Prepare the Site

So the pile of dead branches was interfering with our layout string. So we (Eli, Jesus, and I) spent the day collecting and burning tree branches. Had to be done sooner or later. I also had to decide whether I was the owner, sitting by and watching, or a cooperating worker, wearing gloves and dragging branches. This just delayed our plans for layout by one day. The burning permit was easy to get. The firehouse is but a ten minute walk from here. I did bring a long hose over in case of problems, and extinguished the remaining coals before quitting for the day.

I have applied for electrical connection - critical to power the builder’s tools - and spoken with the power engineer, who made a site visit last Friday. I have applied for water and sewer connections, too. This latter required my notarized signature as well as that of the plumber. I still need to pay for connection fees and purchase water rights, but this is easily done through the town offices, which are a ten minute walk from here.

The soil turns out to be better than I had feared. When I walked the lot (before it was covered with snow) I saw mostly rocks. And when Eli and I used a shovel to see if the ground was frozen last week, he couldn’t dig because of all the rocks. But when Eli started digging up stumps with the backhoe, the top two feet or so appears to be rich, dark soil. The rocks come from the fill that was used to make the parking pad - and will be used again to stabilize the soil under the foundations. That topsoil will be scraped off and stored to the side during construction. I'll still want to remove the rocks before that topsoil is redistributed and used for planting.