On February 22, 2007, with County-approved engineering plans in hand, Mission Springs gave Granite Construction the go-ahead to begin repairing the access bridge off Lockhart Gulch Road to Mission Springs at a contracted cost of $150,000.
On Thursday, March 22, while in the process of repairing and rehabilitating the bridge, the engineering firm that Mission Springs had contracted with altered their course of action and recommended that the bridge be closed until further study is done. As a result, the County of Santa Cruz was notified. On Friday, March 23, after additional inspections, Mission Springs received word from the County of Santa Cruz that the bridge will be condemned and closed until further evaluation and analysis of the existing bridge can occur.
Upon receiving this news, Mission Springs took immediate steps to secure the safety of our guests and community residents by creating an alternate route for access and emergency equipment and personnel. As a result, on March 23, we authorized Granite Construction to make repairs and pave the entire secondary access road which begins at Wild Oak Camp off Nelson Road and ends at Frontier Ranch. This road now has a temporary traffic light installed at each end to provide metered, safe passage on the narrow, one-way road. The cost of this road construction was $111,248.
Due to the sudden nature of the decision to close the bridge, Mission Springs was forced to cancel its annual Men’s Conference and three adult retreats scheduled for the first week of the closure because completion of the temporary access road could not be completed in time. The loss of revenue is estimated at $37,355.
Mission Springs immediately engaged a local land-use consultant specializing in county affairs and approvals to work with the local and state authorities to expedite the process of achieving bridge access. Currently, Mission Springs is pursuing the temporary shoring of the existing bridge to regain limited access while a new bridge is constructed off Lockhart Gulch Road. We are currently in the process of determining these costs. Until this matter is fully resolved, Mission Springs will allocate all available resources to this effort. While we don’t expect immediate approval, we remain encouraged by the fact that our County Supervisor, Mark Stone, has given the challenge to the county agencies to resolve this life and safety matter as expeditiously as possible for Mission Springs.
Further increasing the financial burden, we received word from the Scotts Valley Fire District on March 29 that if Mission Springs chooses to continue servicing groups at our facilities, prior to regaining bridge access, it will be required that a three-person fire crew be on-site 24/7 as long as groups are on our grounds. The cost of this service is $3,579 per day and will be the sole responsibility of Mission Springs until bridge access is regained. At this time, we have made the decision to continue operations under these conditions. Now through May 31st alone, we will have guests on our grounds every day resulting in a total operating cost of $238,039 in fire protection.
Click image to enlarge.
Click image to enlarge.
As stated earlier, while the total costs are unknown at this time, we feel it is very important to make our family and friends aware of this crisis facing Mission Springs. While this is certainly not something Mission Springs planned for, nor prepared to pay for, we do know that we serve a great God who promises us that no challenge or obstacle is too big to overcome (Ephesians 3:20-21). We stand confident that through your help and prayers, Mission Springs will overcome this significant challenge facing the operations of this ministry.
We expect to have more information to share with you in the coming days and will clarify the financial needs more specifically. Until then, please pray for this ministry and for wisdom in making decisions to resolve this crisis quickly.
For additional update information, read more here.
© 2004 Mission Springs Christian Camp and Conference Center
Home Page | Search | Site Index | Contact Us
