America's Return to Independence

In the fall of 2006, my wife and I bought the Old Washington School in Esko, MN. No one would finance this purchase, so we took the funds from our retirement plans. The zoning board and visitors attending the meetings grilled us for about four hours about our plans. They told us what we were restricted from doing, and wanted to know what our five year plan was. Some people at the meeting wanted assurances that no troubled individuals would be there, that there were no recreational facilities, no automotive, … Some individuals, including one board member, wanted us to submit five year plans for the project as well proof of income and ability. By the end of the meeting one of the neighbors threatened to sue us if we didn’t pay for half the cost of a new fence between properties. Her distrust in the sewer system also brought her threat of water monitoring. After a lengthy discussion on the gym, I threatened to withdraw our purchase request if they kept to their demand that the gym not be ...