denied. Two weeks ago, our Architect, Ming Ng and I met with the SJ Examiner, his manager, and a representative from the Fire Dept. to review our change request. We learned it was possible to change the occupancy on the ground floor. However, the fact that we have classrooms on the second floor, the building code for fire requires us to be Type V - 1 hour rating throughout the entire building. At the conclusion of our meeting, we decided to not change our occupancy and keep the building as originally designed.

A few days after our meeting with SJ Examiner, he wrote us a letter, appraising us the attic-storage has been declared unusable. This was a shocking surprise to all of us, including the architect. The Architect corresponded with SJ Examiner, quoting the building code and provided substantial justification on the attic-storage for church use. Given the documented support, SJ Examiner concurred with the Architect and reinstated the attic-storage for church use. Hallelujah, hallelujah, praise Him!

Last week, AMStar informed us in writing that the steel delivery has been postponed to the week ending October 19th. However, we may request for a partial delivery of structural steel and roof in September. We plan to discuss the building construction schedule with Flory Construction this week. Once we determine the best schedule for our project, we will request for the steel delivery accordingly.

Please pray for the following:
1. completion of our grading,
2. completion of the building pad,
3. agreement to hire G/C David Flory
4. start the underground construction
5. start the foundation
6. schedule the steel delivery
7. delay the rainy season

Please reserve Sat. September 29 on your calender. You are invited to a celebration dinner on the construction milestone and the sharing of the church building vision.

William