Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

GREG LOWER

greg@chanute.com

The closing of Chanutes water slide was because of state legislation that stemmed from a fatal accident in Kansas City last year.

Chanute Parks Director Todd Newman told the Parks Advisory Board at its monthly meeting Thursday evening that the local water slide closed Saturday, along with all others more than 15 feet high in the state.

Gov. Sam Brownback signed the Kansas Amusement Ride Act and the Amusement Ride Insurance Act on June 26. The amendments prohibit an amusement park ride operating without a permit issued by the Kansas Department of Labor, which includes water slides at least 15 feet high that use water to propel patrons through the rides.

In August, the 10-year-old son of a Kansas legislator died in an accident at a Kansas City water slide at Schlitterbahn Amusement Park. That slide has since been torn down.

Newman said the KDOL has not hired an inspector to issue permits. The water slide at Chanutes Maring Aquatic Center is about 20 feet high, he said.

Parks board members also discussed the issue of hypodermic needles that had been found in parks, an issue raised at a recent city commission meeting.

Newman said the parks department has dealt with the issue every day for at least two years, and he has talked about it with Police Chief Raymond Hale.

The problem of needles in parks is random around the city and not confined to particular areas, board members said, and it is not unique to Chanute.

Theres a lot of people using needles, Newman said. Its a scary deal.

Board members agreed it is a matter for police. Although they said they did not want to discourage parents from taking children to the park, nor encourage drug abusers to go to parks, they urged people who find needles to contact the police non-emergency number, (620) 431-5768.

Newman also updated the board about restroom renovations at Santa Fe, Highland and Katy parks. The Highland and Santa Fe park renovations were approved at the last city commission meeting, and the projects are estimated at about $15,000 per park.

Newman said he talked to Overland Park landscape architect Vance Rzepka, who visited Chanute, about designing new ballfields. Rzepka will have designs by the end of the month and will submit a bid for approval before officials see the plans.

He also updated board members about plans for the Highland Park playground, which will be about 4,000 square feet. Newman said he hopes to keep the Highland Park playground project under $200,000, and hopes to begin work this year and the ball complex the following year.

Board member and city commissioner Jim Chappell raised his concerns about the Chanute Recreation Commissions use of park areas. Board member Jane Brophy presented draft versions of a park brochure.

See more here:
State legislation closes pool's water slide - Chanute Tribune

People gathered at Devils Pool watch a man jump from the rocks above, to the left. (Photo from public YouTube post)

by Emerson Max

On any given hot summer day, scores of people flock to the infamous Devils Pool in Wissahickon Valley Park. While Devils Pool may provide a respite from the blistering heat and humidity of the city, swimming in the pool is illegal, and this is only to ensure the safety of park visitors.

Devils Pool has long been a landmark in the Northwestern region of Philadelphia, but its popularity as a swimming spot has significantly gone up in recent years. Countless people visit the park every day to hike, walk their dogs, or just to enjoy the beautiful natural landscape the park offers, but many are unaware of the hidden swimming hole that so many illegally frequent.

The main reason for prohibiting swimming in Devils Pool is safety. Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) and Philadelphias Department of Parks and Recreation, who care for the 1,800-acre park, want to encourage visitors to enjoy themselves as long as they are not putting themselves in danger.

Maura McCarthy, executive director of FOW, said that swimming in the pool is extremely unsafe.

There are no lifeguards and it has a rocky stream foundation with loads of buried sediment and debris, she said. That is how a father and son drowned several years ago they became entangled in some immersed debris.

The father and son McCarthy was referring to were Pete Luciano and his 13-year-old son Jordan who drowned in Devils Pool in the Wissahickon Creek. Pete Luciano noticed his son struggling to swim in the creek and jumped in to assist him. Three of Petes other children watched in horror as neither of them surfaced.

