Framed!

So, as you can see below, the framing is in place for my grand masterpiece. Before I could bask for long in that feat, I had to resolve the $50 snow removal citation - apparently they only handed out warnings last year. I got to meet the Town Counsel and the prosecutor who handles these violations; they're nice enough guys, but their hands were tied as to how much slack they could cut me. At least they brought the fine down from $100 to $50 - it's something. If anyone is morbidly curious as to the specific nuances of the code, click here to read all about it.


In other more important news, the Town sent us their official plan review today, which means all of the inspectors have meticulously scoured our plans and issued their recommended changes to the plan in bullet-point form. Despite the review comprising some 16 pages, only a few unanticipated issues presented themselves; most of the plan review is what Jeff refers to as "boiler-plate", or cookie cutter, in that each inspector has a list of recommendations that they have to include with all submissions. The unexpected hurdles are:

- all entrances and fixtures must comply with applicable accessibility code (read: ADA)
- the water service running into the building must be enlarged
- all cabling (electrical, phone, internet, etc) must be run above the drop ceiling
- the hot water heater and furnace require additional ventilation

Thankfully for my state of mind and general wellbeing, Jeff ran into the building inspector today as he was going to pull permits, and resolved the ADA issue for the restrooms by promising not to remove and re-install the toilets and sinks, as we'd originally planned; instead, we'll simply work around them in order to avoid having to replace everything and reconfigure the restroom dimensions and layout. Jeff is going to meet with the building inspector to further discuss the plan review tomorrow, and resolve the remaining issues.

The eight-inch step-in height from the sidewalk into the front door presents a unique dilemma. Given that the Town is going to tear up and rebuild the sidewalk in a year or so, anything they make me do will be temporary. I'm hoping they allow me to get by for a year and then make it ADA accessible when the new sidewalk is built at a higher elevation than its predecessor.

The more significant issue involves the water service. This one hit us from the blind side; we never saw it coming. We are not doing anything to the building to require it to draw more water. The only thing we're really doing that will have any effect on water consumption relative to the previous layout is adding an extra hand sink, as per the health inspector's mandate. Since we don't anticipate using any more water than the previous restaurant, we never thought twice about the size of the water service going into the building, figuring it would be grandfathered in. If Jeff can work his powers of persuasion, hopefully it ultimately will be.

The only thing required of me is to provide a list of all the restaurant equipment I'll be using, to ensure that it is UL-tested and approved for restaurant use. Oh, and I have to provide the fire inspector with a layout of my tables and chairs, so that they can determine maximum occupancy.

The only other thing I did today was meet again with the rep from Insight TV advertising. It's premature for me to go that route right now, what with the uncertainty revolving around my grand opening date and the initial sales I'll generate; however, whenever I'm ready to hit the airwaves, they've got a number of interesting options. One of them involves my logo being featured prominently on the Jumbotron at the Feb. 27 ISU men's basketball game. Of course, unless I'm open and doing business by then that makes no sense whatsoever. The $750 price tag gives me some pause, too, especially when you think of it as the equivalent of 100 t-shirts or 500 refrigerator magnets (or three tricycles, which David and I ever so briefly pondered as an alternative means of delivery, until Ste and his Champaign staff told us it was a dumbass idea). It also just occurred to me that, unless ISU has made radical upgrades, their Jumbotron is stuck in 1989 - and thus does not have the requisite graphics to really excite the imagination. Still, it's worth considering for the future.

It looks like Friday may be a prime day for finishing my paint job, including the ladder work (45 degrees and cloudy - which doesn't matter for me because my storefront gets no sun during the winter anyways). Aside from that, I have a giant packet of paperwork from ADP to fill out in order to get my payroll account set up, and I still need to line up a second foodservice distributor and pay a plethora of bills. I'll also be meeting Todd in the afternoon to get my bank papers signed. More soon.