It’s Spring! And things are growing and blooming all around the UCG campus.

Thanks to Erick Smith and more than a dozen volunteers, we tamed some of the vegetation in the East Parking lot and the area north of the Sanctuary on the work day at the end of March. We learned our lesson from last year and brought the large trailer to avoid making repeated trips to clear away all the cuttings.

Some of the palm trees on 5th Avenue adjacent to the parking lot and the Sanctuary are dead or dying and need to be removed. Also, a magnolia and slash pine in the same area could benefit from having a rod installed between their twin trunks. Erick will get an estimate for the work as well as trimming some of the trees that interfere with the lighting in the parking lot.

Speaking of lighting in the parking lot, before fall rolls around we are thinking it would be good to put additional light arms on each of the three poles and upgrade the bulbs.  This will better illuminate the area especially considering the Publix employees who use the lot well into the evening after dark.

I met with Chris from Sound Ideas and Holden Martin about the sound quality in the Sanctuary.  Members have noticed there are dead spots in the room. Chris used a machine to measure sound by wavelength. He discovered the range between 4K and 8K was very low, almost nonexistent. That’s right in the sweet spot for speech, and where most people’s hearing deficit is worse. With Holden’s help, he was able to change the output on the sound board to bring that range up to the same level as the rest. Please let us know if you hear a difference.  

Chris also helped brainstorm the issue with our hearing assist system. Wave CAST allows members to use their mobile phones (with earbuds or headphones) to listen to the service. Unfortunately, the signal has been hiding behind the password protect office Wi-Fi. Now that the problem has been identified our technology specialist is working to make it visible on the UCG Guest Wi-Fi. Stay tuned, as once this is remedied we’ll offer a Sunday seminar (or two) to help members download the app and connect to the broadcast.

Stephen Bottomly, Co-Chair, Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee (Board of Business)