Another risk for pool goers is the option to jump from the rocks or the bridge that surround Devils Pool. In 2013, 18-year-old Anthony Cano took a day off from his senior year at Wissahickon High School to visit Devils Pool. Cano decided to be bold and to leap into the water from the bridge that looms more than 50 feet above the pool. Unfortunately, Cano did not land in the right spot, and his bold leap left him almost paralyzed after a month rehabilitating at Einstein Medical Center.

There are much lower areas that people commonly jump from, but this can also prove to be highly dangerous. Water levels at Devils Pool fluctuate, and the pool is often too shallow to safely cushion jumpers falls. There are also jagged rocks and other dangers inside the water, so jumping from any height is an ill-advised decision.

Even casual swimming in Devils Pool can be dangerous.

The water in the Wissahickon Creek is problematic, McCarthy said. It serves as drinking water for the city, but only after it has been treated. In August, when its dry, up to 90 percent of the flow of the Wissahickon can be treated effluent from one of the four upstream treatment plants. At any given time, the water in Devils Pool can be highly polluted and can cause medical complications.

McCarthy also stresses that people should not park on the roads leading up to Devils Pool. This makes it much more difficult for emergency vehicles to get in and out of the park in the event someone needs medical assistance or there is another sort of emergency.

Trash is another major issue for those working to keep Wissahickon Valley Park beautiful and healthy. Ordinarily the park encourages a carry in, carry out policy with trash, but recently there has been a trash crisis at Devils Pool that has even spread to the surrounding areas. The park has been forced to place trash receptacles in this area, which are emptied regularly by a seasonal team of workers who spend about 50 percent of their time dealing with Devils Pool. Were putting a huge amount of effort into the maintenance of the site, McCarthy said, but obviously what we really need is to connect with the users so they are the main participants in maintaining the site.

To reiterate, Friends of the Wissahickon encourages people to visit the park and to enjoy themselves, but they should do so in a way that is safe for themselves and those around them. Swimming in Devils Pool is illegal, although people do it every day, and it is a highly risky and dangerous decision. There are countless public pools in Philadelphia that people can visit instead. A full list of Philly pools can be found at philaparkandrec.tumblr.com.

. Bookmark the

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With temps rising, FOW reminds park users not to swim in Devil's Pool - Chestnut Hill Local

The Dota Majors are "marquee tournament events" that culminate in The International, the big daddy of them all, with a prize pool in excess of $20 million. The series debuted in 2015 with four seasonal events, while the 2016-17 was reduced to three: Boston in December 2016, Kiev in April 2017, and the upcoming International in August. But for the 2017-18 season, Valve announced today, the current Major system is being dropped.

"For the next year we will be taking a more organic approach to growing the competitive ecosystem, working more closely with third-party tournaments. Instead of the previous Major system, we will be selecting many third-party tournaments to directly sponsor," Valve wrote. "Additionally, players competing in these tournaments will earn Qualifying Points which will be the sole factor in determining invites to The International 2018."

Valve-sponsored tournaments will be divided into two tiers, Major and Minors. Majors must have a minimum $500,000 prize pool and will receive an additional $500,000 toward the pool from Valve, while Minors must have a minimum $150,000 prize pool and will be given an additional $150,000. Both Majors and Minors must have at least one qualifier from each primary region (NA, SA, SEA, CN, EU, and CIS), and must have "a LAN finals component to their tournament." Valve will handle scheduling of all tournaments to ensure there are no conflicts.

Roster lock seasons will remain, and players will be allowed to retain their Qualifying Points when switching teams during approved periods. However, "to allow for teams recruiting new entrants to the competitive landscape and to facilitate sometimes necessary roster changes between lock periods," only the top three players on each team will count toward their team's Qualifying Points total.

"To help teams and fans keep track of standings throughout the year, a leaderboard of individual player Qualifying Points and team Qualifying Point Rankings will be available for everyone to follow along with as teams fight their way towards next years International," Valve wrote. "Best of luck to the teams competing in August, and we look forward to the upcoming season once a champion is crowned."

