Met with Kate Briggs as planned this morning. She issued, on the spot, our building permit for the Wood Shed, which we have to prominently display for ten days. On a more contentious note, Kate INSISTS that our wood walkway is NOT a handicap access ramp (‘cause, she says, such a ramp can only provide access to a dwelling) and that the walkway is a “structure” in spite of the fact that it is not among the items listed in the Zoning Bylaws structure definition. We agreed to disagree on both those points. Compromise solution: I am adding the walkway to the Building Permit Application that is being submitted for our proposed dock building (that needs a setback waiver) so that the Zoning Board of Adjustment can consider them as a package. The ZBA hearing will be on 24 September. While I was meeting with Kate, the Glassner’s former handyman came in to inquire about building a dock for one of his clients. Kate said that so long as the dock is a temporary structure, i.e., capable of being removed from the water by “two strong men”, then no permit is required from the Town. I don’t think Kate has any idea what even a small wooden dock weighs. The design I am submitting with the dock building / wood walkway application includes the 24 x 12 dock I intend to build, constructed to meet the State requirements for a dock for which no State permit is required. As I was leaving our meeting, Kate expressed regrets that I’m not a full time resident and thus not available to help with rewriting the Leicester Zoning Bylaws… apparently an ongoing project. Methinks a blessing in disguise! Returned to Fern Lake, I put the Ranger into winter storage, i.e., disconnected the battery and called USAA to modify the insurance coverage. Also called the Storm King portable generator manufacturer to find out why the electric start no longer works. Get this: the generator does NOT recharge the starting battery when it is operating, so a few hundred starts later, the battery is out of juice. What idiot designed that system???? Planned to slow cook some spareribs all day. Opened the oven to ignite the pilot light and found… yes, the mouse (mice) had removed all of the rest of Dolores’ insulation and made another Taj Mahal-quality nest therein. Fetched the shop vac to remove said nest and found a baby mouse cowering in the back of the oven. On my way into Middlebury to
