Subject: Re: parking door/gates
From: Michael E. Rutkowski (michaelrut@firstpropertiesLLC.com)
Date: Fri Dec 15 2000 - 10:02:22 CST
FYI,
The doors/gates were reactivated Thursday night. Guess what? The safety sensors have left them open. This is not a design flaw, nor was there improper installation. The location of the sensors is part of the building code.
The sensors will be brushed off today again. If the gates are open, anyone can make sure the sensor (which is about 4 inches of off the ground,) is clear of snow, and the reflector at the opposite end of the sensor is also clear.
If the reflected light does not reach the sensor, the gates stay open. When blowing snow "sticks" to the sensor, the doors stay open.
Management paying for damage to cars is absurd. It is as equally absurd as those that have requested that management pay for cab fare when garage doors are frozen shut. You said it Mary, this is Chicago. If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. All we can do is take measures to prevent extreme inconveniences. Leaving the doors/gates open prevent the extreme inconvenience of not being able to get your car out of the garage. Just because you have paid for a parking spot and pay assessments does not make you immune to the inconveniences of Chicago weather (although the fact the you have a covered spot does get you out of scrapping off and shoveling out your car :-) !)
We're supposed to get 2 more inches by tomorrow afternoon...FUN!
----------------------------------
Michael E. Rutkowski
773.935.5617 x11
First Properties, LLC
Real Estate Management
----- Original Message -----
From: Mary Janowski
To: discuss@vanguardlofts.com
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 7:44 AM
Subject: parking door/gates
Before I bring up an unpleasant subject I'd like to say how much I enjoyed the
party at Jak's. They put out quite a nice spread. We should remember the
place when we're looking for somewhere to grab a quick bite or have a few
cocktails. They were very nice and the food was great!!
Now-for my gripe. The overhead door to the garage has been left open
since Monday night when it was discovered by management that it has a tendency
to freeze in the cold, wet weather. (A quote from management says "When you
have metal moving parts and moisture, the potential for freezing is there.")
Well, guess what? This is Chicago. It's cold and wet half the year.
Obviously this is some sort of design flaw. I have been taking public
transportation this past week and the el runs through many alleys. I noticed
no other doors left open. Obviously there are designs that work in Chicago
weather. Why are we settling for a non-functional door? The system is less
than a year old and I assume we have the same year warranty as we did on other
common areas. Will this be addressed by management and the door company or
are we going to leave the garage unsecured all winter?
The other reason given for leaving it open is "The blowing snow also
causes a problem. The photo eyes that retract the gate if something is in
its path get covered with snow...and prevent them from closing." Perhaps it
is set too sensitive if snow blowing across it in the minute or so it stays up
as we come and go makes it stay open. I realize that the outside lots will
have a problem with a build-up of snow, but this too can be taken care of by
keeping the sensors clear. Ali can do it along with his other shoveling, the
plow driver should be asked to keep them clear and I'm sure that there are
several people who might volunteer to do it at times when Ali is not
available.
The door/gates being left open mean that the back door is accessible to
anyone and we all know about the problem that seems unsolvable with that. In
addition, we paid for secure parking spots (some of us paid $15,000 or more)
and are paying assessments (albeit small) for a SECURE garage/lot. Our
vehicles and our building are not secure as long as the doors and gates are
left open. The last time my car was broken into it was parked in the
underground and the overhead doors were broken. There was close to $800 worth
of damage and theft that time. Is management ready to assume liability for
future losses that occur because they choose to "fix" a real problem by
leaving our spots vulnerable?
Thanks for letting me vent.
Mary (614)
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