Fire Alarm System test - Monday December 19th @noon

Our semi-annual fire alarm system test is scheduled for Monday, December 19th at 12pm.

Access to all units on the 3 and 4 floors will be required for visual inspection of heat sensors.The sensors must not be compromised in any way (not painted, damaged or covered). Owners and residents are responsible for providing access.
Heat and smoke sensors in the common areas will also be tested and occasional fire alarm might sound.

Thank you

Last minute change - fire alarm system test is rescheduled to the 19th

One of the techs who was supposed to be here for tomorrow's fire alarm system test got a Covid and our vendor does not have anybody to fill in for him.

The fire alarm system test is re-scheduled for Monday, December 19th @12pm.

American Service Company apologized, they know that this last minute change could be a big inconvenience for our residents.

Fire Alarm System test is scheduled for December 8th at 12pm

Our semi-annual fire alarm system test is scheduled for Thursday, December 8th at 12pm.

Access to all units on the 3 and 4 floors will be required for visual inspection of heat sensors.The sensors must not be compromised in any way (not painted, damaged or covered). Owners and residents are responsible for providing access.

Heat and smoke sensors in the common areas will also be tested and occasional fire alarm might sound.

Thank you

New Driveway Parking Sign

We replaced our driveway parking sign to make it more guest friendly, update towing company info and remind residents that they may only park at their assigned spaces. Violators will be towed away at owner's expense.

Thank you

Unit break-in

Please see details into the video description on our YouTube channel and let Quincy Police know if you recognize this person

Please help us with finding a source of a heavy drilling sounds at night

Recently many of our residents started hearing occasional and very loud “drilling” sounds in our building. The noises were first noticed about 4-5 weeks ago. They usually do not last longer than 30-60 seconds and happen in the middle of the night but not every night.

I spoke with residents of several units and they described them as “rattling”, “hammer drill”, “banging metal on metal”, “broken fan” and “construction work”. Everybody noticed that it was accompanied with a heavy vibration that could be sensed in the walls and floors.

The sound resonated across the whole structure and I confirmed this information with residents of seven units in different parts of the building and on all floors. The noises were so loud that many people were awoken by it.

On several occasions I heard the noises myself and even tried to find the source by running around the building but the noises were stopping before I could get closer.
I even checked our security cameras to see if I could see any activity in the building that might help with identifying the source but there was nothing recorded at the time of the noises.  
I think that noises were coming from one of the units.

If you heard the noises or know anything about their nature, please let Alex know.

Thank you

What if you accidentally made a mess

What if you washed your clothes and when removing them from a washer you noticed there was a napkin inside and now it is spread into pieces and paper fibers all over the place in the laundry and at the elevator lobby?

Or, what if you spilled a coffee or a sugary drink on a carpet or in the elevator?

Or, what if you had contractors or movers delivering to your unit furniture or materials and they left behind dust and debris in our garage, elevator and carpets?

New tenants might not know that but in our condo we have a simple rule for these situations - clean up after yourself and leave common areas in the same condition as they before mess happened.
Just grab your cleaning supplies and a vacuum and tidy things up as you would do at home.

If a mess is big or too hard to clean up (like with spilled oil on garage floor or a full milk shake on a carpet) do not just walk away from the problem. Mark the spot with a cardboard or piece of paper or with a road cone (we have spares in the garage) so residents would be aware of the issue and would not step into it. This would stop the problem form spreading around and making the situation worse than it should be.

You can reach out to me if you my suggestion on specific cleaning supplies or cleaning techniques and we will figure something out.
The best way to contact would be by leaving me a note at my door or emailing me. I will get back to you the same day and when I am available.

Thank you
Alex

Our dumpster was not picked up on Friday

By some reason our trash removal company (Capitol Waste) did not pick up our dumpster on Friday. The dumpster leaks and smells very bad, so I decided to leave it outside till the company comes back to empty it next week.

There is a little bit of room left in the dumpster and you can still drop your household trash in there. Once it is full you can start dropping your bags into the blue bin I left in the garage.

Please do not mix recycling materials with household trash - this will save us some space in the dumpster.

Official MA Smart Recycling Guide is here.

Thank you,
Alex

Are you separating household trash from recycling materials?

Over the past few months we were doing well with using just one dumpster but over the past week or so I noticed significant trash volume increase.

What happened?
Did you stop separating household trash from recycling materials?

Please read what I have to say.

Why is it so important for our condo to separate recycling materials and put them into "Single Stream Recycling" bins?

First, this is because if we have only one dumpster then trash company parks their truck on the street and empties our dumpster there. They do not block our driveway plus whatever leaks or drops from the dumpster stays on the street and not on our driveway.
But if we have two dumpsters the truck backs into our driveway and blocks it for good 10-15 minutes. It is loud and leaves bad smells and diesel exhaust in the air. Plus, if you need to leave by car you would need to wait.
Also, whatever leaks or drops from the dumpsters stay on our driveway and this is not what you want to see first thing in the morning when you step out of the building.

Second, with just one dumpster in service we have much less foul smells and leaks in our garage. This is critically important during summer months when the temperatures are high.

Please note, that we have total of four recycling bins to accommodate all you have to put there and I will add them as needed.

