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!

I have to apologize. I’ve been sitting on this calendar for a week figuring it just needed to go up before the first without realizing that folks might have to adjust any office business earlier than that. But here it is, a bit belatedly. For urgent matters, please reach out to management.

First of all, a resident is looking to rent a space in the basement garage if anyone owning a space is interested in leasing theirs out. If you are, let me know and I’ll put you in touch.

Second, there is no holiday tree disposal allowed anywhere in our building or parking lot, but the City offers a number of free drop-off locations for natural trees, plus contact info if you need help with transporting one. As mentioned in a previous post, please wrap your tree in a tarp, sheet, or drop cloth when carrying it out of the building to avoid leaving a trail of needles.

And lastly, there seems to be more action in the works for the back section of the building that’s currently vacant. There’s a public hearing with the Zoning Board at City Hall on the 9th at 6:30, primarily about a waiver of the minimum off-street parking requirement.

If you’re interested in the plans for the structure, there are a number of documents available via the links below. Some of the documents are inconsistent because the number of proposed units changed from 29 to 23 after pushback from neighbors during a hearing in May of 2020. The old layout is still appearing on some of the documentation but one certainly hopes that’s just an oversight.

Here’s the direct link to what seems to be the latest version of the floor plans. There are some interesting things to take note of, changes to our loading dock area for one (more specifics here). I’d rather see those bushes as a flower bed and make the ramp wider and straighter but overall I think it’s a vast improvement over the mess there now. And I find it interesting that as far as I can see they have no freight elevator and no access to ours (which was on the table at one point), nor can they use our loading dock entrance; all of which is good for our building’s security and is something of a pain for them.

https://www.lowellma.gov/DocumentCenter/Index/1090 https://www.lowellma.gov/DocumentCenter/Index/2307 https://www.lowellma.gov/DocumentCenter/Index/2123

A couple of Board members have come across info that may be helpful and have asked me to share it here.

First: Through MassSave, residents can get deep discounts on Nest Thermostats ($9.99 for a regular one). There are also discounts on other thermostat systems as well.  https://www.masssave.com/residential/rebates-and-incentives/smart-and-programmable-thermostats

And second, some information related to the discussion at Tuesday’s Board meeting: the Energy Manager for the city of Lowell is Katherine Moses, (978)674-1438, kmoses@lowellma.gov

If bringing a tree into the building, please wrap it in a tarp or sheet when carrying it through the common areas so as not to leave a trail of needles. This becomes even more important after the holidays when carrying a dried, shedding tree out of the building. Trees are not normally allowed in the front elevator unless the rear one is out of commission.

Please be considerate of your neighbors and clean up any needles you leave behind. Once the city posts information about tree disposal and drop off sites, it will be found at this link: https://www.lowellma.gov/1722/Christmas-Tree-Disposal

If you’re missing a package, be sure to check the “unit number missing” area on the top shelf of the mailroom closet; it seems some people aren’t aware that that shelf has been designated as such.

A resident has kindly compiled advice for making sure you have the best electric rate available. See below.

Checking your electric bill and signing on to the City’s Electricity Aggregation Program

If you, like me, was shocked with your electric bill recently, look at the back of your bill near the top of the page for Supplier Services.  Mine was National Grid.  If I had been on the ball when we moved in and got our new account, I should have signed on to the City’s electricity aggregation plan with Nextera Energy Services (Lowell Agg) at half the current NGrid rate.

Check your bill.  It could save you a lot of money.  If you want to switch to the City’s aggregation plan, it is serviced through Colonial Power Group and the supplier for Lowell is Nextera Energy Services.  Yes, it gets confusing. You may have been pestered by phone solicitations from other electricity suppliers.  Or you may already be on the City program.

Signing up for the City plan is easy, go to Colonial Power Group’s opt in/out page and select Lowell.  Have your electric bill handy. You will need to check off your city, type of service (residential), supplier (National Grid). Then fill in the online form with the name on account, service address, phone and email address.

The switch to Nextera takes 1 to 2 billing cycles.

Information on Colonial Power Group and the communities they serve can be found here.