The shift to third-party tournaments is especially interesting in light of our examination of the role the Majors play in the Dota 2 pro scene earlier this year. While they're "mostly a win-win situation," there has been some negative impact on third-party events. These changes will hopefully address at least some of the shortcoming of the Majors system, and lead to a better and more stable circuit for everyone.

This year's International is set to take place on August 12. Get up to speed on everything that's happened so far in our rundown of The road to the International 2017.

Originally posted here:
Valve is eliminating the Dota 2 Majors for the 2017-18 season - PC Gamer

The RIBA Future Trends Workload Index was little changed this month at standing at +23 in May 2017, up marginally from +22 in April.

In terms of geographical analysis, practices in Northern Ireland (balance figure +50), the North of England (+36) and the South of England (+37) were the most optimistic about medium-term workload prospects this month. Continuing the trend of recent months, practices in London (+12) remained by some margin the most cautious about future workloads.

Analysing the May data in terms of practice size, large practices (51+ staff) returned a balance figure of +25. Small practices (1-10 staff), with a balance figure of +23, and medium-sized practices (11-50 staff) also with a balance figure of +23 were just a little less positive, but all size categories of practice on balance anticipate some growth in workloads over the next quarter.

In terms of different work sectors, the private housing sector workload forecast (+22) increased slightly in May 2017, but the commercial sector workload forecast (+7) was down a bit. These continue to be the two most strongly performing of our sector forecasts.

The market for smaller-scale residential projects appears to remain buoyant

The public-sector workload forecast recovered some recently lost ground, rising to -2 but remaining in negative territory. The community sector forecast saw a significant fall, down to zero from +6 in April.

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index dipped a little further this month, falling to +7 in May from +9 in March.

Large practices, with a balance figure of +13, and medium-sized practices, also with a balance figure of +13, both remained quite upbeat about future staffing levels. Small practices continued to be a little less confident, with a balance figure of +6.

Commentary received this month from our participating practices continues to suggest a broadly stable market for architectural services and solid ongoing demand for qualified staff.

Overall the picture is one of relatively steady workloads rather than significant growth. The market for smaller-scale residential projects appears to remain buoyant, but some of our practices are reporting a cooling market in the larger-scale commercial sector.

Adrian Dobson is executive director members at the RIBA and the author of 21 Things You Wont Learn in Architecture School. A full copy of the RIBA Future Trends Survey monthly report is available online.

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RIBA report: Private housing sector leads a steady market - Architects' Journal

27200 SW 127th Ave. in Homestead, Fla.

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. acquired a newly constructed 237,756-square-foot industrial building in Homestead, Fla. SunCap Property Group sold the facility in a $38.3 million deal, while an insurance company provided $24.8 million in acquisition financing, public records show.

Located at 27200 SW 127th Ave. on an approximately 50.4-acre site, the Class A distribution center is net-leased for 15 years to FedEx Ground Packaging System Inc. The property features loading docks, drive-in doors, interior van loading positions and more than 8,000 square feet of office space. According to public records, State Farm Insurance Co. originated the acquisition financing that facilitated the transaction. The mortgage is set to mature in July 2032.

Meridian Design Build broke ground on the facility in September 2015, with Ware Malcomb providing architectural services and Langan completing the civil design work. With this acquisition, Monmouth now owns 13 properties in Florida, totaling 1.9 million square feet of strategically placed assets throughout the state.

The Florida economy consistently ranks as one of the fastest growing state economies in our nation. The many Florida ports, including the Port of Miami, are poised to become the most substantial beneficiaries of the recently expanded Panama Canal, said Michael Landy, president & CEO of Monmouth, in prepared remarks.

Image courtesy of SunCap Property Group

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Monmouth Grabs $38M Miami-Area FedEx Distribution Center - Commercial Property Executive

Looking to the future of space exploration, there really is no question that it will involve a growing human presence in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This will include not only successors to the International Space Station, but most likely commercial habitats and facilities. These will not only allow for ventures like space tourism, but will also facilitate missions that take us back to the Moon, to Mars, and even beyond.

