Highland Groves Turf and Boxes

The sod continues to roll at Highland Groves; or unroll, to be more accurate. The installation of the grass this week has been around the north lake. Here is a shot with the fountain on, looking at the ramadas.


If you click on the picture to enlarge it and look very closely, you will notice water on the concrete under the ramada. Sigh. It was very windy yesterday when The Mister took this picture, but that just emphasizes the need to install a sensor similar to the one on the big fountain at Lakeview Village that will turn the fountain off when it gets too windy.

In the "It always takes longer and costs more" category, the picture below may seem uninteresting, but actually has a story:



This may look like a backhoe and a hole in the ground, but it is really The Mister sighing in relief. A bit of background is in order.

When we lay out a community, we set up the streets, the house lots, the open spaces, the trees and fences, and certain requirements for different aspects of the community, such as house elevations. Our engineers then design the technical plans, but, frankly, there is no way to put every detail on just one plan. So there are layers and layers of plans; one for the streets, one for lighting, one for landscaping, and so on. Each contractor or sub-contractor gets the plan that he needs, but not the other plans. When it comes time to do the electrical plans, SRP won't allow the developer to design the plan. SRP receives the plan with the roads and the rights of way, and then they design their electrical plan in whatever manner they see fit. To be fair, the individuals responsible for the design and installation are generally amenable to working with the developer; but the system as set up does not lend itself to cooperation. In this case, SRP was unaware of the sidewalk coming through because it isn't in the right of way. No problem, the box just sits on the sidewalk and people can go around; or the sidewalks can be moved to go around the box. The Mister was not happy with this conclusion. You may remember that he is the chief of negotiators, which involves compromise; there are some things (like removal of trees) on which he won't budge. But the aesthetics of this sidewalk issue required intervention, and the picture above is the result.

But wait, there's more.

Since the grass and trees are planted and need to be watered via the electrical controllers (and the residents of Highland Groves know what a long process that has been), while the boxes are being moved, electricity must be available. Hence the presence of a generator to run said controllers.

But wait, there's more.

Theft on construction sites is nothing new, and sadly, the builders factor that into their costs. Even more somber is the thought that those costs get passed on to the homeowners in the form of higher prices on the house. Copper is the main prize, along with the programmable thermostats. But a generator, sitting on a trailer, ripe for the picking; that would be a fabulous haul! It's costing us $7,000 to rent it for a few days; its loss would not only mean a loss of money, but damage to the grass and trees. So the need for a security person seemed obvious.

Sure enough, two nights ago, in the middle of the night, a semi-tractor with no trailer approached the generator with its lights off. When our 24-hour security guard flashed his spotlight at the vehicle, the trucker escaped without the opportunity to get the license plates. But the generator - and the grass and the trees - were saved for another day.

Hopefully, the work will be completed tomorrow.