Poll Question Ideas

Use the comments section below for any ideas for future poll questions.........

Apartment Projects & Hospital Update,and Planning Comm Meeting, 12 noon Tuesday Sept 29

There is no major news out about the apartments. Seems the Parish is moving forward trying to appeal the last court decision, but we are not expecting any big news for a while. On the other hand, they have not started construction yet. Whether they have not started because of action the parish is taking, or because of other reasons, is not known ( at least it's not known to us!! )...............The hospital is moving forward nicely, the schematics are done, and the final design isn't far behind. As to it's location, that is not finalized yet. Some people want it to go on the Meraux Foundation land, but no final decision was made at the last meeting. Seems there are a couple of schools of thought about the land around the hospital. Some people want the Meraux Foundation to retain as much control as possible for future expansion, or for Labs and Doctor office buildings, by only giving the hospital a short term option on any more land. These out buildings could be a good profit center, so of course the hospital wants a long term option to buy the land and expand when the time is right. It could take a couple of years to build the hospital, and at least a few more years to make any profit, so that's why some people want the hospital to have a long term option to buy more land for expansion. Anyway, there seems to be some disagreement. But just the fact that the plans are as good as done is great news. The reality is that there has been remarkable progress in the last few months, and hopefully they will break ground soon.........................................Planning Commission Meeting set for Tuesday, Sept 29 at 12:00....there are 31 Permissive Use Permit Requests ( people/ investors looking to rent out a house that was not a rental before katrina )........the Commission will make a recommendation on each one and the Council will make the final decision. Every month there are a whole lot of these permits issued, and in light of the apartment situation, maybe the Parish should slow down on these rentals.

Battlefield and National Cemetery Projects

Our National Historical Park's scheduled facelift - in time for the 200th year anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, 2014-2015.

As more and more residents move past looking at things that still look like "katrina", one of the many restoration and rebuild projects we can all look forward to enjoying is at our own national historical park in Chalmette. Soon to be under new management, these changes will result in a dynamic park and an operation which adds to our economic development. Preliminary organization of a "Friends of...." Auxiliary is underway, with more information, soon.

Every effort is being made by the Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve for safe public access as each phase of the rebuild allows. Some residents may have noticed progress in the brick wall restoration at the National Cemetery. With an expected completion date of February 2010, the brick wall restoration should coincide with the cleaning and restoring of grave markers, through the efforts of a National Preservation group from Natchitoches, LA.

The National Parks Service (NPS) announced the Battlefield's new Visitor's Center has been contracted, with expected completion date of Fall 2010. The new Visitor Center will be in the same footprint, but twice the size--- 3500 square feet. A recent press release from NPS stated, “During construction, the historic Malus-Beauregard House on the battlefield grounds will serve as a temporary visitor center, open 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. " " An architect’'s rendering of the new Visitor Center and a map of closures and parking are available on the park website at http://www.nps.gov/jela/new-chalmette-battlefield-visitor-center.htm (credit National Park Service if published). Construction progress will be updated regularly on the website."

Malus-Beauregard House restoration is complete, including porch and upper level.

Climbing the monument will be limited during construction. Also due to construction, the earliest 'official' re-opening date for the Self - Guided Driving Loop is February 2010, with the latest expected opening date of August 2010. The NPS is making every effort to move towards the earlier date, as residents are eager to re-embrace their National Park at Chalmette.

The General Management Plan and Development Concept Plan for Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve at Chalmette should public notice soon, with public comments timeline. Residents may request an electronic copy at jela_superintendent@nps.gov

Photos and story line submitted by 'boats'. Photos from recent visit to Battlefield with relatives from Monroe, who are accustomed to our family visiting them for mandatory "evacucations". Since we havent had any yet this hurricane season, our relatives visited St Bernard Parish and the National Battlefield at Chalmette.

