Where have we been…

The last month and a half has been filled with a bit of waiting and frustration. Our financing arrangement included an eleventh hour, unexpected, and un-predicted “re-grouping” on the part of the bank that cost us about one month. I guess that we should be happy that our financial institutions are subjecting the housing market to an increased level of scrutiny. All the necessary details are in place and we now await final approval from the City of Minnetonka…

And that's where we are now…waiting again…

The plans were delivered to the city a little more than three weeks ago. We expected approval in 14 days but the Natural Resources folks (who are in charge of the grading, erosion, and silt fencing plan) asked us to “tweak” our plans considerably before allowing the permit to advance to the zoning and plan checking phase. We changed the back yard grading significantly to accommodate the reduced impact that the city desires. The most obvious change has a set of stairs ascending up from the basement walkout into the backyard. This will allow us to move far less dirt as we re-grade the backyard as the project nears completion. This and other changes to the dirt plan will allow us to leave almost all of the “woods” behind the house un-touched. The silt fence will now encompass a much smaller area out back. Along the East side of the property our neighbors have agreed to allow the fence to be placed on their property vastly reducing the amount of vegetation (Trees and bushes) that will be removed (Thanks Steinhausers!).

All things considered the waiting…while frustrating…will probably ensure a sound footing and a better plan.