Looking to get out in this nice weather? Want to see immediate results to your efforts? Join the garden team for our June Meeting for Weeding is this Saturday, June 20, from 8:30-10:30 am. Come for as much time as you like. No tools, no problem. Our Meeting grounds are looking beautiful and you can help them stay that way. All ages welcome!
For more information: Plum Cluverius plum.cluverius@gmail.com
Join us for workday at The Clearing, 9 am to 3 pm, bring a lunch, tools, sunscreen & insect repellent, and wear boots.
The building is now open for committee use.
The sidewalks at the meetinghouse have been shoveled, however they could freeze over again. To get to the sidewalk, you have to step on some ice. Both Kensington and Commonwealth have not been plowed. They are drivable but parking could be problematic.
If your group decides to meet, please use utmost caution and remember to schedule with the building scheduler, Ada Hammer.
This Saturday, 11/15 is your last chance to do some gardening at the Meetinghouse this year!!! The garden team will be planting bulbs, moving a couple of plants, doing some final weeding and tidying before we put the garden to bed until spring. Come anytime between 9-11 am and stay for as little or as long as you like. All ages and abilities welcome! Bring tools and/or gloves if you have them but we also have tools available. See you Saturday!
Join f/Friends to spruce up the meetinghouse on Saturday, May 3, 9-12. There's a task for every age and ability! Contact Ada Hammer with any questions.
The Clearing Building & Grounds Committee invites Richmond Meeting members and attenders to join us at The Clearing to prepare for the 2023 season and for our annual RFM Spring Retreat (which will be at The Clearing). This is a great opportunity to spend some time getting to know folks in Meeting and getting to know The Clearing. Please mark your calendars and join us if you're able! All levels of ability are welcome; families and children encouraged to participate! The next date is:
Saturday May 10
Each workday will start at 9:00 am and go to about 3:00 pm (give or take an hour), depending on what jobs we have to get done that day.
Some of the things we will be working on include Clearing campsites and trails, replacing some signage around the property, sweeping out the Pavilion (floors, cabinets, cobwebs on the ceiling, etc.), and spreading gravel on the path between the large cabin and the Lodge.
Stuff you might consider bringing:
· Your lunch! And maybe some snacks and/or any beverage you want beyond the water that is available at The Clearing
· Clothes that you don't mind getting dirty; wear layers that you can put on or take off depending on the temperature.
· Sturdy shoes or boots
· A hat
· Work gloves
· Bug repellant
· Sunscreen
· Tools, if you have them
Although Clearing Buildings & Grounds Committee members will bring our extra tools to share. The following might be useful: rakes, clippers, loppers or shears for trimming vegetation, a hammer, and tools for digging up roots (very useful for preventing vegetation from growing back in campsites and trails as quickly).
Anyone with questions is welcome to call Al Best or Ted Heck with questions. Also, please call or email either of us to RSVP so we can plan our work.
Test Post
The meeting room at Richmond Friends Meeting has a new hearing assistance system for use during meeting for worship. The system picks up vocal messages and sends amplified audio signals to individual listeners using one of three methods:
1. FM Receivers: A new FM system has replaced our old one. This system transmits audio to FM receivers. We currently have four FM receivers. You can use a receiver with either an ear speaker, headset, ear buds, or a “neck loop” (used with hearing aids with T-coils). In general, the FM receivers are the simplest way to use the system. Some experimentation may be required to choose the optimal speakers for your ears. If you have hearing aids, you can try using an FM receiver with an “over-the-ear” headset. We will not make earbuds available; you can bring your own (generic earbuds cost $5-15, custom-molded ones are more expensive).
2. Cellphones with Wi-Fi: The new system can send (“stream”) vocal messages to any device receiving Wi-Fi, typically a cell phone. Streaming audio to a cell phone allows you to connect to hearing aids using a Bluetooth connection. The cell phone needs to be set up with an app, connected to the audio server, and set to turn off cell phone reception.
3. Hearing aids with a T-coil: A hearing aid with T-coil can receive audio directly from the “loop” under the floor. This method uses the loop we have had for many years. Note: A hearing aid with a T-coil can also be used with an FM receiver and neck loop. Reception is likely to be better with an FM receiver/neck loop than with the floor loop.
Once we start using the Wi-Fi audio system, those present in meeting for worship are likely to be aware that Friends using hearing assistance are setting up and adjusting cell phones. In the past, cell phones have not been in use during worship. Phone service will be turned off on cell phones used for hearing assistance during worship.
