[StBernard] demolitions

[Westley Annis]

Hey Deborah,
 
The next obstacle to the slab issue will be that FEMA has stated that no
contractor involved in FEMA sponsored debris and demolition will be eligible
for a private contract with residents to take up their slabs.
 
In the demolition process, residents are supposed to be informed of their
responsibility for home upkeep.
 
Take care and thanks again for your commitment.
 
Good luck and God Bless,
Craig 
 
-----Original Message-----

Craig, I assure you I have no listening device at parish govt. complex! 
  I think that those of us who are temporarily living in Jefferson Parish
are able to readily compare the recovery issues that are now behind
Jefferson to St. Bernard which still has many hurdles ahead of it.  The main
difference is that we were entirely destroyed and so they merely had a
sample of what we are faced with. But the issues of how homeowners,
businesses, and  govt. responds to recovery are probably universal. I'm sure
anyone from Homestead, Florida who went through the Hurricane Andrew
Recovery can predict our next few challenges very accurately.

Here's another thought that I brought up at yesterday's planning commission
meeting. FEMA is not going to demolish house slabs. If 2,500 or more homes
are signed up for FEMA demolition, which should be starting soon as debris
pick up resumes, that means the parish will have that many piers or slabs on
empty lots. The parish will need to advise the owners that they are still
required to mow the grass, have liability if anyone is hurt on the lot/slab,
and if they are going to rebuild on a higher foundation, the cost of slab
removal is not covered by FEMA unless the house is in a flood plain (i.e.
you are not in flood zone B) and the new flood plain map has a higher base
flood elevation than the house had.  Then the ICC $30,000 could be used
towards demolishing the slab/piers according to a FEMA advisor.

For example, my parents are signed up for demolition. Although they are
north of Judge Perez, they are in Flood Zone B. If the new map still has
them in Flood Zone B, they have to budge the cost to demolish 1,800 sq. ft
of reinforced concrete slab (not on piles, thank goodness because that adds
to the cost) and the underground pipes because the FEMA ICC money will not
be available if they are not required to raise the house. That's before they
spend $100 to $125 per sq. ft. to build a new 1,800 sq. ft. house. So they
are looking at about $225,000 plus the slab demo cost which I haven't heard
a price for yet. But they said that's how much they want to live out the
rest of their lives in St. 
Bernard. I told them it's their savings, just my inheritance (ha ha).

I hope that enterprising demolition contractors will be offering competitive
prices for slab demolitions with so many of them to do.

Deborah