PARTY TIME

 

We are having a Welcome Home Party

Everyone has been cooperative, kind and patient, and we all deserve some fun.   And so we are having a Welcome Home Party on Sunday 19 July, at 5pm, in our newly furbished foyer.  All residents, including tenants, are welcome.

There will be a sausage sizzle, presided over by Brigid at the BBQ just outside the front doors, with Mark Holden as assistant chef.  (If it rains, the sausages will be rushed inside and baked in an oven, not quite the same, but still great.)

There will be bread and salad.

Your role, as the guests -- bring a bottle of whatever you drink, a glass to drink it out of, a fork, and (but only if you wish) a small plate of nibbles or dainties. Chips or something sweet are always welcome.

Cooking smells

There were a few complaints from residents in D apartments that they could smell other people's dinners on the stove.  This was reported to Gazelle, and the problem was fixed. Prompt response and good result.

Path to completion

The final strengthening is scheduled to finish 17 July, and Spectrum will do their check three days later.

The ventilation fans will be commissioned on 3 July, but do remember that they will be checked and recalibrated if necessary all this year.

Holmes expect the fire sign off will be 3 July, too.  A big date for the construction people, and for us.

The application for Certificate of Code Compliance will be submitted on 6 July, and the projected date for it to be issued is the first week of August.

At this stage, letters will be written to the Wellington City Council Resilient Buildings department, one of the most important being that the Code Compliance Certificate has been issued.

Then it is up to the Council.  Previous experience indicates that the decision will take three to four weeks, or so I am told. Which would mean that we should have an answer -- and that annoying rating off the front and back doors -- at the end of August.

Selling your apartment

If you get in touch with a real estate agent, please inform Munro Benge right away.  A presale pack will be issued (at the cost of the shareholder) with everything the prospective buyer and the agent needs -- minutes of the latest AGM, updates on the earthquake rating, cost of the quarterly levy, things like that. 

Whiteboard

This is now up in the passage to the back door, as it was impossible to put one up in the mail room.  Please use it as needed.  I see that Trevor King is already advertising a garage for sale, and that is the kind of thing the whiteboard is for. There are magnets for pinning papers to the board. 

Embellishing the foyer

 

The Judy Darragh photograph

As many of you will have noticed, there has been a posted plea for the huge old artwork not to be replaced in the foyer.  This echoes what has been said, phoned, and emailed to me.  The photograph was in synch with the black, pink/red/orange etc. of the old foyer design, or so many say, but does not work with the white walls.

I personally agree.  Right now, the foyer looks like a welcoming art gallery -- sans art.  We have a huge photograph of the Kumutoto Stream, which everyone likes, and looks great where it is propped.  It's local -- according to Heritage NZ, the photo was taken at the bottom of the city-to-sea steps on Salamanca Road.  I have not been down the steps to check, but others are welcome!  

A lot of people like the two paintings of stones that were created by Ron Druett, my husband.  And they like where they are propped, on either side of the foyer table.  On deep reflection, I decided that Ron would have liked the idea of his art hanging in the foyer of the building he loved, so they are propped there still, meantime.  Nothing can be hung until the paint is 20 days old.

So what do we do with the Judy Darragh photograph?  There is the suggestion that it goes in the lift lobby of one of the higher levels.  There is the alternative of selling it. I researched the artist online, and find that her work has a following. She is known as a 'found' artist, meaning she takes objects she finds, often in recycling bins, and paints them in bright colours and sets them up as statements.  She has a large presence online, and her work does sell.

 Maybe a resident loves it enough to offer to buy it?  Not expecting a huge response for that, Sally Schoon and I will be conferring with Webbs, art auctioneers.  Our contact, their Senior Specialist Mark Hutchins-Pond, will be in touch soon, and we will see what happens.  It will be interesting to know what kind of money we could hope for

Whiteboard

The whiteboard is now up in the passage to the back door, and should be easily seen when taking out recycling.  If you post a messsage, please make sure that you sign it.  Don't be shy!  And please don't walk away with the whiteboard marker. 

Bins and skip

The bins will be moved to the back door, and a skip (the last skip for a while!) will be placed in the driveway by the back door on Friday, if not before.