Wayne’s World of Blog

Thanks for your interest in the new Faith Community Church Ministry Center. My intention is to use this blog to keep you informed during construction and also create a journal of the process.  Since I just launched the blog today, Thursday, February 21, 2008, I need to catch you up on what has already been done.

On Monday, February 4, 2008 heavy equipment started moving onto the property currently known as “the future home of Faith Community Church”.  The first task to complete was to survey the property to establish the perimeter of the construction site.  Once the lines were shot and the the stakes driven into place, a  large Caterpillar starting clearing trees along those lines.  This would enable a silt fence (protects the environment surrounding the construction zone) to be installed.  Once the silt fence was installed the real work of clearing the property began. 

On Wednesday, February 13, at about 8am, a large yellow machine that I will call “The Tree Monster” began gobbling up trees row by row.  By 2pm that afternoon every tree within the bounds of the construction site had been cut down and stacked in piles.  On Thursday, February 14, another large piece of machinery known as a “Root Raker” began raking the roots  and stumps right out of the ground.  At the same time the loggers showed up and began hauling truck loads of pine trees off of the property and to the pulp mill.  By Tuesday, February 19, most of the roots had been raked and the bulldozers  moved in to start leveling the ground.  It was also at this time that the loggers thinned out our remaining trees making room for the ones left behind to grow larger making them more valuable in the future.

On Thursday, February 21, they began digging the lake and preparing the pad where the building will eventually be built.  They also moved in a mulching machine that rents for $5,000 per day.  It turned the stumps and other tree debris into finely chipped mulch that will be worked back into the soil.  This method of handling the stumps was used as opposed to burning them due in large part to the prevailing winds from the south which prohibit a “burn permit” from being issued.  It is also a more natural and enironmentally friendly way to dispose of the material.

That brings us up to date for now. The next several days will be spent digging the lake and preparing the building pad.  Stay tuned for an update next week.