Hello and update!!!

[Carolina Guerra]

Let me start off by saying that although I was not expecting for it to take this long to open back up the down time has been nice on many levels. I miss the coffee shop and all of you very much... but everything happens for a reason and all of this will resolve itself in God's perfect time.

So let me update you on what has been happening since the last time I wrote. The city classified us as an educational facility which means we have to meet higher standards to insure the safety of the children who will be using the facility. The biggest implication of this new classification is that we have to install a fire alarm system in the suite before we can open for business and the whole process is lengthy, costly and complicated especially for someone like me who has no background in the way things are supposed to work. So needless to say I have spent the last two weeks learning more than I ever thought was possible about what it takes to install and operate a fire alarm system.

Good news is that the actual price for installing the system is $6,000 not $8,000 dollars like we had originally thought. Bad news is that a fire alarm system has to be specifically designed for the space which will be monitored and as soon as the fire alarm system is installed in the building it becomes the property of the landlord. Given this fact we are having a hard time justifying paying for something that will become someone elses property. The landlord won't pay for it and he refuses to take it as half of our deposit.

You know how we run our coffee house and that my husband is the sole funder of our efforts and he has said that if the landlord will not take the fire alarm system as the deposit then we have no option but defaulting on our lease because without it we can not operate and $4,400 dollars a month is a high price to pay for a storage building.

The leasing company has warned us that if we do break the lease then they have the right to take legal action against us and I guess we will just have to wait and see how it all plays out.

I don't know how or when this will all resolve itself but what I do know is that whatever happens will be for the good because God makes no mistakes. Despite the many unknowns I find myself with an undescribable peace that can only come through the grace of God.

Have a blessed day,

Carolina

[Cynthia Wunsch]

Perhaps it's time to talk to the fire inspector again and see if you can convince him that you're not an educational facility? Or find out who your previous fire inspector was and talk to him or her and see what that person says, how you can work with them? I think the key is finding something you can agree on first, and having them help you meet their goals.