Well Heck

I'm famous. My story made the front page of the local paper. Ok, ok, that isn't saying much, especially given the quality of our newspaper, but it's something. Here is the article. Note: I left the names of the officials, but initialized the names of private citizens to protect their privacy.

P and Z urged to resolve trailer placement issue

by TISH BUTTS Staff Writer

Grenada City Manager Sidney Runnels has suggested an increase in Planning and Zoning authority regarding manufactured home placement.

Runnels and Councilman Steve Richardson both attended Tuesday's meeting of the commission and agree that P and Z should approve the issue of replacing an existing mobile with a newer mobile home.

Both said the matter is completely different from locating a mobile home onto new property. In this case, the mobile home existed on the property before the request was presented to the commission.

Rebecca G. of R Road requested permission to replace her old mobile home with a new one. G. presented the commission with a list of names from 30 of her neighbors who approved of the new mobile home.

P and Z Commissioner Mickey Boyette compared the request with one made by M. J. last month. The matters differ because G. already resided in the mobile home on her property. She also had the approval of her neighbors. J. wanted to bring a new mobile home onto new property.

Wanda Palmer made a motion to deny the approval because relocating a mobile home is a matter for the city council. P and Z Commissioner James Miller seconded.

"I think it's a waste of time," said Runnels. "I think the matter should be processed here."

Palmer withdrew her motion.

Boyette motioned to approve the replacement. However, Stanford Amos suggested P and Z go through the normal process until the city council officially hands over authority to P and Z.

Runnels suggested Pa and Z approve the matter at last night's meeting. He said he will present the approval to the city council at the work session Thursday.

Amos seconded. The commission approved unanimously.

Ok, well, it was a whole lot juicier than that, and it wasn't quite unanimous. Wanda Palmer voted no, but still it was 4-1. I sure would love to have a copy of the tape of that meeting. It was something, I tell you. J told me that it was a total setup. City councilmen don't usually attend P & Z meetings, yet there were three of them there last night, one being the city manager. J told me that his son M called him at work and told him Mr. Runnels got a chewing by an older member of the city council. He said Mr. Runnels shouldn't have done that without him there. J's coworker overheard the conversation (it was on the speakerphone) and said of the older councilman, "That sorry ----------. He's sorry, he's always been sorry, and his son is sorry, too." The entire conversation was sprinkled with epithets I daren't repeat here.

So this afternoon, after Cody got off the bus, we went down to the trailer place and picked one out. We had already pretty much decided on the floor plan we wanted, but that one was with metal siding and a metal roof. I wanted vinyl siding and a shingled roof. It also didn't have a dishwasher. I was going to have them special order me one just the way I wanted it. Well, when I got down there, they had just what I'd ordered! I'd spoken with the salesman about what I'd wanted, but I hadn't told him to order it because I wanted to wait until I was sure it would be approved by the City. He must have gone ahead and ordered it anyway, or else someone made a really good guess. The only differences were that I woudn't have ordered a separate shower stall in the master bath, and this one has it. Also, I would have chosen grey siding with blue shutters. This one has a tannish color siding with blue shutters. But those were inconsequential differences as far as I'm concerned.


This is the kitchen. I won't be getting the table and chairs, and all the decorative stuff will be taken out before it is delivered. But it's a nice sized kitchen and has a dishwasher already installed. That was sort of the kicker.

This is the living room looking toward the kitchen area. I really liked how it is divided. Most mobile homes have one big room in the middle--half kitchen and half living room. That little cabinet there will hold a TV. I didn't take a picture of the other direction because, well, there's just not much to look at. Once it is delivered and set up, I'll take more pics of the rest of the house.

P.S. The post is way down here because my pictures are so big. I had to link from Photobucket again, and the pics are bigger than they would be if I'd uploaded them to blogger. I didn't want to resize them, so here they are in all their glory!