This afternoon until 5:00 and tomorrow morning from 8:00 to noon are the last times for early voting at the Senior Center on Broadway Street. Voting on Tuesday for residents of our building is at the Rogers School Gymnasium at 43 Highland Street. Voting hours are 7am to 8pm. For those planning to vote by mail, don’t forget to return your ballot ASAP! More info about voting can be found here.

The lobby office will be open regular hours this month excepting a couple of Saturdays and the week of Thanksgiving. The calendar appears below.

From the management:

Hello Canal Place Residents,

We’re pleased to report that those of you with basement parking spots may now resume using them!

PLEASE RETURN YOUR ROY GARAGE CARD KEY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THIS WILL AVOID ANY UNINTENTIONAL OVERCHARGING FROM THE GARAGE.

Options for returning your card key are as follows:

• Return it directly to the garage office.

• Return it to Brittanye in the Canal Place office on Tuesday evening.

• Slip it in the mail slot in the office door. (If so, please put your card in an envelope with your name and unit number to avoid confusion.)

Thanks,

Canal Place Condominium

There will be Trick-or-Treating at downtown businesses and a haunted house at City Hall from noon to 3:00 tomorrow, Don’t forget a bag for goodies! More info can be found here.

Condo fee payments for November need to go through the new management company, J A Wood. Electronic payments can be set up through their online portal. Emails with a link to set up individual portal accounts went out on October 12th; if you didn’t receive that email, please check your spam folder, or reach out to Eileen, the new manager.

Checks can be submitted following the instructions in the J A Wood welcome letter. Mail a check made out to Canal Place Condominiums in the appropriate amount to: J A Wood Management, 594 Marrett Road, Suite 16, Lexington, MA 02421.

People who have autopay in place with BRIGS need to cancel their payments ASAP. The instructions for doing that can be found here, but at least one owner resorted to a phone call instead as described below:

“I cancelled my HOA fees with Brigs by calling the 617-536-4900 number. I had to leave a vmail with my name, my complex name, my address and unit number, and a request to terminate my recurring Auto Pay.
I’m hoping it’s that easy – but I won’t really know until next month to see if something comes up on my bank account.“

There will be Trick-or-Treating in the building this year on Monday, the 31st from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. The traditional little pumpkin flyers went under everyone’s doors on Saturday morning with instructions to put them on your door if you’ll be giving out goodies. Trick-or-Treat is one of the few community events we have and is always a lot of fun.

Also: The Association has very specific rules in the Condo docs about what can and cannot go in the common area outside a unit’s door. These rules often get bent a bit for brief, seasonal displays, and many of us take delight in seeing these creative decorations, but there are a few rules that must be followed at all times because of health & safety concerns. Real pumpkins can attract vermin and should not be placed outside your unit, and no decorations should ever be hung from the sprinkler system. Thank you for your cooperation.

Just a reminder that the Annual Owners Meeting is tomorrow evening at 6:00 on the Leo Roy Garage roof deck. Please bring your own chair. The weather should be clear and in the mid 60s.

FYI, there is another event planned for the roof deck on Thursday evening that involves significant setup—any tents, chairs, etc. you may see are not for us. We’ll be gathering in whatever spot makes the most sense when we get there, usually near the elevator.

It’s been awhile since there was a post looking for plumber recommendations so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to throw this question out there and see if there were any new suggestions. I know that in the past one particular name has come up over and over.

Hi, just thought we’d reach out to see if anyone had recommendations for a plumber.

A couple years ago we had a handyman come through and note that there is some kind of over-pressure device on our toilets to deal with the fact that the pipes run horizontally out of the unit for a few feet before dropping. It’s like a plastic housing inside the tank. He said both devices appeared to be slowly failing.

I think we’re there now. Our downstairs toilet takes forever to refill and the flush is very slow. Upstairs is fine, but it looks like both units might just need some maintenance.

Anyone had a plumber they like working with here? There are so many in the area it’s kind of creating its own analysis paralysis.

Due to coverage issues, the lobby office schedule will be subject to occasional changes for the next few months. Please check the calendar below and plan accordingly. This calendar is also posted on the office door.

The Board has asked me to post the following:

Due to unprecedented supply chain issues facing the manufacturer, the parts for our garage door have been delayed until at least the end of the month. Our installer, who this building has used for years, has never seen this type of backlog happen before. We live in unusual and challenging times.

If the parts come in on the new date, we still hope to have the repairs done and everyone back in the basement garage by November 1.

In the meantime, important improvements have been completed. The basement ceiling has been repaired. The entry points from the garage to the residences feature long-overdue security via a new fob system. In addition, plans are in place for repainting the lines and numbers; management is working on getting the ramp potholes filled; and additional work on the ceiling along the north wall is being researched.

There have been people wondering why we couldn’t just leave the door open and continue using the basement garage during this time. Unfortunately, in light of an ongoing lawsuit at a Boston condominium, legal counsel advised that the Board must take measures to secure the basement to avoid significant risk to the Association.

The Board apologizes for the inconvenience and thanks everyone for their patience. 

The AC has been turned off and the heat is working.

Also, knowing that Friday’s post was too long, here’s the short version:

• The Bulletin Board has a search feature; it’s great for finding advice.
• This site has a Useful Links page with lots of, well, useful links, including several about trash disposal.
• If you need a proxy form for the Annual Meeting and have misplaced yours, see here.
• Common area electricity is not for personal use, and please don’t do anything to interfere with doors latching properly (like running cords outside).