P.O. Box 24378 New Orleans, LA 70184 504.324.2270
District Five Recovery News
Minuets from 4/4/06 meeting of the Infrastructure Committee
Freddy Yoder, Chairman
Although the deadline for the BNOB reports from the districts has been extended for one month, District 5 still is using the May 1st deadline to have the rough draft ready.
Copies of the last 3 meetings were given out to the committee members for their corrections or additions. These minuets will be posted to the LCIA website so that we can get the information out to as many residents as possible. A sub committee is working on all the information that we have gathered to work it up into our plan.
All were encouraged to attend the meeting on Saturday at Mount Carmel Academy. Check website for more info.
Two new members were introduced and will work on the Environmental issues. In Lakeview, it was noted that the environmental problems before the storm are about the same now. We are in pretty good shape. The last environmental report was dated in February. More in the next report.
Electric Service - Power is not readily available in the vicinity of the 17th Street Canal levee breach. However any customer who is ready for powering that area should call Entergy to arrange for service. Entergy may need about 2 weeks to rebuild any lateral circuits which may be required.
Gas Service - Remains the same as last week. The questions that we need answered by Entergy are the number of customers pre Katrina, right after the storm and now.
Install Community Administrative Trailers - Still waiting to hear from City Hall about the meeting with FEMA.
Transportation – Bus Service - We would like to see the resumption of bus service in District 5 with smaller buses which would be commensurate with rider ship, thereby reduction of fuel costs and environmental insult. The bus schedule should be coordinated with adjoining parishes’ schedules to create a true regional transit system.
Even though the rider ship is low in Lakeview, no one from Mid City can get to UNO
or have job access for workers that use public transportation to Lakeview
Drainage - Montgomery Watson has maps of the restoration project for the drainage system in Lakeview. We need to get a look at those.
S&WB - Freddy sent letters to S&WB about our sewage situation with copies to Peppi Bruneau and Jay Batt. If no response, we will go to the news media.
4/5/06
Rebuilding & Remolding Permits - When the permitting office gave us the information to set up a map for the Lakeview properties, they forgot to give us the house numbers. We will probably have the map next week. There are 2783 permits requested for Lakeview. Some of these are multiples for one property, demolition, electric, plumbing and building, etc.
Mosquito Control - Agency lost all of their facilities and equipment. Swimming pools are being treated by putting guppies in the pools to eat the mosquito larvae. If you know of a swimming pool that needs to be treated, call mosquito control 241-2370. The Mosquito Control is using a plane to fly over and pin point swimming pools that need attention also.
Flood Protection corps of Engineers – Need more info.
Postal Service – When contacted again, the Postal Employee that spoke at our last meeting said that the USPS has scrapped plans for the Cluster Box Units and will now give drive by service to returning residents that have a curb side box in place. We need to ask the exact specs for this service.
Demolition Permits - The number of permits for the week ending 3/23/06 is 19 and for 3/31/06 is 43. This gives a total of 254 for Lakeview.
In driving thru Lakeview we noticed loads of fill/dirt being brought to lots where homes have been demolished, indicating that rebuilding is immanent.
Garbage - Waste management has brought in additional equipment and resources to Orleans Parish for work over the weekend and to collect the garbage that is on the streets now. They are committed to providing consistent and effective services for residents and businesses that have returned home. In a third call to Waste Management, to a manager the answer is still the same. The Lakeview garbage collection is from the curb not the alley.
District Fire Chief Tim McConnell spoke to our group to give us a better idea of what Lakeview could expect from the 2 fire houses that are in Lakeview, the one on Harrison Ave. and the one on Robert E. Lee. Trailers are in place at both houses, but so far the firemen haven’t gotten the keys to use them. The city hasn’t paid the contractor that provided the trailers because FEMA hasn’t paid the city. The trailer at the Robert E. Lee fire house has been there since December. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.
Chief McConnell assured us that the level of protection is very good because of a plan devised for the firemen to cover and assist each other when a fire is called in.
Manpower is down by 30 guys in our district. Usually for every fireman that goes into a building, there is one man outside. This is a safety issue.
When there is a fire called in on a building, shopping center, hospital or nursing home, 3 pumps (trucks), a ladder (truck) and a chief are called out.
When asked what we as a community could do to help, he said that they need help renovating the firehouses. Every thing would come back to normal much faster. They have been waiting since October for FEMA to give price to rebuild the firehouses. If the cost is under $59,000 there is no need to itemize costs. If it is over that amount, every single thing needs to be itemized. The fire houses can’t be fixed under $50,000, so they wade through red tape.
A private investor came in and renovated 4 fire houses for $250,000 and the firemen and volunteers did the work.
We will work on a plan to help the firemen get their firehouses fixed.
A visitor from the Lake Vista Infrastructure Committee joined us for our meeting and exchanged ideas with us.