With this purpose in mind, an interdisciplinary team of MIT graduate students designed a space habitat known as the Managed, Reconfigurable, In-space Nodal Assembly (MARINA). This module would serve as an privately-owned space station that would be occupied by two anchor-tenants for a period of ten years; a luxury hotel that would provide orbital accommodations, and NASA.

For their invention, the team won first prize in the graduate division of the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage Design Competition Forum (RASC-AL), a yearlong graduate-level competition hosted by NASA. This challenge involved designing a commercial module for use in low Earth orbit that could also serve as a Mars transit vehicle in the future.

In the future, LEO will become home to commercial modules (like the Bigelow Aerospace B330 expandable module, shown here), will become a reality. Credit: Bigelow Aerospace

Since 2002, RASC-AL competitions have sought to engage university students and advisors for the purpose of coming up with ideas that could enhancing future NASA missions. For this years competition, NASA asked teams to develop human spaceflight concepts that focused on operations in cislunar space i.e. in, around, and beyond the Moon that could also facilitate their proposed Journey to Mars by the 2030s.

Specifically, they were tasked with finding ways to leverage innovations and new technologies to improve humanitys ability to work more effectively in microgravity. With this in mind, the themes for this years competition ranged from from the design of more efficient subsystems to the development of architectures that support NASAs goal of extending humanitys reach into space.

These included new designs for a Lightweight Exercise Suite, Airlock Design, concepts for a Commercially Enabled LEO/Mars Habitable Module, and concepts for a new Logistics Delivery System. As Pat Troutman, the Human Exploration Strategic Analysis lead at NASAs Langley Research Center, said in a NASA press statement:

We are carefully examining what it will take to establish a presence beyond low-Earth orbit, where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems needed for challenging missions to distant destinations, including Mars. The 2017 RASC-AL university teams have developed exciting concepts with supporting engineering analysis that may influence how future deep space infrastructure will look and operate.

Members of the MIT team (from left to right): Caitlin Mueller (faculty advisor), Matthew Moraguez, George Lordos, and Valentina Sumini. Credit: MIT/MARINA team

Led by Matthew Moraguez, a graduate student at MITs Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) and a member of the Strategic Engineering Research Group(SERG), the MIT team focused on the theme of creating a Commercially Enabled LEO Habitat Module. Their concept, which incorporates lessons that have been learned from the ISS, was designed with the needs of both the private and public space sectors in mind.

As George Lordos a graduate fellow in the MIT System Design and Management(SDM) Program, and a team member of both MARINA and SERG explained:

Just like a yacht marina, MARINA can provide all essential services, including safe harbor, reliable power, clean water and air, and efficient logistics and maintenance. This will facilitate design simplicity and savings in construction and operating costs of customer-owned modules. It will also incent customers to lease space inside and outside MARINAs node modules and make MARINA a self-funded entity that is attractive to investors.

To meet their goals for the competition , the team came up with a modular design for MARINA that featured several key innovations. These included extensions to theInternational Docking System Standard (IDSS) interface (used aboard the ISS), modular architecture, and a distribution of subsystem functions throughout these modules. As Moraguez explained, their design will allow for some wide-ranging opportunities.

Modularized service racks connect any point on MARINA to any other point via the extended IDSS interface, he said. This enables companies of all sizes to provide products and services in space to other companies, based on terms determined by the open market. Together these decisions provide scalability, reliability, and efficient technology development benefits to MARINA and NASA.

Another important benefit comes in the form of cost-savings. According to NASA estimates, the recurring cost of MARINA will be about $360 million per year, which represents a significant reduction over the current costs of maintaining and operating the ISS. In total, it would offer NASA a savings of about $3 billion per year, which is approximately 16% of the agencys annual budget.

But what is perhaps most interesting about the MARINA concept is the fact that it could serve as the worlds first space hotel. According to Valentina Suminia, a postdoc at MIT who contributed to the architectural concept, the space hotel will be a luxury Earth-facing eight-room space hotel complete with bar, restaurant, and gym, will make orbital space holidays a reality.

