Good morning Allen, seems like everyone went on a holiday

 

I'm still here....... Have to leave in about 20 min tho. Need to get the shop warmed up for Mikey at 0900...

 

I slept in this morning!! Don't do that much, but sometimes it just feels good!!

 

Is he going to make this week? I heard something about frosen fog again!!

 

He just called and said he's on his way...

 

Cool, it was raining and windy here last night, about 32*

 

Good morning Oregon and everyone everywhere else. 39.3 and clear at the moment. Sun is just peeking up over the eastern horizon. Red sky in morning, sailor take warning...

 

Morning Jim! Have a great day guys! Heading to the shop to get it warm.......

 

You and Mikey have fun Don

 

Have a good day Don. Need to get back outside for a few and get a couple of things done before the next battle starts with FEMA and NFIP.

 

Jim, what's the deal with FEMA... obviously it's floodplain/floodway stuff?

 

Just got back in from outside and that wind is enough to freeze that poor brass monkey.

 

Morning guys checking in late, see other are off and running. Will catch up with you in the PM.

 

Long story Tiny, we would need a 5 day GTG to get through it all.
The "short" version is:

What our most pressing current problem is, and what we seem to have to fight every year, comes from FEMA/NFIP mucking about with our flood insurance policy without my authorization.

For the last 3 or 4 years someone somehow has managed to increase the insured amount either by the "Option B" 10%, or substantially beyond the 10% after we have issued specific orders / instructions that it was not to be altered in one little bit. Found out last year that the substantial increase came from B of A Home Loans who held the note on it at that time. We tried to get it changed back but couldn't because NFIP claims they "lost" the paper work and then claimed it was outside the renewal period.

This year, during the "renewal period", we went to our agent and he got the policy changed back to the original value we wanted on the property which should have resulted in a $150 premium refund to the escrow account. When I got the mortgage statement this month, I saw that NFIP finally got around to refunding the premium overage, but it was not as much as it should have been.

What I was able to find out yesterday from NFIP was that an "unknown party from an unknown source" ordered an increase in the covered amount. He acknowledged the policy change from my agent in October, but said right after they got that, someone increased the coverage again, however there is no paperwork, policy change notice or anything else to support the "who, what or why". The new mortgage note holder denies having anything to do with it. NFIP is refusing to change it back without another policy adjustment request form.

 

Ugh! I presume that this is on your home and not the farm.

FEMA (Federal Employees Milling Around) is a MAJOR PITA!

One of our projects is crossing a creek... we planned to build a bridge across it. We have been fighting with FEMA for almost a year regarding the floodway/floodplain. Keep in mind that this work is being done by local experts in this matter. FEMA insists that their maps are more accurate than the at the site/on the ground work that we did. If we would like to dispute their maps it takes about a year's worth of paperwork to get the map officially amended. The property in question is several hundred feet from the work site. It's only about 50 square feet in size. I have spent thousands (more like 10's of thousands) of our taxpayer's dollars working on this one issue.

This particular creek has been so corrupted over the years that it barely resembles a creek. It's full of all kinds of debris and has been channelized by development and construction. Any work that we do along this waterway will be a significant improvement to the area. Sometimes it just doesn't make any sense.