Decisions
A running log of decisions and agreements. Any team member can add via the Contribute form (once Phase II ships).
2025-12-03 — Gate damage handled by barter, not repair (informal)
During the 2025 logging operation, a truck driver named Alex (hired by the Robertson brothers’ Treeline Logging crew) damaged Dave’s front entrance gate. Alex went unresponsive when asked to fix it. Dave proposed an exchange: he and Eli would handle the gate fabrication themselves, and Cody and Russell would instead advise on the long-stalled septic install. Informal handshake, no written agreement.
— DS
2026-05-26 — Project gets its own coordination home
Dave bought kraemertower.org and stood up a website Dave, Barb, Eli, Cody, and Russell can all contribute to.
— DS
2026-05-26 — Eli formally partners on the tower build
Eli Kraemer is now responsible for construction planning and on-site execution of the tower build. Dave retains design and funding. The split applies to both the septic completion and the tower itself.
— DS
2026-05-26 — Tower scope and ag-building scope clarified
The fire lookout tower is built first. Its interior is a staffer’s workstation: sleeping area, bathroom, no kitchen. Eli — a full-time employee on Dave’s payroll managing the timberland — staffs the lookout as part of those duties, the way state-staffed fire lookouts have worked for a century. The septic permit submitted on 2026-05-26 also envisions a future ground-level ag-exempt employee facility (bathroom for up to three employees, no kitchen, no bedroom) at the lower section of the property. The septic system has design headroom to serve both structures.
— DS
2026-05-26 — Barb is the project manager; Eli reports to Barb
The tower-completion effort is a Dave-and-Barb-and-Eli project. Barb is the day-to-day project manager. Eli reports to Barb on the build, not Dave. Eli is Barb’s grandson. Dave owns design and funding; Barb owns coordination, scheduling, and decisions on Eli’s day-to-day work.
— DS
2026-05-27 — Tower work tied explicitly to the forest management plan
The Kraemer Tower is one of the supplemental fire-detection measures the 2012/2022 Sullivan Tree Farm Management Plan recommends — alongside brushed and signed access roads, gate keys to ODF Dallas, identified water sources, and the option of an on-site fire trailer. The new Forest Management page on this site lays out the 211-acre property, the written plan, the five stands, the 2025 Treeline harvest, and where the lookout fits in the broader stewardship picture. This grounds the tower as operating infrastructure for the working forest, not a standalone structure.
— DS
2026-05-27 — Logger name corrected: Robertson, not Richardson
Substrate previously carried both spellings of the logging crew’s surname (the dwelling-strategy memo had a longstanding flag for confirmation). The January 25, 2025 signed Logging Agreement between Dave Sullivan and Treeline Logging LLC names Russell and Cody Robertson as the principals. All site copy and substrate now use Robertson.
— DS