I sat through the testimony and public comment on the Maxinkuckee Village project Thursday and Friday last week and learned that I have a few more lurkers than I realized. My previous blog entry on Maxinkuckee Village was cited directly by one side and I understand the other side references it in some of their online discussions. For those of you dropping in to see what I said, I thought I would make it easy for you and link that previous entry here.
Culver Garden Court Property Annexation Continues to Move Forward
The Culver Town Council held a public hearing on the annexation of 80 acres on South Main Street on January 26, 2010. Part of this property is the parcel slated for the Culver Garden Court. There are three properties involved in this annexation. One property owner is protesting, but the Town Council has chosen to move ahead despite this. The Annexation passed on the second reading by a vote of 4 to 1. The article is currently online here and is available in two scans, Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
Despite the protest, this annexation should benefit all three property owners as well as the Town of Culver. The Town plans to extend water and sewer to this area in an effort to promote future development. There is a distinct dearth of developable land within Culver that has adequate water and sewer. The few parcels that do have the potential for development are currently held under ownership with no interest in development on their own or in selling parcels for development. Two of the parcel holders within this annexation have expressed an interest in development. Regardless of their intentions for their property, the third property owner will no doubt see and increase in their property value resulting from the potential achieved here.
Ice Dams
We’ve been dealing with ice dams this winter. Several clients have had issues in locations that they have never occurred before. Usually when they call though, the “dam” comes first and the spelling is different… Often it’s unclear if this new occurrence is due to a change in conditions with the building or an unusual weather pattern.
Ice dams are what occur at the eaves on buildings where snow and ice melt on a roof and the resulting water runs to the edge of the roof and refreezes. The dam actually occurs outside the building wall envelope. Unattended, water created by the dam can cause rot to occur on the roof deck and possibly on structural members, it can saturate insulation causing loss of R value, and eventually damage to interior finishes such as drywall, paint and wood trim.
The typical ice dam is caused by a combination of poor attic insulation and poor attic ventilation. Heat escapes from inside of the building and into the attic. The heat in the attic warms the roof and causes the snow on the roof to melt. The water from the snow melt runs down the roof towards the eave. As it passes over the exterior wall where the roof hasn’t been warmed, the water refreezes and an ice dam forms. As the ice dam forms, it stops the water from reaching the eave and escaping. As the water refreezes, it expands and pushes back up the roof and often under the shingles. As it pushes up under the shingles, it breaches the weathertight barrier. As it passes back over the exterior wall, it gets back to the warm area and thaws again. The resulting water then drips in the attic. This is when the water problem occurs and is often the first time the ice dam becomes apparent.
27 Years of Membership with ABC
Last Thursday was the monthly meeting of the Michiana Council for ABC of Indiana. They started something new where they listed the length of membership for each member’s company, i.e., 27 years of membership for Easterday Construction Co., Inc. We were the company with the second longest membership there!
Safety Update
We just filled out our OSHA 300A form for 2009 and I’m pleased with the results. The OSHA 300A form is the summary of work-related injuries and illnesses. We had one reportable injury with no lost days. Not bad for all of the hours logged last year.
There are multiple categories including Deaths (0 Whew!), Total Number of Days Away From Work (0), and Total Number of Days of Restriction (0). Injuries and illnesses break out a lot of things other than injuries, including Skin Disorders (0), Respiratory Conditions (0), Poisoning (0) and Hearing Loss (0). Zeros across the board on these issues.
This form will be used internally for training purposes. (The one reportable accident has already been discussed with those involved as well as others that weren’t there in order to prevent similar incidents in the future.) It factors into our insurance rating. It is also a factor in our STEP rating.
Congratulations to everyone at Easterday Construction Co., Inc. for another safe year!