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The Navy Construction Maintenance Battalion (CMBU) 303 has volunteered to help us with site work for SM #1.  CMBU-303 is a shore-based command within the Navy Expeditionary Combat Force aligned with the West Coast Seabees under Naval Construction Group 1.  They are an integrated active and Reserve unit homeported in San Diego with an active duty detachment in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Reserve detachments in San Diego, Port Hueneme, California, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the first letters "C B" from the words Construction Battalion.  Seabees have major construction skills, and we are very grateful for [...]

I learned about Sunbelt Rentals at the opening ceremony for a home the Gary Sinise Foundation built for a Marine in Vista.  Sunbelt is a big supporter of the Gary Sinise Foundation.  So, when I asked for help from Michael Clonts and Richard Busto, Managers of the Sunbelt stores in Vista and Escondido, respectively, I was pretty confident that they would say yes  - and they did, enthusiastically!  They will loan us a mini-excavator and trencher for our site work at the Wounded Warrior Homes site in Vista.  Thanks Sunbelt for supporting our vets!

The State of California requires that all new Single Family Dwelling Units have automated residential fire sprinkler systems installed.  New Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are also required to have sprinkler systems if the Single Family Dwelling Unit where the ADU is installed has fire sprinklers.  Fortunately for us, Symons Fire Protection, Inc., a Building Industry Association member, has offered to plan and install fire sprinklers in SM #1.  When our students are back in school, Symons will teach our students how to install sprinklers in SM #2.  Thank you Symons!  

Providing utilities for our cottages is one of the more challenging tasks facing us.  It will be a little different for each cottage.  It helps to have an advisor that understands the technical requirements and the process for working with SDG&E.  Our first cottage, SM #1, will be installed at a Wounded Warriors Home residence in Vista.  Tom Perez, Senior Project Manager for EPI (The Engineering Partners, Inc.), visited the SM #1 site and told us what we need to do and explained the process for working with SDG& E.  Before joining EPI, a Building Industry Association member, Tom spent 20 [...]

When we started building our ADUs we were on a steep learning curve.  We looked for companies from which we could learn about building a cottage in a “factory” and transporting it and installing it at a residential site.  We discovered that USModular, Inc. is the preeminent Factory Built Home Builder in California.  We toured their factory in San Jacinto, CA twice.  We watched USModular install their homes on permanent foundations in Canoga Park and La Mesa to see how the pros do it.  So, when we asked USModular for help, we were thrilled when they quickly said Yes!  USModular will [...]

July 17, 2020 (Source: San Marcos Unified School District Website) Dear SMUSD Community, Earlier today, Governor Newsom ordered that all schools in counties located on the state’s COVID-19 County Monitoring List “must not physically open for in-person instruction” until certain conditions are met, namely, that their county has come off of the state’s Monitoring List for 14 consecutive days. As of Friday, 33 of California’s 58 counties are on this list, including our own San Diego County. As a result, San Marcos Unified District schools will open the 2020/2021 school year with a fully remote learning model. In addition to announcing [...]

We are grateful to the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund for awarding us another grant of $4,000, which is in addition to a $5,000 grant that we received from Weyerhaeuser in November 2019.  One of the focus areas of the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund is supporting affordable housing and shelter for those in need. Lana Bru, Finance and Planning Manager for Weyerhaeuser’s Southwest & Southern California Region, said “the Warrior Village Project is an organization that aligns with our focus.  We are proud to support the work they do, helping those who are in great need, our local homeless veterans, while also providing home [...]

JAAM Electric is an active member of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County.  So, when Mike McSweeney asked Nichole Weinman, General Manager of JAAM Electric, for help with our cottages she was quick to say yes.  JAAM will be donating the electrical materials and installing the electrical system in both of our cottages.  Our intent was to have our students ‘shadow’ JAAM’s skilled electricians to learn more about their trade.  Billy Russell, one of our graduating seniors, plans to go to trade school to become an electrician.  Unfortunately, with the campus closed to students, Billy won’t have this experience.  [...]

Doug Williams started WillCalc with a mission to assist in bringing clean, comfortable, energy efficient systems into the local environment, believing that each of us should make a contribution to a better world.  In addition to 30+ years as a licensed building contractor, Doug has been a Certified Energy Analyst (CEA) since 2007, and a California Certified HERS Rater since 2005.  He has used his expertise to help Michael E. Robinson design an energy efficient cottage to California’s 2016 Building Code energy standards in a cost-effective manner.  He has also advised us on the more stringent 2019 energy standards that will [...]