Other commercial features include serviced berths that would be rented out to accommodate customer-owned modules. This goes for the stations interior modularized rack space as well, where smaller companies that provide contract services to on-board occupants would be able to rent out space. Would it be too much to ask that it also has robot butlers?

The RASCAL competition began in August of 2016 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and concluded on June 2nd, 2017. The top overall honors were awarded to the teams from Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland for their space habitat concepts, known as Project Theseus and Ultima Thule, respectively.

Further Reading: MIT, NASA

By Matt Williams - Matt Williams is the Curator of Universe Today's Guide to Space. He is also a freelance writer, a science fiction author and a Taekwon-Do instructor. He lives with his family on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia.

Featured, human space exploration, In-space Nodal Assembly (MARINA), Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Managed, mission to mars, Reconfigurable, Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage (RASC-AL), the moon

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I Wonder if it has Room Service? Here's the Space Hotel that Won a ... - Universe Today

Areas we service by town:

Bergen County:Allendale, Alpine, Bergenfield, Bogota, Carlstadt, Cliffside Park,Closter, Cresskill, Darlington, Demarest, Dumont, East Rutherford, Edgewater, Elmwood Park, Emerson, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fair Lawn, Fairview, Fort Lee, Franklin Lakes, Garfield, Glen Rock, Hackensack, Harrington Park, Hasbrouck Heights, Haworth, Hillsdale, HoHoKus, Leonia, Little Ferry, Lodi, Lyndhurst, Mahwah, Maywood, Midland Park, Montvale, Moonachie, New Milford, North Arlington, Northvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan, Oradell, Palisades Park, Paramus, Park Ridge, Ramsey, Ridgefield, Ridgefield Park, Ridgewood, River Edge, River Vale, Rochelle Park, Rockleigh, Rutherford, Saddle Brook, Saddle River, South Hackensack, Teaneck, Tenafly, Teterboro, Upper Saddle River, Waldwick, Wallington, Twp of Washington, Westwood, Woodcliff Lake, Wood-Ridge, Wyckoff

Passaic County: Allwood, Awosting, Bloomingdale, Clifton, Cozy Lake, Cupsaw Lake, Delawanna, Dundee, Erskine, Erskin Lakes, Gordon Lakes, Great Notch, Green Pond, Greenwood Lake, Haledon, Haskell, Hawthorn, Hewitt, Hillcrest, Jefferson, Lake Swannanoa, Lionshead Lake, Little Falls, Main Avenue Station, Midvale, Mountain View, Newfoundland, North Haledon, Oak Ridge, Packanack Lake, Passaic, Passaic Park, Paterson, Peoples Park, Pine Cliff Lake, Pines Lake, Pompton Falls, Pompton Lakes, Preakness, Prospect Park, Ringwood, Shady Lake, Singac, Skyline Lakes, South Paterson, Totowa, Upper Greenwood Lake, Wanaque, Wayne, West Milford, West Milford Lakes, West Paterson, Woodland Park

Essex County: Belleville, Bloomfield, Brookdale, Caldwell, Cedar Grove, East Orange, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Glen Ridge, Grove, Irvington, Livingston, Maplecrest, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair, Newark, North Caldwell, Nutley, Orange, Overbrook, Roseland, Short Hills, South Orange, Upper Montclair, Verona, West Caldwell, West Orange,

Morris County: Boonton, Brookside, Budd Lake, Butler, Cedar Knolls, Chatham, Chester, Convent Station, Denville, Dover, East Hanover, Fayson Lakes, Flanders, Florham Park, Gillette, Green Village, Greystone Park, Hiberia, HighCrest, Ironia, Kenvil, Kinnelon, Lake Hiawatha, Lake Hopatcong, Lake Intervale, Landing, Ledgewood, Lincoln Park, Lindy Lake, Long Valley, Lower Montville, , Lyonsville, Madison, Mendham, Meriden, Millington, Mine Hill, Montville, Morris Plains, Morristown, Mount Arlington, Mount Freedom, Mount Olive, Mount Tabor, Mountain Lakes, Netcong, New Vernon, Parsippany, Parsippany Troy Hills, Pequannock, Picatinny, Pine Brook, Pompton Jumction, Pompton Plains, Powerville, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway, Rockaway Valley, Roxbury, Schooleys Mountain, Stirling, Succasunna, Tabor, Taylortown, Towaco, Troy Hills, Victory Gardens, Wharton, Whippany

