A snow emergency/parking ban has been declared starting at midnight tonight. DO NOT leave your car in the surface lot tonight or you risk getting towed. Here’s the information as given on the Lowell Police Department’s Facebook page:

A Snow Emergency Parking Ban has been declared effective on: 

Date: Sunday, January 20, 2019

Time: 12:00 A.M.

FREE Parking for City residents who do not have access to “off-street” parking during “Snow Emergency – Parking Ban” is available in the garages listed below:

Joseph Downes and Lower Locks Parking Garage will be open at 6:00 PM on Saturday, January 19, 2019.

Garage Open @ 6:00 PM
Joseph Downes Garage
75 John Street
Lowell, MA 01852

Garage Open @ 6:00 PM
Lower Locks Parking Facility
90 Warren Street
Lowell, MA 01852

Garage Open @ 10:00 PM
George Ayotte Parking Facility
1 Post Office Square 
Lowell, MA 01852

Please note that due to an event at the Tsongas Arena, parking at the George Ayotte Garage will be available at 10:00 PM on Saturday, January 19, 2019.

Once the “Snow Emergency” is lifted, any City of Lowell residents that have parked in the free parking spaces will have 2 hours to remove their vehicles from the facility without incurring any additional expenses. Vehicles not removed within two hours will be assessed a fee from that time until the vehicle is removed.

I haven’t yet been able to find a link to information, but my understanding is that a snow emergency and parking ban goes into effect tonight at midnight. Please DO NOT leave your car in the surface lot overnight tonight or you risk getting towed. Although some of the local garages usually offer free parking for residents during a snow emergency, the Leo Roy Garage next door generally does not so be prepared to pay if you leave your car there. If anyone has a link to offer with more information, please let me know.

Stay warm and safe everyone!

In case you haven’t seen the sign on the office door, or in case you forgot the specifics as soon as you walked away (like me), the office will be closed Saturday morning but open on Sunday from 10–12 AM. It will also be open for a time on Monday afternoon to pick up last minute Christmas packages—exact hours have yet to be announced.

For everyone who’s signed up for having their windows washed—The company is still planning to do the insides of the windows today; the outsides have been rescheduled for tomorrow when the winds and temps are predicted to ease up.

For anyone who hasn’t noticed the flyers scattered around the building, here’s the info about how to sign up for window washing if you’re interested.

Just a reminder for those getting live Christmas trees: Please wrap your tree in a sheet or tarp when bringing it through the common areas to avoid leaving a trail of needles—this is particularly important later on when taking the tree out for disposal. I actually find the tree easier to carry if I place it on an old sheet and then knot the corners together to make a convenient handle. And please use the freight elevator for trees rather than the front one!

Once the City of Lowell has this year’s information posted for dropping off used trees, and Boy Scout Troop #23 starts advertising their usual tree pickup fundraiser, I’ll post that info here.

And for anyone who missed Cathy’s e-mail about boxes, here’s that information again:

It’s that time of year again – holidays, gifts —– and BOXES and BOXES and BOXES! Please help out to keep our trash and recycling costs down during this season.

As usual, all boxes should be taken down to the CARDBOARD ONLY bin in the basement near the front elevator. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to break down (i.e. FLATTEN) boxes you are discarding – that way more will fit in the bin and the cost to us to have them discarded lessens (and also make life easier on our Service Staff!)

Also, please be sure to put ONLY cardboard in the CARDBOARD ONLY bin; all other rubbish should be placed in plastic bags (no larger than Kitchen-sized bags) and either thrown down the chute or placed in the other bin that sits next to the CARDBOARD ONLY bin.

Thanks so much for your help in keeping the season jolly!

 

The annual City of Lights parade is this Saturday (tomorrow) and the temperature is supposed to climb out of the deep freeze just in time. For information about road closures and parking issues check here. For more about the festival check here.

Local artists (including several of your neighbors) have contributed one-of-a-kind snowflakes to decorate store windows downtown and along the parade route. Keep an eye out for these beauties next time you’re out and about!

Now that the weather has gotten colder, there’s a tendency to look for places a bit less raw to light up while keeping your own unit smoke-free. There is absolutely no smoking in any of the building’s common areas, including the fire corridors—it’s a real health issue to many residents, and a serious fire risk to the building, especially in our old, wooden stairwells. If one of those stairwells were to ignite, we could have a tragedy.

There is also a 30 foot no-smoking zone around the building’s entrances, and cigarette butts should be disposed of properly.  Smoking rules are posted on the Condo Living page of this site under “Common Areas.”

I’d like to thank the people who take it upon themselves to populate the planters and water the plants on various floors of the Atrium, and who work to keep them healthy. The greenery is a wonderful addition to the space that we all share.

One request: When pruning out the dead leaves, please see that they are disposed of properly and not left to get ground into the carpet. And I know from experience that sometimes leaves drop to the floors below when a person’s tending the plants and get left unnoticed; it would be great if everyone pitched in to pick them up when they see them and keep the place tidy. Thanks!

It’s been brought to my attention (thank you, Dana) that the UnchARTed Gallery is running into financial problems and has started a GoFund me to tide them over while they do some restructuring. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re a fascinating little gallery with food, brews, and live music diagonally across the street from us. I just donated, in large part for the sake of their wonderful pizza!

For more info and/or to donate, click here.