Just a reminder to vote today. For our building, it’s right downstairs at Lowell Telecommunications, 246 Market, across the breezeway from the Visitor’s Center. The hours are 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. More info about voting hours and locations can be found here.

I wanted to let people know that if you subscribe to the Cultural Organization of Lowell’s newsletter you’ll get an e-mail every Thursday with a fairly comprehensive list of things going on around town.  I know I used to spend a lot of time going through calendars (hence, all the links on the Canal Place site link page) but the COOL newsletter is much easier.

And every so often I try to remind people that there is a discount in the Leo Roy garage for anyone over 62.  If you have recently reached that milestone and use the Roy garage, you should stop by the garage office and let them know. Even if you don’t pay them directly, the condo association will benefit from your discount. Parking regulations can be found here.

For those people interested in replacing their toilets to help the building conserve water, there’s been a change in plans that should result in cash savings as well as more personalized service.  Cathy’s working out details and I’ll post info as I get it.

The big concern for everyone seems to be the tiling. I know that our own upstairs toilet sits on the tile and our downstairs one is tiled in. From talking with other people,  I believe this is a common situation.  It’s a concern that ultimately needs to be ironed out with the actual installer.

One resident has contacted me looking for info from anyone who has experience with having toilets replaced in this building (see below). If anyone has any useful info, feel free to post it in the comments.  Thanks!

I live at 210 and have questions regarding how everyone in this building installed their toilets.  I spoke with a plumber familiar with our building and he says that the toilets need to be tiled in and sit flat so that they line up with the rear outlet.  We had a leak nearly ruin our floor completely due to not being able to see a leak because the toilet was tiled in.  What is everyone’s experience? 

From Georgie:  Just wanted you to know that Ruth Sullivan, Unit 408, passed away on Thursday the 18th.

Ruth will be remembered by me as a woman who enjoyed her daily walks around the downtown area wheeling her trusty shopping cart.

Ruth is survived by her son Brian; they have been my neighbors for over 20 years.

Calling hours at the McDonough Funeral Home, 14 Highland St., Lowell, are Tuesday February 23 from 10am to Noon.

A procession will follow for burial at Westlawn II Cemetery.

From the Site Administrator (another Ruth):  I’d like to add that my husband and I will also miss seeing her around town and around the building. The cheerfully decorated planter outside her door has always made me smile as I walked by during the 7 years we’ve been neighbors.  We spoke to Brian this morning and he said that he took consolation in the fact that she’d lived a full life and died without pain.

A reminder that Winterfest is going on this weekend.  It’s changed quite a bit over the past few years, but it’s definitely worth bundling up tonight and tomorrow and checking it out (the schedule’s at the link above).  One of our favorites is always the soup contest!

And, unless I’m mistaken, there’s a board meeting Monday night in the lobby office at 7:00.  Residents welcome.

Apparently the heat is still having problems. The broken pipe caused enough air to get into the system that it now has to be bled before it will work right. There are signs in the lobby requesting that residents not run their heat so that the lines can be bled (and so you won’t be wasting money on electricity for nothing).  I will pass on news as I hear it.

At least it didn’t happen yesterday!

From the management:  A broken pipe in the rear mailroom heat pump this morning caused the building heat to go off. The problem has been fixed but it will take several hours for the building temperature to be operating at full capacity.

Just got word that the on street parking ban is ending at 8:00 tonight.  Residents have 2 hours to remove their car from the Leo Roy garage to avoid being charged.  After that, I believe it’s $8/day.

FYI, a Snow Emergency Parking Ban has been declared, effective this morning.  This means that there should be no cars parked in the building’s surface lot so as to allow for plowing.  If your car is currently parked there, please move it to the Leo Roy garage ASAP.  More info about the ban can be found here.  More info about condo parking rules can be found here.

Hello, people. Georgi has a message about making life in our units a little more peaceful.  For details about cost and about whether your heat pump is eligible, please contact A-1 Maintenance Master directly (there’s also a link on the Links page of this site).

Hi Everyone,
 
A-1 Maintenance Master who installs and maintains so many of the heat pumps in our building has come up with a new technique for quieting the FIRST generation of NEW heat pumps (sorry, to quiet the old, original heat pumps the replacement of the compressor is the only solution).
 
Suzanne Knapp of Unit 310 just had this done on her very noisy main floor heat pump (which had replaced her original pump back in 2006 or so) and neither she nor I could believe the difference in noise level.
 
Get in touch with me for A-1’s phone number or Google them. It will be well worth your while – Suzanne can now watch TV while her heat pump is running!

Georgi May
Cell: 978-764-5570