Hudson County:Bayonne,Jersey City:Bergen-Lafayette:Beacon,Bergen Hill,Communipaw,The Junction,Jackson Hill,The Heights:Chelsea,Sparrow Hill,Washington Village,WesternSlope,HistoricDowntown:GroveStreet,HamiltonPark,Harsimus,BoylePlaza,VanVorstPark,TheVillage,WestEnd(historic),HudsonWaterfront: Exchange Place,Harborside Financial Center,Newport,Paulus Hook,Powerhouse Arts District, formerly known as "WALDO",Greenville:Curries Woods,Port Liberte Claremont,Journal Square:Bergen Square,Five Corners,The Hilltop,India Square,The Island,Marion,McGinley Square,West Side:Hackensack Riverfront,Country Village,Croxton,Droyer's Point,Lincoln Park/West Bergen,Riverbend,Society HillHoboken,Union City,West New York, Greenville, Guttenberg,Secaucus,Kearny,Harrison,East Newark,North Bergen,Weehawken

UnionCounty:BerkeleyHeights,Clark,Cranford,Elizabeth,Fanwood,Garwood,Hillside,Kenilworth,Linden,Mountainside,NewProvidence,Plainfield,Rahway,Roselle, Roselle Park,Scotch Plains,Springfield,Summit,Union,Vauxhall,Westfield

Somerset County:Basking Ridge,Bedminster,Belle Mead,Bernardsville,Blawenburg,Bound Brook,Bridgewater,Dunellen,Far Hills,Flagtown,Franklin Park,Gladstone,Hillsborough,Liberty Corner,Lyons,Manville,Martinsville,Neshanic Station,Peapack,Pluckemin,Raritan,Rocky Hill,Skillman,Somerset,Somerville,South Bound Brook,Warren,Watchung,Zarephath

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North Jersey Pro Builders - ADDITION - general contractor ...

Roofing accounts for building surge

This year a rash of spring hailstorms brought on a torrent of insurance claims and resulting surge in roofing activity. It also cause a sharp jump in the value of construction permits issued by the City of Plainview.

Since the first of the year, the city has required construction permits for both commercial and residential roofing projects. Through the end of June, the city has issued 267 roofing permits for a combined value of $3,783,751.08. In June alone, the city issued 121 roofing permits for a combined value of $1,656,610.55.

With the strong support of the roofing industry, Plainviews overall building permit total for June is $3,090,710.55 for 145 projects. The year-to-date total is $5,686,599.99, for 346 projects.

During the same period in 2016, the City of Plainview issued 125 building permits for projects valued at $3,310,749, which does not include any roofing activity. Nonetheless, the 2016 total-to-date falls almost half a million short of what has been permitted in 2017 roofing projects alone.

Other than roofing, the city issued 24 permits for construction in June. Those projects, and corresponding values, include: two residential additions, $3,500; two residential remodels, $2,600; one residential demolition, $10,000; 10 garage/carports, $18,000; one storage building, $20,000; one commercial addition, $640,000; three commercial remodels, $710,000; and four signs, $30,000.

For the year-to-date, building permits have been issued for 14 residential additions, $50,750; 11 residential remodels, $2,600; one residential demolition, $10,000; 20 garage/carports, $31,350; three storage buildings, $25,500; one new commercial, $21,000; three commercial additions, $809,988; eight commercial remodels, $754,600; one commercial demolition, $20,000; three commercial accessory buildings, $23,000; and 14 signs, $128,877.40.

