Noble Commons THOW Community

We are so close to opening out doors, it’s hard to believe. I’m not ready to say, “We’re open” quite yet, but the only thing that’s missing are two inspections (stormwater and zoning) and paving the entrance. That’s it. After months of checklists with dozens and dozens of items, my current checklist includes, “start cantaloupe seeds” and “sweep pollen off porch” – it still includes quite a few small tasks for the community, but I’m no longer neglecting my house while working 10-hour days outside Friday through Sunday. Can you believe it? We hope to have our first residents move in within the next couple of weeks.
Yesterday, I put up the street signs – mostly a few “one-way” and “STOP” signs. I felt like an imposter. Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of official DOT “sign person?” But apparently, you can just buy street signs and stick them in the ground without any special permission. Done. We also finished the lighting. I had bought solar bollard lights to light the street without shining light into people’s homes. All the experienced contractors were making fun of me for it and told me that I needed “real lights,” that solar wouldn’t work in the trees, and that I had to put in more conduit for lights. Well, it looks awesome (at least I think so) and they all come on just fine after a few hours of sun.
“Paving the entrance” had seemed like an easy final step, but it turned into a month-long search for a paving contractor. We had originally sourced this out to the Utility Contractor, but their “guy” was no longer willing to do it (a year after the original bid, so I get it). I couldn’t get anyone to call me back and neither did the Utility Contractor. After a month of both of us calling around we finally found someone – of course at a 25% increase in cost, but we expected that. If you didn’t grow up “in the South” - I’m sorry, I know this is total stereotyping, but it is one of my important take aways from this project – people don’t just say no (that’s impolite), they take your call, tell you they’ll get back with you by the end of the week and then don’t. So you call again. Same statement. Nothing. Until you ask your Southern friends, who say, “He said “no” the first time, why did you keep calling?” Sigh. I’m heading out to the greenhouse to plant cantaloupe seeds now…

Weekly update 3/15/2026 – another productive and at the same time completely unproductive week. All trenches are covered and the road crew is making good progress. We need one more good work day to finish all earth moving and rock work before having it consolidated with “the roller”. The road roller machine was here once before for the infamous proof roll and I can tell you that it makes the house shake and feels like an earthquake the entire time it runs. We need it to be dry before we can use it, so it doesn’t try to compact mud – and, of course, there is a “severe weather event” forecast for tomorrow. Sigh. We weren’t able to schedule any electric inspections last week. In the process of splitting one permit into three, somehow we have to start all over again, plus, we got assigned a part-time remote plan reviewer who is not responding to emails or voicemails (probably because he only works one day a week). We already have the permit, the electric service kiosks are built and ready to be inspected and he is asking us to submit calculations and sketches before we start building. The electrician is not sure how to upload documents and I don’t have access because it’s an “electric only” permit. Sigh. I had the inspection for the timberframe gazebo scheduled, but we failed because we didn’t schedule a “footing inspection” first. There are no footings. The building sits on sills. Plus, I have to be available for the inspector, so I scheduled the inspection for Wednesday (when I don’t work until late afternoon), but the inspector rescheduled for Thursday morning (when I do work). Sigh. On a positive note, we finished the dumpster enclosure and the concrete footings for the solar lights and the flag pole. I spread grass seed and placed straw mats to hold the seeds down (to reduce erosion). I insulated all the sanitary hydrants, which the county required (even though they can get plugged in during cold spells) and picked up old stakes and trash everywhere. Weather permitting, we’ll complete all the roads and parking pads next week, place the light posts, and get those inspections figured out. We are so close I can actually see an end (while still sighing a lot). P.S. We also had someone flood the garage by forgetting to turn off the faucet before leaving for work (the hot water off course) and a water pipe burst in the house, dripping water into the downstairs bathroom from above. Just in case you thought we didn't have a life outside of this project.