Approved

See this piece of paper?

That is our Certificate of Conditional Use.

We passed the Damascus Township Supervisor's board tonight, and we are done.  With the local paperwork part of things at least.

The rest of the work is just starting, but for tonight- we are done. 

Public Hearing

We're gearing up for our Public Hearing on Monday, with only a little bit of nervousness.  I'm really really hoping that they will pass us Monday night so that we can get this show on the road.  And while they didn't say specifically that we could invite supporters, they also didn't say that we couldn't, so if you are interested in having a fiber mill in your area and want to come out to show some love, the meeting will be January 16, 2012 at 6:30pm at the Damascus Townsip Municipal Building. 

60 Conklin Hill Road
Damascus, PA 18415

Forward Thinking

Whew.  We had a great time over the holidays but it sort of went by in a blur of being sick and having a house full of people, twice, and I have to say that I'm kind of glad that things are settling down again.  As much as I loved seeing everyone, it's nice to be able to get back to something that resembles normal.  Even if normal for us is a relative term. 

The certified letters to the neighbors have all gone out and the receipts are back, so everyone knows about the upcoming public hearing.  We're not expecting a lot of opposition; in fact, we got a call from one of our  neighbors wanting to know what on earth a "fiber mill" was and why she was getting mail about it.  Adam explained things to her and we got a lot of "well, you have good luck with that" and "bless your heart" so I'm hoping that's a good sign. 

On the more personal fiber side of things, Adam's pointed out an alarming trend to me.  Some people who knit have the capability of realizing that after summer comes fall and then winter, and so if they want warm woolies to wear in January they start thinking about that sometime in June and then by the time the snow hits they're all cozy and warm.  Me?  I got sick the week before Christmas and decided that my feet were cold, so I better start knitting a pair of socks.  Nevermind that I have a whole bin of socks up in the bedroom, going up to get a pair was just too much effort.  Knitting socks seemed like a much better plan.  (I will admit that two weeks later I still only have one sock, half finished.)

Now, I would plead that I was running a bit of a fever at the time and thus not thinking very clearly but I have to admit that yesterday when the cold snap hit my head was cold...

so I knit a new hat.

The moral of this story is that if you can't plan ahead, bulky yarn and size 13 needles are your friend.

Also, if I was smarter, I would start next year's winter knitting now.  But we all know that's just not going to happen.

A Quick Update

The farm/building tour with the township went great this weekend.  Adam conducted the tour while I stayed inside making peppermint patties because for the love of all things wooly it's just too freaking cold to stand outside in our currently unheated garage bay for an hour or so.  Farmers like to talk!  The township planning board love the idea, love the animals, love the farm, love the fact that the building is already there, up to code and doesn't require any additions or exterior renovation and they're just pretty psyched about the whole thing.  It's been wonderful to see how excited people are about what we're trying to do.  And I'm sure it doesn't hurt that one of the board members has a wife that wants us up and running by spring- apparently she has some fleeces that she needs washed and I'm sure he would catch hell at home if he did anything to delay that happening! 

The next step is that the planning board gave their approval to the township supervisors last night, and now we get notified of the date of a public hearing which will be sometime in January.  Before that time, the township will send out letters to our neighbors (anyone within a distance to really care one way or the other) and people will have the opportunity to show up at the meeting to give an opinion and we will be there to answer any questions for them.  If no one shows up, which apparently happens a lot, we have the chance of being passed that day.  Otherwise, the supervisors have the option of waiting until the next meeting so that they have a chance to think about what was said.  But no one is anticipating any problems, which is fantastic.

After that, we get to start working with Belfast to plan our mill and start the *hopefully* minor renovations to the building to make it a business.  And get a license and a tax ID and get the name registered and insurance....  a lot of things will start happening!

But this week it's Christmas, so we've been decorating the farm and getting ready; we're almost there-

and Cisco has been "helping."

(There are currently no presents under our tree because someone would take it upon himself to unwrap them for us.  How...helpful.)

Mill Progress

We're still trying to move forward with the plan for a fiber mill.  This seems like it has taken an exceptionally long time, mostly because I think we don't really fit into any neat category for the township- are we light manufacturing?  Agricultural business?  Textile production?  They don't know.  Things that can't be filed nicely always seem to gum up the works a bit.  Also, my application kept disappearing en route to the township office.  BUT we hand-delivered it last week, which means that last night Adam and I were scheduled to go before the Planning Board.

It went better than expected.  I don't think I was expecting pitchforks and flaming torches, but I always like to be prepared for the worst.  I could tell when we started talking that pretty much only one person had any idea of what in the world we might be talking about, but they seemed to get on board pretty quickly.  I think it helps that although the board is mostly men, and there is sadly far too few male knitters in the world, I have a feeling that most of them probably have a wife or mother or aunt or somebody that knits.  So once we started talking about yarn and such, they could kind of see where we were going with things.  It also helps that we're the kind of business the township likes- local jobs that help small, local farmers.  So next Saturday the planning board will be out at the farm to check out the building for the mill.  After that, they submit their findings to the township supervisors and we have to schedule a date for a meeting and the neighbors have to be notified so that they have the ability to make their opinions known.  I'm not expecting a lot of neighborly resistance, but then again, you never know. 

Keep your fingers crossed for us as we slowly plod ahead- but any progress is still progress.  And at least we have a week to get the garage cleaned out- we'll need it!

Great Wheel

Over Thanksgiving, Adam and I visisted my side of the family.  This trip, we remembered to bring the trailer, which meant that we could bring home the great wheel my grandmother gave us a year ago.

And by great wheel, I mean Great Wheel.  This thing is HUGE. 

It's also in incredible shape, with all the pieces still intact, minus needing a new string for a drive band.  That's pretty amazing, considering that the wheel was found in the attic of the house when my grandparents moved in.

I'm so excited to learn how to spin on it! 

We've been blogged!

Check out the mention we got in a local blog:
http://shoplocalsaveland.com/fresh-from-the-land/local-fibers-featured-gentle-arts-honesdale-pa