March 6, 2012 News

[Trinity Eco Prayer Park]

Trinity Eco Prayer Park Update
March 6, 2012


PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVES CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT

The Rapid City Planning Commission approved the Conditional Use Permit
for Trinity Eco Prayer Park on February 9. A couple stipulations that
the commission included in granting the permit were removing any
unused driveway approaches on to the property and the need to obtain
from the city a temporary use permit prior to using a tent in the park
for special events.

The Planning Commission received a letter of support for the park
project from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Black Hills, whose office
is located at 425 Kansas City across the street from Trinity Lutheran
Church. Executive Director Mary Victor said the park would be a great
space for Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers to meet with the
children they will mentor. She also stated that it would a peaceful
place for downtown workers to spend their lunch hour.

The Conditional Use Permit was an unforeseen step in the design
process, which required an unbudgeted additional expense of $3,500
more than the initial cost estimate of the park project.


NATIONAL GUARD PASSES ON PARK PROJECT

Trinity Lutheran Church Endowment Foundation received word on February
16 that the South Dakota National Guard would not be able to assist
with the construction of the Trinity Eco Prayer Park.

The Foundation had submitted a proposal to the South Dakota National
Guard to include Trinity Eco Prayer Park on its 2012 building project
schedule. Through its Individual Readiness Training (IRT) program the
Guard has helped with developing other parks in Rapid City.

The letter from Col. John Holter, Director of Operations, stated, “we
are unable to staff your request due to current training and
deployment schedules.”

The 842nd Engineering Company based out of Belle Fourche, which
specializes in the horizontal engineering that would be needed for
Phase One park construction, is currently deployed in Afghanistan.

Budget cuts and previous project commitments prevented other South
Dakota Guard units that normally come to the Black Hills in June for
the annual Golden Coyote training exercises from taking on the park
project.

The proposal requested Guard assistance with Phase One preparation of
subsurface drainfields and canals, surface grading, and hauling
boulders, rock, soil, fill, and compost. Additional Phase Two
involvement included construction of a pergola and installation of
solar security lighting and solar collection and storage facilities.

If that Guard had agreed to do the project, it would have covered
$20,000 to $50,000 of the building costs depending on how much of the
Phase One and Two work they would have done. FourFront Design
estimates the complete cost of the building the park to be $307,000.

MORE INFO?

Thanks for your interest. Contact Ken Steinken with any questions or
ideas you have about Trinity Eco Prayer Park or if you’d like to have
a group that would like to hear a presentation about the park. You can
also contact us by replying to this email or calling 605-342-9302.

READ BACK ISSUES

You can go to http://groups.google.com/group/trinityecoprayerpark-update
if you want to read past updates that you may have missed before
joining the group.