08/08/2021
Update 8/8/2021
Hello Everyone! We hope you are all well. We wanted to write everyone to update you all on few things and try to keep you as informed as possible. This process has been long and from the outside probably looks pretty stagnant.
First, all the rewards for our folks that donated to the Indiegogo have arrived and we are getting our packaging together and will start getting things mailed out. We do have our last set of Thank You videos made, we just haven't gotten them out yet. We will update folks once the packing and labeling starts.
Second, the process. We got our plans approved by the planning commission on the 14th of July. They asked us to do some slight edits, which we did, and those plans were stamped by planning at the end of last week. What that means now is that we can submit our detailed plans to the various permitting bodies to get approvals and get permits issued. We are also preparing to get bids from various contractors for the work. If you're interested in getting in on that process feel free to DM us.
For lots of fun reasons our project is not only under the purview of the county. Certain aspects of the plan require approvals from MDE that we are still waiting on. This could delay the start of construction on certain aspects of the build but as of now we are hopeful that won't happen. Once we finally have all the approvals we can start moving in that heavy equipment and getting things done.
Timing is a scary thing for us to commit to considering how many unexpected hurdles we have had to leap and how much time that has cost us. That said, we are confident that we have cleared the last of the big issues with the county, state and feds. Unless some third party agitator swoops in to try to create issues we have a clear way forward. We still don't want to commit to a date but we feel we can share our hope and belief that we will be open for the 2022 dive season.
Be on the lookout for us to announce another live Q/A session that will likely happen in early September to get you all caught up on what we have gotten done in the month of August and what things are looking like for the build. As always we will welcome any and all questions.
The C-130 has not gone in the water yet cause we have work yet to do. We have had some dedicated volunteers working with us but we haven't been able to coordinate groups large enough to get everything finished up. With the summer heat in full swing we thought it best to take a break till things cool off. Keep an eye out for us to announce another weekend to help with that in early September.
Lastly, Friday it was announced that the dive community was losing an incredibly important resource in Dutch Springs and Stu and his team. We wanted to take a few moments to thank Stu for 40 years of commitment to the diving community. We hope that others can learn from your example and commit themselves as completely to this sport as you all have for the last four decades. Your many attempts to build the industry and community have not gone unnoticed. It is our hope that our industry can use this unfortunate reality to unify and work to build a stronger community and bring diving to more and more people. Thank you all for your service to us and this community. Enjoy your well earned retirement!
