Self Storage- beyond. Silver Lake Subdivision

[Henry Clark]

We sold our largest self storage location. See separate post.  Wanting to reinvest back into the market so we do t lose out to inflation. Part of the funds we are closing on a five acre future Storage location.  Will wait a year for building costs to go down

We also just won at auction 75 acres we will do a housing subdivision on.  In another posting I showed our Journeys End subdivision we did.  Sold out in one year. 

Don’t expect this location to selL that quick with interest rates up. 

75 acres of farm ground.  50 acres tillable.  Rest is a big ditch with a running stream of water and very big cottonwood trees. 

Auction process.  We are currently on a 10 day tour in Italy. Rome, Venices. Assisi. Orvieto  Cinque terre. 

Looked the property with our realtor and decided on a top price of $9,000. Bid on $500 increments to $8,000 and then in $100 increments. He called us at dinner in Rome and let us know we got the property

Went down to the last $100 bid to $9,000 to win. 

Next steps. 
A.  Meet with county road group and determine road entrance accesses.  Key issues, we are required a minimum of 2 acre sites and 600 feet of road view each way. 
B.  Pull out our Journeys end subdivision covenants and update them.  Since this is near Silver city.  Might call it Silver lake since we will build 2 or 3 large ponds on it.  Maybe 15 acres in total. 
C.  Determine if we will sell it all under a subdivision whose process took us about 9 months last time.  Or just sell individual lots not in a subdivision.  Which we just need to survey off and record. 
D.  Farmed land. We don’t plan to sell anything for a year so we only pay capital gain and not ordinary income tax.  38%?? Versus 20% tax. 
E.  Farm rental. Hopefully keep the same farmer. Currently $250 per acres on 55 acres.  They have control until March 2023. Since I want access now to do some dirt work and also want them to farm a certain way might offer them the ground for 2023 for zero$.  Plant 100% soybeans next year so ground is smooth and easy to plant grass seed into.  Cornstalks would require me to disc them in. 
F.  Depending on driveway access break the ground up and establish lots. 

Will keep updates along the way. 

[Henry Clark]

As you can see in the pond picture above, things are starting to freeze in Iowa.  We plan to plant about 500 seedlings next spring in a nursery area, and about 300 larger seedlings around the perimeter of the property along the county roads.  Roughly two 40-acre parcels together with about 3/4 miles of road frontage.  The 500 seedlings, I already plowed the rows.  You can see in front of the Mini Excavator.  The other 300 larger seedlings we dug the holes using this mini excavator for a day.  Decided to dig the holes this fall.  The freeze/thaw cycle will bust the dirt up into a powder by Springtime.  if we dug in the spring it would be wet and clods.  A lot easier renting a mini-Excavator for $300 for a day to dig 300 holes.  

Will be a mixture of River Birch, White Pine, Blue Spruce and Red Oak.  The small year 1-to-3-year seedlings will be bareroot and cost about $2.00 each.  We will buy some 3-gallon bucket White Pines and Blue Spruce for $45 each.  Significantly cheaper than the $100 6-to-8-foot trees, with the $150 transplant costs.  800 trees at $250 each planted or $200,000 would have been too much.  Although they would have looked nicer, faster.

The land this nursery is on, is the first two-acre lot leading to about 10 lots.  Want to hold this lot in reserve, since I don't want anyone building there first until back lots start to fill.  Just in case we get a bad owner there.  Also, the trees will be inviting.  These trees will take about 5 years to get to a decent size.  Will give so many free to each lot owner.  Whatever lots are still available about year 4, I will take most of these trees and transplant to those lots, to give them more appeal.  Costing me $150 per tree, for the White Pines in the left of the picture to move 5 miles.  Having these trees here will significantly reduce the price to move.

[Henry Clark]

Rented a skidsteer for the winter $750 per month.  25 hours per month.  We took our skidsteer down to Belize for our Teak plantations.  

About 160 acres flow into this ditch.  Putting a silt pond before it gets to the big ditch where we are building fishing ponds.  This smaller pond will slow the water down.  The silt will fall out in this smaller pond, versus getting into the bigger pond.  Shouldn't be too big of an issue since the farms about have Terraces and are practicing no till.  When the pond gets too much silt in it, many years later, it is easy to scoop it out of this small pond versus the big pond.

