Author: Lee

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New Floor Plan

So, when I gave my initial plans to Randy, he told me that going up to a second floor does a lot to increase the building costs.  As such, he suggested that I redesign it a bit so that the it is spread across a single story.  Thus, I came up with the following plan.  It still gives us roughly the same square footage (1495 sq. ft.), it just puts the sleeping area back into the woods rather than up the stairs.  It will also make it easier for getting furniture in there.  Let me know what you think.  The comments should be open.

L-Shaped-Kamp_small

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Everyone’s Been Added

I’ve taken the liberty of adding everyone as a user to the Web site so that no one will be without the latest updates on Kamp.  This will make it easier to get information to everyone as needed without having to update the Facebook group, the Web site, and send an email.  I’ll also know that everyone is getting the same information from me as I’ll only have to post it once.

If the email address I have for you is not the the one you check most often, please let me know and I’ll change it.  I think you can probably change that yourself within the user settings.  I just want to be sure you’re getting the latest information in a timely manner, which won’t happen if you don’t check your email very often.

The biggest news for this post (aside from adding everyone to the blog) is that I opened a checking account at North Country Savings while I was up north for Christmas.  This will make it easier for me to transfer funds and pay bills as they start coming in.  You should still make any deposits to the savings account as it will give us a chance to earn some interest on the funds, as little as it may be.  Email me for the account number if needed.

I’ll be posting a new concept for the kamp design later today, and I’ve got another post that will follow soon after.  So, keep your eyes open for more information coming soon!

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Konstruction Is Being Put On Hold

At this time, I am putting construction of the new cabin on hold. The demolition will go ahead as scheduled for April 2016, but for now, I have no solid plan to move forward with the construction. I’ll detail exactly why.

I sent out an email a month ago regarding the surprise bill for the Parishville-Hopkinton CSD taxes. I have heard from only two people (Lyn and Michelle) and have received money from them (thank you!). I stated in that email and a subsequent email that I did not expect full payment right away but that a payment plan or some other acknowledgement of the bill would be appreciated. In a nutshell, ignoring it won’t make it go away.  What it will do is keep me from investing anything in the property. This is not to be mean, vindictive, or punitive in any way.  Rather, it is the only financially intelligent thing for me to do if I do not have a commitment from everyone involved. I’ve been crunching numbers and, frankly, I’m not liking what I see.

The Internet is a wonderful tool. I was quickly able to find an amortization calculator and some current loan rates and was able to come up with a general idea of what the monthly mortgage payments would be if I borrow to build the cabin. I did this months ago and recently redid the figures based on the rough estimate that Randy had given me. If I were to borrow $40,000 for 15 years at 3.75%, the monthly payments would be around $300.00 a month. That’s a payment I can make even if the interest rate increases by next year when I am planning to get the loan.  The issue is that this would not be the only payment.

The Internet also offers a plethora of information on the properties around Lake Ozonia. After being unpleasantly surprised by the Parishville-Hopkinton CSD tax bill, I decided to do a little research.  Not only can I see what our tax bills are, but I can see what the current taxes are for all of the surrounding properties, both county and school. It’s a matter of public record (you can see it yourself at www.taxlookup.net), so here’s a breakdown of some of what I found:

Emlaw/White:
$2350.00 county
$2171.00 school
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$4521/yr combined

Curran:
$2840.74 county
$2624.39 school
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$5465/yr combined

White/Harrington:
$2568.49 county
$2716.99 school
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$5286/yr combined

Mike White:
$2056.00 county
$1900.23 school
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$3956/yr combined

I looked at a few others with Kingston’s being the least amount at $3185.83/year.  Even looking at the low end of these tax bills, the taxes on the kamp will go up significantly once the cabin is built.  If I were to low-ball it at $3600/year, that’s $300/month.  Couple that with the mortgage and whatever the insurance might be, and I’m looking at a monthly bill that I cannot afford.

