24 NORMAN STREET CONDOMINIUM TRUST NOTICE OF 2017 ANNUAL MEETING

The 2017 Annual Meeting ofthe 24 Norman Street Condominium Trust will be held Wednesday, January 11,2017 @ 6:30 PM in the Heritage Room ofthe Heritage Plaza Condominium, 10 Norman Street (next door, lower level), Salem, Massachusetts.
You should have received the meeting package and proxy for your information and review by mail. If you have not, please contact Markwood Management.
At this meeting, you will be electing three trustees for one-year terms. George Courage, Anna Zabierek, and Jessie Zuberek have volunteered to serve as trustees. If you are interested in adding your name to the ballot, please contact Markwood Management no later than Friday, January 6, 2017 and be prepared to present yourself at the meeting.
There will also be news about progress on the National Grid "pit" situation.
Please direct any questions to Markwood Management. Thank you!

Equipment Vault Update

If you live on the basement level of 24 Norman Street, or on the 7-11 side of the building, you may have noticed some activity in and around the electrical junction room (next to the laundry room), and the adjacent below-ground equipment "vault". 
Here is an official update dated April 23rd, from the Markwood office on the work being done at 24 Norman Street. 

 "As we have previously reported, Commtank is working in the building continuing the clean up.  All proper notifications and permits have been filed.  To date we have spent just under $6,000.

Today was the anticipated day to remove the transformers which have been evaluated and believe to be the source of the oil. Commtank has reported back today the transformers, which were thought to have been abandoned, do in fact have power to them.

With this information and information found by Carol Kenney (Markwood Management), of a possible easement with AT&T for access to this room, we felt it was necessary to immediately contact local Attorney Scott Grover.  We have asked Attorney Grover to interpret this recorded easement and advise the Board of further direction.

We will continue to update the Board as information is available."

-Kimberly Lord

It turns out that the easement has since passed from AT&T to National Grid. The condo trust attorney is on the case trying to sort out who is responsible for the clean-up.

Electric Rates Are Going Up. What to do?

If you are a National Grid customer, you may have received a notice  informing you that your electric rates are going to be raised by as much as 37% next month. That is 37¢ on every dollar you spend. So a $100 electric bill will now be a $137 electric bill. Coming hard on the teeth of another brutally long and cold winter seems akin to kicking someone when they are down. What can you do? Turn down the thermostat, switch to energy efficient bulbs and appliances, sure, but many of us have already done that, in fact that is one of the reasons that National Grid is raising it's rates. People are using less energy, but the power company "needs" to make the same amount of money, therefore: higher rates. So what to do? Suck it up and pay the higher rates...or look into supplementing our energy with solar power?
The possibility of placing solar panels on the roof of 24 Norman Street is an idea that has been discussed. It is unlikely that we could generate enough power to supply the entire building, but it might be enough to keep our ever-spiraling electric bills down to a manageable level.
Here is an article about how one couple in a Chicago condominium went solar. http://www.motherearthliving.com/mother-earth-living/how-to-go-solar-condo.aspx#axzz3K1C34V4e

The main hindrances to going solar are expense, and maintenance. There are several government-sponsored incentive programs for going solar, as well as a solar initiative here in Salem.
This article is the best in explaining the incentives.
http://brightstarsolar.net/2011/02/solar-power-for-condominiums/

The first big question is: do we qualify? The second is: if not, does anyone in the building want to spend the money to have solar panels installed? Would it be economically feasible?
Like many other initiatives proposed for our building, if there is no interest, we will continue to maintain the status quo, however we would love to know your thoughts.