I’m told that the front door intercom system is not operating properly at the moment. Management has been notified. The intercom/phone system is only 8 months old, and the entire fob system just over 2 years, so hopefully this is a minor glitch and easily fixed.

And a heads up that the wind chill Friday night is predicted to be 30 degrees below zero (actual temp -9), and the wind chill temp on Saturday isn’t expected to get above minus 5 all day (actual high of 12 degrees). Folks may want to place blankets or cardboard against their windows Friday night, and see that they get any needed errands done before the weekend. The only time I’ve heard of a pipe freezing in this building was on the first floor because of cold air from the garage overwhelming a unit’s poorly-maintained heaters, but please take care.

Personally, I remember Christmas of 1980 being 8 or 10 below, but I’ve never even heard of a wind chill of 30 below in this area before.

Also, here is this month’s schedule for lobby office hours.

The last few months have seen the building’s fire alarms trigger multiple times. Although I’m not aware of the exact cause in each instance, it seems worth reminding folks that there is absolutely NO SMOKING or vaping of any kind in any common area of the building. This includes, but is not limited to: stairwells, fire corridors, basement garage, lobby, atrium, and trash rooms. Nor is smoking allowed within 30 feet of any building entrance, per a 2015 amendment to the Association Rules and Regulations.

Additionally, please do not air smoke from your unit into the fire corridors or the atrium. 

False alarms happen, but some are avoidable. And they aren’t just a minor nuisance for residents (and the LFD); they can be a real problem for folks with young children, pets, or limited mobility, and they can result in elevator shut-downs like last night’s. They also cost us money in terms of alarm company service calls, false alarm fees from the City, and wasted electricity running alarms and exhaust fans. sometimes for hours before the problem is resolved.

A message from Georgi:

If you’d like this unopened bag of protein powder, call me at 978-764-5570. It’s all yours!

The city has announced that the current parking ban will end at 7:00 tomorrow morning. Any cars still parked in the Hamilton garage after 9:00am will begin to accrue charges.

The City of Lowell has declared a snow emergency as of 7:00am and a parking ban beginning at 1:00. Condo association rules follow the city ban. All vehicles must be removed from the surface lot by 1:00pm or they risk being towed at the owner’s expense. There is free parking at the new garage behind Canal Place 3 but NOT at the Leo Roy next door; the Roy garage will charge a fee to those without a monthly pass.

While working on a follow-up flier to management’s email last month about not putting “flushable” wipes down the toilet, I did a web search today for “what to flush and what not to flush.” Every single site agrees that nothing except for toilet paper and human waste should ever go down the toilet.

Since links are a clumsy nuisance on fliers, I figured I’d offer a list here of particularly informative sites on the subject. If anyone is doubting the seriousness of the issue, try reading some of these articles. Or try imagining it being your home that everyone’s sewage is backing up into!

• For interesting info about fatbergs and about how meaningless the term “flushable” is: Green America 
• For a comprehensive list of what not to flush, and a brief, informative video tour inside the Portland, Oregon sewer system: Portland’s city website
• For detailed explanations of why certain items should not be flushed and how they should be disposed of: Better Homes & Gardens and/or Wastewater Transport Services

Wastewater Transport Services also offers a list of things not to put down the kitchen drain, regardless of whether or not you have a garbage disposal.

This is a tad late, but the ban was lifted at 9:00am which means that parking charges at the Hamilton Garage went into effect at 11:00. The announcement hadn’t gone up yet last time I checked.

Just a reminder: our surface lot parking rules follow the city rules. The city has announced a parking ban starting at midnight. That means all cars must be moved from our surface lot by then or risk being towed. This allows the plow company to do their job.

There is free parking for downtown residents at the new garage in back of Canal Place 3 (the Hamilton garage) but NOT at the Leo Roy next door. Cars parking at the Roy garage without a monthly pass will incur a fee. Once the parking ban is lifted, folks have two hours to remove their cars from the Hamilton garage before they begin accumulating charges.

I’ve heard from a couple of people recently that there have been a number of people partying and fighting and generally being loud in the side parking lot late at night. This topic gets discussed fairly often at Board meetings but there’s really nothing management can do about it. Nor can our towing company be expected to approach potentially belligerent individuals and attempt to remove non-resident cars. The appropriate response is to call the Lowell Police non-emergency number and complain: 978-937-3200. The more people complaining about noise in a specific area, the more likely the police are to patrol that area more frequently.

Folks might also consider attending Lowell Downtown Neighborhood Association meetings and getting involved. The police liaison to the downtown area is usually present at their meetings and available for questions.

My household relies on white noise to mute any outside commotion; we run an evaporative humidifier (it has a fan) all winter and a window fan all summer and are rarely disturbed. Granted, we may also be on a high enough floor that we get less echo off the surrounding buildings but it’s worked well for us.

If you’d like to know the particular Lowell Noise Regulation that justifies a call to the authorities, it’s this: “(10) Yelling and shouting: Yelling, shouting, hooting, or singing on the public streets, particularly between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., or at any time or place so as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of persons in any office, or in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence, or of any persons in the vicinity.”

From a resident:

Our friendly large orange and white cat Bunk may have gotten out of our unit this morning (12/31) while we were having a mattress delivered.

Update: Bunk has been found safe and sound!