[StBernard] Notes

[Westley Annis]

Of the three meetings that happened today, I attended the one hosted by Rep.
Nita Hutter.

In attendance was Rep. Charlie Melancon, Parish President Junior Rodriguez,
Walter Leger (Louisiana Recovery Authority & Citizens Recovery Committee),
Council Vice Chairman Joey DiFatta, and Dr. Tommy Warner (Chancellor, Nunez
Community College).

Rep. Melancon was very informative in his presentation discussing the bills
he was pursuing in Congress and his attempts to get as many members of
Congress to visit St. Bernard Parish so they may see the devastation
themselves.  He also mentioned another organization, Parishes Against
Coastal Erosion, that is also doing an online petition to get the Federal
Government to help stop coastal erosion.  Their website is
<"http://www.paceonline.org">.

Junior spoke of the numerous issues the local government is facing,
especially in regards to working with FEMA.  The good news is that two of
the issues he mentioned, getting trailers into St. Bernard and continuing
the clean-up process were resolved this afternoon.

In a joint meeting with FEMA and other federal officials, Junior was able to
get FEMA to agree to pay for the 6000 trailers the parish secured on its
own.  These trailers should begin being delivered to residents starting on
Monday.

After a lot of road blocks and attempted black mail by FEMA and the Corps of
Engineers, the Parish has finally won out and FEMA has agreed to start
delivering the money promised to St. Bernard to pay for the clean-up work at
has been done by United Recovery Group.

The one scary thing that was mentioned by Junior is a rumor that the Corps
of Engineers is looking at a proposal to place a flood gate in the MRGO
right before the green bridge.

Walter Leger mentioned $1 million in new business bridge loans available.
Visit the La. Economic Development website for more information:
<"http://led.louisiana.gov">

He also said the Old Arabi was one of three sites selected (the others are
Lake Charles and Lafayette) to be a test area for rebuilding under the
guidance of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Urban Planning
Institute.  

He also stressed the St. Bernard cannot be the barrier islands for New
Orleans.  If St. Bernard is not protected from the hurricanes, then neither
will the City of New Orleans be protected.

Dr. Tommy Warner stated that he was very excited with the number of students
that are returning to Nunez Community College.  450 students have registered
so far and he expects that number to climb to 600 before registration closes
next week.

During the question and answer session, the question of Post Offices in St.
Bernard Parish was asked.  From unofficial sources, the Chalmette Post
Office should open within the first two weeks of February.  There was a
problem in getting trailers brought to the Chalmette location that
prohibited the opening this month, as originally announced.

All of the Post Office employees who worked in St. Bernard offices are
expecting new orders from the Postmaster General at the end of the month.
The outcome of these orders will further indicate the status of other Post
Offices in St. Bernard.

Westley