Second picture shows the silt pond completed.  The water will fill the pond out and the silt will settle out.  If too much water, it will exit the tube in the middle first.  If way too much water, it will go to the left over the dam spillway.  Need to get some broken concrete and put it below the tube, so the water doesn't erode the ground behind.  Will get some grass seed and grass mats and seed it on Monday.  The grass seed will just sit there until spring.  Lot easier to plant it now while the ground if stirred up, versus in March when it is muddy had we have to prep the soil to plant.  

[Henry Clark]

Bulldozers and excavators going to town.  Trying to get as much done before ground freezes up. 

Have two driveway entrances left to put in.  Just got the culverts in and they will install tomorrow, then do dirt work over them for driveways.  Below is entrance 1.  They have the culvert to place, and the dirt is already set for the driveway.  The small, plowed rows on the left are where I will plant a tree nursery.  You will see two white poles and a couple of piles of dirt in front.  This will be for a central mailbox and School bus stop house for the cold or rainy weather.

Pond and dam contractor moved in two Excavators, one bulldozer and a skid steer.  They plan to hit all of the locations and grub out the trees and brush before the ground freezes. They say it is twice as hard.  Making really good headway today on Dam 1, which is in the picture.  Will have both sides of the creek cleared for the dam site.  Cleared further to the left so people can see the pond better.  The stream at the bottom is about 30 feet from the top of the bank.  Next issue is to find Clay on the property to use for the "Core" of the dam.  This will prevent water from seeping through the dam.  Our road contactor ran into some small boulders just above this.  That is a good sign there is clay there.  Will have them do a test dig to see if clay is there.  We are in an area or ancient Glacial Till.  Boulders usually work their way through loose soil until they hit clay and stop along old drainage ways.

No bills yet.  Have worked with both excavator contractors before so, already know they are reasonable.

Gave a tour to the Realtors today and showed them the lots as I have them marked out.  Will get the surveyor to mark them for the plat map.  Ended up with 25 lots.  We need to sell 10 to breakeven with land costs and development costs.  Our Journeys End Subdivision which you might have read our post sold out in 1 year.  That was 9 lots, but in an excellent location.  Thinking this location will take about 5 years to come close to selling out.  We are cash flowing this deal, so Interest is not eating our lunch.

[Henry Clark]

As driveway entrances and roads are being built, we are coming behind and spreading Brome grass seed and then putting grass mats over that area.  The seed won't sprout since it is too cold, put will sprout as soon as it warms up in the spring, just like mother nature does. This saves us working in the cold mud and dirt in the spring. The grass mat holds the seed in place and also prevents soil erosion.  Once the grass sprouts the grass mat will also help keep moisture in that area.

Who says you can't get high school kids to work.  Seniors going to school 1/2 days.  37 degrees, sunny and no wind.  Feels like summertime.

[Henry Clark]

Dirt excavation continued.  Got culverts in for road entrances.  Need to finish installing one.  Work is on hold subject to zero degree weather and dirt conditions.  If they can do more work, they will.  Brush in the new pond areas was removed.  Won't build the actual ponds until the ground thaws out in the spring.  Need to order drainage pipes.

County Engineer called me up and slapped my hand.  If you do less than 1 acre of dirt work, you don't have to report.  We ended going over and need to fill out several forms.  Need to get our Soil conservation plan to him by Jan 13th or he will issue a citation.  Should make it.

Regional Iowa DNR also called me.  Someone reported I was doing dirt work.  Based on the extent of the work, they wanted a NPDES permit filled out.  This will require me to have a conservation plan and to develop a weekly monitoring system.  All depends on the size of the soil disturbance whether you need to file.  They decided I needed to.  Have to file an application with them and also do a posting in our local paper.

Waiting on surveyor to complete surveys of entrances, dams and roadways so I can show where dirt was excavated and filled.  I will then make a Soil Erosion and conservation plan.  

There are 4 entities I need to deal with:

a. County engineer

b.  County Soil Conservation group

c.  State Department of Natural resources

d.  Corp of Engineers.

Different trigger points determine the degree to which I have to deal with the groups above.  Their primary concerns are soil erosion and soil flowing downstream.

