MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MEETING
                                             JULY 17, 2010 – 9:30 AM
                                     Saint Dominic School Gymnasium

Present: Officers                 Board Members

Todd Wallace     President Elect    Ray Bergeron     Peppi Bruneau
Freddy Yoder     Vice President    M. Bruzdzinski    Val Cupit
Mark More         Treasurer         Brad Fortier        Al Petrie
Ghislaine Hegarty    Secretary

Absent:
Glenn Stoudt        President         Tim Lott        Nancy Lytle
                        Tommy Ramelli     Angie Wulff

President Elect Todd Wallace opened the meeting at 9:45 AM
Pledge of Allegiance - Brad Fortier
Opening Prayer – Freddy Yoder

President Elect Todd Wallace acting for President Glenn Stoudt mentioned that
Glenn suffered a medical emergency while on business in Spain and has been unable to return home. He is recuperating and awaiting the result of some final tests. We are confident that his return home is imminent.

Todd recognized representatives of the Edward Jones Investment Group and Rudy Brown “snowballs”. He thanked the latter for providing the refreshments

He recognized Councilwoman Susan Guidry and Deborah Langhoff her secretary.

Next he introduced Martin Landrieu, chairman of the Fleur de Lis Park Committee.
Martin gave a brief history of the Park. At one point in the past the Park was leased to NORD by the OPSB. As far as we know the park was always maintained by the nearby residents and used as a playground for the children. Post Katrina the park clean-up was handled by a large number of volunteers from across the country and local residents. The zoning on record is LP (Lake Area Park)

Recently the OPSB placed the park on the surplus property list, advertised it as Residential Development Zoning and scheduled it for an auction sale on July 29th.

A letter of opposition from the LCIA has been sent to all proper authorities.  School Board member Brett Bonin, who represents the District, is joined in opposition to the sale by OPSB Members Ira Thomas and Cynthia Cade. Councilwoman Susan Guidry expressed dismay at the sale proposal and joins LCIA in opposition to
the sale. The designation as a Green Space was underscored in the 2007 passage of the Lake Area Zoning District, and it is also in the Master Plan and CZO. Martin mentioned the very well attended July 8th meeting held at the Gulf Coast Bank Since
that meeting he has been in touch with Superintendent Darryl Kilbert. As a result he was informed by letter that the Park has been removed from the present auction sale for a period of 90 days. During that time the Administration of the School Board will work with LCIA and the City of New Orleans to formulate a proposal regarding the future of the Park. Martin said that during this 90 day period he and his committee will work diligently with the OPSB to achieve a compromise acceptable to all parties.

Brett Bonin said a few words as well. He is gratified that the Mayor and the City Council are 100% in agreement to work together to resolve this issue. Maintenance and liability are a concern. A land swap of some unsold NORA lots is one of the possibilities. Brett thanked Ira Thomas, an advocate for Lakeview. He urges everyone to keep up the pressure. He feels that the owners of the Park are the tax payers not the NOSB. He will keep working with Martin and the committee to resolve this problem.

The reconstruction of Hynes School is on schedule so far. They are looking at a completion date in the fall of 2011. Public meetings will be held to involve the public in selecting colors etc…

Todd thanked all citizens of Lakeview who worked as a group and attended the meeting at the Gulf Coast Bank. The number of concerned citizens attending the meeting was impressive.

Councilwoman Susan Guidry addressed the street light problem on Harrison Avenue caused by the rebuilding of the street. With the upcoming Harrison Streetscape and the possibility of a re-occurrence of damage to the power lines, they are trying to avoid duplicate repairs.

Lakeview Grocery: the hoped for opening of the grocery this month has been delayed because of a permit problem that needs to be resolved and getting a conditional use for the sale of liquor. These are problems that need to follow proper procedure along existing rules. She realizes that everyone is looking forward to having a grocery on that site, she asked for the public to just have a little more patience.

Any problems that require attention: call her office and ask for Richard Sterling. He is the contact person who handles issues.

Committee Reports:
Treasury by Mark Moore – copy attached
Community Activities – Al Petrie for Ann LeBlanc & Nancy Lytle
The July 15t BBQ held in the parking lot of the Harrison Grocery was extremely well attended and a great success. Ann is looking at another BBQ in the fall.
The KATRINA Day of Remembrance is scheduled to be held August 29th.  Information as to location, time etc. will follow as we get closer to the date.

Marketplace will resume on August 11  
LCIA Lakeview Festival will take place September 19th

Greenspace – Al Petrie
Al thanked Councilwoman Guidry for her assistance in including the full maintenance of Canal Boulevard in the City budget. LCIA has been paying to cut the grass in between the City maintenance program that formerly cost $12,000.00 per year. This was a big strain on the LCIA budget.  Recently with the help of a large group of volunteers all bushes on the neutral grounds were trimmed and shaped. Following
Al gave a report on the activity on Harrison Avenue from Orleans Avenue to West End Boulevard:
   Hynes School - pile driving activity
   Family style Mexican Restaurant planned for corner Argonne and Harrison
   Service Station Argonne/Harrison,  waiting for DEQ Permits
  “Mondo” Restaurant now open for business. Located at 900 Harrison Ave.
  Whitney Bank under construction
   Lakeview Grocery with corner restaurant inside scheduled to open in the Fall.
   Former Landry’s Restaurant, 700 block of Harrison will be converted into two retail                            establishments
   Shoe Envy building will become SNAP Fitness
   Library reconstruction close to getting started
   Asian/Chinese Restaurant scheduled for corner Canal Boulevard and Harrison Ave
  Italian Restaurant (breakfast and lunch only) corner Harrison and Louisville

