Both sides received certified copies of the new survey documentation.
Then Paul asked me what I wanted to do about replacement landscaping.
“Trees.”
He looked at me.
“You want money for trees?”
“No. I want trees.”
Martin seemed equally surprised when we discussed it.
“You want the HOA to replant?”
“Where they can grow without interfering with the building.”
I showed him the open strip north of the fabrication shop.
“I want screening restored over time.”
Martin nodded.
“That’s reasonable.”
We selected native evergreens appropriate for the site.
They were small.
Embarrassingly small compared with Dad’s old pines.
You cannot replace three decades in an afternoon.
But you can begin.
The fabrication building was completed on schedule.
Twenty feet high along the western elevation.
One hundred twenty feet long.
Dark charcoal steel.
Inside, it transformed Mercer Marine Works.
We added two proper welding bays.
Covered material racks.
A dedicated assembly space.
Improved electrical service.
Better ventilation.
An overhead handling system that reduced the amount of manual lifting crews had been doing.
For years, bad weather had forced us to stop work or improvise.
Now we could fabricate large dock sections indoors.
My employees loved it.
Silver Ridge did not.
At first.
Then something predictable happened.
People adapted.
Carol planted trees along the edge of her patio.
Another family installed a pergola.