Below is the Soil Conservation plan I plan to use and follow:  The one area they might have me change is my using and referencing pre-existing field terraces for soil control.  They may require me to install Silt Fence on the downward side of all disrupted areas.  Putting a larger dam near the property line of the downward flow area.  This will catch all of the areas being disturbed as far as silt.  In addition to those sites individual plans.

Soil Conservation and Erosion Plan

Silver Springs Subdivision

01/04/2023

Soil conservation and Erosion plan for Silver Springs Subdivision. Northeast corner of Dobney and 275th street. SW1/4 SE ¼ Section 15, Township 73, Range 42, Mills County.

Description of project: Developing a subdivision with lots ranging from 2 acres to about 10 acres. Will end up with around 25 lots. This plan is just for the development of the overall subdivision. Individual lots will be sold separately and those home builders will maintain those soil plans individually as needed.

Driveway Entrances- Generally 25 feet wide by 60 feet deep. There are 9 entrances from County roads Dobney and 275th street. Each entrance will have brome grass seeded and grass mat applied to the shoulders and ditch areas. Road surfaces themselves will be either crushed rock or concrete.

Driveways- Generally 25 feet wide with approximately 20 foot shoulders; about ½ mile in length in total. Brome grass seeded and grass mats applied to shoulders of driveways. Hay bales applied to slow water flow down along driveways as needed. This 75 acres is an existing farm field with Terraces already in place. All driveways and roadways have immediate pre-existing grass terraces in place below the roads and entrances. Where terraces were cut through for roads to pass, we filled the ends of the cut terraces to prevent water erosion. About 200 feet of Terraces was displaced. And applied grass mats and Brome seeding.

Dams:

Dam 1- East side of property near farthest East property line. This is in a ditch that crosses in the middle of the property from West to East. Dam depth will be about 25 feet deep at the deepest point and about 150 feet across. This is a narrow pond due to the structure of the ditch. Drainage pipe will be installed in the middle. Overflow will be on the north side. Concrete rip rap will be placed in the overflow area and directly behind the Drain pipe effluent end.

Dam 2- Approximately the middle of the property. This is a pre-existing silt pond that catches the drainage area to the South of the property across Dobney road, which flows to the north. Silt in pond in being removed. All weed trees are being removed from dam site. Drainage tube being installed in the northeast corner. Concrete riprap is being placed below the drainpipe. Dam itself is being raised about 5 feet. All areas of the dam itself will be seeded to brome seed and Grass mats will be applied.

Dam 3- The west 1/3 of the property. We are putting a silt pond in to a ditch, that feeds into the larger ditch in the middle of the property. This water flows from the south drainage area across Dobney road. Dam height will be about 12 foot high, with drain pipe in the middle and overflow to the east side of the dam. Concrete riprap will be placed at the effluent side of the Drainage pipe. All areas of the dam will be seeded to Brome grass and covered in Grass mat.

Dam 4- This is a very small silt pond about 20 x 20 x 5 on the north side of the property in the first ¼. There are no terraces here. This will catch any silt from the North West corner of the property, prior to it getting into the big middle ditch. This is seeded to Brome grass and has grass mats applied.

Soil burroughs: Two sites on the property will be leveled with the surrounding fields and used for fill dirt for the roads and dams. No dirt will leave or be brought onto the property. The two burrough sites are about 1 acre and ½ acre in size. These sites will be seeded to brome. They both have pre-existing grass terraces directly below or next to them.

Fields: Currently stubble from corn or soybeans. They will be seeded to Brome grass by a no-till drill in the spring time and allowed to go to a grass field for the future.

[Henry Clark]

Soil erosion Plan:

1.  DNR- NPDES 2 plan.  Received approved notification.  This covers all of our activities.

2.  DNR/Corp Eng- floodplain.  This is actually in a hilly area, but you still need to do Flood plain analysis.  Even though the name is FloodPlain, it covers potential animal loss, downstream flooding, etc.  Plus if it is in a Flood plain.

3.  Local DNR- SWPP weekly check up.  You have to maintain a weekly report of your erosion practices, any additions or changes to the practices, weather occurrences and impact on the site.

