The snow emergency ended at 11:00 this morning. People with cars parked for free in city garages have until 1:00pm today to move them before they start getting charged.

 A resident is wondering if anyone in the building has Gigabit service with Xfinity.  They’re wondering how fast a web connection our infrastructure will support.

My son did a bit of digging around online and found that the standards for high speed wiring go back further than one might expect but I don’t know when this building was wired for internet. I assume Cathy knows, but perhaps there’s someone else out there who remembers off the top of their head?

Lowell has announced a snow emergency starting at 10:00am tomorrow with a parking ban starting at 4:00pm. Condo policy says that cars must be removed from the surface lot during a snow emergency to allow for plowing. Cars left in the lot are subject to being towed at the owner’s expense.

There is free parking available in certain garages for city residents during the snow emergency; unfortunately not in the Leo Roy garage next door. The official announcement appears below or can be seen by clicking here.

Just a reminder to pick up your mailroom fob in the atrium this evening between 6:00 & 8:00, or on Saturday morning from 10:00 to noon. A lot of the fobs were picked up last evening—it would be great if we could get the rest out this evening and eliminate the Saturday session.

There will be one fob per unit for now; each household will need to share when it comes to picking up their mail and packages. The new fobs will not be active right away but an e-mail will go out in the next few days about the exact time of the switchover. Make sure management has your e-mail address when you pick up your fob.

These fobs are currently for mailroom access only. DO NOT discard your old fob—it will continue to be needed for entry to the building. In a few more weeks we should be switching all the doors to the new system. At that time management will supply each unit with additional fobs based on how many each household currently has. Extras will be available for purchase.

In short:

New fobs are available in the Atrium tonight 6-8pm or Saturday 10am-12pm. One per unit for now.

Fobs will not work immediately. Will become active for mailroom in a few days, replacing old fobs. Email notice will be sent.

Keep using old fobs for doors into the building for now. Doors will switch to the new fobs next month.

If you’ve noticed that the basement garage door is having issues, I’ve been told by a reliable source that it’s scheduled for repairs early this week.

A resident is  interested in knowing if anyone has had good luck finding a “smart” thermostat that connects to our heat pump setups. Any recommendations or warnings?

Feel free to post any info you have in the comments. Thanks much!

(and for those of you not sure what a “smart” thermostat is, here’s more info about them in general)

The management, in cooperation with the board and a joint committee with representatives from all three buildings, is working on ways to secure the mailroom ASAP. In the meantime, if at all possible, please do not let people trail in behind you into our lobby. Residents are well within their rights to politely tell someone that they need to use their own fob or be let in by someone who knows them. If you’re uncomfortable with any sort of confrontation (like me), you might want to consider using our building’s side or back entrances where no one can pretend to be innocently waiting for someone to buzz them in.

Between cooler weather and masking up for safety reasons, our security cameras just aren’t much help identifying the package thieves. As an example, here’s an image of someone who came in behind a resident and then proceeded to rob the mailroom. He also clearly knew exactly where the camera was.

A resident has informed me that his girl friend was recently trailed in and out of the Leo Roy Garage and around the neighborhood by a grey Mercedes (police were called). This same resident also had an incident with a drone outside his window.

Not to add to anyone’s anxiety level in these challenging times, but please be mindful of your surroundings, and of the fact that living on the upper floors is no longer a guarantee of privacy. There are wonderful advantages to city living, but a bit of extra vigilance is advisable.

Can anyone identify this man taking packages from the mailroom? Please contact Royal Management at 978-521-9995 or royal.cathy@comcast.net.

(Update to the original post: This photo is from 1:11 am on October 30th)

FYI, the air conditioning in the building has been turned off and the heat turned on.