R.A.G.

(Russell Arms Gazette)

August 2004

New Items:

Well, another hot summer for St Louis is upon us, so it is time to remind all residents that the best way to beat the summer heat is to keep your windows covered when the sun is beating at the side of your apartment. Eichelberger provides furnace/air-conditioner filters at the beginning of summer, but to really keep your air running smoothly, it is recommended that you change to a new filter every 2-3 months.

There was a great amount of activity in June and July here at the 'Arms'. We have had at least 3 new students move in, as well as a family who has moved into a two bedroom unit.

Yes, the new-moves means that there were people who left, some on their own accord, and some because of prodding from Zach to leave.

Old Items:

Parking is still a concern to many of the residents. As a result the office has sent every resident an auto verification form which will go into effect on August 20. Only residents who have registered their auto with the office will be allowed to use the rear carport area, others will be towed without any notice. As a convenience, you may print the form and deliver it to the office. If you get a different vehicle you MUST register it or risk having it towed. Zach has stated that the parking problem WILL be corrected. 

June 2004

New Items:

It has been a L-O-N-G time since any work has been done on the pages, due in part to a busy work schedule and major computer problems. I will get back into a regular update schedule beginning now.

As you are aware, there have been many changes at the 'Arms' in the past year, lots of new faces, as well as new challenges to the residents of the BEST apartments in St Louis. 

Parking problems seem to have been the major concern for many of the residents here, as a result Eichelberger has issued a 'parking statement' regarding parking at the rear of the building. To read the release, click here.

 

July 2003

Sorry for the LONG delay in updating the pages. Due to work schedule and demanding other needs the pages were place on the back burners. Hopefully we will get back into a regular schedule again....

The roof is now completely repaired so there will no longer be any problems on the 3rd floor tenants.

Workers are busy completing repairs on the Garage, the plans are to have everything completed as soon as possible to provide comfort and security for those who will be using it. If you want more information, contact Zach at the main office (752-3570). Speaking of the main office, as you know Beth left for a new position selling real-estate, hoping to assist first-time homebuyers. Zach is now the Managing Director for the Russell Arms and is always happy to try and assist in whatever problem/concerns you have.

Lots of activity here on the last week of June/first week of July! Several residents have moved, leaving room for new neighbors. There was one instance of a tenant being asked to move due to their refusal to obey the rules of the buildings. Loud music and loud parties past a reasonable time is not permitted and residents will not be allowed to maintain their homes here.

Reminder......

If you park on the main street be sure and watch for the no parking signs. Street cleaning is on odd dated Mondays from noon till 3:30 on the south side of the street (in front of the building), and is the same schedule on even dated Tuesdays on the other side of the street. The 'street cleaning police' will ticket your vehicle promptly if you are in violation of the law.

As usual, if you have any news be sure to let Zach or Holmey know and we will include it in the RAG.

 

 

June 2002                             

After a 3 month delay the RAG is back! The reporter was busy with other tasks, so the RAG suffered a little. All new news (huh?) will be placed at the top of the page, and all old articles will move down one section.

Old Items:

All the building and apartment locks have been replaced. As usual Frank Jr. did a great job, working around residents schedules and completing the job 'on-time'

New Items:

Some disturbing news: Last week a 2 bedroom unit was broken into. Thieves gained access to the apartment via the small kitchen window and ransacked the apartment. In the same week someone broke into a storage locker and stole a bicycle. Perhaps the basement need to have additional security levels installed? These matters will be taken under advisement with the management and a follow up report will be posted. There are also reports of persons gaining access to the garage roof and partying, from the remains of beer bottles left there. The worst part is that they have also left used needles laying on the rooftop. This is quite alarming, as this is the type of people/incidents that we do not want in our environment! If you see activities of this sort call 911 immediately. 

Next week the air-conditioner people will be here inspecting all units. With summer almost here it is important to insure the air-conditioners are running at peak efficiency. 

No, there will be no garden this year, unless we would want to plant bulbs in the fall for the next spring. Unfortunately the person we had planned to roto-till the berm had their implement stolen and I could not find anyone that was willing to roto-till it for free.    :-(

Still no news on the garage/roof repairs but have been assured that it will happen this year sometime.

Have you noticed that the auto that was parked in front of the building has finally been moved? This is certainly welcome news for all, since now we are able to position 2 cars in the area that the one auto was parked. (HURRAH!)

Electric problems:

The 'tower lights' at the entrance steps have developed problems. They seem to come on at strange hours, and then go off at strange hours. The management of the apartments has promised a speedy resolution to the problem. We will do a follow-up on this for our next newsletter.

You may have noticed that the main page has changed a little. There are now a few more pages to look at. The residents page makes it début this month. Thanks to Beth at the office who suggested that we pick a resident and write a small story about them. Be sure and check out our newest resident Mike. We have also added a segment on the webmaster (Holmey) and a question/answer section. If you are a pet owner be sure and visit Barks in the park page for photos/stories of the pets that frequent the park. If you would like to have your animal shown, contact Holmey to arrange a photo of your baby.