Two certificates of occupancy were issued during June, to Nearly New, 713-715 N. Broadway; and Western Equipment, 910 N. Date.

Non-roofing construction projects in June include:

--Wellborn Sign Co., 1220 S. I-27, sign

--Covenant Hospital MRI expansion, 2601 Dimmitt Rd., commercial addition

--Covenant Hospital MRI expansion, 2601 Dimmitt Rd., commercial remodel

--Bernardo Martinez Jr., 304 SW Alpine, garage/carport

--Guadalupe E. Ybarra, 1107 Quincy, garage/carport

--Jose A. Leon, 1411 Travis, garage/carport

--Jose and Armida Botello, 226 SE 10th, garage/carport

--Randy Ortegon, 1603 Galveston, garage/carport

--Josefina Hernandez, 2609 Denver, residential remodel-porch

--Antonia Ramirez, 1004 Joliet, residential remodel-windows

--Mark James, 219 Bryan, garage/carport

--Precision Metal Works, 600 S. Broadway, storage building

--Fred Constancio, 106 St. Louis, garage/carport

--Dora Pardo, 2505 Lexington, residential addition-laundry

--Bill Wells Chevrolet, 501 S. I-27, three sign permits

--Legacy Farms Corporate Offices, 108 Kirchwood Rd., commercial remodel

--Francisco Herrera, 608 W. 27tyh, garage/carport

--Paul Kammerdiener, 204 Thomas Blvd., residential addition-patio

--Jose G. Salayandia, 1505 Dallas, garage/carport

--College Heights Baptist Church, 813 Portland, residential demolition

--Dos Jefes Restaurant, 4009 Olton Rd., commercial remodel

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Roofing accounts for building surge - Plainview Daily Herald

Imagine you spend about $10,000 for a 3-kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system the size needed for an average family and your neighbor to the east adds a second story to his garage.

The addition is designed for offspring who will perhaps never leave home, but it shades your new solar panels. Its not too bad in summer, but in winter it blocks all but an hour of late morning sun. You would have been better off taking that two-week vacation in Jamaica or Cabo San Lucas.

Dont people need building permits anymore? you complain to your spouse. In fact, in many places across the United States, they dont. But that situation is changing rapidly, as more and more homeowners capitalize on the fact that solar energy, per watt, now costs as little as $3.26.

Costs aside, your 3kW solar PV array, in its first year of operation, provided you with almost enough electricity to run your household (except for your offsprings 4K gaming and HD computer, which runs 24/7). On sunny days in midsummer, it produced enough excess electricity that you sold some back to your utility, in a contract called net metering.

All that went away when the garage addition went up, and now its up to you to find a way to recoup some of your stranded costs. You have a lawyer, of course, but he seems as stymied as you are. His best advice for you so far i.e., $500 in is that you should have checked with your local or statewide building department In fact, these two sources are your only legal recourse, since no federal common-law legal right to unobstructed light from adjoining land exists.

There are several avenues potential solar energy buyers can investigate. In California, where the sun shines almost all the time, there are zoning rules that require new buildings, building additions even newly planted tall trees, to be situated and oriented in very specific ways so as to protect solar access for adjacent properties.

These solar easements can only be used to benefit solar electricity or hot water installations. Other provisions of the California law require a written description of the size of the easement, the type of solar array, restrictions placed upon structures or vegetation which might block sunlight, and the terms under which the easement may be revised or terminated, if any.

California drafted its first solar easement law in 1978, and is still ahead of the pack in almost every other environmental respect. More recently, the state has found itself generating so much excess solar energy that it has to pay other states to take it! Proof, if you need it, that one can have too much of a good thing.

These solar easements (as distinct from solar rights, which govern solar panels per homeowner association covenants, for example, or per local government rules and building codes) are exemplified by the City of Gainesville (Florida), Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ashland (Oregon), the Virgin Islands, and the state of Wisconsin.

Other states with solar easements include:

States with both solar easements and solar rights provisions include:

For further information about solar easements, visit the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, commonly known as DSIRE. Or visit the Solar Energy Industries Association, SEIA.

