First of all, a reminder that fire alarm testing is scheduled for Monday. Alarm testing in the common areas will begin at 8:00am and in-unit inspections will begin at 9:00. This is a safety issue and it’s important that all units be inspected. Ron will be accompanying the alarm company and giving them access to units where residents are not home. If your smoke detector needs to be replaced, BEF will replace it and you will be billed back by the association. 

Second, tomorrow (Saturday) is Lowell’s City of Lights festival and parade. Festivities begin at 11:00am at the Brush Gallery and noon in other areas. The parade begins at 4:30pm and ends with the lighting of City Hall. For more info about the festival and about road closures and parking, see https://www.lowellcityoflights.org.

And lastly, I’ve been asked to post the following by one of the folks who regularly mark and sort packages for everyone’s convenience, as well as checking security video as needed. While much of the complex has been wonderful about picking up packages promptly (thank you for that!) there are still stragglers, and it’s very easy for the mailroom to get out of control.

Christmas is coming. And that means BOXES and PACKAGES are arriving in the mailroom at the usual Holiday speed!

1. Please keep an eye on the mailroom for items that you are expecting to arrive from all of our friendly delivery people. Items sometimes arrive AHEAD of time, so don’t wait for the official delivery date to start checking the mailroom for your deliveries. It’s not a bad idea to check for packages regularly even if you aren’t expecting anything; sometimes friends or family will surprise you.

2. If you get notice that a package has arrived, please look EVERYWHERE in the mailroom before contacting anyone that your package is missing. Those same friendly delivery people don’t always take the time to put packages where they belong.

3. Items sometimes arrive DAYS after you get notification that they’ve been delivered. Give it a few days before notifying anyone that your package hasn’t arrived.

AND – once you’ve received your packages, please be a good neighbor and FLATTEN THE EMPTY BOXES before taking them down to the basement to dispose of in the cardboard container. If the container is full, place your flattened boxes to the right of the containers to keep them out of the open area in front of the containers. If you want to be really conscientious, arrange to take the boxes to the DPW recycling bin.

If your items come packed in styrofoam, please SEPARATE the styrofoam from the flattened boxes and place the styrofoam in their own bags. Do NOT put unwrapped, individual pieces of styrofoam down the trash chute; they cannot be read by the ‘eye’ of the compactor which results in the crushing process faltering and the chute backing up.

Thanks – and Happy Holidays!