[StBernard] Returning Residents

[Westley Annis]

I just have to say that I agree...we have no answers to so many
questions...many people are waiting to have their homes gutted...and the
parish is not supposed to act on doing anything to those homes...this is a
very long process...personally...we paid a little over $6,000 to have our
home gutted...someone recently told me that because we have a two
story...that my home has to come down..if this is true...I wasted this
money...we will not do anything further until we have answers...
clm



> -----------------------------------------------------

> 

> Sheila, 

> 	I don't think anybody is being vicious here.  People on both sides 

> need to understand that others have legitimate reasons for what they 

> do.  If you have decided to return, that's fine, but I'm sure you went

back to St.

> Bernard knowing that, for a while at least, things will not be 

> anything like they used to be.  Part of the decision to return is made 

> with the knowledge that, for a long while, a lot of your neighbors' 

> homes are likely to be sitting empty.  For many of us who have not 

> returned, financial considerations play a very large role in what we 

> do with our property.  Yes, we can sign up for the free gutting (I 

> have), but because of the sheer volume of destroyed houses, in many 

> neighborhoods that free gutting is not going to happen in the 

> foreseeable future, if ever.  Other than signing up for free gutting, 

> for many people, it makes no financial sense to put any money into 

> gutting a house until all options (buyout, etc.) are clear, so they are

just not going to do it.  I do not see that as being irresponsible.

> On the contrary, in my view, spending several thousand dollars to gut 

> a house would be financially irresponsible if I may very well take the 

> buyout, depending on the terms.  And, many homeowners will 

> legitimately resist anyone trying to force them to put thousands of 

> dollars into a house when the Parish has said (Duany plan) that they 

> do not want rebuilding in that area.  Yes, at some point the 

> government needs to step in and force property owners to do something 

> with abandoned property.  But that cannot happen until the property 

> owner has all his options on the table.  It is not irresponsible to 

> wait until we have all those options before spending significant amounts

of money.  That's making financially prudent decisions.

> The bottom line is, I think that those who are returning need to 

> realize that the condition of many so-called "abandoned" houses will 

> not change until the buyout plan is finalized, there is time for the 

> buyout money to make its way to homeowners, and the homeowners have 

> time to act.  After all that happens, maybe by the end of 2006, the 

> Parish can start to go after abandoned and blighted houses.

> 

> CK

>