Double check.

Had to do it.

Called the county again, one last time before I get my name stuck on a piece of paper and owe 20 year note on.  

Simple question: "I intend on building an RV park in the county outside of city limits, what permits do I need?".

"Can you hold on a second?" "Yes"

20 seconds later: "There are no permits required to build in unincorporated areas of Harrison County. The only thing you'll need is permitted through (whatever she said department) for septic".  "Oh, I thought septic was all done through the state?"  "No, it goes through the county" - the state doles that responsibility out to the separate counties to deal with but deal with it according to state law.

This could be a sticking point.  Or should I say this could end up costing more than anticipated, who knows.  Everyone on that street has their own septic system so not being able to get one isn't an issue. But the state is pretty strict about the rules and they don't really give much specifics beyond the need for a professional licensed contractor approved by the state.

That is something I definitely want done by the code, by the book, I don't need county or state officials coming and telling me to shut down the operation because - whatever.  Whatever it costs, it's going to be done correctly.  

But, I have the again noted sigh of relief that I have made the call twice now, this time specifically referencing an RV park and this time and again, no, there are no restrictions or permits necessary,l tho she did specify "if" for rent, without further elaboration.  I didn't bother to ask, I am not selling lots, its' definitely a rental proposition..  She is wrong in one aspect tho.  I think anyway. There is a permit required for "disturbing over one acre of land". That and the septic are the only things I have ever found in doing a lot of clicking on the internet. I forogot to ask her, but it's simply a permit designed to force you to put up those 2 foot high plastic "walls" to keep too much dirt from moving around.  

Speaking of that, I need a good, heavy rain to come.  I don't mean a light or medium rain, I need a down pout and for it to last a while.  We've got to determine what kind of water runoff drainage is going to be needed.  I envision simply trenching down a bit to ensure a defined waterway and putting rock in any ditches that need to exist.  

The real reason is to see where I may have issues with water draining across any potential pad sites. It may well be that I can only really determine that after removing all the trees and creating the pads.  Rainwater waterways can be altered, easily actually.  Got water running across a pad? Create a waterway to run the water away from it and even drainage if it's tending to pool.  

There are specific types of gravel that can be used that allow water to drain right through it instead of pooling up on top of it.  I'm nowhere near needing gravel right now, that's after all the driveways and pads are formed and all the water, sewer and electric are already installed. It's at the end of the job, in other words.  

Oh yes, another reason I called them today was because of the roads.  Do they care if there is going to be more vehicles - and heavier in nature than cars or pickups - over that particular county road? Yes, the road has a name but it also has a county number designation.  They literally don't care around here.  The reason I keep getting jolted about it is because I read of people attempting build their own parks in other states and they go through a maze of regulation they have to adhere to from the local county.  There is a county in Mississippi I kept getting directed to when doing Google searches that basically make it look impossible to build an RV park.  Tons of restrictions and codes enacted by the county. Regardless, I've seen water tankers on that road and I've seen RV's driving down it. Not many, mind you, but they do travel there.  

I think my next door neighbors are probably not going to like what's going to happen after this thing is up and going.  I don't intend on an extremely noisy operation, not at all. In fact, my rules will be along the lines of people keeping it more on the quiet side and strict enforcement of after 10:00 curfew - that's just a thing where you aren't allow to make excessive noise and yes, you define what that is.  I know they won't like the fact that I don't want that tractor-trailer rig parked over there.  Sorry guys, but you have ample room, build a driveway on the side of your house and park it over there.  

I can see how it would be easy to just park on the driveway.  No one lives there, no one to say anything unless it were parked in such a way as to block the driveway, then the gas operators would probably have a cow.  

With that information, I do not intend on asking anyone any permission to do anything.  I will show up out there with a skid steer and start clearing the front land.  I don't even think they have burn permits in the county - they do enact burn bans if it hasn't rained in a while.  

_____________

Well that's a setback.  Yes, the local rental company rents skid steers, no they don't allow it for the intended use with no explanation.  Didn't ask, if they don't allow it, no point in wasting any more time with it.  Found one over in Longview.  That's quite a bit less convenient  in being over 35 miles away versus this local company is about 2 miles from my house.  

It's really hard to consider driving that far to get the thing, pick it up, use it and return it the same day and keep doing that.  Yet, even at $225 per day rental, that's far cheaper than renting a person to do it at $75 per hour.  The difference is obvious. I do 10 hours of work at $225 or pay someone more than 3 times that amount to do it for me.  I'm into the saving money thing at the moment.  Actually the whole thing is going to be done as cheaply as possible without cutting corners.  Well, there is a construction company just outside of town that rents equipment but they don't say what they have available on their website, their primary operation is a construction company with trucks and equipment to clear land and also haul gravel. I have sent them an email query about renting equipment and how much 1,000 tons of driveway gravel, delivered, will run.  Why not? They're local, they have several different types of gravel available, might as well get a quote.  

Weird. I've been suspended for 30 days on my main account on Facebook, so I reverted to an alt account. Anymore they normally suspend that account, too, but ATM, they are allowing me to up posts on my wall and respond to everyone everywhere. Just can't put up new posts in groups.  At some point I suppose they will ban me from FB - this is all minor, petty stuff btw.  

It's raining.  Yup, I said I was going to go to the property and see where the water is running off to the next rain storm and nope, I am not going.  Don't feel like getting wet today and still haven't signed off on the property.  After tomorrow's signing, also going to pay off a personal loan that only has $1,200 left to go on it.  Free up some money for the additional monthly payments I am about to incur.  Sounds like a good idea to me, that loan would be paid off in 8 months anyway, might as well speed that up a bit.  I've never actually been sent anything showing what my monthly payments will be, I have just used a land purchase calculator to figure that out.  Kind of strange now that I think about it. But whatever. The payment calculator takes into consideration the full amount of the property, the down payment, the length of the loan and the interest rate.  So, hopefully $456.56 number is right or at least close to it.  

I doubt they will require insurance but I have put in a request to Allstate anyway.  Property taxes will add around $850 per year.  Apparently the other taxes are coming from the gas companies.  Otherwise it was around $1,250.  I do wonder how much of a loan I will be able to get after I add this land payment to it......it may be the difference between getting the thing up and running - or not.  I hate to get into debt, but atm, there is no other way to get around it if I want this venture to succeed.

I'm starting to get a wee bit excited.  It's Thursday 6:00 pm, closing is 19 hours from now.  Whatever that did to stop me from actually getting some tree clearing done, at least I will get this major hurdle behind me!

G'day.