Public Safety – Sergeant Doug Eckert and Val Cupit
Doug mentioned that the criminal involved in the train murder is a resident of Gentilly  
Car burglaries have been the biggest problem this year.  He keeps insisting for people to lock the doors and not to leave anything in full view inside. He suggests considering investing in a car alarm and do report any suspicious activity.
August 3rd is the National Night Out Against Crime block party event. He encouraged as many as possible to participate
LCPD renewal is coming up at the October election.
Val mentioned the NONPAC meetings and encouraged everyone to attend.
So far 9 blocks are registered for NNOAC, to participate call 658-5590. There is no direct phone line for LCPD, to report a problem call 911.  Escort Service, if no answer it means that the Officers are on other calls.  LCPD has done a great job in preventing crime in Lakeview

Communication and Membership: Mark Uddo
Mark mentioned that be on the mailing list he needs to have an e-mail address.
New Membership Cards are in production. They will be ready for distribution at the September 18th general meeting.
They will be needed to participate in the “Shop Lakeview First” program. He urges everybody to come and pick up their membership card at the September meeting.

Economic Development and Marketing: Brian and Jan Anderson
The “Shop Lakeview First” program has officially launched. They are in the process of contacting Lakeview business owners to explain the wonderful benefits they will gain from participating in the program.  The first hurdle was trying to obtain the  email addresses of  all business owners in Lakeview in order to communicate information about the program. This is a time consuming task.  They are still trying to get some addresses to include in the data base.
So far 7 businesses have signed up to participate in the program. They are the Lakeview Veterinary Hospital,  Sneaker Shop, Coral Reef Shop, Lakeview Regional Chiropractic, Rose Manor Bed and Breakfast Inn, Charmed Boutique and Maison du Soleil Boutique and Tanning.
A “Shop Lakeview First” section will be added to the website. It will list all participating businesses, their address, phone number, website and offered discount. Brian and Jan encouraged all members to spread the word about the program and join LCIA in supporting our Lakeview businesses.
Zoning: Ray Bergeron
Ray mentioned that he and his committee meet every Friday at noon at the Gulf Coast Bank. He suggests that anyone applying for a variance or a setback contact him by email or phone and set up a meeting with the committee to discuss the subject now rather than have complications later.
UNO is planning a conference regarding the Master Plan. The City is on the rebound, creativity and enthusiasm abound regarding future development. CCO and Master Plan follow the land use plan, our own zoning ordinance will follow. Lakeview is coming back very strongly. The former Synagogue will be converted into a Community Fitness Center

Infrastructure. Street Initiative Update: Freddy Yoder
Freddy started by saying that if Lakeview has very little crime it is because some years ago the residents took action and the LCPD came into being. The first vote of the people was only just above 50% but at the renewal and after having experienced the benefits of this extra police protection the vote was 87%.  The cost has remained a very low $ 100 per year assessment. Lakeview was the first neighborhood to start the program. It is now being adopted by neighborhoods across the city.

Senate Bill # 64 by Senator Murray to create a Lakeview Street Maintenance Program was voted into law at the recent  legislative session. It now must pass a vote of the residents of Lakeview and will be placed on the November election form
at the bottom under L.C.I.A. He expressed gratitude to the Senator and also to Peppi Bruneau for being instrumental in drawing up the proper documents to be presented to the legislators.  A Board of  9 representatives modeled along the same lines as the LCPD Board will be in charge of administrating the funds which will be collected by the City and electronically transferred to the Streets District maintenance account.  The repair/maintenance of potholes etc. will not be in place of the city street maintenance, it will just be to help smaller problems that the city does not have the budget nor manpower to give immediate attention to.  It will help us avoid the expensive car repairs that the present condition of some streets and alleys are inflicting upon us. The program will be in effect for 4 years and at that time needs to be voted on again.  A couple of questions were asked by members. One related to the percentage of what the city would get out of the program. Freddy answered 1%.  He ended by saying that anyone who wishes for him to come speak to a group he is always available and would be glad to do so.
Todd thanked Freddy for all the hard work that went into this so far, he asked the members to think about it and to  give it a chance.

NORA Committee Report: Todd Wallace
A total of 550 Lakeview properties were sold to the State after Katrina.
The Lot Next door program problems have been addressed. The program is moving forward. The continuation of the Phase 2 program was highly successful. 275 lots were bid on.  140 lots will be awarded. Many are going far above the appraised value i.e. for  $100,000.00 to $ 150,000.00.  Construction must begin within one year after closing. As a result Lakeview will witness a construction boom that will not be replicated anywhere in the country during these times.
70% of the NORA properties are sold.  They are looking at the 30% remaining ones and working closely with the City to implement a program to dispose of these. The lots are owned by the State of La. not by NORA.

Blight Committee Report: Tom Schnatz
Tom stated that there is great progress with blight abatement. He suggests for people to read his article in the newsletter for a full report. The cleanup and demolition contract is being worked on. There are still 9 FEMA trailers left in Lakeview, the progress for removal of these trailers remains slow. The Mayor’s Transition Task Force on Blight published it’s recommendations in April and picked up on some of the Blight Committee’s suggestions.  He thanked Rita Legrand, Mary Ann Colwart, Kathy Stoudt and Margaret Bruzdzinski who continue to participate in the Blight Hearings.
 

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Todd Wallace, second by Ghislaine Hegarty.
The meeting adjourned at 11.45 A.M.