Getting building Permits!

Val, draftswoman just called and told us that she already turned in our building permits (one for house, one for shed) in to the county!

A copy of the plans is on the way to us, and she already dropped off a copy with a contractor friend of hers. WOO HOO!

GB and I made out a list of stuff that needs to be done regarding the land/ house. We divvied it up and put things in order of importance. The level of organization we need to pull this off is daunting in some ways. There are just SO many details- and we haven't even really started yet.

I think that once we secure a contractor, we'll be in a good place as far as the house. But the power system is what really intimidates me. We've got GB on that, since I'm terrified of it. If you're reading this and confused.....
The land is off grid. Power lines are pretty close, and I suppose if we really wanted to, we could shell out some serious $$ for poles and get hooked up to the local power company. But currently on the Big Island we're paying amongst the highest in the state, and the HIGHEST in the country for power. AND.... HELCO (Hawaiian Electric Light C0.) just requested a large rate increase and they got it (it actually went into effect this last week, but still needs complete approval- the increase basically pays for legal and other costs incurred by HELCO when a proposed expansion of a power plant into the conservation district was legally challenged) .

Our bill at home right now is about $250+ - that includes GB's office, but does NOT include hot water, cooking, dryer, etc..... It's very expensive. With the new rate increase I think we'll see another $11 added on the bill (and there was a rate increase just last year as well).

So.... given all of that.... the idea of not paying into such a system sounds pretty nice. Of course we'll be paying a lot up front, but it'll be nice to not be paying into HELCO every month.

Well that turned into a long-winded rant.....