4.  USDA local Soil Conservation board- they approve your erosion plans from a Soil Conservation standpoint, versus an erosion standpoint.

Got all of the applications out.  Waiting on approvals, changes or additions needed.

[Henry Clark]

GeoGrid.  Recieved the first load of Geogrid material.  This will be used on the roads.  

We are required to have a 24-foot-wide road.  This particular item is 13 feet wide.  Will overlap by 1 foot each way, which is what the manufacturer recommends.

Will use 1 to 1 1/2-inch recycled concrete with the "Fines".  If you use to small or just "Clean" without the "Fines", that is a good chance your material will filter through the mesh.

Need to put 4 to 6 inches of material on it.  Dumptrucks will drive over the mesh and drive forward and spread rocks over it.  Our Excavator guys are really good at spreading it evenly out of the dump trucks.

You want to end up with a "Crown" in the middle to move water off the road.

Why use Geogrid mesh.  Be careful there is also Geogrid fabric, which is for a different application.

This mesh can come in triangles as shown or rectangles. We have used rectangles in the past and a heavier material.

Normally if you're putting a rock road down, you should put 3 inch "clean" rock down and mash it into the ground.  This bigger rock makes a base.  If you put little rock down, it keeps sinking into the ground.  You will note, I said 3 inch "Clean" rock and not with the "Fines".  You don't want to make a Road surface; you want a base.  If you put the Fines it, it doesn't sink as well, and you end up with a rough surface.

The Geogrid allows you not to put down a 3-inch base.  You can go directly to the 1 or 1 1/2 inch with fines.  This reduces your rock needs by 1/2.  Also, the geogrid disburses the weight load of even concrete trucks across the roadway versus just where the tires are, making the road stronger, even with less rock.  Potholes have never occurred where we have used this material for driveways and parking.  No holes occur due to the fabric.  Thus, no waterholes to trap water.  Thus, no potholes as you drive over the waterholes and displace soil.

[Henry Clark]

Light and easy to roll off.

Comes in different lengths and widths.  12 foot, 13 feet, 16 feet wide.

Doesn't degrade.  

[Henry Clark]

Rolled out two rolls only needed to overlap 1 foot but did a 4-foot overlap to fit this private drive. Our shared drives are 24 feet; thus, we will overlap by one foot. Material is 13 feet wide.

Used landscape staples to anchor.  Normally you only do the beginning and roll out in the front of the truck as needed.  Decided to roll out ahead to see any issues and how far it would go.  Stapled in place so the wind wouldn't roll it.

Ground is thawed out and real muddy. Just walking over it, though disbursed my weight and I didn't sink. Will get our excavator crew to haul in Recycled concrete and spread at 6-inch depth. Again, you have to use 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick with the "Fines". Smaller rock will filter through. No Fines, then the surface won't compact, and rocks will move around.

Rolls covered far more distance than I thought due to the light weight.

You can't tell but the ground slopes slightly to the left towards the ditch. Rolled the left side first and then the right side on top. This way rock does not slide under the overlap. Still need to add more grid at the bottom. Need to make sure they don't cover with rock, until we "slip" more grid material underneath at the end and extend the spread area.

Trucks will drive straight over and spread behind them. One last concern is if the material will Scrunch up or create a fold or wave in front. This is a new material for me. Our old material was more like a carpet and just laid down. This is more of a hard plastic mesh and might not lay down as easily as the truck is driving forward.

[Henry Clark]

Farmer just planted oats and brome grass today. While he has the ground stirred up staying up late burning brush piles.  There has been a burn ban for the last several months due to the dry conditions and high wind. 

Corp of engineers want drawings of our ponds.  Got them completed last week and sent off.  Will follow up if they approve so we can move forward.   The ponds are a big part of the attraction.

Went to a public meeting last night.  Our State school for mental handicap is being shut down after about 150 years.  Basically an old college campus type setting. About 40’different group homes and large brick buildings in good shape.  They were seeking input on how to develop the site.   They plan to get one developer to take the project on. This type of housing won’t impact our 2 to 10 acre subdivision lots.  Different type of customer.  They were also noting we are a Mega Site location for big industry.  The additional housing would benefit that discussion.  I’m actually against it.  They are talking housing for 2,100 people at this development of the old school.   Our town is only 5,200.  Our sewer, water and school system can’t handle that load.  This actually would be good for our subdivision though.    

