[StBernard] Housing deal offered

[Westley Annis]

	I don't know who Landry is or where he's from but I'm going to say
this:
	 
	The more obstacles they throw at us, the fewer people will come
back; it's financial common sense.  I think we all probably know that if we
can repair, even then, we'll probably never actually get our houses back to
what they were worth before Katrina.  People are not going to be interested
in buying in St. Bernard for quite some time; just my opinion.
	 
	The reason I/we want to repair is because it's the cheaper
alternative to buying elsewhere.  If the LRA decides to enforce the 3 ft
elevation, which as Deborah has indicated is basically based on nothing, I'm
not spending the money to try to elevate a slab house, nor will I have it
torn down and something else built there.  We will simply move elsewhere and
most likely not in the metro N.O. area or Louisiana.  Is this what Blanco,
the LRA, etc. really want?
	 
	JY
	 
	 

	Housing deal offered
	
	Legislature to get LRA compromise
	
	By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
	Capitol news bureau
	Published: Apr 27, 2006
	
	Homeowners in the hurricane-affected areas would only get half of
the money
	they are due - up to $75,000 at first - under a revamped housing
plan
	approved Wednesday by the Louisiana Recovery Authority.
	
	Officials characterized it as a down-payment on the $150,000 ceiling
on
	assistance they intend to implement should Congress agree to an
additional
	$4.2 billion in recovery relief for Louisiana. A decision from
Capitol Hill
	is expected by Memorial Day.
	
	"We stand united behind efforts to return people to their homes," a
jubilant
	Gov. Kathleen Blanco said at the State Capitol surrounded by
lawmakers and
	LRA members.
	
	Now that the LRA has approved the plan, the Legislature must OK it.
The
	housing scheme then goes to the federal government for final
consent.
	
	Senate President Don Hines and Speaker of the House Joe Salter said
the
	Legislature could vote on the plan early next week.
	
	Blanco said homeowners probably won't begin receiving checks until
this
	summer.
	
	Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or severely damaged more than
122,000
	homes owned by the occupants.
	
	Blanco wants to spend $7.5 billion to rebuild, repair and buy out
homes,
	plus $1.5 billion to create affordable rental units.
	
	The ceiling on homeowner assistance would be $150,000. Owners who
sell to
	the state would get 60 percent of their homes' pre-storm value.
	
	In calculating assistance, insurance payments and aid from the
Federal
	Emergency Management Agency would be deducted.
	
	The problem is that the plan hinges on the approval of the
additional $4.2
	billion.
	
	That forced the LRA to build a contingency into the plan to prepare
for the
	possibility that the extra money might not materialize.
	
	The original contingency was that only homeowners who lived outside
the
	flood plain or those on a low income would get help if Congress
didn't come
	through with more money.
	
	Lawmakers, led by Republican and black legislative leaders, objected
to the
	doomsday scenario that would have excluded thousands of storm
victims.
	
	They threatened to vote against the plan when it reached the floors
of the
	Senate and House.
	
	LRA members spent hours talking to lawmakers in the days leading up
to
	Wednesday's board meeting. The talks did not yield much movement.
	
	Finally, Blanco called Republican leaders over to the Governor's
Mansion on
	Tuesday night and reached a compromise.
	
	Rather than an income limit, the state would parcel out assistance
in
	halves. A calculation would be made of how much a homeowner is due
by
	factoring in damage, the pre-Katrina value of a home, insurance and
FEMA
	payments. The final sum would be split in two, with the homeowner
receiving
	half up front and half if Congress acts favorably.
	
	LRA Chairman Norman Francis said Blanco officials were open to
suggestions.
	
	"We weren't so arrogant that we ignored the responses we got,"
Francis said.
	
	House Republican leader Jim Tucker of Terrytown said it was LRA
member
	Walter Leger who came up with the compromise.
	
	Tucker said he doesn't think the plan will meet much resistance in
the
	House.
	
	However, he said, he will keep an eye on how the money is
distributed.
	
	Sen. Walter Boasso, R-Arabi, expects smooth sailing for the plan in
the
	Senate.
	
	"I'm ecstatic," he said. "This is the way to do it."
	
	Boasso said the original contingency excluded homeowners. The
compromise
	ensures that everyone gets at least something, he said.
	
	There was discontent over other parts of the plan at the LRA's
meeting.
	
	The plan would require homeowners to comply with the state
construction code
	and with the latest available FEMA guidelines on base flood
elevations
	unless the LRA grants an exception.
	
	The guidelines call for many homes in the New Orleans area to be
elevated at
	least 3 feet even though that may not be necessary in four years
when the
	levees are deemed capable of withstanding a 100-year flood.
	
	Two councilmen from the devastated St. Bernard Parish questioned
whether it
	is fair to force homeowners to take on the expense of building to a
standard
	that might disappear in less than five years.
	
	Councilman Joey DiFatta Jr. said the requirement could result in
many St.
	Bernard Parish homeowners not returning.
	
	DiFatta said homeowners could be forced to elevate their homes 13
feet above
	sea level when they only needed a 9-foot boost.
	
	"We need latitude on putting something permanent on a homebuilder
that's
	temporary," he said.
	
	Councilman Craig Taffaro Jr. predicted dire consequences.
	
	"This is a backhanded way of saying reduce your population," Taffaro
said.
	
	Leger, whose Arabi home got 14 feet of water during Katrina,
sympathized.
	
	"I don't know about you, but I'm not climbing 20 feet of stairs," he
joked.
	
	Another LRA member, John T. Landry, pointed out that the watermark
on
	flooded homes could be reason enough to elevate an extra 3 feet.
	
	DiFatta argued that the watermarks won't appear again when the
levees are
	repaired.
	
	Landry disagreed.
	
	"I'm going to believe in the watermark," he said.
	
	
	Find this article at: 
	http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/2701776.html 
	
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