50 of you generously pledged to donate to the construction project about a year and a half ago! A lot has changed since. Here are our thoughts.
Our team gathered quotes from contractors over the last 6 months, and carefully refined our understanding of the true costs. In 2022 the plan was to pay for the project with club funds and pledges. In 2023 we applied for, and were awarded a Community Project Grant (CPG) through King County Parks. That was a huge help, but then costs soared. Finally, the project was saved by our amazing King County Park partners, who found other ways to pay for excavation, electrical work, and the ADA path.
It is very close. AT THIS TIME we don’t believe we need the pledges to complete the project. As long as we don't have any surprises, our bank balance at completion will be somewhat below levels that we used to be comfortable with. It will take a year or two to recover so that we have more than a year’s worth of expenses in the bank.
We WILL ask for your pledge or some percentage of it if unforeseen costs occur. Everyone is familiar with construction costing more than the original bids due to unforeseen issues. We have a 10% buffer in our budget to mitigate that risk, and we will monitor expenses carefully during construction.
There will be opportunities to VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME to make our new buildings useful and beautiful. Our budget covers materials for things like moving topsoil and re-seeding disturbed areas, painting the exterior, and building work benches and pegboards in the shed for storing and repairing our squadron of training planes. Battery charging shelves will be built under the charging shelter close to the power outlets, and our work benches will move from the old shelter to the new one.
By the way, if you haven’t done so already, please renew your membership! Youth members need to log in and do the annual “check in” process.
Reply HERE if you have any questions.
Happy Landings!
Brian Kelly (BK1) and the Board of Directors