[Upendra Gandhi]

My daughter and I have started in Self Storage Investing any advice from your experience will be appreciated

[Henry Clark]

Use the lookup and read all my posts with my name and with Self storage in the title. 

Then contact me next week thru a PM.

If you have contacts back in India will trade you for knowledge and access.   Need to make a trip over there and meet people for our Teak Plantation business for customers and sales agents. 

[Henry Clark]

Working with the Corp of Engineering.  Since our ponds are in active streams, we have to go through a process, even though the streams start from Springs 100 yards away.  You can't just build a pond in a stream, you could build one in the middle of a pasture without this process.  We went through the calculation and I will need to purchase 1,560 "Stream Mitigation Credits" to offset the impact of putting a pond in.  Even though I think they should pay me for the benefit of a pond.  This is where as a Developer, you tell yourself tell me what I have to do and you do it.  Contacting different groups who did Stream improvements.  They have Credits which I can buy and apply towards this pond.  Will be curious to see how much they are wanting for them.

Originally we were going to do 5 ponds. 

One pond was going to be very shallow, 5 feet or less, so we cancelled that one.

One was in a Grass Way, thus outside the Corps realm of concern, so we already did that one.

One pond was going to be really long, thus I cancelled that one for now, so we can keep moving with the project.

One pond is an existing Silt pond.  We don't need a permit to clean it out, thus we can keep going with it.

The pond we are planning to build, as mentioned above, I need to find out how much the Stream Mitigation credit will cost.  Then the Engineer thought we could get approval on the project within 2 weeks.

Why do we want the ponds.  Because they add value to the property and make it easier to sell the lots.

[Henry Clark]

Contacted two groups who have Stream mitigation credits.  They wanted $50 or $80 per credit.  Since I need 1,560 credits.  That would be around $80,000 to $130,000 for the “right” to build a pond.  

I’m not paying that much. Just wasted several months and technical followup.  Wish the Corp engineer has said up front the potential cost and are you sure you want to go through the process? 

Had a chance to talk with him about soil and water conservation. I’ve been on both sides of the discussion.  Developing you want to do whatever usually.  Growing up in a polluted creek in Louisiana I like a clean environment. 

There is tons of rhetoric about fresh air, clean water and shortages and soil conservation. Have travelled in areas like Denver and Los Angeles, Phoenix. There are tons of basic steps that can be done around these topics but it is just a topic to argue over. 

[Henry Clark]

Finally got a first draft of the surveyed lots.   Labor Day weekend.  Will go over with my realtor on Tuesday to see if we want to change any of the lots.  Minimum is net 2 acres in the county.  Our layout lots will range from 2 to 7 acres.  Intentionally want varying sizes, cost, shapes, contours, views, trees and water for different customers.

9 to 10 lots is our breakeven so 19 is good.  

Once we finalize will send to soil conservation group for approval, electric company for estimate, fiber optics for estimate.  Still need to have the subdivision approved by the county.  Want to get these utilities in the ground before winter in Iowa and ground freezes. 

[Henry Clark]

Lot 8 although large is mainly in the ditch or stream area.  Not enough to build on.  Had it divided between 7 and 9.  Could have sold it but would have been hard.  

Lot 19 view 

Lot 1 and 2 from across the stream. 

Have subdivision preliminary plat turned in for approval. 

Met with electric and fiber optics companies.  They will develop plans and estimates.  These are the two softest numbers I have.  Need to get final subdivision plan approvals before going into the ground.

REALIZE I don’t have final approval yet.  Have verbal approval from the County supervisors.  Also they have approved the entrances and road types.  

[Henry Clark]

Some more lot views.  

[Henry Clark]

Drone view of the 75 acre subdivision.  The green area in the middle.  Rock road at the bottom and left.   Driveways are the rock roads inside.   Getting closer to marketing.  
Stream flowing thru property with trees along the banks. 

[Henry Clark]

Waiting on surveyor to document easements for driveways. Then submit preliminary plat application.  Then submit final plat approval.  Then subdivision hearings.

