Today is May 1 OR the begining of...GRADING SEASON. That means now you can move earth around the basin and you have til Oct. 15 to get it done.  Have you lined up an excavator? If not you will most likely will be put off into to June or July. In North Lake alone there will be 47 new homes built but anybody putting in a new garage or addition will most likely have to move dirt to do it. And how many excavating contractors are there? I'm not sure, I have a list of about 40 but they include some Truckee contractors too. The issue at stake here is that we have a tight season, not only limited by the TRPA but also by the weather. Getting caught without your roof up by late October may mean shoveling snow if we get an early storm and nobody wants to pay carpenters to shovel! So if you're thinking of doing a project next year its time to plan now, get your survey and topo done, work out your plan, line up a builder and get into TRPA and the county by the end of the summer. Hopefully you can get a coveted permit in January and line up your excavator for May 15, 2008.