Property Improvement Project Update (Continued from previous page.)
And note that in preparation for our new “Movie Night” event, we replaced our brown, curbside mailbox with a larger, white model that has “ACO” in large and legible blue letters over black numerals for our street address, and repositioned it for better visibility. This mailbox is a much more visible and professional image as the first impression for visitors who come to the property.
Like many in our area, we were impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This disaster set back our Property Improvement Project by several months and resulted in damages that will require additional expense. Sandy’s strong winds uprooted most of the large evergreens on our front lawn. Removal of downed trees and debris is now almost complete, however, and we thank our dedicated volunteers who are lending a hand with the cleanup. With the help of some “wind pruning” from the storm, we have also removed a huge dead elm tree on the front corner of the property (see photos). While our efforts have been diverted from other necessary PIP work, there seems to be a silver lining to the loss of the trees. The feeling of openness about the property has been enhanced, and we now avoid the risk of developing a landscape design around the now-gone evergreens, which we’ve learned were vulnerable to wind damage.
Sandy also caused a two-week power outage at the College and consequently the flooding of our basement, until a generator could be put in place to run the sump pumps. The plus side of the flooding is that our volunteers have now removed all of the unused and unusable debris that had accumulated down there for decades. We are now able to better observe the three sump pump cavities in the basement floor which are windows into the ground water activity around and under the building, and an obstacle-free basement will make these observations much easier.
With the storm cleanup nearing completion, we have again begun focusing our attention on the drainage project studies. The delay was actually advantageous giving us time to further evaluate, modify and refine our plans that will likely simplify and reduce the cost of the drainage project.
In an experiment to learn more about the sources of ground water that plagues the property, especially during seasons of high precipitation, our volunteer PIP Project Manager, Jim Wittes, installed a sump pump in the bottom of an old, unused shallow well on the property and attached 300 ft. of flexible tubing to the pump in order to discharge the accumulated well water at the lowest part of our property along the highway culvert. We are studying the effect of the empty well on the activity of the three sump pumps in the basement of the building and are getting an idea of how prolific the aquifer is that feeds that old well.
We have recently engaged a local geotechnical engineering company to study the ground water conditions on our property from the backyard forward, with emphasis on the area around the house and driveway. We still must raise an estimated $23,000 for PIP in 2013, as described in our 2012 summer appeal and on our PIP webpage. We have made enormous progress, thanks to your generosity, and to the hard work of our staff and volunteers. We’ve been able to accomplish a great deal while staying on budget. And you know that your contributions continue to ensure the future of our home for orgonomy. We hope you will keep on supporting this very worthy cause. Please send your donation or sign up as a member donor so that we can accomplish what we've set out to do with this project.
Sincerely,
Peter A. Crist, M.D.
President