Hot town, summer in the city (you know the rest of the song) For those who do not like to run the air-conditioner all the time, here is a small tip. Remember your physics classes about heat and cold? For a short time just turn your a/c heat fan in the 'on' position. This will help to circulate the cool air that is sitting on the floor of your apartment back into the room. Remember to change those filters and be sure and not have your fan run ALL the time.

Concerned about your electric usage and want to reduce your bill? Keep your refrigerator freezer full. This will help to reduce the amount of electric needed to run it. Fill those empty milk cartons with water and just stick in the freezer. Once they freeze they take up space that the fridge would otherwise attempt to cool/keep cool. When you add frozen foods to your freezer remove the jugs and empty.

Is it me or does anyone else think that at times we do not get mail delivery? It seems that on occasion the mail person does not stop to deliver mail to anybody here. Just something to make you go 'hummmm'

Items to be followed up on for the July issue:

Security issues with basement, security issues with kitchen windows, tower lights, garage rooftop.

If you have any suggestions for the RAG, be sure and e-mail us, we will publish it as time permits. Send your mail to info@russell-arms.com

March 2002 

Last month there was some preliminary work on the roof in the 3306-3308 area units due to some minor 'leak-throughs'. Full work will begin as soon as this winter is finally over.

Easter weekend will find new residents here at the Russell-Arms. The 2 bedroom unit in the center hub has been taken, they intend to move on Easter weekend so be sure and say hello to our new neighbors.

Garden time! The owner of the property has agreed to let the tenants plant a flower garden in the middle berm of the courtyard area. We are going to start small with a few annuals and perennials with an earth border. Any and all help that any of the residents wish to give will be appreciated. Perhaps at a future time we can get a small fountain installed, who knows?

This will be maintained by us (the residents) so you know we will do a great job! Progress of the garden will be shown on the web-site, as well as some of the plants progress.

Join the association! Did you know that as a resident of the Russell Arms you are invited to join the neighborhood association? The Compton Hills Association meets monthly at a different members house. Dues are only Ten Dollars a year and offers a lot for the money. You become listed in the directory as well as having access to many of the homes in the neighborhood. Contact us for more details.

Reminder to the residents- If you have any item of interest that you would like to be known to all be sure and send an e-mail, we need more content to make the pages interesting to all.

Want to reduce your electric bill? We are lucky in that we have high ceiling. When the building was constructed it was designed so that when summer came, all the hot, warm air would be trapped higher, giving comfort to the resident. That is the reason that we all also have transoms, to allow the hot summer air to escape. (Remember science lessons in that hot air rises) Purchasing a ceiling fan will push that hot air back down to the floor creating less electric needed to heat your home. In the summer-time remember to switch your fan to pull the cool air up to the ceiling, then pushing back down.

When buying a fan, buy a good one! A cheap wobbly fan can be a nuisance from the noise, ask the dealer which fan has the best warranty and overall best  performance. 

The management company will install your ceiling fan for a small (very affordable) amount. This insures that your ceiling fan is installed properly and correctly. When you install a ceiling fan in your apartment it becomes the property of the building, so be sure to have an agreement that if you would move, you have the option to have the ceiling fan removed, the old fixture re-installed, and take your fan with you. Contact the office for more details.

Be sure and change your furnace filters regularly. A clogged and dirty filter can increase your electric usage by as much as 8%. 

Since March is springtime remember to install new batteries in your smoke detectors. The management company will be checking all smoke detectors in the common areas but YOU are ultimately the person that needs to insure the detector in your apartment is functioning properly.

Feb 2002                             

Many of our residents have noticed a great amount of activity in the past few months. There have been many calls to the office to alert them that 'suspicious' individuals were on the property.

Those individuals are doing preliminary work for some projects that will begin in the upcoming months. Items on the agenda include:

New Roof.

New locks on all main doors.

More and better lighting for the rear of the building.

We are also informed that work will begin *very* soon on the garage area! This will be extremely helpful to all our residents. The enclosed garage will provide parking for an additional 20 cars. When the garage repair is completed the driveway will be a dedicated in and out drive. No more heading into another car as you are leaving or entering. When you return home on rainy/snowy days no more getting wet, just park in the garage and use the internal basement stairs to walk to your apartment.

Reminders:

Watch the signs if you park on Russell on Monday between noon and 3:30 PM. Street cleaning is odd-dated Mondays on the south side of the street, even dated Tuesdays on the north side. The 'street cleaning police' will ticket you if you are parked in a no-parking area, the fine begins at 10 dollars, and increases if not paid within 15 days.

If you have a pet you are expected to clean up any 'mistakes' your pet makes while on the property. Failure to do so can/will result in a fine.

If you have any suggestions for the RAG, be sure and e-mail us, we will publish it as time permits. Send your mail to info@russell-arms.com

 

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