Now getting large landscape boulders for the driveway enteances.  People love boulders.  

Side dump truck. 22 tons per load. $65 per ton.  About $1,500 per load. Not including delivery cost.  Will rent a skidsteer to place the boulders then as I have time will do landscaping around them.  22 tons sounds like a lot but only about 10 to 12 boulders. 

[Henry Clark]

Got 7 side dump loads of boulders delivered.  Rented a skidsteer with grapple hooks and set all of the boulders.  One of the lot entrances is cleared along the road.  Spaced those boulders along the road.  Tomorrow having 15 white pines planted with tree spade.  8 to 10 foot tall.  Will really make the road side pop.    

As soon as they are planted will mulch and then pour about 125 gallons of water on each.  Feels like Xmas.  Can’t wait for tomorrow.  Like these types of tasks.  Adds value with little effort.   People love trees and boulders.  Big boulders.  Most of these weigh 2,000 pounds.  Some up to 5,000 pounds.  Had to roll or partially lift and slide them on the ground   Couldn’t pick the large ones up.

[Henry Clark]

After we got the boulders in, then we moved 8 to 10 foot white pines with a tree spade.  Ground is still warm so roots have a chance to grow.  Especially with us mulching them.  Having to water a lot since the ground is powder, in a drought.  Hopefully moving another 25 Monday or Tuesday.

[Henry Clark]

Not everything is Rosy.  Still working on our Subdivision permit.  One of the requirements is to get the local Soil Conservation board to sign off.  

Remember the saying, do what I say, not what I do.  So don't do the following.

Starting to get a little miffed with them since I have been working with them for approval for the last 10 months.

1.  Gave them a Written Soil conservation plan.  There notes say they need an Engineered plan.  Told them I wouldn't be doing one on this since it is too simple.

2.  Followed up with them several months later.  What's up?  Well, we want drawings showing the written plans.  Ok Did that.  Took a while for surveyor to complete.

3.  Few months later, followed up.  What is status?  Want the State Soil group to come down and review.  They have the expertise on Subdivisions, local doesn't.

4.  Met with the State and the local board.  Basically, they can't sign off unless I have engineered plans.  Now why couldn't you have told me that 10 months ago.

5.  Told them getting tired of this.  Moving forward on two fronts.  Will get Engineering plans.  But also want to know what their mandate is regarding subdivisions.

6.  Now don't do what I am about to do.

7.  They don't send the Mandate for the State and local group.  They send me a copy of the board minutes where they want engineered plans going forward on Subdivisions.  I tell them this is not what I asked for.  Plus, your board minutes are not legit.  Shows the person making the motion and the person who seconded it, but nowhere shows the actual vote.  This is on all of their agenda.  Breaks the Open Meeting Laws.

8.  Plus talking with the local engineer.  I ask to see the Specifications the board is requesting.  He says they want Engineered plans.  I said, but the Engineer could turn in anything.  Show me the Specs so I can make sure he covers everything.  I don't want new issues popping up and stretching this out.  After I push the issue, he notes they have no specifications.  Then how am I supposed to meet them?  He also notes our County is 1 of 2 counties that require Subdivisions to go through the Soil Boar.  So, I call one of the County Board members and ask him to bring a motion to take this step off the Subdivision checklist since we are only 1 of 2 counties and the Local Soil board doesn't have any specs anyways.

We will work it out.  Basically, through with all of our work except for Electric and Fiberoptics.

What I thought was going to be the simplest item, is turning out to be the hardest.  Will just pay $5,000 for some engineered plans and move forward.

[Henry Clark]

Local Soil conservation and County Supervisors met.  They agreed with me that they do not have specifications or codes to review and approve subdivision sites and it is not part of their agricultural mandate.  

Asked the County board to take them off the subdivision checklist.  Meeting with the county board to get them to move my application forward.  

[Henry Clark]

Excavator crew got back on the silt pond. Should have it cleaned out today.  Then they will put drain tube and spillway in.  Muck soil from the pond will let set and dry where dumped. Spread next year. 

Next spring we will plant trees and bushes to make beautiful.  Will fill up over the winter and spring. Below is our pond at our other subdivision looking great.

Key is people like trees, water, boulders, views and walk out potential.