With the adoption of the new system, the guidelines for Friends offering a vocal message during worship have not changed: stand if you are able to, and speak your message loudly and clearly to the facing bench or center of the room. The new system cannot compensate for messages offered in a very quiet voice. Also, the closer you are to a microphone, the better the amplification through the hearing assistance system will be.
Friends familiar with the hearing assistance system will be available at rise of meeting occasionally to provide help with setting up and using both the FM receivers and cell phones connected to Wi-Fi. Individual help will be available on request. For more information contact Denna Joy, Scott Morrison or Jim Thoroman. If you have special needs or concerns with regards to hearing assistance at Meeting, please contact Care and Counsel.
The Building Committee, requests that Financial Stewardship consider and recommend to the next Meeting for Business on December 19, 2004, a $43,000 increase in the construction budget for the Religious Education Building. This increase will be used to solve two major problems that have been encountered during the early stages of construction. If approved, the overall budget for the expansion and renovation of the RE Building would increase from $590,000 to $633,000.
The first problem is the need to replace the first floor of the Religious Education Building. When holes were dug to tie the foundation of the addition to the existing building, the builders discovered that our existing floor consists of only one inch of a mortar-like material over one inch of gravel. (Apparently they were cutting corners in 1937). This floor should be removed and replaced with four inches of gravel and four inches of concrete. The cost for removal and replacement is approximately $30,000. Labor costs are high for this change order because it is not feasible to bring large power equipment into the building to dig up the old floor. A new floor will solve many of the moisture problems we have experienced over the years–a problem we would have had to address with or without this renovation.
The second problem concerns the elevation of the outdoor meditation area and the need to prevent flooding in the stairwell of the new side door of the multipurpose room. The builder and architect tell us the elevation of the meditation patio needs to be raised by ten inches to ensure that water drains away from the building. An additional step will have to be added to the stairwell. A new retaining wall will be constructed along with a concrete swale to drain water out to Kensington Avenue. In addition, the existing ramp for persons with disabilities will receive a new foundation. The total cost of these changes totals $13,000. (Note: we do wonder why these elevation and drainage issues were not identified prior to construction. We will address this with the architect in our next meeting.)
When we began the construction phase of this project, we had a contingency fund of $30,000 to pay for unexpected expenses. As one can see, the two problems discussed above clearly exceed this amount. In addition, there are other expenses we have incurred or expect that will be paid from the contingency fund. For example, we had to employ an independent, engineering firm to test the steel and concrete at critical stages of construction, and we have asbestos in our window glazing, floor tiles, and glue that must be removed by a specialized company. The good news is that there is no asbestos in our ceiling tiles and glue.
There is some urgency in our deciding how best to handle this situation. If we choose not to increase our budget, we will have to delete something from our current design. The only line items the Building Committee could identify were the replacement windows on the second floor of the RE Building, the new insulation for the north wall, and the drywall over that insulation. Cost savings by eliminating these items would be about $22,000. If we choose this path, we need to inform Century Construction this coming week so they will not order the replacement windows for the second floor. The downside of this choice would be our missing the opportunity to achieve new energy savings. If we replace these windows at a later time, the costs will be more, and we would have to move out of the RE Building a second time. We do not recommend this course of action.
It should be noted that the Building Committee is asking for permission to spend an additional $43,000 only if absolutely necessary. The estimates for the proposed work were made on the high side, and thus, we are hopeful that the actual costs will be less. We are looking for some cost savings during construction in the electrical area where we may have more in the budget than actually required. There also may be more money in the budget for furnishings than needed. Another possibility to reduce the amount we have to borrow is to ask Building and Grounds to spend some of our major maintenance funds to pay for part of the new floor.
Below are the construction and contingency budgets and along with the charges to the contingency budget to date plus anticipated charges.
Construction Budget $440,503
Contingency Budget $30,000
Anticipated charges to contingency other than the floor ($30,000) and meditation area drainage problem ($13,000)
Engineering inspections and tests $6,000
Hardware for one-hour fire doors 8,000
Undercut for foundation tie-in 1,500
Asbestos removal (floor tiles, window caulk) 5,000
Total to date $20,000
In summary, if this request is approved, we are authorized to spend up to $43,000 to replace the first floor in the RE Building and make the changes in the meditation area to prevent flooding. This increase will allow us to proceed with our plans to install replacement windows, new insulation, and drywall on the second floor of the RE Building. We will be able to meet the contingencies we have already encountered and still have $10,000 remaining in our contingency fund. The Building Committee recommends the approval of this request in a timely manner to avoid delays in the construction schedule and increased costs.
Submitted to Financial Stewardship on December 12, 2004, on behalf of the Building Committee by Howard Garner, Clerk of the Construction Subcommittee.
