A snow emergency has been declared.  Parking on city streets is banned after 4:00 this afternoon.  I’m not clear if parking on the surface lot is banned as of now or as of 4:00 but I recommend erring on the safe side and moving your car now.

The snow emergency is to last “until further notice.”  There is free parking in the city garages for Lowell residents from 4:00 until 2 hours after the ban is lifted; then there will be a charge.

For a link to the Canal Place policy on snow emergencies, see the previous post.

Back again! It’s been a busy day for the Bulletin Board.

Should the next forty-eight hours go as predicted weather-wise, Lowell will probably be declaring a snow emergency. Once that happens, all vehicles must immediately be removed from the surface lot to allow for plowing—or they risk being towed.  The Association does NOT contact individual owners asking them to move their cars.  Snow emergency announcements usually appear on local weather or news channels; they are officially issued by the Lowell Police Department.

The official building snow storm parking policy can be found here.

There is a new masonry report available here.

Keep in mind that there will be road closures and parking bans on Saturday for the Festival of Lights Parade.  A list of closures can be found near the bottom of the list of events here.

I’ve been asked about dishwashers, water heaters and the like.  I’m not an expert, but basically, the sludge is drawn into any pipes that you use before the system manages to properly flush itself.

If you ran your hot water this morning, then there’s probably sludge in your tank.  It will either run through or settle out eventually, but if you’re concerned, you’ll need to consult a professional about possibly draining and cleaning it.  It’s pretty normal to have some degree of build up in the water heater but this may have caused more than normal.

As for dishwashers, I’d recommend running your kitchen faucet until it runs clear.  If it looks like there was a fair amount of dirt in your kitchen pipes, you may want to run the dishwasher empty once through and then clean the filters before running a load of dishes.

I’m only speaking from personal experience; for more info, you can explore online resources or check with Cathy at Royal Management.

We’d noticed the water off during the night.  It came back on around 3:30am and boy, is it awful!  Hopefully it will clear once people along the street start running theirs; I couldn’t make a dent in the sludge when I tried (it’s only 5:45am when I’m posting this).  Here’s the official news from the management company:

Because of a water main break on Market Street, the water department shut the water off at 1:00 am on Tuesday, November 25th.

The water department expects the repairs to take about 6 hours before they can turn the building water back on.

The water will be discolored.  Please let it run until it clears.

Royal Management Company

There is a board meeting tomorrow (Monday) evening in the lobby office at 7:00, residents welcome.

Next Saturday is Lowell’s downtown Festival of Lights.  More info can be found here.  It’s a fun way to embrace the season, just as long as you bundle up well!

If you’ve been wondering when the lines and crosswalks were getting painted on Market Street, it should be in the next few days (assuming they didn’t already do it while I wasn’t looking).  The pavement had to cure for one to two weeks before painting but we’re well past that and the contractor is required to get it done before the Festival of Lights.

With the holidays coming up, Western Ave Studios are adding extra shopping days to their usual Open Studios schedule.  They’re open December 6, 7, 13, & 14 from noon to 5:00. They also have one evening for shopping on Thursday, the 18th from 5:00 to 9:00.

And now, for a shameless self-promotional plug:  For anyone who enjoys the Fantasy and Science Fiction genre of novels (or has someone on their gift list who does) and likes the idea of supporting local writers, you might consider checking out The Raven Coronet by Christina Briley (my pen name).  It’s available online in eBook or paperback at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.  With sex, romance, magic, humor, and circuses, how can you go wrong?

The latest news from the management about the fountain appears below.  My understanding from listening in on the last board meeting is that these repairs are being done by a different company with more experience in fountains at no extra cost to the association.

Beginning on Friday, November 14, 2014 the work on replacing the fountain will begin. 

• A protective barrier around the work area will be installed.
• The fountain components will be removed.
• The area will be measured so the new fountain can be properly fabricated offsite.
• The new fountain will then be installed.
• The metal platform will be cleaned and sealed and the cushions put back. 

This process should take about 5 weeks to complete.

Thank you for your patience.

Royal Management Company

There is now a textile drop-off trailer at 500 Pawtucket Street, right next to Orchard Hill Ice Cream. Clean, dry clothing and linens in bags may be dropped off at any time. From there they get sorted and go to thrift shops, charities, or to be shredded for recycling.  For a video on the subject, click here.

Other items can be dropped in the trailer at the DPW at 1365 Middlesex Street; more info here.

General recycling info and information about disposing of other items such as electronics or hazardous items can be found here.

If you’d like to register for updates directly from various government departments, such as recycling, that can be done here.

If you’re serious about recycling, you might consider this bag at Amazon: Whitmor Triple Sorter.  Lowell doesn’t require recycling be sorted but we’ve found this bag to be incredibly light and sturdy for both storage and transportation with no signs of wear after almost three years of use.  We keep ours tucked in a corner at the bottom of our unit’s stairwell.

For anyone interested in detailed info about the ongoing work on the building exterior, reports on the work are now available here. They’re arranged from newest (October 24th) to oldest (June 2nd).

Moving information has recently been posted around the building; a less detailed version is also on this site here, as well as a map with directions to the loading dock.

Future residents who show up during office hours looking for info but who can’t get into the building should knock (gently) on one of the office windows to the right of the front door to get the secretary’s attention. (I just noticed the other day that there’s a very old, faded, little plaque by the keypad about dialing the office but as far as I know, it’s totally out-of-date.)

Look like we should wake up to a better drive Monday morning: info

Two reminders and a bit of info:

Trick or Treating in the building is tomorrow from 6-8 PM. Please be sure to put your orange pumpkin note on your door (and have plenty of candy available) if you’d like to participate. Halloween is one of the few times of the year we have a communal event and get to see our neighbors.

Please vote next Tuesday, November 4th. Our polling station is at LTC, right across the breezeway from the National Park Visitor’s Center. Short of having it in our lobby, it really couldn’t be much more convenient! Polling hours are 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. Click here for more election information, including links to ballot questions and candidates.

According to a pothole complaint last week on SeeClickFix.com, Market Street is scheduled to be paved one night this week. Since we’re running out of this week, I would hope to see it done SOON. In the meantime, I am trying to find out if it’s still on schedule of if there’s been a delay.

And there was a major water main break at the intersection of Bridge Street and the VFW highway mid-day today so that’s what’s been causing the local traffic problems. They hope to have it fixed tonight or early tomorrow.

Lastly, if anyone whose announcements were getting caught in their spam filter wants to let me know that adding admin@canalplaceone.com to their address book worked and that this one’s gotten through, that would be reassuring!