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Do You Have a Right to Sunlight? - Clean Energy Authority

I love the way that the Car Throttle community welcomes new cars into the Garage. Its always cool to see what people are driving and working on. And our followers agree, which is why weve again picked out 10 of our favourite additions from last month!

Oh my. This is definitely not a rich old mans land yacht. CTzen Mike has taken this Mercedes-Benz CL600 and really made it his own. Among the more notable modifications, Mike has taken the stock V12 and mounted it with great big turbo in the back; along with some parts taken from an SLR McLarens 722.6 transmission. With over 850 hours of work put in this project, the end result commands some serious respect. Way to go, Mike!

Not all build projects are as serious as Mikes CL600. Case in point: this off-the-wall 1996 Toyota Corolla owned by CTzen LPTater (Part-time Ricer). I think its safe to say that there will never be another car like this in the existence of humanity. Of all the bizarre and oddly-intriguing mods on this beater (which apparently only cost LPTater $400), the five-foot Tootsie Roll is easily my favourite. The car probably belongs in a junkyard somewhere, but were very glad that LPTater rescued it and turned it into a piece ofummart. Great work!

The Dukes of Hazzard was one of my all-time favourite TV shows as a kid. The main reason? Well, aside from Daisy Dukes cut-off jeans, the epic car chase scenes involving Bo and Luke Dukes 1969 Dodge Charger (nicknamed The General Lee) will be etched into my memories forever. We hope that CTzen davidm_1202 loves this as much as we do. Just try not to get caught by Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane

Wouldnt you be excited to have a BMW M2 as a daily driver? Well, thats what its like to be Gumballer, automotive photographer, and CTzen Sam Moores. Never mind the blue Ferrari F40 sitting in his garage, Sams urban runabout is one of the most exciting sports cars on sale today. Enjoy your new ride, Sam!

Some birthday presents are better than others. But its pretty hard to deny that Car Throttle moderator Griffin MacKenzies birthday gift is one of the best. With less than 150,000 kilometres on the clock and an excellent body for an old Datsun, who needs birthday cake?

This is a Land Rover that you wont be seeing a footballers wife driving around Essex in. CTzen Reuben Pantellis Defender 110 is a serious piece of off-road machinery. And, to quote Mr. Regular, its BROWN. We love it!

A lot of Mazda Miatas (including my own) were added to the Car Throttle Garage last month. But there is one that stands out amongst the crowd, and that is CTzen Clay Cooks 2000 NB MX-5. You wont be mistaking this Miata for a hairdressers car anytime soonClay has put a lot of work into making this NB drive about as mean as it looks. From one Miata owner to another, good work.

Believe it or not, CTzen Brit Car Driver uploaded two awesome cars to the Car Throttle Garage this month. Although his 2003 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is pretty spectacular, this 1969 Jaguar E-Type Roadster is nothing short of a work of art. This straight-six powered dish of petrolheads caviar is a glorious piece of British automotive engineering, and one thats in beautiful condition despite being 48 years old. A true gem.

Not too many STIs stand out amongst the crowd of STIs. But CTzen kirashadow99s exclusive Prodrive Edition blobeye sure does. With a dyno reading of nearly 300 horsepower, this Impreza has the propulsion to match its Prodrive racing pedigree. And, like many STIs, this ones got some pretty impressive aftermarket mods on it. Put plainly, its a modern classic.

Last, but certainly not least, SCL Performance has graced us with something truly unique. This Lada 2108 SHARK looks absolutely nothing like a normal Lada 2108. But its not merely an exercise in racing-inspired cosmetic enhancements. Beneath the bonkers body kit and Lambo doors lies a monster powertrain. The turbocharged engine reportedly makes 300bhp, and the whole car took three years to build. We think its simply epic. Excellent work, SCL Performance!

If you havent already, make sure you add your own ride to the Car Throttle Garage!

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10 Awesome Rides Added To The Car Throttle Garage In June - Car Throttle