Culver Garden Court/Bureaucracy Rant

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It seems that a day doesn’t go by that I don’t get asked about the status of the Culver Garden Court Project.  I’m not sure why I should expect this phase of the project to go any smoother since it took years of promoting the project before finding a generous property owner willing to work with Garden Court for a site.  Now that we have a site and the Town is behind the project and HUD has approved the funding, we have hit another wall of bureaucracy.

It is particularly frustrating when President Obama has been talking about expediting shovel-ready projects for the past two years.  Is this how you expedite a project???

Time line:

July 2010 – Project Funding Announced:  Generally on past projects the funding is determined and announced in the Spring, often in time for us to have an early to mid-summer start.  This year the announcement was delayed until late July.

August 1st– Garden Court, Easterday Construction and B.A. Martin Architects meet to discuss finalizing plans.   Garden Court attorney applies for the 501(c)3 status with the IRS.  (HUD requires that each Garden Court be its own, separate, 501(c)3 non-profit entity.)

August 15 – Plans complete and sent out for bid.

September 1 – Prices in.  Budget met.  Easterday Construction is ready to go!  No 501(c)3 status.  Can’t close on property.

September 15 – HUD would REALLY like to have this project close before their year end of September 30th.  Can they help expedite the 501(c)3 approval with the IRS?  No.

September 30 – HUD year end passes.  No 501(c)3 status.  Project can’t close.

October 31 – Another month passed.  No 501(c)3 status.  Project can’t close.

November 30 – Another month passed.  No 501(c)3 status.  Project can’t close. 

December 10 – We had been nursing hopes of still starting but Winter hits with a vengeance.  Even with a closing, we would not be able to start, but… No 501(c)3 status.  Project can’t close. 

Present – As of this time, nothing has changed.

This project is not funded with “stimulus” money.  This project falls under HUD’s regular budget.  Washington is talking about expediting projects and they can’t even get their regular projects out the door in a timely fashion!  Is it any wonder that stimulus money remains unspent 2+ years after it was budgeted?

There are a lot of good people involved with Garden Court Projects.  The people at the local level are extremely dedicated to making these projects above and beyond the norm and the genuinely care about their elderly clientele.  The Open House for the LaPaz Garden Court we just finished was heartwarming as usual, seeing all of those involved come together in the celebration of a new facility.  The new residents were there to help celebrate and seemed thrilled with their new home.  And it is a home.  Garden Court strives to make it so.

My understanding is that the initial hold up with HUD’s funding was not at the local (Indianapolis) level.  The people at HUD in Indy have been wonderful to work with on the last couple of projects.  They seem to particularly like Garden Court projects and make a point to introducing the Garden Court representatives to their superiors at HUD when we are there for closings.  Our site inspector for LaPaz Garden Court, Vera Atha, was knowledgeable and showed genuine interest in how the final product would serve the elderly residents.  This hasn’t always been the case and it was refreshing!  We were pleased to hear that we will be working with her again on the Culver project.

The hold up with the IRS is puzzling.  As mentioned above, every one of the Garden Court properties is its own 501(c)3 corporation , so this isn’t something new nor is it an unfamiliar entity making the request.  The Garden Court attorney has done this in the past, so there should be no issues with paperwork.  To the best of my knowledge there hasn’t even been a request for additional information.  We are assuming that now that we are into the holidays, it is unlikely that there will be any movement on this until after the first of the year.

To repeat, President Obama wants to expedite shovel-ready projects!  How much more shovel-ready can you get???  To paraphrase the MasterCard Commercials:

  1. Project Funding in place?  Check!
  2. Property under contract?  Check!
  3. Plans complete?  Check!
  4. Municipality requirements met?  Check!
  5. Budget met? Check!
  6. Contractor ready to start?  Check and double CHECK!
  7. One piece of paper from the IRS that is currently holding up the entire project?  PRICELESS!

ECC Employees complete OSHA Training

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OSHA 10-Hour Construction Industry Safety Training Certificate

Will Pearson (certificate above) and Russell Voss completed at OSHA 10-Hour Construction Industry Safety Training Class through Safety Management Group and Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana.  Will serves as the Safety Officer for Easterday Construction Co., Inc.  We appreciate his dedication to the position.  Russell stepped up with a desire to learn and promote safety in the company as well.  His participation is also appreciated.

The Remnant Trust Open House

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The Remnant Trust

 

The Remnant Trust Book Vault
The Remnant Trust Book Vault

The Remnant Trust in partnership with OrthoWorx held an Open House for their Winona Lake facility on December 3rd, 2010.  (See previous entries on this project here and here.)  Unfortunately I was unable to attend, but Will and Kathy Pearson attended as representatives for Easterday Construction Co., Inc.  The Open House was attended by various members of the Warsaw and Winona Lake Community.  Brian Bex, one of the founding members of The Remnant Trust, was there signing copies of his book Summa Liberte’:  The Unchaining of Ideas.

Exterior view of the Winona Lake Remnant Trust facility

This project began with bidding in the early Spring of 2010 and culminated with this Open House the first week in December of 2010.  Finalizing funding delayed construction until Summer.  While mainly an interior remodel, the project also included some minor maintenance and upgrades to the exterior such as the repair of rotted wood and the addition of security lighting.

The Remnant Trust Open House 2
The Vault Room in the new finished Remnant Trust facility in Winona Lake during the Open House

For this project, we took an existing building owned by Grace College and remodeled it into a storage vault and research facility for preserved documents.  The interior of the building was tongue and groove wood siding that we had to match and blend with new.  The existing open framework was maintained except in the vault room where walls were deepened to accommodate additional insulation and to allow us to make the room less permeable.  All of our joints were either caulked or otherwise sealed.  The new acoustical ceiling tile system was installed with clips to hold the tile in place.  Pressure tests were completed at the end of the vault construction to verify that it was appropriately sealed.  A specialized fire suppression system was installed, designed to extinguish a fire in the early stages without introducing water or other chemicals that could harm the documents stored within.    UV protective film was installed on the windows and sensitive HVAC and alarm systems were installed.  Additional security lighting was installed around the perimeter.

This ends another project that we are proud to have in our portfolio.  Congratulations to The Remnant Trust and Kris Bex, Director of this new facility, for this new addition to their library system.

The Remnant Trust in Winona Lake

The Arrogance of Authority

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A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Texas, and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.” The rancher says, “Okay, but don’t go in that field over there,” as he points out the location.

The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, “Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me.”  Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the rancher.  “See this badge?  This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish… On any land.  No questions asked or answers given.  Have I made myself clear?  Do you understand? “

The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA officer running for his life chased by the rancher’s big Santa Gertrudis bull…

With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems likely that he’ll get gored  before he reaches safety.  The officer is clearly terrified. The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs…                

“Your badge.  Show him your BADGE!”