The KYN (Know Your Neighbor) team offers you two assists for your springtime tasks. • The free Five-Minute Fix-it Team service • The free list of vendors and contractors who have done good work in Vaux condos Check the Five-Minute and the Vendors tabs at bit.ly/vxkyn for more info.

Hi Neighbors, We're considering replacing a bed with a wall bed (aka murphy bed). Never had one before, anywhere. Will appreciate any advice on what to look for, what to avoid, installation issues, etc. Thanks in advance for any help. Ed

Need a quick bit of help to replace something in your unit? Residents of The Vaux can call upon the Five-Minute Fix-It Team. Team members are volunteers (all are residents of The Vaux) who will come to your unit and help with those quick projects.  On the Fix-It Team menu is replacement of • Ceiling light bulbs • Smoke alarm batteries • HVAC air filters • Refrigerator water filters To request a bit of help from the team or volunteer to join the team or obtain more info, see the Five-Minute Fix-It Team tab on the KYN (Know Your Neighbor) website (click).(https://vxkyn.edwardwlong.com/)

The Motus presentation has assumed a $57.1mm rebuild cost above the association's earthquake coverage. For simplicity, they divided the $57.1mm by 144 (number of units) to get their about $400k number (average). That approach assumes that all units / owners would be assessed the same. As if everyone had a 0.6944% share. Note that I have not checked with an Oregon attorney on this, and cannot and do not provide legal advice. Please do your own research. I believe that it's more likely that units / owners would be assessed not based on an average but based on their Schedule C assessment percentages. The same percentages that are used for our monthly assessments. • An average (100% divided by 144 units) percentage would be 0.6944% (or about $400k). • If an owner's percentage is greater than 0.6944%, however, the owner"s share would be greater than the $400k average. • If an owner's percentage is less than 0.6944%, however, the owner's share would be less than the $400k average. Hoping you find this helpful.

Focusing just on fiber based internet service (not interested in cable). We've been using CenturyLink here at The Vaux for about a year -- was good until about a week ago, since then lots of wifi problems. 🙁 Any one else having CenturyLink issues? Anyone using Astound? Would love to know about your experience. Anyone using anything else (fiber)? Would love to know about your experience. Thanks for any help. Ed

The KYN group is developing a list of vendors and contractors used by owners at The Vaux. The list is for the convenience of owners at The Vaux. You can help create the list — and share information about a vendor / contractor you’ve used. Share information and find the latest draft of the list in the Vendors / Contractors List tab of the KYN website . . . (https://vxkyn.edwardwlong.com/)

There is a private group for The Vaux on Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/groups/1036178649727951/(https://www.facebook.com/groups/1036178649727951/) Update: I was admitted to the group shortly after my inquiry here. I see that there are 57 members of the group.

We're pretty new at The Vaux, and totally new to condo-living. We know we can give a key to a trusted neighbor, and hope they'll be around when the key is needed. But are wondering whether folks have other ideas and experiences on dealing with unit keys. What's worked? What hasn't? How about keyless entry devices? Security? Please share your thoughts. Thanks. Ed Long, Unit 403

Hi, For your possible interest, the Portland Department of Transportation has created an "online open house" website with information on the proposed extension. Here's a link = https://form.jotform.com/231596290353156 Hoping you find this helpful. Ed Long (Unit 403)

Hi fellow Vauxians. Do any of the units have ceiling fans? Do any of you have experience with having them installed? Will appreciate any info you can share. 🙂 Thanks, Ed & Patty Long

Hi. Recommendations needed. We're looking to add a couple of electrical boxes on internal walls in our unit. Want to find a capable licensed electrician -- preferring one with experience at the Vaux. If you've had a good experience with such an electrician, please share the contact info. Thanks, all. Ed & Patty Long, Unit 403

The peephole in our door is too high for my wife to see through. And we don't have a doorbell. The Nest Doorbell is on sale online for black Friday. Is it OK at The Vaux? Provides a doorbell and a camera that should work with your WiFi. There's a battery-only option. I'm assuming the wired option would be too much trouble. Looks like it would be screwed into the door frame. Thoughts? Information? Need to order this weekend to get the good price. Ed UPDATE: A board member advises that such a doorbell/camera, which must be located in the corridor, would be considered part of the Common Elements under the by-laws -- and not allowed at this time. I'm wondering if there might be a way to have these approved, if the meet certain uniform requirements. The technology has advanced -- would be nice to be able to keep up.

We're new to Portland and the Vaux. We're looking for a dentist with good results on crowns and implants. Having a problem with existing crowned tooth. Looking for a capable dentist we can continue with long term. Recommendations please, please . . .

We're new at the Vaux and wanted help with our window shades. We like the Hunter-Douglas shades installed in our unit, but several weren't working right. A neighbor at the Vaux suggested Mari Design. Here's our experience: We've reached out to Mari Design (https://maridesign.com/) on the shades - couldn't schedule an appointment for an evaluation for about 4 weeks - apparently they were quite backed up due to having done the window treatments at the new Lincoln High School - After the four weeks, the Mari Design folks came by for the evaluation, took away three shades for repairs by an independent shop. Professional, on time. In the meantime, we stopped by the Hunter Douglas store in the neighborhood - they were quite helpful - gave us a couple of names to help with the shades. FOLLOW-UP: The Mari Design team returned today - the three shades were repaired and the reinstalled them. Showed up on time, friendly and respectful. I think the cost was reasonable.

We're new at the Vaux and wanted the carpets cleaned. Here's our experience: We connected with Gallaghers - (503) 477-4097 - based on a recommendation from our realtor. They came in and did a nice job for us. Very professional in scheduling and estimating process.