Dear Deacons and Elders,
At our annual joint meeting of deacons and elders on April 9, 2007, we encouraged the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) to move forward in the work to which they had been assigned by the church officers in regard to our church facilities. Since that meeting, the LRPC has met with our architect and designed a 3 phase plan for our church facilities.
Phase 1 is to rearrange and remodel our current facilities in a way that will move all the children to the Church Street side of the building. The youth and adult education classes will be moved upstairs which means we need to install an elevator to make the upstairs accessible.
Phase 2 is to build a picnic pavilion such as the ones at Sardis Lake and install that on our property at an appropriate place yet to be determined.
Phase 3 is to build a 3/4 size gym with a meeting room for the youth attached; to be installed at a location yet to be determined somewhere on our properties between our current facilites and the Whitten House.
The suggested location of the gym and the picnic area will be marked on the blueprints the architect will have available for us in the next few months. The LRPC is working with the architect to get these plans up on the wall by the church offices so the congregation can review them over the Summer. In the early Fall, the LRPC will have a meeting with the congregation and architect to hear suggestions and answer concerns. The LRPC then would like the congregation to approve the plans and begin raising money for the project
At this point in the process, the LRPC thinks we should sell the current Youth House and move the youth into the Whitten House. This will provide money to get started on Phase 1. Therefore, the session has called for a congregational meeting on Sunday, May 27, during the 11:00 A.M. worship service for the purpose of seeking the congregation's approval to sell the Youth House to Nell Foshee's son, Mills Haire, for the price of $60,000.
Eighteen months ago, The Youth House appriased for $62,000. The offer is to buy it for $60,000 as is. Mrs. Foshee, our realtor in this matter, estimates it will cost her son $5,000 to bring the house up to code. Mrs. Foshee has offered to cut her commission from 6% to 3%. Mrs. Billie Lois Marshall, a member of the LRPC, noted Mrs. Foshee's son bought a house near them and fixed it up so that 10 years later it looks better than it looked before they bought. So we think they will make good neighbors for us and the rest of Church Street. If the congregation approves the sale to him at this price, Mills Haire would take possession of the property on June 1, 2007.
The sale of the Youth House would leave us with .6 acres of land to the side and behind that house. We are asking $25,000 for that land but have no offers at the present time.
Please be in prayerful consideration of this proposal and come to the congregational meeting during the 11:00 A.M. service on May 27, 2007, to have your say. In the meantime, if you have questions about this, you may refer them to a member of the LRPC (Kenny Hopper, Moderator, William Cole, Billie Lois Marshall), a member of the session, or to me.
Peace,
Dr. Jon Burnham, Pastor
Batesville Presbyterian Church
May 15, 2007
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