Rez.Church/RCS Updates
To the RCS School Board of Directors,
I’m reaching out because of your recent communication with the RCS community. I appreciate the opportunity to respond and provide clarity on several matters raised. Please know that Rez.Church is not your adversary. We remain committed to the flourishing of RCS and to maintaining a relationship founded on mutual respect, truth, and honoring our agreements. That said, we do expect RCS to meet its financial obligations and uphold its commitments as outlined in our shared agreements.
There is a deep and significant 25+ year history between Rez and RCS. I have spent the past four years carefully researching and navigating this history. While much could be said, I’ll focus specifically on several statements made in your most recent email to your community.
Regarding the Demand for Compliance Notices:
You stated, “REZ Church posted these notices on three separate entrances to our various school buildings. These notices were not delivered in good faith and only discovered by a school employee after summer school and business hours.”
What was omitted is that Rez.Church made good-faith efforts to avoid disruption to the school calendar by deferring essential renovations to our building until after the academic year ended. In accordance with the 99-year lease, Rez.Church notified RCS of its intent to access our second floor using the elevator housed within the Elementary School building—which is owned by Rez.Church and included in the lease agreement. Unfortunately, RCS denied access, disabled electronic key entry for Rez personnel, cut power to the elevator, and changed the physical lock to the electrical panel controlling it. These actions severely hindered our ability to complete needed renovations. (Click the link below and scroll to see correspondence.)
Rez/RCS July 30 2012 Lease item #16. “Inspection of and Right of Entry to Leased Premises. Landlord and Landlord's agents, employees and independent contractors may, after reasonable prior notice (or without notice in the case of an emergency), enter the Leased Premises during regular business hours to examine the Leased Premises or to make such repairs, alterations, improvements or additions as Landlord deems necessary. Landlord shall use reasonable efforts to ensure that scheduled maintenance which would unreasonably interfere with Tenant's use or occupancy of the Leased Premises occurs outside of normal business hours”
As a result—and in accordance with Colorado law—Rez.Church issued a formal Demand for Compliance to protect its legal rights. Additionally, we reached out directly to inform you of this action and to reiterate our desire for RCS to abide by the terms of the lease.
Regarding Mediation and Communication Efforts:
You wrote, “RCS formally submitted to mediation after its multiple requests (over the past seven months) to meet directly with the REZ leadership were stonewalled or conditioned in ways that delayed a face-to-face meeting.”
Rez.Church fully supports mediation, which both parties agreed to in the October 25, 2024 Settlement Agreement. After the agreement was signed, your board requested a meeting. At the time, our leadership was focused on transitioning under the new terms and navigating the holiday season. Within 30 days, RCS had already defaulted on a payment due under the agreement.
In the spring of this year, you requested a meeting with the Rez Board of Trustees. We agreed to have me and two Rez Trustee members meet with representatives of your board. RCS responded that the meeting must be a full board-to-board gathering. Rez agreed. You provided dates that did not align with our full board’s availability. When Rez proposed a date that worked for us, RCS responded that your full board could not attend. We said we’d like to wait until all board members were available per your original request. Unfortunately, no further dates were proposed before RCS chose to pursue mediation.
Regarding Common Area Expenses:
You stated, “At the heart of the church’s claims is a demand that RCS pay for our students’ usage of a public corridor that the school has been using previously without dispute for 20 years.”
However, this corridor is part of the shared common areas covered under our lease and Settlement Term Sheet signed April 15, 2024, in which RCS expressly agreed to pay its proportional share of common area expenses. Our request is simply for RCS to honor this commitment.
Regarding Improvement Requests:
You wrote that, “REZ continues to deny multiple improvement requests, even when RCS fully funds these projects.”
Allow me to clarify the status of these requests:
Turf installation on the west playground: Rez Church has concerns about artificial turf and its potential health, environmental, and aesthetic impact. We do not support turf installation on church-owned property. However, we are arranging for the west lawn area to be resodded during summer break to address your usability concerns.
Permanent wiring for athletic field lighting: This project was approved by me in 2022 and reaffirmed in 2023 with your Facilities Director, Jenny Bigham. The delay appears to be internal to RCS, as the approval from Rez Church has long been in place.
Construction of enclosed batting cages: As part of the 2024 Settlement Agreement, RCS was required to relocate its batting cages, which has since occurred. While RCS has requested to construct a permanent building, Rez.Church has not denied the request, but it has not yet been approved. It is standard and reasonable for a property owner to carefully evaluate any tenant’s request to construct a permanent structure on their land.
In Closing:
You concluded your letter by stating, “We remain committed to peace, reconciliation, and the continued flourishing of RCS.” Rez.Church wholeheartedly agrees. Once again, we affirm: we are not your enemy. We simply request and expect that RCS speak the truth, and commit to and honor our shared agreements.
Sincerely,
Mike Olson
Associate Lead Pastor
Rez.Church
P.S. For the sake of transparency, you can find the full copy of your recent communication to the RCS Community here.
2024 Settlement Update
On April 15th 2024, during a settlement conference ordered by Judge Dean, RCS and Rez.Church reached and signed a binding settlement agreement.
The parties agreed to modify the 2012 lease to include the athletic fields. The parties also agreed that RCS would vacate the preschool next summer and that RCS has no rights to the west parking lots and only limited rights to the north parking lots while RCS is occupying the preschool spaces.
The goal of the binding settlement agreement is to now establish three fully executed leases with specific terms which reflect the terms of the April 15 settlement agreement. While we remain optimistic, no resulting leases have been signed and negotiations are still in progress.
An overview of the three leases include:
1. A one-year lease for RCS Preschool, after which the Preschool will relocate to an offsite location. Preschool parents will continue to have access to the north pickup/drop off lane and the north parking lots while RCS Preschool is in session. Rez.Church will begin facility improvements for the launch of its Early Childhood Academy. More on that exciting development soon!
2. A two-year lease for the north bus lot and wood shop after which RCS will park their buses and operate their wood shop classes elsewhere.
3. A modified version of the 2012 lease for the remainder of RCS's time on Rez.Church property.
Once a particular lease expires or is terminated, RCS will no longer occupy or have any rights to any part of Rez.Church property included in that particular lease. Once all three leases expire or are terminated, all land and buildings previously under RCS control return to the possession of Rez.Church. This includes any upgrades, buildings or any other improvements made by RCS on the property.
One item we have agreed upon is how the two organizations will share the Athletic Fields. While RCS will have priority on school days and weekend days when games take place, Rez.Church will get priority on all other weekends, all days during summer break, non-school days and other days agreed to by the parties.
Any potential upgrades or improvements to the athletic fields must be approved in writing by Rez.Church before any work is to be done. At this point, no future improvements or upgrades to the athletic fields have been approved by the church.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we continue to address these matters with the best interests of Rez.Church and our constituents in mind.
We will continue to update you with information as it becomes relevant. Please find the April 15 settlement term sheet attached.
As for the attached settlement agreement, please keep in mind the hand written notes and other markings and edits included in the binding settlement agreement all occurred on April 15th as the negotiations went well into the evening. The resulting leases will be much cleaner and more presentable. Thanks for understanding!
Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan