Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Brandon Block

The Olympian

Kelsey Hulse hit refresh on her computer.

It was 2017, and Hulse a political wonk, nonprofit fundraiser, and former candidate for Thurston County Commissioner was searching for a place to live in Olympia. She opened up Craigslist and local property management websites and sorted for one-bedroom units under $1,000 per month.

Very few came up.

After making a flurry of phone calls, she found a one-bedroom in Lacey for $1,170. Even with a job as a lobbyist for Puget Sound Energy, minimal student debt, and few other financial commitments, it was more than she wanted to pay or could sustainably afford. Hulse stayed out her six-month lease there, and then got a lucky call: a friend told her they had a spot opening up in a unit built above their garage for $850 per month, utilities included.

The unit was essentially one open space, just over 1,000 square feet, with a bathroom, tiny appliances and no oven. Although technically permitted as a bonus room a room created by remodeling or an addition that does not meet building code definitions for traditional rooms it functioned a lot like an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), which are also sometimes known as backyard cottages, mother-in-law units, or granny flats.

ADUs can be remodeled basements or attics, attached additions, or above-garage units like Hulses, but most commonly they look like a small detached cottage house in a backyard.

While $850 isnt exactly cheap, and definitely isnt affordable for low-income people, for Hulse it was a better option than what else was out there. She lived there for just over a year, and in that time was able to save up some money. Earlier this year, she bought her own house in west Olympia.

While ADUs arent affordable by definition, they do tend to be built by individual homeowners who are motivated to make a long-term investment, and theyre often rented at below-market rates to family members or friends.

Or as Janae Huber puts it, theyre lower case affordable. Huber is founder of Olympians for People Oriented Places, a group that advocates for progressive zoning reform. She means that while $850 is not going to be accessible to someone on public support, its more affordable than whats generally available in Olympia. It might be something that someone working a retail job could afford.

Affordable as defined by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development means paying no more than 30% of your income towards rent. For those making less than half of the area median income (AMI) in Thurston County, or about $35,000, an affordable rent is under $900, according to a recent housing report by the Thurston Regional Planning Council. (At 30% of AMI, about $21,000, $500 rent per month would be affordable.) At those prices, there are few units, and theyre almost exclusively ones created by federal programs such as low-income housing tax credits or subsidized by Section 8 vouchers with the latter program only serving about 25% of the people who qualify.

Theres just not enough subsidies available from government sources to meet the needs that we have for this kind of housing, Huber said. Right now, the way that housing comes into our community is by and large through the efforts of private developers. And so until that changes, until the entire system changes, that is what we need, and ADUs are a realistic way that individual families can add housing to our housing stock.

While putting cottages in backyards wont solve the housing crisis, Hulse and Huber think that having more options in the lower-middle price range would take some of the pressure off Olympias housing market, especially for young, single people and older adults who want to downsize.

Olympias regulations on ADUs

Data provided by the Planning Department show that there are approximately 100 permitted ADUs in Olympia. The city officially allowed ADUs as a housing type in 1995, but most ADU permits were issued in the past decade.

There are also a significant number of ADUs that are unpermitted, according to conversations with builders, housing advocates, renters, and homeowners familiar with Olympias housing market. Some were built prior to 1995. In other cases, the owner chose not to go through the citys permitting process.

City officials have expressed support for ADUs, but the citys own policies present major obstacles to developing more of them. Those interested in building an ADU in Olympia face regulations that can quickly torpedo the project.

First, theres the requirement that all ADUs be owner-occupied, meaning the owner must live on site, either in the ADU itself or the primary house that its attached to.

That rule makes it impossible for anyone other than an individual homeowner to create an ADU, including an organization such as Homes First, a nonprofit affordable housing provider.

Homes First CEO Trudy Soucoup says they have five sites in Olympia where theyd like to develop ADUs, as theyve done already in Lacey. By using volunteer labor from the YouthBuild program, they were able to bring ADUs online in Lacey for about $45,000 half the cost of what an individual homeowner would pay in the private market.

Olympias owner-occupancy requirement could change soon. Olympias Planning Commission has approved eliminating the requirement as part of the Housing Options Code Amendments, which will be considered by the City Council in December.

Another regulation that would be addressed by the code amendments would be the requirement that ADUs provide one off-street parking space a significant deterrent on small city lots in older neighborhoods.

Mandated parking policies were introduced in the citys 1961 zoning code, which required one off-street parking space for each single-family house, as well minimum parking requirements for businesses, schools, and medical offices. Subsequent zoning ordinances upped that requirement to two parking spaces per single-family house, four for duplexes, and more for multifamily structures and businesses. ADUs were included when the city legalized them in 1995.

High costs of building

Where zoning allows for ADUs, prospective builders often find the costs quickly exceeding their budget.

Building an ADU in Olympia means paying between $3,500-$4,000 in development impact fees, depending upon whether youre building downtown or not.

Impact fees are a one-time fee meant to offset the costs of expanding government services to accommodate new development. Especially in suburban areas, theyre meant to address the costs of adding infrastructure such as new roads, transit, schools, and utilities.

But perhaps the most expensive requirement for a prospective ADU builder in Olympia is the automatic fire sprinkler system, which the city began requiring in all new residential structures in 2014.

The hidden cost driver is that much of Olympias older water infrastructure is not sufficient to carry the volume of water necessary for a sprinkler system, meaning a prospective ADU builder would need to lay new pipes, connect another water meter, and pay a city hookup fee. That can add $8,000-$10,000 to a project, according to builder John Erwin.

Olympia is one of just eight cities in Washington that require fire sprinklers in new homes. Fire codes are largely determined at the city and county level, with each jurisdiction deciding what provisions of the International Building Code to adopt.

Last week, the citys Land Use and Environment committee approved a proposal to exempt ADUs from the fire sprinkler requirement if the primary house is not required to have them. This would mean any ADU built on a lot with a house built prior to 2014 would be exempted.

Olympias proposal, brought by Fire Marshal Kevin Bossard, is based on legislation passed by the state of California in 2016. (California also has a carve out for impact fees: In 2019 the state passed a bill that prohibits municipalities from charging impact fees for ADUs under 750 square feet.)

It may sound odd to campaign against fire safety codes, but you have to look at the outcome rather than the intention, Erwin said.

We can be smart about it, we can be diligent, but you cant regulate complete safety into our lives, Erwin said. Through over-regulation you increase the price of housing and you put people out on the streets. So now whats safer: living in that 1950s house thats poorly insulated and doesnt have fire sprinklers, but you can afford to rent it, and you can shower and bathe and cook and sleep, or living on the streets?

Olympia vs. Lacey: different regulatory approaches

Fundamentally the question is whether a one-room cottage should be regulated the same way as a 2,000-square-foot single family house.

Other cities take a different approach. The city of Lacey does not charge development impact fees for ADUs, and doesnt require fire sprinklers in any new housing. Lacey also waived utility hookup fees for ADUs.

Earlier this year, Lacey made available free, pre-approved designs for ADUs, created by local architectural firm the Artisans Group, in an attempt to make the permitting process easier. Design work can account for as much as 10 percent of project cost, says Associate Planner Jessica Brandt, so the designs will make ADUs cheaper, too.

The program hasnt seen any takers yet, though that may have more to do with it launching during a pandemic. In total the city has permitted at least 40 ADUs since 1999, according to Brandt. She has been working with Olympia and Tumwater and hopes to eventually share Laceys architectural designs across jurisdictions.

Faces of a housing crisis

Hulse is not exactly who legislators have in mind when talking about the housing crisis.

Shes a young professional, gainfully employed, in good health and with few common barriers like debt or disability that could make housing elusive. She also is well-connected with a circle of friends and neighbors with available rental housing. (Her friend who rented her the ADU? That was Ryder, the mayor of Lacey.)

There really were very few barriers for me, Hulse said. I have a good job that pays me a good wage. I dont have any kids, it was just me by myself, I dont have any pets, I dont have any physical limitations where Id have to seek a certain type of property.

Nonetheless, her experience struggling to find affordable housing points to the extent of the challenge posed by Olympias tight, increasingly expensive housing market.

Given my experience looking for housing as a fairly well-resourced person with not a lot of barriers, it seems clear we just need more.

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High costs, regulations get in the way of adding accessory dwelling units in Olympia - The Daily World

Frisco is getting a more detailed look at redevelopment plans for its largest office park.

Early this year, developers of the 162-acre Hall Park at the Dallas North Tollway and Gaylord Park got city approval to convert the almost quarter-century-old office park into a mixed-use development.

With more than 2 million square feet of offices, the campus of low- and high-rise buildings houses almost 10,000 workers.

Proposed additions include 10 new high-rises and a large performance hall.

Developer Hall Group got the OK from the city in January to add residential, retail, entertainment and public facilities to make the successful office park into a 24-hour mixed-use community.

The Frisco City Council is considering a proposal this week to help fund some of the proposed improvements with revenue from taxes the development generates.

Hall Park is valued at about $633 million. Over the next 20 to 30 years, high-rise building additions would expand the value of the development to more than $2.2 billion, according to the city.

Redevelopment has already started to occur as two buildings were demolished earlier in the year, making room for a new high-rise building, the open space plaza and structured parking, according to filings with Friscos planning department.

Hall Group tore down two three-story office buildings at the corner of Warren and Gaylord parkways, across the street from the Dallas Cowboys Star in Frisco development.

In their place, the developer plans to build the first phase, which includes a 27-story residential tower with more than 300 units, a 49,000-square-foot food hall and parking garages. The second phase would include a 36-story residential tower and 520,000 square feet of office space in a more than 20-story building.

More office towers and additional residential high-rises are planned in the next phases. Hall Group has previously said the residential towers would house rental units and luxury condominiums.

A 1,500-seat performance hall with an adjoining parking garage are also planned in the redevelopment of Hall Park.

The new buildings would line a new public park and green space with walking trails, plazas and waterways running south from Warren Parkway, according to plans filed with the city.

The first phase of the redevelopment including a new parking garage, the public plazas and park and improved infrastructure will cost more than $50 million and would be paid for by a combination of funds from the developer and a share of property and sales taxes generated by Hall Park.

The city if the council agrees would use a tax increment reinvestment zone to fund its share of the expenses.

The parking structure will support the office buildings Monday-Friday 8:00 to 5:00 and will be open to the public the rest of the time, the city filings said.

A more than 1,000-acre parking garage would cost $20 million and would be owned by the city to support the new performing arts center.

The open space and public plaza additions will cost $30 million with the developer contributing $15 million of the construction costs.

Developer Craig Hall bought the land for Hall Park about three decades ago before there were even roads built to the property.

Since then, the area along the tollway north of State Highway 121 has been developed with billions of dollars of new commercial and residential construction.

Hall Group and city officials who approved redevelopment plans for Hall Park have said that adding new uses to the project will allow the city to continue to attract employers and residents to the area.

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Planned redevelopment will expand Frisco's Hall Park to more than $2 billion - The Dallas Morning News

- By Robert Abbott

Want to invest like Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) and Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio)? One approach would be to buy what they buy, after the fact (even though we may not be able to get the same prices as they did).

Another helpful tool is to check the companies that make it through the Buffett-Munger Screener at GuruFocus. This screener looks for companies that meet four important criteria that Buffett and Munger are known for placing high value on:

High predictability rank; in other words, companies that have shown they can grow their revenue and earnings consistently.

They have competitive advantages or moats. This gives them more freedom in setting prices, which means higher earnings.

They have grown their businesses without using much debt, helping keep their costs low.

They are fairly valued or undervalued, in the context of earnings growth. The key metric is the PEG (or PEPG) ratio, calculated by dividing the price-earnings ratio by average Ebitda growth over the preceding five years.

Like Buffett, you want to buy a wonderful company at a fair price, not a fair company at a wonderful price. Because of changes in earnings and stock prices, the constituents of the Buffett-Munger Screener change from time to time. As of Nov. 30, four new firms had made the cut: CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI), Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF), MasTec Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) and Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd (NVMI).

CACI

Based in Arlington, Virginia, CACI provides professional services and information technology to various branches of the federal government. Those branches include defense, homeland security, intelligence and healthcare. It is best known for its national security services.

Its predictability rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars, so it has a record of consistent growth:

In its 10-K for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2020, the company noted that while it is not "substantially dependent" on intellectual property, it does have quite a few trade secrets that make a difference. Presumably, that would include extensive knowledge of the federal government's needs and wants.

Story continues

Turning to the question of debt, its cash-to-debt ratio was 0.6 (in this context, a ratio of 1.0 would mean the company has enough cash and equivalents to immediately repay all its debt). The interest coverage ratio is 9.9, meaning it has enough net income to pay its interest expenses almost 10 times over.

CACI took on quite a bit of debt earlier in the decade, but since then has kept it relatively steady:

Is it fairly valued or undervalued based on the PEG ratio? The PEG ratio currently stands at 1.47, indicating it is modestly overvalued (1.00 = fair value).

Summing up, CACI International has a good predictability record and a moat. It does have a substantial, although manageable, amount of debt and it is modestly overvalued.

Griffon

The Griffon Corporation is a conglomerate with three main lines of business:

Defense Electronics: This includes the Telephonics Corporation, which offers "sophisticated intelligence, surveillance and communications solutions that are deployed across a wide range of land, sea and air applications."

Consumer and Professional Products: Through its subsidiary The AMES Corporation, it manufactures and supplies products for home storage and organization, landscaping and enhanced outdoor lifestyles.

Home and Building Products: This division is made up of the Clopay Corporation, which manufactures and markets garage doors to residential and commercial customers.

The company enjoys a predictability rating of 4.5 and has raised its revenue and Ebitda over the past decade, although not always steadily:

Each of the divisions has its competitive advantages, although it appears none of them are very wide, in my opinion. Griffon's median return on equity (ROE) over the past decade was just 5.4%, suggesting a weak moat.

The company carries a relatively high debt load, with an interest coverage ratio of just 2.33. This is a 10-year chart of its long-term debt:

Based on its PEG ratio, Griffon is almost fairly valued at 1.13.

Overall, it has generated returns quite consistently, but it appears to have a weak moat, significant debt and onl a fairly-valued ranking.

MasTec

This $4 billion company describes itself as follows:

"MasTec Inc is a leading infrastructure construction company operating primarily throughout North America. Its principal activities include engineering, building, installation, maintenance, and upgrades of communications, energy, and utility infrastructure. The company installs wireless, wireline, and satellite communications; oil and gas pipeline infrastructure; conventional and renewable power generation; and other industrial systems."

It has a 4 out of 5 stars predictability rating, based on its revenue and Ebitda history:

It lists five competitive advantages in its 10-K for 2019: diverse customer relationships, a reputation for reliable customer service, a 90-year history in the industry, an ability to respond quickly and effectively and an experienced management team. That suggests at least a narrow moat, which is backed up by a 10-year median ROE of 14.77%.

How is it doing with debt? Not well, for a Buffett-Munger Screener stock. Its cash-to-debt ratio is just 0.16 while its interest coverage is 6.49. It has also been growing its debt:

Undervalued would be the conclusion reached from the PEG ratio, which is currently 0.47.

Overall, we see mixed signals from MasTec. It has good results for predictability and a moat, as well as a good valuation, but it has a poor debt situation.

Nova Measuring Instruments

At first glance, this stock appears to be a gem, with a financial strength ranking of 8 out of 10 and a profitability ranking of 9 out of 10.

Based in Israel, Nova is a $1.1 billion semiconductor equipment manufacturer. It provides "metrology solutions" (metrology is the science of measurement) for advanced process control in semiconductor manufacturing. Most of its revenue originates in Taiwan, but it also brings in business from other Asian countries as well as the U.S. and Europe.

It has a predictability rating of 4 out of 5, although there are a few bumps in its revenue and Ebitda growth:

In its 20-F for 2019, Nova stated it has the following competitive advantages: 160 existing patents and 40 patent applications in the U.S., as well as 110 patents plus another 100 pending in other countries.

As manufacturers keep pushing the limits of technology, which introduces more process steps and new materials, the more opportunities there are for Nova's metrology solutions. These elements suggest at least a narrow moat, and its median ROE of 12.76% over the past 10 years backs that up.

It has done a good job of managing its debt, with a cash-to-debt ratio of 6.81 and an interest coverage ratio of 537.44. In other words, this company has a lot more cash and net income than debt and interest expense.

As this chart below shows, Nova had no debt between 2010 and 2018, but then took some on in 2019:

The PEG ratio suggests modest overvaluation, it stands at 1.46. On the other hand, the GuruFocus Value chart finds it to be significantly overvalued:

Nova has a good predictability ranking, at least a narrow moat and a small debt load, but I think it is too costly to be a real Buffett-Munger Screener stock.

Conclusion

Four stocks have been added to the Buffett-Munger Screener list, and each has potential, in my view. All have good predictability rankings, and with perhaps the exception of Griffon, appear to have protective moats. Except for Nova, all have more debt than most value investors would find comfortable.

MasTec stands out in the group for being undervalued, while the other three have PEG ratios between 1.00 and 1.50 which suggest modest overvaluation.

While none of the four is a perfect Buffett-Munger Screener stock, all have their virtues and might be worth considering.

Disclosure: I do not own shares in any of the companies named in this article.

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

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4 Additions to the Buffett-Munger List - Yahoo Finance

Maya Lora|The Ledger

How to throw an axe

Plaid & Timber Axe Throwing Company's co-owner shows the proper form for a one-handed throw.

LAKELAND For their 33rd wedding anniversary, Joyce and Kraig Woodrow decided on a grand, if strange,gift for one another: their very own ax-throwing venue.

Ax-Caliber is the first ax-throwing joint in Polk County. The new business features a combination caf and restaurant, 14 ax-throwing lanes, two pool tables and other assorted games. You have to be at least 18 years old to throw, or 14 with a parent or guardian present.

While axthrowing has found a home in Orlando and Tampa, Joyce Woodrow thinks the coffeehouse and restaurant additions make Ax-Caliber unique.

"You're not really going to find something like this anywhere, I don't think, in the state of Florida," Woodrow, 64,said. "We just want to be different. We just think it'd be kind of, you know, iconic to have something like this which nobody else has."

Ax-Caliber, on East Orange Street near the 214 S. Tennessee Ave. parking garage, has been in its soft opening phase since Nov. 20. The grand opening is Friday.

Originally, the Woodrows were looking to open an indoor gun range that would have featured a few ax-throwing lanes. They were inspired by Kraig's twin brother, 59,who owns a gun range and ax-throwing business in New Jersey.

An uptick in shootings a few years ago made it impossible for the Woodrows to get bank cooperation on the idea, so they nixed it. The business venture was reborn as Ax-Caliber, where customers can throw axes supervised by an expert to their heart's content while sipping coffee, beer and wine.

And on Tuesday night, first-time customers had nothing but rave reviews.

"You can have fun while doing something and hanging out, you know what I'm saying," said Aaron Reese, 26. "It's not just sitting still. It's actually being interactive and stuff and not just sitting here, getting tired of talking."

Reese was throwing with his wife and two local friends. They all loved the food and coffee and said they'd definitely want to visit again. And their advice? Throwing the axis much more about the way you flick your wrist than the muscle you put into the act.

Even though Dixieland residentDavid Leslie, 50, built his son a place at home to throw axes and knives, he was still willing to pay to do it at Ax-Caliber with Sam Leslie, 18. The two split their timeinside between axthrowing and games of pool while munching on a pretzel and loaded fries, the latter of which they especially recommend.

The venue has drawn business interest. Joyce Woodrow said her December is pretty much booked up with corporate Christmas parties.

The "caliber" part of the name may seem a leftover from the abandoned gun range butit actually comes from the family-owned Caliber Coffee. The Woodrows have operated Caliber Coffee exclusivelyonline for the past four years. But now, you can snag bags of beans or a crafted drink at the caf situated in the front of Ax-Caliber.

While it mightmake them unique, the coffeehouse portion of Ax-Caliber calls for early mornings and late nights for the Woodrows. They open at 7 a.m. most mornings (except for Sundays, where they roll in at 10a.m.) and operate until 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 7 p.m. on Sundays.

Joyce Woodrow said the owner of the building always wanted to see a coffeehouse down below so workers in the area wouldn't have to trek into downtown for a morning cup of joe.

"And we're like, we got that," Woodrow said. "So they took a chance on us because they thought this would be pretty epic here in Lakeland and Polk County."

Ax-Caliber was originally slated for an August opening. But coronavirus-related delays in shipping equipment kept pushing the opening back until the Woodrows decided to just get some version of the venue open before the holidays.

As of now, customers are encouraged to wear masks, there are paper ones available for free at the front, and employees are masked up. But you will not be asked to leave if you don't want to wear a mask until you get to your table or throwing lane. It's a position many businesses have taken without a citywide mask mandate to guide them.

While she has long-term plansto expand into other locations, Joyce Woodrow wants to focus on building up this first spot and making it a place where everyone feels welcome, good and safe, despite the effects of COVID-19. And throughout the night, she seemed to make good on her promise of a welcoming environment, greeting each customer that walked in and asking every customer about their experience on the way out.

"It's a dream of ours that we wanted for a long time and it happened and I still can't believe it," Woodrow said. "And I go home every night crying and I look at my husband and I'm like, it's actually happened! And I cry and God is good. He's truly blessed us."

Maya Lora can be reached at mlora@gannett.com or 863-802-7558.

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Ax-Caliber, first ax-throwing venue in Polk County, opens in Lakeland with coffeehouse - The Ledger

Today, LEGO is taking the wraps off its latest creation, giving us a better picture of what to expect from the upcoming 2021 wave of kits. Bringing the iconic Jeep Wrangler into LEGO form for the very first time, the new Technic modelarrives as just the latest set to debut ahead of the new lineup of kits next year. Stacking up to over 660 pieces, youll find a working winch alongside other authentic details. Head below for all of the details on the upcoming LEGO Technic Jeep Wrangler.

With 2021 now inching closer, were getting an even clearer look at which kits will be landing on store shelves once the new year rolls around. The Technic lineup is one of the more detailed ones at this point, with the McLaren Senna GTR supercar being joined by a collection of other builds that weve detailed over the past few weeks. But today, were getting a look at yet another vehicle, and it might just be the most popular one yet.

Assembling the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon for the first time, the upcoming LEG Technic kit is comprised of 665 pieces and manages to nail the look of the real world off-road vehicle. Once fully assembled, it stacks up to over 9 inches long and 4.5 inches tall.

Alongside its larger, rubbery tires, LEGO is baking in plenty of authentic details here, as well. Its eye-catching yellow and black color scheme is just the start here, as youll also find quite a few Jeep decals throughout. On the front, theres also a working winch, and underneath the build is a functional suspension system. So while itll look great on display, theres some action for younger builders to enjoy, too.

Todays new LEGO Technic unveil joins an ever-growing lineup of kits thatll be debuting on January 1. In this case, the LEGO Jeep Wrangler will launch with a $49.99 price tag.

All things considered, theres a lot of value from the latest addition to the LEGO Technic 2021 lineup. Aside from just being the first time builders will be able to assemble the iconic Jeep Wrangler, there are also plenty of other nice additions that LEGO has thought to include.

Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!

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LEGO brings the Jeep Wrangler to its Technic garage with upcoming 665-piece set - 9to5Toys

By Monte Leeper

Q. We were told to file a permit to rent our house next door, which an inspector came and looked at and said it was a simple permit. We had to have house plans made, and we filed them, paid their fee and waited six months, because of the pandemic. Now we got a response thats three pages long with a ton of items. The letter is titled Omissions Letter, but we really think we didnt leave anything out.

The letter includes making separate applications (with more fees) for the washing machine, a boiler, our fences, planters that hold back the earth (since our neighbors yard behind is four feet higher than ours), a patio and the back four feet of our garage, which have all been there for at least 49 years. Is this typical? We wish we had never started this permit. So much for trying to do the right thing! They want calculations for our boiler heat output versus air intake, which is confusing enough, but why do they want it from the architect when our plumber did the work and even got a permit already? This is really upsetting and confusing.

A. Your northern Nassau County town has the particular reputation for this behavior. Many architects wont even do work there, for the simple reason that they punish honesty instead of promoting ways to improve public safety.

The implication of omissions at the top of the notice is a legally irresponsible implication that accuses you and your architect of purposely or unprofessionally leaving out important facts, as if you or your architect would have imagined filing for a washing machine or patio. A washing machine application would have been part of a plumbing application anywhere else. Most communities have no such requirement for the architect, and the homeowner expects that a house with a washing machine is as common as a car with four wheels.

The inspector who came to your house was probably trying to help you with safety items, looking for the smoke detectors, escape windows and handrails, but the letter was composed by a plans examiner, who doesnt come to the house but instead goes through the files that you cant see because of the pandemic. The examiner went looking for anything and everything to reveal that there is much more they previously didnt enforce. In this age of computers, building departments have a better way to keep records about your home, and theyre trying to update, since illegal additions and amenities like fences, retaining walls, pools and decks and washing machines, I guess slipped past their radar over the years.

They also assume that plans are made just by pushing a few keyboard buttons, so why not ask for more than they ever did before? Unfortunately, the method of punishing with court hearings, fines and dismantling work isnt the only way they could handle this. Its just the way your North Shore town chooses to do it. Good luck!

2020 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with Herald question in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.

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'So much for trying to do the right thing' - liherald

The 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer marked the final iteration of the first-gen Ford Bronco competitor. It came standard with now-iconic beefy looks and a 4.1-liter inline-six, which could be swapped out for a 5.0- or 5.7-liter V8 for some extra coin. The off-road-ready utility vehicle had standard front disc brakes and you could even add on a tachometer for a little extra. This specific K5 listed for sale on Bring a Trailer has a delicious secret under the hood, however: a small-block 5.7-liter LS1 V8.

Installed by Berkeley Garage this year, the engine was sourced from a 2001 Corvette with 29,000 reported miles. Take that, new Bronco.

FrankenBlazer doesnt stop there, however. After the current owner acquired the Blazer in 2019, they commissioned a complete restoration that included a four-inch suspension lift and a new paint job in Harley-Davidson Vivid Black. It sports a new 4L75E transmission, five-pinion gearsets, induction-hardened turbine shaft, eight-friction-plate clutch, and specific valve-body calibration. In short, this Blazer goes way beyond average both on- and off-road.

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1972 Chevy K5 Blazer With a Corvette V8 and Harley-Davidson Paint Is an All-American Restomod - The Drive

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Since 1983, Beachcliff Market Square has been providing a smaller type of shopping mecca in Rocky River. The 110,000-square-foot, three-sided shopping center at the corner of Detroit and Wooster roads continues to pull in shoppers year round for many products and services.

The plaza is a mixed-use, open-air center. There used to be an indoor section of stores, but the profile changed when some restaurants took over those spaces. Burntwood Tavern is just one of them.

Today, the center -- whose slogan is Extraordinary is our style -- offers shopping, dining, health and wellness, and other services.

Making an extraordinary splash recently was a surprising new tenant, The Goddard School -- an unusual business to find in a shopping plaza. But manager Bill Brink explains why it is a good match.

The Goddard School opened Oct. 1, said Brink. Its the only one of their schools that is not freestanding. In Rocky River, it was getting hard for them to find a freestanding building when they needed 12,000 square feet.

Another business wanted only 5,000 square feet and couldnt find that, either.

The Goddard School needed a new space due to an increase in enrollment. Even their Westlake school had a waiting list.

I know someone, said Brink, who had a 2-year-old and was on a waiting list for 16 months.

For those who may have not been to Beachcliff Market Square, there is a large parking lot right in front of all the stores -- no long walks to your car when you shop there. And there is also a parking garage.

The Goddard School requires parents to park, come in, then sign in, in order to pick up their kids, said Brink. The parking garage is right below the school, so it offers no weather problems and its very convenient -- a perfect use of space.

But there is another reason Brink is happy with the arrangement: Parents can drop off the kids, then have breakfast, go work out or go shopping -- all right here.

Brink can rattle off the names of all the stores, services and restaurants. Some newer additions include Milan Hair Laser Removal Clinic, as well as Hand and Stone Massage. They join some of the long-lasting businesses like Planet Fitness, Erie Island Coffee and Girl Got Swing, which offers golf equipment and apparel for women.

Others include Smiles by White, West Side Preventative Eyecare, El Pita Mediterranean Cuisine, Francescas Boutique, Ann Taylor Loft, dentist Scott Shapiros Beachcliff Family Dentistry and a Cleveland Clinic family practice.

We have been blessed with a good mix of retail, services and restaurants, said Brink. It makes for a nice mix.

For a look at Beachcliff Market Square to consider for your holiday shopping, visit https://beachcliffmarketsquare.com/. For questions, email Bill.Brink@madisonmarquette.com or call 440-799-3176.

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It's rare that things go well in 2020, and also that construction projects stay on time and on budget, but the two of those things have come together for the Estevan Police Service's station expansion with just over a month to go before things are completed.

The project is on time to finish by its projected to finish date of January 22, but won't be functional right away. According to Police Chief Paul Ladouceur, the project has been going on generally uninterrupted.

"The crews have advised us that it appears to be on schedule. Some of the stuff can be weather dependant but everything has been going very smoothly. With projects of this size, oftenyou'll come intospeedbumps along the way but it's actually gone very smoothly. It will be a welcome addition to this facility and carry us long into the future."

On the note of longevity, the new expansion isn't just set to be in use for a short time, but rather will be able to last through additions of more staff throughout theyears to come.

"One of the big things with this project is that it was designed with the ability for expansion within the facility itself. There were floor plans put in place where there could be future cubicles put in so I think this building is going to serve this community for years to come."

Once the construction of the project is done, it is still going to take some time before the police station is completely moved over. There are so many different files in different places, some where roof tiles have been moved to make sure there is room for them, some are being stored in the station's garage, and enough furniture and offices to move over that it will take a couple of months.

"Realistically I think we'll be settled on that side by March of 2021 by the time everything is moved over and we're up and running. Completion is still set for January 22 but you probably won't see us operational until March."

COVID 19 has not seemed to play a factor in construction even though it started up around the same time as the pandemic. Police staff and construction workers have been able tostay distanced apart for the entirety of the project.

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Police Station Expansion Still On Track To Open On Time - DiscoverEstevan.com

The Snapdragon 888 system-on-chip unveiled by Qualcomm this week should deliver a noticeable performance boost to next year's flagship Android phones. After all, this is Qualcomm's first 5-nanometer chip, meaning more transistors providing more power with greater efficiency. But that's not the story Qualcomm is dwelling on, as it talks up the merits of its latest mobile processing platform.

Instead, much of Qualcomm's focus with the Snapdragon 888 is to talk about how new additions to the chipset will improve your mobile photography and mobile gaming experiences the kind of thing you're more likely to notice than whether an app launched a little bit faster on one phone or another.

Think of it as Qualcomm's way of distinguishing itself from the A14 Bionic that powers Apple's latest phones or the Kirin silicon Huawei uses in its phones. Qualcomm doesn't mention any of its chip-making rivals by name. But the way it's presenting the Snapdragon 888 speaks volumes about the experiences it thinks phones powered by the new chip can provide.

Here's what you can expect from the Snapdragon 888 and when the new system-on-chip will start appearing in smartphones.

Qualcomm says its Snapdragon 888 chipset is coming to Android phones in 2021, though it hasn't said exactly when. If past releases are any indication, though, you can expect the new chip to start appearing in leading Android phones during the first three months of the new year.

Samsung's next flagship will almost certainly be one of the first phones to sport a Snapdragon 888, as has been the case for the U.S. versions of all Galaxy S releases. That would put the new chip on track for the Samsung Galaxy S21, which is rumored to be launching earlier than usual possibly as soon as January.

But Samsung will have company. At Qualcomm's annual tech summit where the Snapdragon 888 was introduced, Xiaomi said its Mi 11 phone will be one of the first to get Qualcomm's latest chip, though that phone is unlikely to ever reach the U.S.

Qualcomm doesn't make announcements about which devices use its silicon, but the chip maker did provide a list of phone makers who've pledge to support the Snapdragon 888. Beside Xiaomi, that list includes Asus, Black Shark, Lenovo, LG, MEIZU, Motorola, Nubia, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo, Sharp, Vivo and ZTE.

Performance may not be one of the major talking points around the Snapdragon 888's launch, but you should still expect big gains for the devices that use the chipset next year. As noted above, this is Qualcomm's first chip using a 5nm process, and that typically means greater power and efficiency.

Qualcomm's also come up with a new architecture for the chip, which will offer the first commercial CPU subsystem to be based on the Arm Cortex-X1. In addition to that prime CPU, which can top out at up to 2.84GHz, three Arm Cortex A-78 CPUs make up the performance cores, while four Arm Cortex-A55 comprise the efficiency cores.

In terms of performance numbers, Qualcomm says that the Kryo 680 in the Snapdragon 888 can deliver a 25% boost in overall CPU performance over the previous generation. The new CPU is 25% more power efficient than its predecessor, according to Qualcomm.

We'll need to benchmark a device powered by the Snapdragon 888 to see how that compares to current phones on the market. But a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the chip will deliver a 25% boost over the Geekbench scores of some of the fastest Snapdragon 865-based phones we've tested. And that would pull it just about even with Apple's pace-setting A14-powered iPhone 12 lineup.

Qualcomm would counter that its chips are designed for sustained performance and not the short bursts that can propel phones to the lead of benchmark tests a not so subtle dig at Apple's processors.

"Snapdragon is constructed for sustainable, usable performance," said Ziad Asghar, a vice president of product management at Qualcomm, during the Snapdragon 888 unveiling. We're looking forward to getting our hands on a Snapdragon 888 device to see if reality matches our math.

As for graphics, the Adreno 660 GPU included with the Snapdragon 888 is supposed to increase the speed of graphics rendering by 35% over last year's chip, with power efficiency improving by 20%. The performance gain is the biggest yet for the Adreno GPU, Qualcomm says, which bodes well for gaming on Snapdragon 888 phones.

Enhancement to the GPU also impact how graphics are displayed, with Qualcomm promising OLED display uniformity as well as picture quality improvements.

5G continues to be a major focus of Qualcomm, so you can bet that it's a key part of the Snapdragon 888 story. The new system-on-chip includes an integrated modem, much like last year's Snapdragon 765G. Only this time, the modem is Qualcomm's 3rd generation Snapdragon X60 modem, which supports both sub-6GHz carrier aggregation and mmWave. That means a Snapdragon 888-powered phone will work with just about any operator's 5G network, including those that use dynamic spectrum sharing to extend 5G connectivity.

You should enjoy fast data speeds with the Snapdragon 888, at least where high-speed connectivity is available. The X60 is capable of 7.5 Gbps speeds. No 5G network is even close to delivering that right now, but it's nice to know that there's plenty of headroom for your phone's 5G performance as networks get faster.

One of the more intriguing parts of the Snapdragon 888's 5G support is the fact that it supports Global 5G multi-SIM, meaning you can expect 5G to extend to international roaming at least if we're ever able to leave our houses again. 5G multi-SIM support also means that you can have separate numbers on the same phone.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets power photographic features, too, and the enhancements introduced to the Spectra 580 image signal processor (ISP) are particularly noteworthy.

For the first time, Qualcomm's offering a triple ISP that can capture images from three cameras at the same time; on previous Snapdragon Series 8 chipsets, Qualcomm had used a dual ISP.

The switch to a triple ISP means being able to simultaneous snap a trio of 28MP shots, all from different points of view. Or you could capture three 4K videos all once for a wide shot, a close up and a shot of the person doing the filming from the front camera. Thanks to triple concurrency, all cameras can run in the background at the same time, so that you can seamlessly switch between lenses without a noticeable lag.

The Spectra ISP is getting a speed boost of its own with the Snapdragon 888. Qualcomm promises speeds of 2.7 gigapixels per second, which is 35% faster than the Snapdragon 865's ISP. In one second, you'll be able to capture a burst of 120 photos.

In another first for Qualcomm's chips, the Snapdragon 888 can capture photos in 10-bit HDR HEIF. That allows cameras powered by the Spectra ISP to capture photos in more than one billion shades of color, enabling end-to-end 10-bit capture and display. Previously, the Snapdragon 8 Series' ISP could support 4K still image capture, and now that's being extended to video capture with the Snapdragon 888.

Cameras on Snapdragon 888 phones should also be more adept when the lights are turned low, as the chipset introduces a new low-light architecture. That should allow the camera to work in 0.1 lux, which a Qualcomm rep described as near darkness.

More people are playing mobile games, and Qualcomm's responded by ramping up the Snapdragon Elite Gaming features it includes with its high-end processors. That's Qualcomm's push to bring desktop-quality gaming to mobile, and in the past it's introduced capabilities such as desktop forward rendering for improved lighting and updateable GPU drivers.

In addition to supporting ultra smooth gaming capable of delivering gameplay at 144 frames per second, the Snapdragon 888 also adds variable rate shading for improved game rendering. That's a first for mobile devices, according to Qualcomm, and when it's implemented by game makers, it should boost gameplay performance by 30%. That means games will run smoother and longer without taxing your phone's battery as much.

Most games on your smartphone rely on a touchscreen interface to control the action, so Qualcomm is introducing a way to make your touches count. The company's Game Quick Touch feature can improve responsiveness by up to 20% in games running at 60 frames per second; in 120 fps games, response tims are cut by 10%.

In addition to all the other components on a Snapdragon 8 series chipset, you'll also find an AI engine that impacts multiple tasks across a smartphone. The Snapdragon 888 introduces a new 6th-generation AI Engine along with a Hexagon 780 processor that's more efficient and powerful than previous versions.

Many of the improvements to the Snapdragon 888's AI engine can be traced to a new architecture Qualcomm is using. The Tensor, Scalar and Vector AI accelerators have been fused in this version, allowing them to work together as one unit so they can share memory for faster performance.

That promises a number of benefits for AI-powered features. The Tensor Accelerator's Compute capacity has doubled, while the Scalar Accelerator is 50% more powerful. Qualcomm says you can expect up to a 3x performance per watt improvement from its last mobile processing platform, with the AI engine able to perform 26 tera operations per second (TOPS). For context, the Snapdragon 865 provided 15 TOPS, which was pretty impressive when it was introduced a year ago.

All of this translates to a more responsive device when it comes to working with the camera, voice assistant and any other part of the phone where responsiveness is key. The AI engine on the Snapdragon 888 can provide capabilities like noise suppression when you're on a phone call to cancel out ambient noise around you or AI-based upscaling on videos so that you can watch them at enhanced resolutions.

Last year's top-of-the-line Snapdragon chipset included a Qualcomm Sensing Hub to help with activities such as screen awake, lift and activity detection, and audio prompts. The Snapdragon 888 introduces the second generation version of that hub, with its own dedicated AI processor. That makes the revised Qualcomm Sensing Hub even more contextually aware of its surroundings.

A demo that Qualcomm showed off at its tech summit illustrated how the sensing hub could detect where you parked your car in a multi-level garage, all without any user input. The sensing hub can also detect different sounds like a baby crying and respond with an appropriate notification.

We've talked about 5G, but that's only part of the Snapdragon 888's connectivity capabilities. This is a Wi-Fi 6-enabled device, as you might expect, so it will connect efficiently to Wi-Fi 6-ready networking gear. The Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 mobile connectivity system can support wireless speeds of up to 3.6 Gbps.

On the security front, the Snapdragon 888 supports features such as a hypervisor that can quickly switch between isolated OSes on your phone. (Think setting up work and personal profiles on phones that keep apps and other data localized to specific profiles.) This is also the first Content Authenticity Initiative-compliant smartphone camera for capturing cryptographically-sealed photos.

Perhaps one of the more noteworthy enhancements brought about with the Snapdragon 888 is Qualcomm's QuickCharge 5 technology. It's capable of supporting up to 100W chargers, with the promise of providing a 50% charge to a phone in 5 minutes. Even if your future phone doesn't recharge at that blistering speed, faster charging looks to be on the horizon with Snapdragon 888-powered devices that employ the latest version of QuickCharge.

While all those features give us an overview of what the Snapdragon 888 brings to the table, we're going to have to wait for a device powered by the new chip to fully appreciate its capabilities. Certainly, getting to test a Snapdragon 888-powered phone will let us compare Qualcomm's latest to the chips powering Apple's new phones.

But there's a lot to anticipate about the Snapdragon 888 beyond just speed improvements. The new camera capabilities in particular promise to push mobile photography forward, and the gaming features will further cement the smartphone's place as a device for serious gamers. Qualcomm has introduced a lot of key enhancements with the Snapdragon 888, and we're looking forward to see how that translates to new mobile experiences.

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