Monday was quite a day.
Pam and I had taken the day off so we could apply for our driveway permit. This required us to stop in Fairplay at the Park County offices. After that it was back to the lot to continue our driveway clearing work. That was the plan, anyway. The day kinda went like this:
(Stopped in Fairplay, looking at address on form. County employee comes past us.) “Sir, can you tell me where the Planing Office is?”
“Big red building on the south side of 285.”
(Find the building by driving around and spotting a red roof. Go into the office. Sign in. No one at desk.)
Man comes out of the back of the office, looks at me. “Driveway permit.” said I. “I’ll try to find Rebecca” says he. A few minutes later, no Rebecca. “Follow me,” says he. “I’ll get you started.”
Turns out this guy, named John, is a county planner. One does not normally meet with county planners, but he took pity on us. I handed him all the papers. (We had downloaded and filled out the application form at home.) John looked though them, added a couple comments, stamped them with an “Approved” stamp, and we were 1/2 done. Next we had to go upstairs to the Environmental Health Office and speak to Sarah.
Before I get to that encounter, John had some interesting information about our lot. Looking at a topographical map he determined the lowest part of our lot is at about 9,680 feet, and the high part is at about 9, 860 feet. The map lines represent 20 foot changes, so the numbers could be slightly higher or lower, but are close enough for us. We also found the back lot line follows a north-south alignment, which means the spot where we want to put a cabin faces more south than west. These elevation figures are a bit higher than we expected, and help explain why we have to stop and catch our breath frequently.
After thanking John for his time, we headed upstairs to see Sarah.
“Can I help you?” “We need a driveway permit. John sent us.” (Handed Sarah the paperwork. She starts checking everything. We sit down at a near by table to wait. Papers rustle.) “Well, I can schedule the initial inspection for tomorrow. Do you have the address posted on the lot yet? (We had read about this in the paperwork, need information.) “We plan to get that done today. Where can we get the sign as specified in the paperwork?” “Northwest Fire, south of town on 285, will make it while you wait for $10.00. I just need to verify the physical address you gave me.” Pam, aside to me: “If it isn’t 179 Sanderling Court we are screwed, as that is the address on all the paperwork, including the warranty deed.” Back to table. Guy with a Park County shirt comes out of the back office. His name is Bob, and he will be doing the initial inspection of our driveway. We strike up a conversation.
Long story short, Bob will take a look at our proposed driveway, make recommendations as to culverts and their placement, determine the grades do not exceed County standards, and issue the actual permit. We had a lively time talking about culverts, swales, set backs, and other items of interest, complete with hand-drawn diagrams on the back of sheets of paper. Bob looked at our plat map and we pointed out some of the features we were concerned with, such as saving a large pine and large spruce tree that are in the vicinity of the proposed drive. The conversation was very informative, and we left thinking there is hope the County will work with us during the permitting process. Sarah has verified the address. We gave her a check for $50.00. The paperwork is all in order. Bob can proceed with his inspection on the morrow.
We still had to get the address sign. After thanking both Sarah and Bob, off we went to Northwest Fire. A rather large and bald gentleman greeted us: “What can I do for your?” “Address sign.” we reply. “3 digits or 4?” “3.” “I’ll fix you right up!” Out comes the green sign board, a template, and a box of white numbers. $10.00 later we had our sign and some information on local fire districts. “Here’s your sign!” (Not kidding.)
I had not planned to put up an address sign today so had not brought over any screws to mount a sign to our 4×4 treated post. Off to TrueValue to get a couple screws suitable for this task. (I did have a screwdriver with me.)
By now it is after 1:30 PM. With our in-town work done we headed for the lot.
First order of business: Lunch. We had brought our sandwiches from home, so we sat in the car and ate quickly. Second order: Put up post and address sign. I began digging the post hole. Pam started to load brush on the trailer. I finished the hole, mounted the sign to the post, then set the post in place using QuickCrete I mixed up in a bucket.
Just about the time I finished Pam had the load of brush ready to go. I tied it down with straps and headed for the burn pit. Pam stayed behind to drag the rest of the tree tops down to the road.
It took me about 45 minutes to drive to the pit, unload the brush, then get back to the lot. While there is still more brush to haul, it was getting late in the afternoon. We decided to forego hauling the last of the brush and instead began loading the trees I had cut on Saturday into the trailer. (As before, we would take these home and cut them into firewood for Kathy Hall.) This left us enough time to walk up to the saddle where the cabin will sit, enjoy the view, and talk about how quickly the driveway inspection was scheduled. We really would like to be able to get started on construction so we could drive onto the lot. This dragging and hauling for up to 190 feet is old news, and we need to shorten the route to be able to continue removing dead and downed wood as well as clearing the upper end of the driveway. I have a plan.
The next time over we will bring the ATV. I will use it to tow the trailer up the cleared driveway path to the area we are working, then tow the trailer back down to the road, unload, then go back for another load. If we ‘stage’ enough stuff, we can take the ATV every-other trip. The non-ATV trips will see us hauling to the burn pit and bringing home firewood. There can’t be many trips left this year; fresh new snow has fallen above timberline!
Why not use the tractor instead of the ATV, you might ask? I worked on the tractor brakes on Sunday, beginning with the right side. Once I had cleaned out the considerable grease and dirt and removed the old brake shoes I found some broken bolts and a broken rod. Repair parts will have to be ordered. I need to pull the left side to see if it need additional parts, and I won’t have a chance to do that for a week or better. The ATV gets the towing job.
It was an interesting day, and rewarding as well. While we did not get all the brush hauled, we did get our address sign up and our driveway permit started. We met with some of the locals, picked up some handy information, and feel more confident about moving ahead with access onto the lot. It was a good day!
No post is complete without a few photos, so here are a couple from this outing:
Jerry digging hole for address post
Pam surveying the cabin location
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
