Mountain Meadows Subdivision

I am thinking that if the hay were cut down in the new Mountain Meadow subdivision and the place were a little better taken care of the realty company could actively begin marketing the lots therein to the crop of managers that have to come from somewhere to fill positions at the new industries locating themselves in Cassia County. Pacific Ethanol, DOT Foods, et al. have to bring in managers, McCain Foods has new folk coming into the area as well. Keystone Realty group appear to be satisfied with sitting on the fence and waiting for people to come in and accidentally find the place. To bad. A little thoughtful marketing would go a long way to making this a viable subdivision.

Campus Tour

I was the humble recipient of a tour of the near completed Miller Hall at the old Albion Normal School Campus. My tour guide was gracious and rather excited with the prospect of seeing this long neglected resource being brought back to life.

The site has been significantly improved, i.e. the approach has been graded and is a pleasant tree-lined climb to the parking lot, the ground are weed, debris and detritus free. The exterior of the building has been touched up, yet retains it's turn of the century feel. Upon entering Miller Hall one is struck by the amount of work already invested in this once dilapidated building and the remarkable amount left to do with the grand opening coming up soon. The ground floor includes some of the rooms, including ADA accessible berths and baths, as well as a large kitchen and dining area. The decor is tasteful and not altogether out of character for the building. The second floor is mostly berths and baths, but there is a library at the south end of the building that abuts an enclosed veranda. The third (and last) floor is an open media / game room that I am sure will take on different uses by the various clientèle that let this building for their varying purposes.

The floor plan can be viewed at http://albioncampusgrove.com/floorplan.html
Take a look at the rest of the site, it is well done and quite informative.

On the speculation and rumor front, McMurray (sp?) Hall appears to be on the docket for the next round of renovation. I have to wonder if the next building is going to be purposed differently within the business plan or it is an extension of the Miller Hall plan? I could see one of these building being used as an industrial site for some non-noxious effort. A brewery immediately comes to mind as I have seen a number of boutique breweries across the country that cater to local populations and grow into grand concerns later in life. There are a couple of pubs in town that could be the first purveyors of Albion Breweries wares.

Finally, I can agree with Salli

Always Think Forfeiture”

Earlier this year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives put out a request for bids to produce a bunch of Leathermans for ATF trainees. Part of the request was that the Leathermans be inscribed with the phrase "Always Think Forfeiture," a reminder to the agents-in-training of what the agency apparently sees as its most important task.

The plan was halted after objections from Idaho Rep. William Sali. Sali is now introducing legislation preventing any federal agency from pushing a forfeiture-first mentality on its agents.

(Hat tip to Agitator)

INFURIATING!

Your tax dollars at work:

http://www.nbc15online.com/news/local/st…

(BILOXI, MS) June 3 — What are people who receive FEMA assistance doing to help themselves? That’s the question NBC 15’s Andrea Ramey asked those who have been staying for free in hotel rooms after they moved out of FEMA supplied travel trailers. What she found out is there are some who are doing very little.

The scorching heat puts many at the Quality Inn poolside, but for Gwenester Malone, she chooses to beat the heat by setting her thermostat to sixty degrees. Malone’s room for the past three months, along with three meals daily, have all been paid for by taxpayers.

“Do you work?” asked NBC 15’s Andrea Ramey.

“No. I’m not working right now,” said Malone.

… “Since the storm, I haven’t had any energy or pep to go get a job, but when push comes to shove, I will,” said Malone.

…Kelley Christian also stays at a hotel for free. She says she’s not taking advantage of her situation, but admits it’s easy to do. “It’s too easy. You know, once you’re there, you don’t have to pay rent,” said Christian. “I kept putting it off and putting it off and now, I’m tired of putting it off.”

…As for Malone, she says she’s not seeing any drug activity at her hotel. It’s too nice she says. Why would she want to leave?

FEMA has not been able to provide the exact totals as to how much all the meals and hotel rooms are costing taxpayers, but FEMA has said repeatedly it works with people continuously to find permanent housing, and it will not leave anyone homeless.

Since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast nearly three years ago…
(Hat tip to TJICistan)

Horseshoe League

Albion has some sweet horse shoe pits in the park, we need a weekly horseshoe league over the summer. Where are my horseshoe throwing peoples at? Someone organize this.

Rumors and speculation

- The Albion Heritage Group has a good looking website up. Check it out. They seem to be closing in on getting Miller Hall completed. This means some folks coming to the area and spending some time there. Are we going to see an uptick in business revenue? I would guess so for the four businesses in town. Is it time that someone invested some capital in a symbiotic business? (By symbiotic I mean mutually beneficial.) I guess the answer will be born out as we see if the Mortenson's succeed or fail in this monumental endeavor. If the Campus turns into a hub of activity, there should be some opportunity for folks.

- Are the property lines actually barriers to construction in Albion? I have talked to two different guys that are trying to deal with neighbors that have built on their property. On case was an unclear property line. But seriously, if you aren't positive shouldn't you hire a surveyor? The second case is pure malfeasance. Someone knowing exactly where the line is and they go ahead and build an out building that goes ten feet over the line. That would push me over the edge. Property rights are the foundation of freedom and this kind of disrespect cannot be tolerated.

- Mountain Meadow's subdivision has a new house under construction. Eight down and fourteen to go. The lots in the cul-de-sac are supposed to be $50K each. That is some expensive real estate. I am not sure that anyone is going to pay that price when the roads to your house aren't even paved. C'mon. I am going to blame that one on the the city council for not making demanding that one entry be paved by the developer.

Long time, no blog

I am going to work hard to re-invigorate this blog. That is probably going to entail increased frequency of posts and some more interesting content. If there are others that are interested in blogging about the real estate market here in Albion (the entire valley would be appropriate), drop a comment and I will get with you.