2014 Annual Meeting

The 2014 meeting of the 24 Norman Street Condominium Trust will be held Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 6:00 P.M. in the Heritage Room of the Heritage Plaza Condominium, 10 Norman Street (Next door, lower level), Salem, Massachusetts. You should have received a meeting package and proxy form for your information and review. 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 December 31, 2013 and be prepared to present yourself at the meeting. Please direct any questions to Markwood Management.

CITY OF SALEM SNOW EMERGENCY INFORMATION

The new City of Salem Snow Emergency Information brochure is now available at this link here. This contains important information to help you through the coming WINTER.

New Carpet Installation

Magarian Carpet is on site for the next few days installing the new carpets. The installers have noticed that the carpets run underneath the doors to each unit at varying lengths, so in some cases they will need those doors open to finish the job. We've asked them to proceed as far as they can for the time being, but we wanted to get the word out to tenants that they may need to make themselves available to open their doors at some point. We have scheduled the installers to be here after 8:30 this Saturday (12/7/13) in order to finish up any carpeting that they were not able to get to this last week on the top two floors.  We may need to schedule another Saturday for installation on the the remaining floors. We would request that tenants be aware of the installers and make every effort to be available during those times.  Magarian installers may be knocking on your door as they try to get this done. Your cooperation is appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact Markwood Management.

The First Rule About Trash Days

Unless there is a holiday, our trash collection is regularly scheduled for Tuesdays. Early in the morning, usually between 7:00 and 9:00 AM, a large truck backs into the side parking area and empties the dumpster. If there is a vehicle blocking access to the dumpster when they arrive, they will sometimes beep their horn, but more often than not, they move on, (they have a strict schedule to keep) and we miss our trash disposal for the week.
This can be a real problem as the dumpster will often be overflowing before they come the following week. This leads to an increase in pests (like seagulls and rats) and in the warmer months, flies, maggots, and bad odors, not to mention that it just looks plain ugly.
So remember, the first rule about trash day is: Never park in front of or block access to the dumpster. The second rule about trash day is: NEVER PARK IN FRONT OF OR BLOCK ACCESS TO THE DUMPSTER.  If you do,  you will not only cause problems with the trash, but your car may be towed as well.

2013 Salem Winter Market Begins Thursday at Old Town Hall

On Thursday, November 7th Salem Main Streets in cooperation with the City of Salem, will host this year’s first Winter Market at Old Town Hall.  The Winter Market will run six weeks on Thursdays from 3 – 6 p.m., November 7 through December 19.  There will be no Market the week of Thanksgiving. Old Town Hall is adjacent to Derby Square where the Summer Farmers’ Market is held.

It will include produce from local farms, pasture-fed meat, spices, pickles, soup, baked goods, artisan soap, jewelry, wreaths, and more. All items are grown or produced in New England.

“I am very excited that Salem Main Streets and the City will be hosting a weekly Winter Market,” said Mayor Kim Driscoll. “Our Summer Farmers’ Market is an incredibly popular event and I hope the Winter Market will be the same. Farmers’ markets, no matter what time of year, are an important component of a healthy and vibrant community. I invite my fellow Salem residents to come to Old Town Hall on Thursdays through December 19th to experience this great event for themselves.”

2013 Salem Winter Market vendors will include (this list is subject to change):

Farm Vendors (produce): Clark Farm, Grant Family Farm, Long Hill Orchard & Farm, and Wally’s Vegetables

Non-Farm Vendors (not produce): Big Sky Bakery (bread), Fishwives Specialty Foods/Mandy’s Seafood Chowder (chowder), Piper Ranch (meat), Salem Spice (spices, also selling Maitland Mountain Farm’s pickles), Valicenti Organico (pasta/sauces), and Wolf Meadow Farm (cheese)

Artisan Vendors: Salem Soapworks and Shine Jewelry/Heritage Industries

In addition to Salem Main Streets and the City of Salem, Mass in Motion Salem, as well as numerous volunteers are making the 2013 Salem Winter Market possible.  The Market participates in the SNAP program and will accept the EBT card.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Kylie Sullivan, Salem Main Streets Manager, at 978-744-0004 or kylie@salemmainstreets.org, or visit http://salemmainstreets.org/salem-winter-market/.  You can also follow Salem Main Streets on Facebook and Twitter to keep current on Winter Market news.

Halloween Parking Information for 24 Norman Street

The side lot at 24 Norman street will be chained and locked starting Tuesday night 10/29/13 through Friday morning 11/01/13. This is in anticipation of record crowds in Salem. In past years we have had issues with non-residents parking in the side lot during the Halloween festivities, and because of road closings and heavy traffic, were unable to have them towed.
If you have any questions about this or issues, please contact Markwood Management at 781-639-4080.

In addition the City of Salem has announced
Road Closures & No Parking Zones for Halloween.
All closures subject to change based on traffic and public safety considerations

SALEM, MA – The City of Salem has announced the following planned road closures and temporary parking restrictions for Halloween, October 31st. These closures are subject to change based on conditions, crowd size, and other public safety factors.

