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Stewardship
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Facilities Manager Bert Liverance Imagine a stage play or concert without back-stage personnel to
complete all the various tasks that create the ambiance for a
production. The presence of the back-stage personnel is unknown to
the audience, yet their activities are critical for a successful
performance. Our back stage crew is made up of the Buildings and
Grounds Committee, Facilities Manager Tom Mander, and 33 suppliers
and contractors. All need to be coordinated. Ours is God's stage and includes several buildings. The
chapel, built in 1848, is listed on the National Register which
requires that we consider their guidelines in any activity
involving this part of our building complex. The church was built
in 1925. Three other buildings were built during this period and
then altered in 1950, 1982, and 1992. This complex is served by
seven air handling (HVAC) units made more complicated by the fact
that both hot water and steam systems were required until last
spring, when the steam unit was converted to hot water. This is
only an introduction to buildings for which we have the
stewardship - five buildings built at different times and modified
along the way. We have Tom Mander as our coordinator, Facilities Manager, a
person with experience beyond our requirements. Tom is a product of
the agricultural area of upstate New York. He served in the U.S.
Army from 1961-64 as a Ranger. He has worked in increasingly more
responsible jobs from tool and die work to computer programming of
these machines in managerial capacities up to Plant Engineering
Manager and Facilities Manager with major U.S. companies. Some of
these job changes were made to accommodate family health
conditions. He was also offered an opportunity with the US Mint
because of his quality of work. Tom understands the details of our
buildings, equipment, and the responsibilities of maintaining a
gradually aging property in addition to exploring and implementing
modern systems that will improve performance and reduce operating
costs. Expenses for buildings and groundsreached a peak of $150,064
in 2002 (Tom started with us in May '02). These expenses were
$145,734 in '03 and $146,063 in '04. This was during a time
of major utility cost increases and equipment changes needed to
reduce the impact of utility increases. And the effort goes on!
All of this cost-control effort was achieved by constant
attention to the activities of our major contractors of which we
have three (HVAC, Lawn and Grounds, and Cleaning Service.) During
this time three of these contractors were replaced for lack of
performance. In each case, a bid process complete with performance
standards (a Preventative Maintenance program for HVAC) were the
heart of the performance requirements which determined the choice
and the ongoing performance of each contractor. This effort and the
control of other costs in Buildings and Grounds has required
managerial experience, analysis, planning, and execution.
In addition, Tom performs other duties that would normally be
handled by a sexton, such as, checking outside building appearance,
handling parishioner requests, ordering paper supplies, repairing
minor equipment failures, and checking the condition of buildings.
Tom's early morning arrival (he opens the buildings five days a
week) allows him time to observe the buildings and equipment,
perform minor equipment repairs, check contractor performance (and
request corrective measures when necessary) before the beginning of
each day's act. The play happens seven days a week at the Chapel of the Cross
because it is the most heavily used church in the city. This has
been a policy of this parish for many years and is in keeping for
God's House. Send
items for inclusion in future "Cross Roads." © 2005 The Chapel of the Cross |