Please put into recycling bins everything that marked with a recycling sign - glass, plastic, metal and paper. All needs to be clean and dry. Just rinse your containers if they had food leftovers on them and they will be good to go. This is true for shampoo, milk, detergent and other plastic packaging but remember no liquids and no shopping bags or any polyethylene bags or wrappings (and no used napkins).
Pizza boxes soiled with fat are not good for recycling.

As of the household trash, please pack it tight and make sure that nothing can leak inside of the dumpster. If you discarding packaging that cannot be cleaned up for recycling, just compact or flatten it to save space.

Here is City of Quincy's Recycling guidelines for more information.

Please let me know if you have questions.

We can do this if we do this together,

Thank you,
Alex

Elevator and Fire Alarm Inspection on Wednesday at 10am

Our elevator will be temporary unavailable during annual inspection scheduled for Wednesday, June 29 at 10am.

At the same time our fire alarm system will be tested.
Occasional fire alarm might sound.

Thank you

Our paving project is delayed again

Good Morning.

Our project is delayed again.

These are messages I got at 6-45am this morning from Joseph Fornaro, the owner of the Norfolk Paving and Excavation company from Canton:

"Hi Alex , I just went to our pipe supplier for the materials for your drain, usually he has plenty of the supplies we need but with everything going on with supply chain he does not and will not have materials till after the 18 th of July. I locked in the order so we are sure to get the materials when they come in, so we have to put your job off till the end of July.
Sorry for the delay.
I can’t get common supplies, I got to send my crew home for the day, they are losing a days pay, plus my equipment was on the road headed to you, I called 3 of my suppliers, none of them have materials, it’s out of my hands."

I am very disappointed and I am sure you are too. I do not know what else to say.
I am sorry.
 

Thank you
Alex

Driveway Paving This Week

Our paving contractor will be here on Thursday at 7-30am to remove the existing driveway, install a drain and compact new gravel. Next day, on Friday, they will be installing new asphalt.
We should expect that there will be no access to our driveway from Thursday to Monday or Tuesday next week (it will depend on how hot it is going to be).

If you need to take your car, please do this before 7am Thursday.

Thank you

Driveway paving project is moving to the mid of June

The company we picked for the repaving of our driveway is running behind and they told me that we should expect the project to take place in the mid of June and that they will be in touch with me when we get close to the date.

I do not know what is wrong with these asphalt companies and why they cannot keep their schedules and communications with their clients straight.
Last week I called Norfolk Paving eight times, left 3 voice messages and nobody got back to me. Similar happened with the company we planned to use last year. Back then they simply stopped responding to us after getting our prepayment. They failed with the schedule and in the end it took me 3 month of weekly calls to get our money back.

I apologize for this the inconvenience this whole situation can cause you. I have a few ideas on how to straighten things out and am working work in it.
Please stay tuned for more updates.

Thank you, Alex

Driveway paving is just a few days away

Our driveway paving is still scheduled to the end of May but the company could not give me the exact date.
Most likely they will give us the date a couple days ahead, so, it might be happening even this week.
Please note that we would not be able to drive on the new pavement for a few days till asphalt cures.
Thank you

Driveway paving project is still tentatively scheduled to the end of May

Our driveway paving project is still tentatively scheduled to the end of May.
We are getting close. Please stay tuned, a new date announcement is coming soon.

Thank you

Driveway paving project is coming soon

Our driveway paving project is tentatively scheduled to the end of May.
We expect that we would not be able to drive on fresh asphalt for 3-5 days. It will depend on the weather: the hotter it is the longer we would need to wait to allow asphalt to cure.

Please stay tuned. New announcements will be send as soon as we get closer to the date.
Thank you

Is your toilet or faucet running constantly?

City Water Department identified a continuous flow of water in out building.
Please check if your toilet or faucets may be running and fix leaks as soon as possible.
High water usage can cost us hundreds of dollars.

Please let Alex know if you have questions.

Thank you

Are you signed up for NationalGrid notifications?

If you sign up for notifications you will be getting immediate updates on all power issues in our building.
Last night we partially lost power (apparently, one phase went out).
NationalGrid restored power at 1-30am on 04/11. We power-cycled our elevator to bring it back to service.

To get text message alerts from NationalGrid: text REG to 64743 (STORM)
To manage NationalGrid alerts logon to your account and go to MyAlerts.
To view NationalGrid outage maps go here.

Thank you

Let's use one dumpster instead of two. Please recycle more to make it happen

I noticed that many of you throw recyclable materials into the dumpster and this is not good. If we all separate trash better we can use only one dumpster instead of two.

Why is using one dumpster is better than the two?
Here are some reasons:
- less foul smells in out garage (especially in the summer)
- faster trash pickup (trash truck will be leaving our driveway quicker)
- less litter on our driveway dropped by the trash company
- less noise and exhaust from the trash truck
- less waste buried in the ground

Please use our green bins for clean and dry paper, plastic, glass and metal but not for plastic bags, soiled food containers / pizza boxes and napkins, not for laminated packaging (like milk cartons), not for styrofoam and not for liquids.

Thank you
Alex

Massachusetts governor's blizzard advice: Stay off the roads!