8:00 A.M. Meeting 9-23-09 agenda emergency meeting Scroll Waaaay Down

PUBLIC NOTICE

ST. BERNARD PARISH EMERGENCY COUNCIL MEETING

AGENDA

E-MAIL ADDRESS – radams@sbpg.net 504-278-4228 504-278-4209 (fax) Posted 9/22/09

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 8:00 a.m. Council Chambers Page 1

Sign Interpreter will be provided if requested 48 working hours in advance. Should an interpreter be needed, it is advised that the interested person contact the Clerk of Council at 278-4228. All accessible formats are available upon request.

Upon call of the Parish President

1. Meeting Called to Order and Roll Call
2. Invocation

3. Pledge of Allegiance

1. Motion to go into Executive Session to discuss all aspects of the GNOFHAC, et al vs. St. Bernard Parish Government, et al, USDC No. 2:06-CV-07185.

2. Motion to take any actions deemed appropriate as a result of Item #1.

Approved by: Frank Auderer, Date __9/23/09______

2:00 p.m. meeting efc agenda 9-23-09 scroll way down

St. Bernard Parish Council Executive/Finance Committee Meeting

8201 West Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, LA 70043

(504) 278-4228 Fax (504) 278-4209

PUBLIC NOTICE

_ _ Distributed 9/22/09

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 2:00 p.m. Council Chambers Page 1 of 1

Committee Members: Wayne J. Landry, Chairman George Cavignac and Fred Everhardt

AGENDA

Roll Call

Invocation

Pledge

1. Motion to approve minutes of the September 9, 2009 Executive/Finance Committee meeting.

2. Motion to discuss educating the public on the ballot issues for November. (Councilman Landry)

3. Motion to discuss the establishment of Sigur Center maintenance and improvement fund.

(Councilman Ginart)

4. Motion to discuss Open House St. Bernard date selection. (Councilman Ginart)

5. Motion to discuss selection of Parkway Commission members to send to Council for approval.

(Councilman Ginart)

6. Motion to discuss Summary No. 2585, an ordinance to establish a deadline for requesting a Letter of Non Jurisdiction from the Office of Community Development. (Council Mtg. 9/15/09)

7. New Business (Councilman Landry)

8. Old Business (Councilman Landry)

9. Motion to go into Executive Session to discuss all aspects of the GNOFHAC, et al vs. St. Bernard Parish Government, et al, USDC No. 2:06-CV-07185.

BY THE DIRECTION OF THE CHAIR

__Wayne J. Landry

$20.00 Fee

The $20.00 per month fee that is going to be voted on by the Parish is interesting for a few reasons. One is that the Parish President seems to feel the amount needed may be even higher, and that could well be accurate. Most communities do pay a much higher amount than we do for sanitation and Fire. Also, it seems that the majority of water meters in the Parish do NOT get read, instead the home is sent a flat bill of $16.24 per month. At the last E F C ( Executive Finance Committee ) meeting Wayne Landry asked the Administration why the Parish was not reading all the meters and sending out accurate bills. ( I know in my case my pre-K water bill was usually about $30.00 month ). It seems the Parish is slowly replacing old meters with new ones that can be read by a water dept vehicle just driving down the street. No need to get out and actually look at the dials. The Administration did not want to hire people to read meters only to lay them off in future years as the new meters are installed. Wayne Landry suggested that the loss in revenue in the meantime was a very large amount of money, and maybe the Parish should hire a few meter readers and tell them up front that the job will only last a few years. Just getting that $15 - 20 from all the houses paying the flat rate water bill would be a dramatic amount, and if some homes are paying the "real " water bill amount ( getting the meter read ), then it seems everyone else should too. Anyway,the Poll question for the next few days will be simple..........$20.00 / month fee.......yes or no.

Agenda Sept.22 Planning Comm Meeting

Sorry, but I have no idea why the Planning Comm agenda didn't appear here. Seems to be no trouble with Council agendas or E F C agendas.........I hope to figure it out before the next meeting........and thanks to the dozen or so people who wrote in about the problem, with out the emails I would not have noticed as it was comming up fine on my computer. Again, I hope to figure this out soon..........thanks