P.O. Box 24378 New Orleans, LA 70184 504.324.2270
District Five Recovery News
At the Infrastructure Committee second meeting on 3/14/06, the reports were as follows:
S&WB - There are 4 sewage pumping stations (SPS) in Lakeview. SPS #4 at Vets and Fleur-de-Lis which serves West Lakeview from I-10 to 30th St. SPS #20 at 37th St., just off Fleur-de-Lis, which serves the rest of Lakeview including West End, the Marina, etc., SPS #18 Vicksburg at Florida Ave. which serves the rest of Lakeview south of Harrison Ave. and SPS #21 Filmore and Memphis which serves the area north of Harrison Ave., including Lake Vista. .All of those stations flooded and none of them are operating on their own.
A couple of months ago the S&WB put out a contract to provide generators for stations that do not have Entergy power, it didn’t work. Then they tried diesel generators and as of 3/10/06 only SPS #21 is working, which takes discharge from Mount Carmel, On the 1st day of school there was a sewer backup. The nun at Mount Carmel has the S&WB so scared that they don’t dare turn off that pump.
The problems at the S&WB are much bigger than sewage pumping stations, water leaks are a big problem. Pre Katrina, the Carrollton Water Purification Plant pumped an average of 100 MGD (million gallons per day). As of 3/10/06 with only 30% of the population in the City, they were pumping 140 MGD. The S&WB is producing 40% more water with only 30% of the in the City using water. They are working to repair leaks, but new leaks are popping up faster then they can repair them
The S&WB has the same problem that Entergy has, in that it has extensive repairs to make and a much smaller customer base providing revenue.
Can the S&WB recover from this disaster? Without adequate sewer and water, the City can not recover.
Utilities - Electric Several transmission lines continue to be out of service and the substations continue to be out of service or partially out of service and a number of feeders continue out of service. These include Feeder 23, 46 and 101. The customer data as of 3/14/06 is:
Pre Katrina Electric Customers 56,789
Current Electric Customers 5,678
Electric Service Request Backlog 26
Utilities – Gas Several gas mains continue to be out of service and several compressor/regulator stations continue to be out of service or partially out of service. Also a number of distribution gas lines continue out of service. These include line23, 46 and 101.The company says that any customer wanting gas service should be able to receive service at this time in spite of these out of service facilities.
Customer data as of 3/14/06
Pre Katrina Gas Customers 56,789
Current Gas Customers 5,678
Gas Service Request Backlog 26
BellSouth - BellSouth’s footprint will be unchanged, they are committed to rebuilding their infrastructure and delivering services to all their customers. They have given some priority to government, schools and business. BellSouth is prioritizing where repairs are made so that the greatest number of customers can be reached by offering both wireless voice and a wireless broadband solution So as repopulation occurs BellSouth is confident that it will be able to meet the needs of customers. The type of services that will be used in the future by the company are voice, video, internet and data. The advantage of using fiber optic include reliability, speed and broadband.
RTA - RTA will ask for an extension past the 6/30 dead line for the free fare bus service.
Until LCIA can come up with hard numbers of repopulation it will be difficult to move forward on reinstating the bus service. A phone campaign was suggested. Also suggested was that going to a location such as Lakeview Fine Foods for a monthly pass would be better than having to go the bank and stand in line.
At the present time, RTA is under contract with FEMA/SBA and receiving funds from same. The routes in Lakeview, District 5 are not any of the routes that FEMA has approved because of the devastation in the area and also because the pre-Katrina ridership was not very high.
Special need transportation is in effect. All one needs to do is call. Para-transit number is 504-827-7433.
RTA Transfer Station – After listening to LCIA’s suggestions, RTA has purchased the old Exxon station lot on Canal and City Park. This was in lieu of paving over Canal Blvd neutral ground.
Installation of Portable Community Administrative Trailers:
Presently awaiting arrival and installation of two (2) trailers to house information centers that will contain kiosks connected to City Hall to allow access to permit and housing info from the remote locations. The centers will be open 5-6 days a week for 8 hours each day. Volunteers will be needed to assist residents in their use of the kiosks and accessing the available services. The volunteers will require simple training in order to effectively offer assistance. The committee is presently exploring different means of advising and acquiring persons interested in volunteering to be trained and taking 3-4 hour shifts at the center.
Traffic Lights - Power is available to all Lakeview traffic lights. The city has the responsibility to restore all the traffic lights to service.
Street Lights - Presently major streets, business areas and all streets that already have power have been a priority. Entergy tripled crews to 21. The Department of Streets reports that 43,000 out of 53,000 lights are on and that they do have a written master plan coordinated with Entergy.
Status of Future Work: All lights are to be on by March 30, 2006. Areas of Lakeview that have no power or poles will be delayed. Complete Restoration goal for the entire New Orleans area is end of March including new poles, lines and broken lights even at levee breaks. Broken Lights will be fixed nearer to the end of March. Complete list of lights on will be updated weekly.
Demolition Permits - Permit process explained and as of March 10, 2006 166 permits have been issued. The number of issued permits is compiled each Friday. A map of Lakeview was provided with all the property marked on the map that have demolition permits.