A reminder: The Annual Meeting for owners is tomorrow, Wednesday the 23rd, at 6:00 (not the usual 7:00) on the top level of the Leo Roy Garage. Please bring your own chair. Two policy amendments and two Board seats are up for votes so it’s a particularly important meeting.

If you can’t make it to the meeting and haven’t yet submitted a ballot for the amendments (and a proxy to supply a quorum for the Board votes), please, please, please fill one out and slide it under the office door, scan it in and e-mail it to Cathy, or give it to someone to bring to the meeting. Ballots and proxies went out to owners in a packet in late May and should also be available by e-mail from Cathy if yours has been misplaced.

The canalplaceone website has undergone a less-than-perfect overhaul. I really should have abandoned my out-of-date web design software for this project and switched every page over to smart-phone-friendly templates but I didn’t. Maybe some time down the road that will happen but not today. In the meantime, here’s what’s changed:

The colors on the original home page have been spruced up and a few links changed but the page basically looks the same—I couldn’t bear to wipe out every last instance of those vintage window links!

The old “inside” pages have been simplified and have a brighter color scheme (the dark, dramatic websites of yore having fallen out of favor). An “About” page has also been added. The pages are not particularly device-friendly but they’ve been tried out on a half dozen browsers and there’s plenty of useful info available there even if they’re a tad clunky.

The bulletin board itself continues to use device-friendly WordPress software, and now has a “recent comments” list as well as a number of new links. Using the same interactive software, the canalplaceone.com site also has a whole new section titled “Neighbor to Neighbor” to provide a repository of accumulated owner knowledge for the benefit of all.

The condo association’s Annual Meeting is this coming Wednesday at 6:00 (NOT the usual 7:00) on the roof deck of the Leo Roy Garage next door—please bring your own chair. The weather forecast at the moment is looking just about perfect so we shouldn’t need the rain date. There are two amendments and two board seats up for a vote this year which makes it a particularly important meeting. All owners are encouraged to attend.

Tomorrow, the 19th, there will be an informational table in the lobby from noon (or a tad earlier) to 2:00 to answer any questions about the amendments, and to encourage owners to fill out ballots and proxies in advance of the Annual Meeting.

Things are looking a bit more lively downtown these days, especially with the jersey barriers displaying some lively new colors, and there are at least three events in easy walking distance tomorrow: a traveling theater event in celebration of Juneteenth from 1:00 to 2:00, an Art Market outside the Tsongas Center from noon to 5:00, and a reception at All Arts Gallery at 307 Market Street from 3:00 to 5:00.

Does anyone have any use for an old Realistic turntable (LAB 395)? We’ve upgraded to a USB one (that will also play 78s) and I’m happy to hand this one over to anyone with a use for it rather than adding it to the trash stream. Just e-mail me: admin@canalplaceone.com

E-mails went out quite some time ago with links to set up a personal Avatar Properties account but it appears a lot of people didn’t receive them. E-mails will be going out again this coming week. Please watch for them! This means checking your spam/junk folder periodically in case they land there. Having an account will allow access to all sorts of useful documentation and information but the e-mail link is needed to set it up.

Also, the Board asks that everyone please pick up their packages in a timely fashion, especially large ones. Packages left in the mailroom for more than two weeks will be considered abandoned and be returned to sender via the original shipping service. This applies to all three buildings; signs to that effect should be appearing in the mailroom shortly. In these days of online shopping, the mailroom simply does not have the capacity to allow for long term storage of people’s packages.

The annual meeting is coming up on Wednesday, June 23, at 6:00 P.M., on the roof deck of the Leo Roy Garage (rain date is the 29th). In the run-up to this year’s meeting, volunteers will be manning an informational table in the Canal Place lobby during the following times:

• Saturday, June 5th, 10:00am–noon
• Thursday, June 10th, 4:30pm–6:30pm
• Saturday, June 19th, noon–2:00pm

Board members and volunteers will be there to answer questions about the two amendments that are up for a vote at this year’s meeting, and to aid owners in filling out proxies and advance ballots. There are also two seats on the Board of Trustees up for election this year and this is a the perfect opportunity to ask questions about serving on the Board.

In the interests of making communication easier in the wide-open space of the roof deck, if anyone has a battery-powered sound system they’d like to loan for use at the annual meeting, please let me or a board member know. Thanks!

Just a reminder that there’s an online board meeting tonight at 7:00. If you’re interested in attending and didn’t get the e-mail Cathy sent out on the 19th with the Zoom link, please check your spam folder or contact Cathy. I believe there’s a fairly broad range of topics on the agenda this evening, including two amendments to condo policies which will be up for a vote at next month’s annual meeting.

A request for input from a neighbor:

I noticed some cards in the mail room advertising Lickity Split Pet Care and I am wondering if anyone in the building uses this service and what their experience has been. 
Alternatively, I am looking for a cat-sitter, so taking recommendations! Thanks!

Every so often someone discards their trash in one of the planters on the 2nd, 4th, and 6th floors. Assuming this is mostly guests who don’t want to appear at their hosts’ door and greet them with: “Can you toss my trash for me?”, perhaps we should all find an opportunity to mention to the people in our lives who might be visiting how annoying it is when folks use the planters as trash cans—bringing that straw wrapper or empty cup to our door for proper disposal is preferable.

And if it isn’t visitors doing it, please consider that dropping trash around the building is disrespectful to your neighbors and adds to everyone’s maintenance expenses.

One other reminder: The situation in the mailroom has improved enormously with the new fob system and the end of the holiday season. Nonetheless, it’s a good idea to keep track of your packages and pick them up in a timely fashion—it doesn’t take long for the numbers to build up and make a mess. I’m always surprised at how long some packages sit untouched after someone took the time and money to order something.

The following info just got forwarded to me. This location is an easy walk from our building.

The City of Lowell will be hosting its third mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Monday, April 26 from 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, located at 50 Warren Street. Moderna vaccine will be administered at this clinic.

Residents seeking a vaccination at the mobile site must make an appointment in advance. Appointments can be reserved online at: lowellma.gov/mobilevax, or by phone at: 978-228-3019. All Lowell residents age 18+ are eligible to make an appointment. This site is strictly limited to Lowell residents.

It’s been suggested in the past that we put together a homeowners manual for the building full of tips and tricks and info gleaned from longtime residents (and a few professionals)—sort of a how-to guide for residents, particularly newcomers. We have an owner actively working on the project and looking for suggestions as to what should be included. Below are some of the topics he’s been considering covering.

• Where is the trash chute?  How to get rid of bulky items such as mattresses, carpet, etc.
• How to plan ahead for deliveries.
• How to cut down on smoke odors entering your unit.
• What to do when you discover buried electrical wires in your walls.
• How to find a contractor who knows the building.
• What to do when water enters your apartment.
• Pest control
• What kinds of water heaters have been used in the building?
• How to maintain your heat pumps.
• How to comfortably heat or cool your apartment.
• How to contact management and how best to get your issue resolved.

Input is welcome in the comments section. He’d particularly like to chat with new residents to see what questions or obstacles they had to overcome when they first arrived. If you’d be interested in sharing your thoughts beyond just posting a comment, please shoot me an e-mail and I’ll forward it to him so he can get in touch.

From a resident: Hi neighbors,
I’m interested in expanding the interior balcony/loft area on the second floor of my unit to add a bit of extra floor space. Is this something any of you have done recently? I’m interested in contractor recommendations, and any tips folks have about embarking on this kind of renovation.
Thanks!

From the admin: People can also use the bulletin board search function to look for remodeling ideas, although any contractor recommendations may be out of date. Here’s one old post on the subject.