Winter 2016/2017 Paddington Green Newsletter |
January 3, 2017 We hope everyone had a good holiday season and have survived the excessive amount of snow that has fallen early this winter. Due to the vast amount of snow causing high demand on snow removal equipment as well as the contractors simply being overwhelmed, the cleaning of our parking lot was delayed. We thank those that got out for some fresh air and exercise to clear their own parking stall as well as those that eagerly shoveled some of the entrances and sidewalks. Some of our owners like their stall cleared as well as areas around their spot and do this every snowfall. This is by no means expected of anyone. As you would expect from a diverse group of 72, we all have different views as to how things should be done. If you want to shovel, please go right ahead. When you are shoveling your space please keep the following in mind: a) The snow that is removed from your stall cannot be put in another person’s stall, behind anyone’s stall or on the sidewalks. b) You can put the snow in the drive areas (Common area) of the parking lot if it is spread evenly. Snow piles are not allowed and this needs to be done before the lot is cleared. Now to the serious stuff. When we schedule a plowing of the lot, we give at least 48 hours’ notice. In ALL situations, the removal of your vehicle is your responsibility. Every time, we plow we have 8 – 12 vehicles still in the lot after the start time of the plowing. At least 6 of these are repeat offenders time and time again. Why should I care you say. We pay by the hour for lot clearing. If vehicles are in the way it costs you money. Your condo fees and/or rent pay for this. And yes, it is expensive. Another issue is the quality of the plowing. If your vehicle remains in the lot, not only is your stall not cleared but the stall on either side of you is also impacted. Be advised: Going forward you WILL BE TOWED at your expense if you don’t move your vehicle. If you cannot move your vehicle for ANY REASON, then it is your responsibility to make arrangements to have it moved and moved on time. There are no valid excuses!!!! Visitor parking continues to be an issue. Visitor parking is not for residents to park their own vehicles. Go figure: It’s for visitors. We relaxed the rules a few years ago and people are taking advantage. If the current abuse continues, any vehicle parked in visitor parking between 3 A.M. and 6 A.M. WILL BE TOWED. Each and every time no exceptions!!! In addition, please have your visitors pay attention to the signs. The three stalls on the right side are NOT visitor parking. These are resident’s personal stalls and towing is in effect 24 hour a day. No different than me parking in your parking stall. Annoying eh. We need to point out a few issues regarding the laundry rooms and the washer/dryer machines. These machines are starting to get old and repair costs are increasing. Please use these as if you owned them. Oh yeah... You do. A few other things that cause the condo fees and rents to increase are: a) Over loading the machines. These front load machines do not work effectively when overloaded. It wears out the machines and does not get your clothes clean. b) The opposite is also true. Washing just a couple of items at a time causes the washer to go out of balance on the spin cycle. This wears out many parts well ahead of their expected lifetime. It also uses the same amount of water and hydro as a regular load. c) Laundry soap pods DO NOT go in the soap dish. They go straight into the washing machine. Please use Laundry detergent marked “ HE “ d) Please be courteous to others: Set your timer as to remove your laundry shortly after the load is completed. 45 minutes is a reasonable average cycle time. e) Please limit the drying time. It doesn’t take more than 30 – 45 minutes to dry most loads, especially if you haven’t overloaded it. Towels and Jeans might take a bit more. Some people are just burning up their laundry at 75 minutes on hot. f) When cleaning the lint basket, do it completely. Take the basket out and tap it on the waste basket and wipe around the basket opening. It’s your lint. Don’t leave it behind for others. If you have excessive pet hair, please run the washer on rinse and spin when you have done your last load. This sure seems to be a negative news letter but honestly this is a pretty good place to live and for the most part the people here are great. We all need to remember that we share these facilities with our neighbors and we need to give them the respect we expect in return. The board of directors seldom acts without a formal complaint, we don’t pick on anyone and we do enforce the rules uniformly. If you have a complaint or issue, please send an email to: paddingtongreen@sunrex.ca
We wish you a very happy and prosperous 2017.
Your Board of Directors |