[StBernard] Rebuild St. Bernard 'safer, stronger, smarter'

[Westley Annis]

Rebuild St. Bernard 'safer, stronger, smarter'

By JOE GYAN JR.
New Orleans bureau 
Published: Mar 8, 2006 

CHALMETTE - St. Bernard Parish needs to move swiftly in drawing up a
rebuilding plan for the flood-ravaged parish, a Miami-based architect and
planner told hundreds of residents Tuesday night.

Andres Duany, who is working with parish leaders, residents and the
governor's Louisiana Recovery Authority to gather input to incorporate into
a long-term rebuilding plan for St. Bernard, said billions of dollars in
federal aid hang in the balance.

"There's very, very little time. We have to work quickly. The parishes that
are most organized the soonest will get the funding. There's really no time
to hesitate," he told a standing-room-only crowd at the St. Bernard Parish
Courthouse in Chalmette.

Duany, who will be in St. Bernard with other architects, builders,
contractors and planners until the middle of next week, was not quite
finished with his opening presentation when a man in the crowd interrupted
him and yelled, "I think everybody just wants to know who's going to be able
to rebuild and who's not."

Duany said individual homeowners, not the government, will make those
difficult decisions.

"You're going to decide whether you can rebuild or not. This is a
democracy," he said, adding that the government's job is to explain the
"risks" involved in rebuilding in certain areas. "It's your decision. It's
our job to give you the facts."

Duany said earlier in his presentation that it is clear to him after
traveling the parish that not everyone will be able to rebuild.

"We're not going to say nobody can move back or everyone can move back.
There will be a tailored response," he said.

Duany - who was the lead consultant for Plan Baton Rouge, the city's master
plan for redeveloping downtown - said hurricanes Katrina and Rita have given
St. Bernard residents an opportunity to dream and plan their future. All
cities eventually "molt," he said. The storms simply sped up that process.

"This is the chance . to actually go on to the next generation of St.
Bernard Parish," he said. "All of these things would have happened. (Now)
they're going to happen in front of your eyes."

Asked about the levees that failed and swamped the parish, Duany said "it's
not inconceivable that everybody can come back" if the levees are rebuilt
properly. The audience murmured and groaned when Duany expressed confidence
that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will rebuild the levees correctly.

Even though the Federal Emergency Management Agency has not yet released new
flood elevations for the parish, Duany said he believes some homes will have
to be raised.

"The government, from my experience, will probably have you raise the houses
a couple of feet," he said.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority held similar rebuilding planning meetings
last month in Lake Charles and New Iberia. Duany, of Duany Plater-Zyberk &
Co., also led those sessions.

George Wollfarth of Arabi said flood waters reached 3 feet into his attic.
He and his wife are living in a trailer in their back yard - and waiting.

"I've been hearing a lot of talk. I've got concerns about what they'll do
before I go any further," the 46-year-old Regional Transit Authority worker
said.

Puddin Pineiro of Arabi took on 12? feet of water at her house and was on a
roof six blocks away with her husband and best friend before being rescued.
Now, she's living in Houma while she guts her house.

"I'm hoping they'll say it's safe enough to come back. I'm curious to find
out," the 59-year-old Pineiro said, adding that she will return. "You can't
take the St. Bernard out of people. A lot of people's heart is here."

LRA member and Lamar Advertising Chief Executive Officer Sean Reilly of
Baton Rouge told the residents that St. Bernard was "the most-devastated
parish in the state."

"I have no doubt in my mind that prosperity and peace of mind will return to
St. Bernard Parish," he said.

Arabi native Donna Fraiche, who chairs the LRA's long-term recovery planning
task force, said the parish's residents have a "once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to rebuild your model communities."

"It must be safer, stronger and smarter. You'll never have this chance
again," she said.

The LRA will hold two more meetings at the St. Bernard Parish Courthouse: a
pin-up and design review session at 6 p.m. Friday and a closing presentation
at 6 p.m. March 15. Between now and March 15, Duany and his team will be
working under the large tent behind the flooded government complex on West
Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.

The LRA wants St. Bernard's recovery plan by March 20.

St. Bernard officials estimate that 12,000 people are living in the parish
now. The parish had a pre-Katrina population of more than 65,000.

Last month, the advisory St. Bernard Citizens Recovery Committee, which is
charged with drafting a rebuilding plan for the parish, recommended:


Armoring 14? miles of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet levee and raising
the 40-Arpent Canal levee to the same height - 17? feet - as the MR-GO
levee. The canal extends from Arabi to Violet. 
Building a storm surge barrier across Lake Borgne and creating
nonresidential buffer zones around the Murphy Oil and ExxonMobil refineries.
More than 1,600 homes in Chalmette were affected by an oil spill from the
Murphy refinery after Katrina. 
Using the parish's Home Mortgage Authority as a conduit to dispense federal
grants to buy out destroyed homes or provide low-interest mortgages for
repairs and new house construction.