ONWARD and UPWARD

 

DEVELOPMENTS

Building Manager

This newsflash is graced with a picture of Damien regaled with KFC, as his last lunch at Herbert Gardens.  A very small group of Conroy guys, Jacob and Brigid took advantage of the lovely weather, and headed down to the bottom garden to order in KFC.  As you can see from Damien's headgear, the order came with complimentary caps.

We all wish Damien the very best as he heads back to Ireland.  His input over the last eight years has been invaluable, and much appreciated by all.

Our new Building Manager is Brigid Wills.  She will be on tap every working day, from 8am to 4.30pm.  While she can be contacted in weekends and after hours, it must be for emergencies only. As a very hard worker, endlessly proactive, she deserves her time off, so please be considerate and leave non-emergency queries for the week days.

Elevators

On Tuesday at the PCG meeting, the project team was pleased to meet Jordan Churchill, who is the project manager for Otis, and is managing the replacement of our old lifts.

What he had to tell us was very interesting. 

Total scanning of the lift shaft is necessary, and a lift has to be dissassembled and the shaft scaffolded to complete this vital job.  It will take a week to take the lift apart, and this is likely to happen by the end of this month.

What it means for us is that we will be down to one lift for the following nine months. 

The first lift is taken out, the work in that part of the shaft done, and a new lift assembled in its place. Then, once it is up and running, the second lift will be taken out, and the rest of the shaft completed, ready for the assembling of the second new lift.  This is why we are limited to one elevator, all the way to Christmas.

First, it means a longer wait for the lift to arrive.  Residents may prefer to hurry down the stairs, which is made easier and safer by the fact that the fire stairs lighting is complete all the way down to level 3. 

Secondly, it means that we must not tax the old lift with very heavy loads. Either delay ordering in such stuff, or plan to carry it up the stairs. 

Thirdly, is the worry of breakdowns.  We are all familiar with the fact that the old lifts tend to break down rather easily. However, Jordan assured me that if it did happen while the construction crew are working they will drop what they are doing to fix the fault. Outside of working hours, the Otis maintenance team will be on call. 

My tip?  Always carry your phone when you use the lift. Then, with a breakdown, you will not be trapped by lack of communication.  There is an alarm button inside the elevator, and from experience I know it is answered quickly, but it is faster to phone Brigid, who will contact the maintenance team directly.

Ventilation

As you have been informed ad infinitum, patience is needed until the ventilation job is completed on all levels.  Then, calibration can commence. Behind the metal louvred plate over the vent in your bathroom is a grille.  Once all these ventilation grilles have been installed, the balancing can be done.  Specialist engineers will visit all apartments, to measure the airflow and adjust each grille so that the ventilation system performs evenly and correctly throughout the building. This will be carried out late April, and monitoring and any necessary adjustments made after that, on a regular basis.

Blinds

If any of you are thinking of replacing your old blinds, perhaps with venetians, Just Blinds is visiting regularly as part of their job of cleaning blinds, where it has been ordered by various shareholders.  If you let Brigid know, their representative is happy to measure and quote for new blinds while here.

Relocation allowances

As you all know, there was a payment of $150 per day for 90 days, as recompense for those who were not insured for alternative accommodation while their apartments were inaccessible. Everyone eligible got this basic (and generous) allowance, but quite a number of shareholders have been kept out of their apartments for more than 90 days.  The arrangement to compensate for this extra time was that those shareholders could claim if they had to pay for alternative accommodation. There is a cap of $150 per day, and invoices must be submitted.  If you have a second home, or are staying with friends and family, you are not eligible.  You must be able to prove that you had to pay rent. 

Some people have still not submitted their claim, plus the documentation necessary to prove they had to pay. The deadline for this is 30 April. This allows for those on level one who will need to rent accommodation somewhere else until they get their apartment back (currently 14 April) to lodge their claim.

Missing contents

Damien and Brigid visited Conroy storage on a very successful mission.  Unlabelled goods have been photographed, and Conroy have located a container that may hold many of the missing items.

If you have items missing, please make a list, and give it to me or to Brigid.  Then we can figure out what belongs to who, and identify unlabelled items.