FOR YOUR FIREPLACE

Resident Jean-Noel Gilbert has been doing some research about blowers that can be installed in our gas fireplaces to enhance their heating efficiency.

Here is his message:

I have shopped around trying to get a better price than Harding Fire Place in Carp (original installer) for the purchase of an acceptable blower for the type of Napoleon Fire Place (Model Number BGD36NTR) installed in our condos.

Harding prices are:

$285 plus tax for the blower

$149.95 plus tax for the installation

The best price for an acceptable and reliable product was found at 

Romantic Fireplaces & BBQ’s Inc

5929 Boul Jeanne D’Arc

Orleans ON K1C 6V8

Tel: 613-834-1777

www.romanticfireplaces.com

I paid $269.51 for a Rotom HB-RB58 Napoleon GZ 550 Blower, tax included (discounted $26.50).

If we get a minimum of 20 people, the price would go down to $210 plus tax.

I installed it myself using the instructions in “Chapter 8.0 - Optional Blower Installation” of the Fireplace Booklet given when I moved in. Self-installation takes less than an hour when doing it for the first time.

You can get it installed by Romantic for $150 plus tax ($169.50), which includes complete maintenance of the unit. They would be ready to bring the price down to $100 (installation & maintenance), if the numbers are closer to 20 people.

THE CURIOUS TRUTH ABOUT THE GARBAGE SHED

No one likes to shatter illusions or bust myths, but the time has come.

There are no garbage elves here.

Some people have left items on the floor of the garbage shed, clearly trusting that the garbage elves would do their work and make them disappear. When the items — furniture, Christmas trees, other discarded items — did miraculously disappear, their faith was rewarded.

But the sad truth is, the items were disposed of by fellow residents who simply took care of doing what should have been done by someone else in the first place.

Our condo corporation pays to have the bins moved outside, where the city trucks collect the trash and recyclables. Anything left on the floor just stays there, until some thoughtful person removes it.

There are blue bins for plastics, glass and cans; a big yellow bin for paper and cardboard (which includes boxes that have been BROKEN DOWN); and a dumpster for “regular” garbage. If you need to get rid of items that aren’t appropriate for one of those bins, please call the city to find out how to dispose of them.

We have no custodian here. And there are no garbage elves.

DID THE EARTH MOVE?

Well, no, not really.

Many residents lately have been wondering about the pronounced vibrations they — and our buildings — have been experiencing when heavy equipment at the construction site rumbles over from one location to another.

Brigil foreman Rhéal Duquette says not to worry. Board members and our property manager met with him onsite this week to discuss a number of issues.

When the question of vibrations arose, he assured us that they were simply due to the nature of the clay in much of our landscape around here. When frozen, this kind of earth transmits noise and vibration much more effectively (and dramatically) than otherwise.

Rhéal tells us that the rumbling we experience from time to time has no impact on our foundations or our structures. Which is certainly nice to know.

JANUARY CONDO BOARD MEETING

Your condo board, along with property manager Jodie Marion, met for the second time on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

Minutes will be available after the next meeting, when they are accepted by the board. In the meantime, here is a general summary of some of the things we discussed.

*We still do not have a full financial picture of OCSCC 953, because Brigil has still not turned over the numbers — even though the turn-over meeting was almost two months ago.

*Specific areas of concern remain unresolved: 1) contracted painting of unit doors;  2) no identification of parking spots in snow;  3) water runoff and pooling at back of #70 and side of #80;  4) front door problems (lack of weatherstripping and levelling on some, door closers malfunctioning);  5) utility door not secure.

Our property manager continues to press Brigil on all of these issues and will report to us when any of them have been settled.

*We have discussed the idea of No Parking signs along the west side of the street and proceeded with asking the City of Ottawa to provide them. Just to be absolutely clear: these signs would be on our section of Prestige Circle (i.e. where the buildings are) and would refer ONLY to the west side of the street — the sidewalk side. The prohibited area would extend from the parking lot entrance of Buildings 1 and 2, to the parking lot entrance of Building 4. With parking restricted like this, we won’t have cars parked on both sides of the street impeding navigation, especially in winter.

*Our property manager has requested quotes from three engineering firms with a view to conducting our Performance Audit and Reserve Fund Study. This must be done by the fall and will provide us, and Brigil, with a detailed look at all the building deficiencies that must be corrected.

*We have decided for the time being not to obtain quotes for parking control services, which Buildings 1 and 2 have. Although we have only five Visitor spots to serve all residents of 60-70-80-90-100, we continue to rely on residents’ awareness and goodwill. If there are problems down the road, especially when more units are sold, we will re-visit the situation.

*Condo rules are still evolving. The ones we all signed on to when we moved in here remain our guidelines for now. But our property manager is supplying the board with sample rules from other condo corporations so we can see what additional areas should be addressed and subsequently right-sized for our situation. Once we vote on a new set of rules, they will be enforced. Any resident objecting to a specific rule will, within a specific timeframe, be able to request a residents’ meeting to discuss it.

The next meeting of the OCSCC 953 condo board will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

FRONT DOOR CLOSERS

Residents have received a security reminder from Axia regarding the front doors to our buildings.

In it, property manager Jodie Marion alludes to a problem with the closers on the doors, an issue many residents have mentioned over the past couple of months. The doors often don’t latch after someone has entered or exited, and this can obviously lead to security concerns, as Jodie mentioned in her e-mail to residents.

More than that, though, it can also affect interior heating. It also creates potential problems with the remote entry system (the buzzers we use for visitor access). This happens because a sensor is located in the doorway’s strike plate. If the door is improperly closed, the system might not work.

Jodie has brought our concerns to Brigil — so far, with little satisfactory response — but in the meantime, we can all pay closer attention to the problem.

When we come in or go out, let’s make sure the door is securely closed behind us. And if we notice that it isn’t latching, let’s keep reporting the issue to Jodie (613-738-9700 x 138), who will keep after Brigil.