Visitors planning to come to Salem on October 26th, 27th, or 31st are strongly encouraged to take the commuter rail (www.mbta.com/riding_the_t/haunted_happenings/) or ride the Salem-to-Boston Ferry (www.bostonharborcruises.com/salem-ferry/). For more information about traveling to Salem during Halloween visit http://hauntedhappenings.org/arrive and to be notified about road closures follow www.twitter.com/getthruoctober.

Streets closed to traffic at approximately 4:00 p.m., no later than 5:00 p.m., and until approximately 11:30 p.m.

1. Washington St. from New Derby to Bridge St.
2. Essex St. from Barton Square to Union St.
3. Derby St. from Lafayette St. to Congress St.
4. Brown St. at New Liberty St. Second backup closure at Howard St.
5. Lafayette St. from Derby to Front St.
6. Hawthorne Blvd. from Derby St. to Essex St.
7. Washington Sq. West from Essex to Brown St. Washington Sq. South closed. Washington Sq. North closed from Brown to Winter St.
8. Winter St. at Bridge St. closed to inbound traffic.
9. Williams St. at Bridge St.
10. Congress St. closed at South Harbor Garage. Vehicles will be detoured to Pickering Way out to Derby St. Derby St. inbound traffic detoured to Little Hawthorne Blvd., right on Essex St. (Traffic direction will be reversed on Little Hawthorne Blvd.)

Streets closed to traffic from 10:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.

1. Bridge St. will be closed to traffic between the westerly ramps and the Bypass Road.
2. Incoming Bridge St northbound traffic will be detoured up westerly ramps to North Street. Bypass Road inbound traffic from Beverly will be diverted back to Bridge Street and back to Beverly. Incoming southbound traffic from Bridge Street will be diverted to the Bypass Road and back to Beverly.
3. Franklin Street may be closed to traffic if needed.

Other closures or openings could be decided as
special circumstances arise.

No parking tow zones from 4:00 p.m. to midnight

1.      Lafayette St. both sides Front to Derby St.
2.      Public parking lot along Front St. Public parking spaces
         located on Central St. in front of old police station.
3.      Essex St. from Barton Sq. to Hawthorne Blvd.
4.      Derby St. both sides between Congress and Lafayette St.
5.      Hawthorne Blvd. both sides.
6.      Front St.
7.      Central St.
8.      Washington St. from New Derby to Bridge St. both sides.
9.      Washington Sq. North, South, and West both sides.
10.     Federal St. both sides from Washington to Superior Court.
11.     Norman St. from Washington to Crombie St.
12.     Franklin St. on the Furlong Park/North River side of the street.
13.     New Derby St. between Klop Alley and Lafayette St.

Remain Calm and Don't Be A Dick

This building sometimes feels like a group of individuals who just happen to occupy the same space, but like it or not, by living here, you are part of a community.
When you live in a community there is give and take. You are not living in a shack in Montana where you can do whatever you want, at any hour, without consequence. With 39 units crammed into a fairly small building and a wide variety of owners, tenants, schedules and lifestyles, it is no great surprise that there are conflicts. Conflicts between neighbors, conflicts between owners and tenants, conflicts between tenants and Markwood Management.

Now most of these are minor, and involve either sound disturbances, minor violations of the condo association bylaws, or both. Many times these conflicts are resolved through dialogue and communication between the parties involved, simply talking to the person and explaining the situation. Concessions and adjustments are made. Most people are rational, reasonable, and wish to avoid problems rather than exacerbate them. A little courtesy goes a long way.

However, every now and then you get a tenant who for one reason or another, digs in their heels and escalates issues to the point of legal action. This is often characterized by open antagonism, mild vandalism, and/or threatening behavior. Maybe they have an ongoing grudge against Markwood, or are angry at some perceived slight, maybe they think highly of themselves and have an unnaturally enlarged sense of entitlement, maybe their mommies didn't love them enough as children, maybe they even have a legitimate gripe...who knows..the point is, that kind of anti-social behavior is totally unacceptable.

The law provides tools for dealing with these kind of people, however the effectiveness of those tools are limited if these people"dig in". The law works best when people are reasonable; when they are unreasonable, the effectiveness of law diminishes in direct proportion to how unreasonable the offending person wishes to be.

Markwood uses fines and/or civil action to enforce the condo bylaws. The bylaws are not arbitrary. They have evolved over the last 30 years in dealing with the issues of many people living in a small space in an urban area. They are there for good reason and need to be enforced so that we can all live here in comfort and safety. Enforcement takes time, effort and money, and most importantly, participation. People get away with bad behavior for years when people don't get involved, call them on it, or stick to their guns when it gets difficult to do so.

It is only through communication, persistence and community that we keep this building a decent place to live. If you have an ongoing conflict with a neighbor that you can't resolve and it is getting uncomfortable, please contact Markwood immediately and inform them of the situation.
Don't ignore it, or hope it will go away. Don't try taking the law into your own hands either.
Chances are if you are having a repeated problem with a particular tenant, others have had it too. You are not alone, you have an ally, and if we work together, we can make this building a not just a good place, but a great place to live.