Milestone Report

Last week we met with the county to discuss our building project. Overall, the meeting went well and we were introduced to the case-planner that will be handling our plot plan approval process. He was very helpful to us in identifying important milestones (next steps) in the process. Here are the milestones (at least, the ones I know about) that we will have to pass on our way to plot plan submittal and approval:

1. Meeting with Senior Planner
2. Project Kickoff Meeting with architect
3. Reconfiguration of Building Design
4. Topographical Property Site Survey
5. Geotechnical Engineering Study
6. Acquire Precise Grading Plans from adjoining property owners
7. Traffic Study
8. Biology Report
9. Acoustical Study
10. Final Plot Plan Document Set Created
11. Final Plot Plan Submittal To County

While all of the milestones are important, we would like you to specifically pray about number 7. This milestone, if it is required of us, will mean a substantial extra cost. Right now it’s possible that we may be allowed to bypass this milestone, but we will need God’s help and your prayers.

January Financial Update

December was a great month for the Growing In Faith giving but in January, there was a significant decrease. As you know, every month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total January GIF giving was 5581.00. That means we were short by over $6000.00.

January GIF giving $5,581.00
Minimum to “pay bills” $12,000.00
Difference ($6,419.00)

Pray for meeting with the county

This coming Monday we’re meeting downtown with the Riverside planning department regarding the proposed plot plan for our property. Please pray for God to open the way for us to build quickly and with no unnecessary hindrances. Specifically pray that we won’t be required to do a traffic study.

Meeting with the County

As you may know, we are hoping to move forward as quickly as we can in constructing a building on our property. Our next step is to have our plot plan approved by the County of Riverside. Last week we meet with the Riverside County Planning department.

At this meeting we were introduced to the person who will be our case planner and showed them our proposed site plan. The meeting went very well. Our civil engineer got the answers he needs to move ahead with the conceptual site plan.

In a couple weeks we will meet with a senior planner who is in charge of entitlement. Entitlement is the process of having our plot plan approved. To learn more about entitlement, check out this post.

Water line is brought to our property

The water line to our property was laid. We have a 12" line. (Which apparently is a good size, at least that's what they tell us). Both the sewer and the water line have now been brought to our site. These are important steps that help us as we look forward to getting a building.

Financial Report

Every month, as the Growing In Faith giving comes in, an amount is set aside for the monthly mortgage payment, cumulative taxes, project management, association dues, insurance, etc. This amount is approximately $12000.00. The total December GIF giving was 19049.00! That means we had a little over $7000.00 to put toward the entitlement process. (Scroll down to find out more about the entitlement process)

December GIF giving: $19,049.00
Minimum to “pay bills”: $12,000.00
Difference: $7,049.00

Entitlement Process?

The word, “entitlement” means having a right to something. It’s a lot like permission. For us to move forward with constructing a building on our property, we need permission from the County of Riverside.

It’s this permission, or entitlement, that we are currently working on. To proceed, our first step is to have a free, informal meeting with the county planning department.

At this meeting, we will be able to share the specifics about what we are planning to do with our property and learn from the planning department about any issues, concerns, requirements, etc, that we should be attentive to in the overall design. The more we can learn during this meeting, the better prepared we will be to turn in plans that will have smooth sailing through the county process. This means less expense for us, and a shorter time period to get final approval.

We have already requested this meeting and expect to have it within the next few weeks.
Please pray that God will grant us favor with the county officials and that this meeting will be helpful in moving us forward!

Growing in Faith Update Video

This is our Growing in Faith update video we showed during Sunday's service.

Praise Report - Growing in Faith Giving for the Month December

We have a praise report! Giving toward Growing in Faith for the month of the December was $19,000. This is more than the average ($12,000 a month). This extra large amount helps make up for the previous two months in which the Growing in Faith giving was below the needed amount (only $7500). So all in all, we ended the year where we needed to be! Thanks to all who are giving to Growing in Faith.

Growing in Faith Update

We want to let you know that we are taking a fresh look at the possibility of constructing a building on our property. Here’s why:

Because of the increased value of our property, and the possibility that we could construct a smaller, starter building, we believe it may be possible to build on our property sooner than we imagined. We are busy working with the county to get more details.

We’re still gathering information, but we want to let you know so you can be praying with us.
We also want to give you a big thanks for supporting Growing in Faith. It’s your monthly Growing in Faith giving that has brought us to this point and it’s your giving that will help us move forward.