Good Shepherd Carbon Neutral Initiative

Good Shepherd members,


Thanks to those who have attended/watched our presentations and read our FAQ emails. We continue to take and answer questions about the project through our website and by responding to emails. 


Mission Green (Jim and Liz Fritz) will continue to send emails (as requested by the church council) with FAQs (frequently asked questions) over the next week leading up to the Congregational Vote on June 5th. 


We hope these emails will help answer questions and inform your decision. This proposal is a significant undertaking with lots of interconnected parts.


Here’s FAQ #7: Facts about the French Drain

"What is a French Drain? Is it necessary? Could we do it later? 

How much will it cost the congregation?"

The water drainage issue in the Church's backyard (and the fuel oil barrel) has needed to be addressed for the integrity of the buildings and soils for some time. Both issues (drainage and fuel barrel) are not new. It is the responsibility of the congregation to solve both problems.


The French drain solution and roof downspouts are preventative maintenance, which can help handle the rain events we see more frequently. The Mission Green Initiative is the perfect opportunity for this work, as we will dig the area for the pergola foundation and move the transformer to a new location.

What is a "French Drain?"

  • The proposed French drain is a large pit filled with rocks and covered by a permeable paver courtyard.
  • All of the water from nearly half of the roofs of the offices, education wing, and Fellowship Hall dump into the area south of the education wing.
  • This area is tabletop flat with poor drainage, which often causes "ponding" events where more water exists than can drain away.
  • A French drain would provide a below-ground solution to ponding as it would divert all roof drainage into this underground pit, located away from the foundations.
  • Lindsay Erdman (Good Shepherd member and local engineer) has designed the system similar to other designs he has already done at Luther and Vesterheim.


Is the French drain necessary?

  • Lindsay has significant concerns about the integrity of the building foundations when these ponding events occur. 
  • Another concern is brick spalling. The number one cause of brick spalling is excessive moisture which saturates the brick and then freezes, causing the brick to fail. 


Could we do it later?

  • Creating a French drain should happen before any other structures are placed in that area, as the excavation equipment is too large to function once the pergola is in place.
  • The old fuel oil barrel is located in the middle of the proposed French drain and will be removed simultaneously.


How Much will it cost the congregation?


The cost of excavating the area, installing plastic pipes from the downspouts to the drain, replacing the gutters along the Education wing, and filling the entire area with packed rock is $18,000.


Mission Green will install the permeable pavers.


This cost does not cover any mitigation if leakage is found from the fuel oil barrel, which should be less than $500. However, we don't believe we'll find any as the tank contained fuel oil until being emptied in 2021. If it had been leaking, it would most likely have emptied itself long before then.

Mission Green, LLC is offering a business proposal to eliminate Good Shepherd’s use of natural gas. It is a time-sensitive proposal. 


The congregation’s responsibility will be to either accept the proposal or reject it in its entirety. The Congregational vote will be on June 5th, immediately after worship.

Visit Mission Green Website for more information

 SAVE THE DATE 

 

SUNDAY, JUNE 5, following worship - SPECIAL CONGREGATION MEETING TO VOTE ON CARBON NEUTRAL INITIATIVE


At its April meeting, the Congregation Council voted to bring Mission Green, LLC’s Carbon Neutral Initiative to the congregation for a vote on June 5th.

There will be a Zoom option for voting.


Created by Good Shepherd members Jim and Liz Fritz, the proposal provides a carbon-neutral solution to help the congregation eliminate fossil fuel use and create its own renewable energy.


Information about the Carbon Neutral Initiative for Good Shepherd can be found here:


Jim and Liz welcome in-person conversations and questions as well as email messages: missiongreen@icloud.com


Sincerely,

Jim and Liz Fritz

Mission Green, LLC