What did you do today?

[havasu]

Where is the nearest Tractor Supply? I know of one in Beaumont, but that is it.

Went to dinner last night...well, actually a late lunch. We were the only people inside, so we had a conversation with the waitress. She talked about cheap old people who leave only a 5% tip. When we left, she told us she did not charge us for our ice teas or our salad bars, saving us about $16. Our bill was only $13, but we left a $20 tip.

 

[bud16415]

My brother in law and my sister owned a bar for a few years and he ended up hiring a guy to sit and drink beer in his bar all night and watch the bartenders. Wasn’t too hard to find someone for that job and the pay equaled the beer he drank so pretty much drank for free.

After a few weeks he reported back his findings. All the good tippers got quite a few drinks on the house kind of a symbiotic relationship of sorts and number of patrons went up on the nights the owners were not tending bar by a car count in the parking lot but sales went down. Seems some of the good bartenders were making about $100 per hour.

He figured it was better to pay for one guy to drink for free instead of 30.

 

[frodo]

Where is the nearest Tractor Supply? I know of one in Beaumont, but that is it.

Went to dinner last night...well, actually a late lunch. We were the only people inside, so we had a conversation with the waitress. She talked about cheap old people who leave only a 5% tip. When we left, she told us she did not charge us for our ice teas or our salad bars, saving us about $16. Our bill was only $13, but we left a $20 tip.

,we went to a mexican restaurant.

..didnt anyone in there speak english but us
my kind of spot..real mom an pop food.

the waitress was new to her job, you could tell ,
how new was not clear till we gave her a 6 dollar tip.
seems she just came over to the states, ist day on the job.
6 bucks made her freak slap out.
she was jumping up and down squealing and laughing.

 

[Chris]

Where is the nearest Tractor Supply? I know of one in Beaumont, but that is it.

Went to dinner last night...well, actually a late lunch. We were the only people inside, so we had a conversation with the waitress. She talked about cheap old people who leave only a 5% tip. When we left, she told us she did not charge us for our ice teas or our salad bars, saving us about $16. Our bill was only $13, but we left a $20 tip.

They are popping up everywhere, there is one about ten minutes away from me, also one in Norco and Lake Elsinore.

 

[Chris]

Today I got an email back from my city. I am trying to level out a 10,000 SF area of my property that is almost level now but I wanted to permit it. It is a one day job to do properly.

These are the requirements. No wonder nobody wants to build.

$0.00 Completed Plan Check Application
$1,200.00 Grading Plans
$Waiting on quote Hydrology/Hydraulic Reports
$1,400.00 Soils Reports/Geotechnical Reports
$800 Final Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP)
(if the private engineer determines one is required based on the WQMP applicability checklist)
$40.00 Preliminary Title Reports (current – dated within the last 60 days)
$5.00 CD with all submitted plans and reports
(should include a hyperlinked version of the Preliminary Title Report)
$2,878.40 Plan Check Fee/Deposit (see fee schedule)
$951.00 Permit Fee

 

[frodo]

Today I got an email back from my city. I am trying to level out a 10,000 SF area of my property that is almost level now but I wanted to permit it. It is a one day job to do properly.

These are the requirements. No wonder nobody wants to build.

$0.00 Completed Plan Check Application
$1,200.00 Grading Plans
$Waiting on quote Hydrology/Hydraulic Reports
$1,400.00 Soils Reports/Geotechnical Reports
$800 Final Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP)
(if the private engineer determines one is required based on the WQMP applicability checklist)
$40.00 Preliminary Title Reports (current – dated within the last 60 days)
$5.00 CD with all submitted plans and reports
(should include a hyperlinked version of the Preliminary Title Report)
$2,878.40 Plan Check Fee/Deposit (see fee schedule)
$951.00 Permit Fee

damn..glad i live here.

this was the cost to clear and level my land to build.

Hello? Lyn O ? hey man, I need to clear and level couple acres.
and need a circle drive with 2 culvets....what can you do me for?

