Bureaucracy..Gotta Love It.

Ross and I headed up to Alliston on Thursday to pick up our drawings and submit them for permits.

Unfortunately, there were a few of our ducks not in order

1. All engineered truss and floor support drawings must be submitted with the application. So we trekked down to Home hardware to have the plans sent to the truss manufacture. (2 weeks wait)

2. HVAC loss calculation must be submitted with the application. We found a heating and mechanical business in Alliston . They don't do the calculations but they directed us to a company that they contract out work to who are located in Beeton...BUT... whose installers at that exact moment were eating lunch at the subway shop down the road. At the subway shop we located them... BUT....they have another company design and calculate heat loss. We travelled to this company on the southside of Alliston. They have a guy they send out the drawings to who does the calculation and design. Three hundred dollars and 2 weeks wait.

SUCCESS!!!

3. You must have your septic system permit submitted at the same time as your building permit. The permit requires test holes and septic design submitted. Four hundred dollars and hopefully 2 weeks wait.

4. NVCA...told you this was going to be an issue. So we hike it up to Tiffen Conservation Centre to request information about any permit required. Of course the contact was out of the office until Monday. NVCA...holds the power whether we will require a letter of approval (200.00) or a permit (500.00) and probably a 2 week wait. Cross your fingers, we will know the extent on Monday morning.

So if everything goes well, we can submit for permits in around two weeks and then hopefully by the end of April have our permits ready to start.

We did get some work done. We removed the upper paneling. Actually, it looks better than before.

The Beginning

After twelve months of zoning changes, Ross and I finally are in possession of our century schoolhouse. Drawings for the addition and renovations of the existing building are now finalized and we are preparing the paperwork for our permits. We hope there aren't any complications but the NVCA (Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority) could be a financial issue. We have dismantled the suspended ceiling ...those who are ecologically minded will be glad to hear the majority of the ceiling will not be heading to the landfill but has been reused in our basement workshop and a friend's basement room. We hope to reuse and preserve as much of the removed material as possible.

Chris and Ross enjoying the first "beer break" after a gruelling hour of work. Actually, it was a dirty job with countless dead flies, a dried up bat stuck to the top of a ceiling tile and some other wee beastie I did not want to

get close enough to identify.

This is Diana. She has joy in her heart....or ....maybe she's just having a seizure.