When Will We Break Ground?

Our civil engineer, Dorian Kunch (Divyajnana dasa), is working on the
grading plan and we expect to have that submitted to the City by the
end of December. It then takes the City eight to twelve weeks for them
to process the plan etc. So we expect to have the approved grading
permit in hand we can hold the auspicious "Bhumi Puja" asking Mother
Earth for her by the end of March. With that permission to break
ground. Then to the accompaniment of conch shells and Vedic hymns
we will start the bulldozers

Note: I should mention that Divyajnana prabhu is doing this work
completely for free. He is a senior engineer at a very well respected
civil engineering firm here in San Diego and does the temple work on
top of his demanding full time job and family responsibilities. His
dedication is an inspiration to us all.

We began by interviewing a number of architectural firms in Southern
California to find the best firm to complete the final constructions
drawings. But we found their fees to be too high. I must say that I am
deeply indebted to our board members for coming up with the drawn
following great idea. "Why not have the detailed building plans up
in India? So much software work and bio-tech research is India, why
not architectural work as well? With e-mail and sophisticated design
software available now-a-days, location is no longer a major factor."

With a local San Diego architect to serve as the liaison with the
City and to make sure that the plans done in India are up to local
San Diego standards and codes, it should work out fine. It looks
like we will save well over 50% of the originally estimated cost. I
have checked with the City of Escondido Planning Department and
they are fine with this plan. We have now narrowed the search down
to three well-respected Indian firms (all of whom have built large
temples before). We should have the firm with the winning proposal
hired and at work before the end of the year. So the wheels are
turning, by Krishna’s grace and the good guidance of the members
of our board.

Private home lots:

Our civil engineer, Dorian Kunch (Divyajnana dasa) has completed the
boundary adjustment and we have submitted this to the City Planning
Department. This is a major step towards being able to divide off
the four private home lots from the rest of the site. Now he is working
on the parcel map which will complete this process and allow us
to provide an individual title for each lot. We expect that map to also
be submitted by the end of the year. The boundary adjustment should
take the City six weeks to process and the tentative map should take
them up to eight weeks. So by the end of February we should be able
to provide the individual titles and have the approval on all the
utilities etc.

Fund Raising:

We are developing the plans for a fund raising concert sometime in
the Spring of 2001. Special thanks to Krishna Pria Kalale, Keshav
Prasad, Nandini Rangan, Anantha Damoor, and Haresh Mirchandani
for this. Stay tuned as it promises to be a fun evening for the
whole family

Chaitanya Bhagavat dasa, our devotee sculptor, has finished three
excellent indoor fountains to be used for fund raising. For $121 you
can receive a Ganesh fountain, for $171 a Lord Siva fountain, and
for $251 a beautiful fountain with Bala Gopal. We will be advertising
this offer in various Indian newspapers on the West Coast. Watch our
web site for further details

Finally, we need large pledges to keep the wheels turning and the
project on track. Everyone asks me "When will the temple be
finished?" Frankly, that depends on you. Please consider making a
generous three year pledge, to be completed in annual installments.
Become part of the team bringing this wonderful gift to San Diego
community. Its glories and the role you had to play in seeing
this project come to life will stand for generations.

Your servant, Badrinarayan dasa
858-272-7711 or bnarayan@compuserve.com

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