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.

Please remember that the ramp to the basement garage will be closed tomorrow to repair potholes. If you park in that garage, and you expect to need your car, you must move your car out of the garage by 9:00 am or it will be stuck in the garage until mid-afternoon.

If you are concerned about your car being parked too near the work area—anyone parking in the basement is presumably aware of where pothole repair is needed—you may also want to move your car.

An email went out about these repairs on November 30th.

As everyone is aware there was a sewer backup Monday. This backup could have caused much more damage than it did had it not been caught quickly, but it still did plenty. Please DO NOT flush baby/sanitary wipes down the toilet, regardless of whether or not they claim to be flushable. It only took a few to block the sewer line and cause thousands of dollars of damage to a first floor unit.

Also, while garbage disposals are great for getting rid of bits of this or that that fall into your sink, please do not use them to dispose of significant amounts of solids. I can tell you from experience that to do so is inviting trouble (and expensive bills) not just for the building drains but for your own. Consider composting when possible; otherwise, wrap your garbage securely and put it in the trash.

Again, please be considerate of our aging plumbing and of your neighbors, some of whom are impacted much more seriously by drain problems than others are. And please remind your ENTIRE household that pre-moistened wipes go in the trash, not the toilet, and that drains, even kitchen ones, are designed for liquids, not solids.

The mailroom is currently flooded with packages. Please, please pick up your items ASAP. Also, the Lowell Police Department recently posted the list of suggestions below on social media.

The city has been flushing hydrants today so there have been reports of discolored water in the building. Folks might want to fill a white bowl to check their water before drinking or cooking with it. It should clear up shortly.

Office hours this coming month are pretty normal except for one missing Saturday and that last week between Christmas & New Year’s Day. Here are the details:

I’m a tad late with this since I was away from my computer, and it doesn’t affect us directly, but there was a major water main break in Lowell this afternoon. The police offered this traffic advisory about 3 hours ago:

“Water Main Break in the area of Moody St. / Cabot St. / Father Morrissette Blvd. Seek alternate routes. Expect Delays. The Ayotte Garage will be open for free parking for residents in the affected area.“

This has caused major problems and done a lot of damage. Please stay away from that area. Stories about it are appearing on multiple news channels. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/water-main-break-floods-lowell-streets/2905565/