So, before I make my commitment and move forward on construction, I need an absolute commitment from each one of you that you will pay your share of the taxes and insurance.  That means starting next month (November 2015), you commit to paying $50.00 a month, paid to me or deposited in the North Country Savings account.  For November and December, unless you’ve already paid me, this will cover what is currently owed on the P-H CSD tax bill (plus $10).  From January on, those monthly payments will cover the tax bills for 2016.  Yes, I realize that the taxes are not that high yet.  The reason I’m making $50.00 the requirement now is four-fold:

  1. You’ll have paid your share of the 2016 tax bill each month.
  2. The extra monies will be stored as escrow in the account in case the taxes are higher than anticipated after construction.
  3. You’ll get used to paying $50.00 a month as a normal monthly bill, a rate that may increase once the cabin is complete.
  4. I’ll know you’re committed to this project.

Without that commitment of your share of the taxes, I cannot afford and will not feel comfortable to move forward with a construction loan.  I cannot afford a $300.00/month mortgage payment and a $300/month tax bill (and whatever the insurance might be).  I have my own living expenses to consider just like everyone else.  I’m committed to the mortgage and my share of the taxes and insurance.  If you’re not willing to make the commitment to your share of the taxes and insurance, then we’ll have an empty lot at the lake; I have to take down the current building no matter what because the liability of leaving it standing is too great.

That’s where I stand on the camp project. I’m having issues with the user registration, so you’ll have to comment on the Facebook group for now.  Or shoot me an email if you don’t want to discuss it in public.

I’m also thinking a gathering in Google Hangouts or my virtual office at GoToMeeting might be in order soon rather than trying to work out all these details over email and blog posts.  Let me know, either on Facebook or through email what days/nights/times work best.

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Registration Is Now Available

So, I expected WordPress to make it a bit more simple to add user registration. I mean, it’s a blog that allows comments, so why wouldn’t it have an easy user registration feature?

Well, it didn’t, so I had to install a plug-in and create new page. But, you should be able to register on the site now. This may mean I need to watch for a bit of spam here and there, but it was either this or creating user accounts for each one of you. This way you can choose your own username, password, etc.

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Konstruction Update

As you all know, konstruction was put on hold while we waited for the lawyer to finish screwing around and get the paperwork taken care of. Because of this, we weren’t able to get anything accomplished in the summer of 2015.

I spoke with the kontractor on October 4, 2015, and the current plan is to begin demolition in the spring, sometime in April 2016. He’s actually going to do the demolition himself, which should save us some money. The plan is to excavate into one of the small hills on the property, dig a shallow grave, so to speak, and push the demolished camp into it. Then, he’ll cover it with the dirt he removed and effectively bury the remains of the old camp. This, too, should save us a considerable amount of money as having the debris hauled away was going to be expensive.

I’m going to be working on a new floorplan over that time. After discussing it further, it turns out that creating two stories actually increases the costs significantly. So, rather than have a camp that goes up, I’m going to design something that goes back. That is, it will be in an L-shape. I’m thinking the front facing the road will be approximately the same as the original first-floor design, and then I’ll take the other floor space and put it into a wing that juts back into the forest. Thus, we’ll still have the same square footage, but it will be spread across a single story. Not only will this make it cheaper, but we won’t have to be hauling beds and things up and down stairs. We may even be able to put a deck on the back inside the L.

That’s the latest news for now. At some point, I hope to have the time to tweak this Web site so that I can more easily update the site without losing the previous posts. This design works, but it’s not to my liking. This new WordPress site should accommodate what I’m looking for.

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Greetings!

Welcome to the new Kamp Kalorie site!  Using WordPress will allow me to add posts and have old posts archived.  It will also allow for better organization of the information to be disseminated to those with an interest in Kamp Kalorie.  This will also allow for registered users to comment on or reply to the posts that I add.  Depending on how much time I have, I may also upgrade those who register to admin positions so that I’m not the only one posting.

I hope to have the pages from the old site, including the link to PayPal, to be added soon.  So, stand by for updates!