[StBernard] Accounting snags removal of debris in St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Accounting snags removal of debris in St. Bernard
Parish works to get funding 
Sunday, March 12, 2006
By Karen Turni Bazile
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau 
St. Bernard Parish officials scrambled on two storm-recovery fronts
Saturday, trying to resolve a recordkeeping problem that has stalled funding
for debris removal and to find enough housing for out-of-state volunteers
who are gutting houses. 

 
Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez said debris recovery in the parish
stopped Saturday because the state Office of Emergency Preparedness has
refused to release $9 million that the Federal Emergency Management Agency
pegged for debris removal in St. Bernard. 

The parish's selected debris-removal contractor, Unified Recovery Group, has
amassed $75 million in charges in St. Bernard since Hurricane Katrina and
has submitted paperwork for about $45 million in FEMA reimbursement,
Rodriguez said during a Saturday press conference. 

Of that amount, $9 million has been cleared by FEMA for payment, but the
state Legislative Auditor's Office told the council the money wouldn't be
released until the parish clears up accounting issues lingering from $31
million in emergency money the parish received from FEMA soon after the
storm. 

Parish Chief Administrative Officer Danny Menesses said he is working to
provide documentation so other funding isn't jeopardized. 

Rodriguez said he had no idea how long it will take to resolve the issue. 

The funding glitch has no bearing on curbside pickup of household garbage,
which has been shut down since the storm. Residents must bring household
trash to one of several dumpsters. 

In a separate issue, David Dysart, the parish's director of recovery, said
officials are hoping FEMA will be able to find sleeping space for 900 more
volunteers scheduled to arrive in the next few days to join a parishwide
home gutting operation. 

Dysart has organized volunteers from national groups such as Habitat for
Humanity, Samaritan's Purse and Americorps, who are spending weeks in the
parish. 

More than 350 homes have been gutted through the project, which began a few
months ago with small numbers of volunteers. But the effort is exploding in
scale now that many college students are using their spring breaks to help
out in the New Orleans area. 

About 1,300 volunteers are being housed at Camp Premier, a federal tent city
set up on grounds of the St. Bernard Port, Harbor and Terminal District in
Chalmette. 

Rodriguez said FEMA has promised to increase the tent city's capacity, and
Dysart said he is optimistic that enough space will be found. 

Councilman Tony "Ricky" Melerine has organized temporary quarters for up to
500 volunteers at C.F. Rowley Elementary School because there wasn't room
for them in the federal tent complex. There is not enough free space at the
school to solve the immediate housing need, parish officials said. 

FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Rodi said requests to expand the tent city in
Chalmette, as well as another in Algiers, are being reviewed to determine
the cost. She was unsure how long it would take to decide. 

Also, on Saturday, U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., toured the parish with
council Vice Chairman Joey DiFatta to inspect the devastation he viewed from
the air six weeks after Katrina hit. 

Oberstar, who has relatives who are close friends with DiFatta, was struck
by the sight of homes lifted off their slabs and slammed into other
buildings, calling it a scene of "biblical damage proportions." Oberstar,
the ranking Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
promised to help convince Congress that St. Bernard is destroyed and that
the parish must have reliable levees. 

"We have to do the restoration right. But to do it right, you have to fix
the levee and fix that Gulf-Outlet problem. They (residents) deserve to be
heard," he said. 

. . . . . . . 


Karen Turni Bazile can be reached at kturni at timespicayune.com or (504)
352-2539.