LYN..You on that property across from Melvin ?

Me..Yeah, wifes, Sil, brother



. Lyn OH OK,,,I know the land

$1500 hundred with road base and 2 culverts

Me. when ?

Lyn ..couple weeks. it is a little to wet

Me. Ok...see ya in a couple weeks. you need me to call and remind you?

Lyn...NA, i'll be there

 

[Chris]

Politics is what holds us up. That and greed and lack of knowledge. My city is a new city so they just copied some other cities paperwork and require everything because they are not sure what to do themselves.

 

[frodo]

Politics is what holds us up. That and greed and lack of knowledge. My city is a new city so they just copied some other cities paperwork and require everything because they are not sure what to do themselves.

LOL...they are sure of one thing, they want your money.

those fees are crazy..even in the city we dont have fees that high.

 

[Chris]

I have been going back and forth with them all day. They have an Ag permit that covers clearing and grubbing but this supposedly falls as a home expansion even though I told them it is for a horse corral. Why do I need a soils report to put horses on land?

 

[nealtw]

Why do I need a soils report to put horses on land?

They want to make sure your land was not used as an industrial dump in the past. It's ok for you and the family but we do worry about the horse.

 

[frodo]

Why do I need a soils report to put horses on land?

They want to make sure your land was not used as an industrial dump in the past. It's ok for you and the family but we do worry about the horse.

cow and pig pastures are ate up with disease.

 

[nealtw]

Up here they would be worried about water run off and how that effects drainage and our farm land on the flats below.
Bunch of farmers here got together and sued a city for millions over mud washing onto their fields and everything tighten up after that.

 

[Chris]

Up here they would be worried about water run off and how that effects drainage and our farm land on the flats below.
Bunch of farmers here got together and sued a city for millions over mud washing onto their fields and everything tighten up after that.

We have the same thing here. I am ok with that. supposedly the soils tech is to see if I can properly build my corral on it and if footing will be required. Because you know, we all put footing on a temp fence.

 

[nealtw]

People have been destroying land for ever only to be discovered years later. How else can you stop that without permits and inspection.

 

[frodo]

People have been destroying land for ever only to be discovered years later. How else can you stop that without permits and inspection.

ok, i'll buy that.

what is the permit charge for ?

you pay a inspection fee. AND property tax's

 

[nealtw]

ok, i'll buy that.

what is the permit charge for ?

you pay a inspection fee. AND property tax's

pay to play:rofl:

 

[nealtw]

ok, i'll buy that.

what is the permit charge for ?

you pay a inspection fee. AND property tax's

After thinking about it, the city doesn't pay for much with land development.
A developer pays for everything it takes to get to get a subdivision or house up and running and that is built into the price at sale. So it would be unfair if charges would be added to your property taxes for the next guy.
If you look at city hall like a business, the cost of permits would be the building, the people working there and everything that goes with that. Inspection fees should pay for the inspectors and the expenses to do with that.

 

[slownsteady]

That sure is a lot of fees, but I can see both sides of that issue. Sure, you want to do what you wish with your land, but some of the things owners have done when no one was looking are horrible. And as Neal said may not show up for decades. We have superfund sites in NJ that go back to the '60s. Problem is, the gov't treats everything like one-size-fits-all.

 

[Chris]

I am 100% with having permits and inspections. It's everything else that kills it. My engineer should be enough with a plan, I should not have to have two other engineers along with him just for a horse pasture. Really a group of engineers costing me five grand to decide if a horse can stand on dirt.

I got another email back from city hall stating I have not paid my "stephans kangaroo rat fee" yet and that would be another 250 bucks. I don't even know what that is.

All in all it will cost me about 8 grand in engineering and permits to do a 500 dollar job. That is the part I can't wrap my head around.

 

[Chris]

Other than that today I cleaned out my garage and put up some steel shelving for junk storage. BBQ a tri tip and now having a Moscow mule sitting by the smug pot.