Update 9.22.09

We're IN!!

Tomorrow marks the first day we have occupancy in our new building on 601 E. Franklin Street! Too many thanks to hand out, but we so appreciate the efforts of the Building Dept. of Monterey, both Butch Maloney & John Kuehl, and the Fire Marshall, David Reade, who took time off his vacation to see this process through!

Tomorrow we will have orientation to the new building. Parents, stay tuned to your emails for details!

Praises to our Heavenly Father!

Update 9.19.09

We are almost there! We made a strong "push" this week to move-in. Right now, we are simply waiting for the Fire Inspection to take place right after we install all the fire-related system for the building. We are scheduled to have all the system installed by Tuesday afternoon. The walls are up, taped, textured and painted! Doors are installed and locks will be rekeyed on Monday. Only the exterior paint will be delayed at this point. Stay tuned as we hope and pray that we will be able to move in within the week!

Update 9.08.09

I would like to update you on the progress of our new campus:

1. Framing inspection has been completed and the walls are being finished.
2. Exterior doors are to arrive today and windows have been installed, which will allow us to finish the exterior of the building.
3. Vents for each room will be installed within the week.
4. Tentatively, we are expecting to move-in on the 21^st of September. However, it is possible that we may move-in before that date. We will keep you posted.

Update on our Use Permit:

1. On August 11^th, the Planning Commission granted CCHS a use permit that was valid thru Dec. 19^th to allow us to go through the formal process of submitting an application to the ALUC (Air Land Use Commission) for their recommendation in an advisory capacity.
2. On August 24^th, my understanding of the ALUC’s decision was to find that the city of Monterey was not in compliance with their City Land Use Plan (CLUP) of 1987 – even though a new one has been adopted. Furthermore, the county attorney filed a claim that the ALUC’s role has jurisdiction over this decision vs. an advisory role. (The reason I say that this is “my understanding” is that we are still awaiting the official letter from the ALUC to the city because it had not been submitted as of Friday, Sept. 4^th.)
1. After speaking with both an ALUC staff member and a staff member on the city’s Planning Committee, it is clear that the issue is not about CCHS but involves city politics. Both staff members apologized to me, personally, and assured me that they believed that we would still get a permanent Use Permit.
2. Although we would have preferred to submit to the recommended conditions the ALUC had for CCHS for safety and noise, their decision does not give us this opportunity. Instead, I personally believe that the ALUC’s decision actually works in our favor as they were looking at establishing some sort of restriction on the maximum size of our school that was not based upon our building code, which would limit our growth potential.
3. By next week, we hope to be placed on the Agenda for the October 13^th Planning Commission meeting where they will respond to the ALUC’s decision. The Planning Commission does have the authority to overrule the decision of the ALUC. More details to come as this date is confirmed.

We know that none of this could not be done without the prayerful support of our families and friends. However, we are so grateful to the staff members and team at Shoreline Community Church for their warm hospitality and their accommodating our every need these past several weeks. It has been such a blessing to our students to be in an environment that is both warm and conducive towards learning.

We are almost there! Keep praying & please contact us if you should have any questions.

Planning Commission says "YES!"

Last night was amazing! Yes, the Planning Commission approved our Temporary Use Permit good thru Dec. 19th allowing us to (in the meantime) go through the formal process of working with the ALUC's recommendations before we ask the Planning Commission to make their formal approval of the Use Permit. We were blessed by all the families, friends, and community supporting us in the meeting room! After listening to a very interesting discussion of UFO's and a Dog Hotel, we were able to share our proposal. First of all, the staff in the Planning Dept. shared a wonderful presentation with the commission, and the commission was not only very accommodating, but encouraging and fun! Personally, I was blessed by a comment from one of the commissioners who said something like, "I have one final thing I need to share: I am really excited for your school, and I hope that it will be long term for you. I am particularly looking forward to how your presence will change the 'feel' in that area of the city."

What's new? God is amazing.

Update 8.10.09

With two days before school begins, a lot has happened!

Back on Saturday, July 25th, the "Big Move" took place thanks to many volunteers with a cheerful heart and willingness to work up some sweat. The move went very smoothly thanks to trailers, trucks and SUV's. We were basically done by 11 am! Special thanks to Community Outreach team at Shoreline Community Church, Wilson Plumbing, parents and students! It was simply amazing!

We now have all our "stuff" in our building. As many of you know, we will begin our school year at Shoreline Community Church until we complete our construction and finish the permit process.

USE PERMIT

On Tuesday, August 11th at 7pm we will be encouraging everyone to support CCHS at the Monterey Planning Commission meeting at the City Council Chambers in Few Memorial Hall of Records located Pacific & Madison Streets in Monterey. Please pray that we would be able to get a Use Permit that would allow us to complete construction and get the building permit.

On August 24th at 3pm, we will be meeting with the Air Land Use Committee (ALUC) to go over their checklist of items in relationship to the proximity of the airport.

7.24.09 Update

Boy, Blogging is not as easy as it looks! As you can tell, I am more of a "worker bee" than one that sits down & writes down my thoughts!

My apologies for the lack of updates recently. However, I can assure you that we have been working very diligently preparing for next year. With the move and the abbreviated summer, there has been a truckload of things to do! Here's a quick look:

1. Tomorrow, July 25th is the Big Move! We will begin @ 8am at the old site in Pacific Grove and move things to our new site. If you have questions, call me on my cell at 970.401.0454. Those helping out, please make sure to sign-in so that we know you were there to help!

Point Persons:

Old Site: Tim Wong (1002 David Ave, Pacific Grove, CA)

New Site: Jill Hudson (601 E. Franklin St., Monterey, CA)

2. On July 13th, we moved some donated furniture from Santa Cruz that helped furnish our building with improved desks for teachers and other accessories. Thanks to the teachers, students and parents that helped!

3. Planning and Building: Currently, we have been working with the Planning Dept., Building Dept., the Air Land Use Committee (ALUC), and the City Attorney to interpret the guidelines of a procedure to issue a Use Permit for the property. The City Attorney has been very helpful, and we are hopeful that we will be able to move forward with construction soon. Please continue to pray for clarity between the various government agencies as they consider our situation and timing. 

Update 7.02.09

This was a busy week!

First, thanks to all of you (about 30 students, parents, alumni, and friends) who helped make Saturday's move on June 27th quick & fun! 

We were able to consolidate all our "stuff" from the 1st wing (Main Office, Room 1 thru 4) into the MPR and Rooms 5 & 6 in a little more than 3 hours! It was incredible! 

This week we continued to get things prepped for construction and prepare for next year. 

Please continue to pray for the user permit process. The city's planning department met today and nothing out of the ordinary came up, except that we needed a recommendation from the Airport Land Use Commission for the project. Surprisingly, their next meeting is not until late August, but we are working with officials to see what can be done to get approval earlier. Please continue to pray that God's hand would be in every area of this process so that we can start school on time on August 10th! (Are some of you praying for a longer summer?!!)

Again, our next scheduled BIG MOVE is July 25th at 8am. However, we still need some help to move furniture from offices donating supplies on Monday, July 13th. Please let me know at twong@calvaryhs.com if you are available to help on the 13th. 

Thank you!