[StBernard] demo, debris

[Westley Annis]

Hey Deborah,
 
I am working on getting some lead on the demo time frame-  the difficulty is
that the FEMA release process from the office of historic preservation
releases randomly so the ability at this point is limited in any real lead
time.  The overall picture is that over the next six months the majority of
the homes should be done (I'm cautiously optimistic about this).
 
The new construction debris is a hard line decision that FEMA is sticking
to.  I will get some media coverage on this issue.  FEMA states that they
let this go for some time and are now tightening up on the loose ends of how
things have been done.  

Because our process has been tied up in review for so long, we are now
mixing the new construction with the old debris.   Funny, I see it all as
being storm related- haven't known of an entire community to simultaneously
do mass renovations.
 
The only good news on this is that we keep badgering them about the insanity
of their interpretations of the rules and if you still have a debris pile
out front, be sure to mix the new and old together, at the very least make
em work for their insanity.
 
Good luck and God Bless,
Craig
 
-----Original Message-----

Craig, I caught the very end of your time on WWL radio last night. 
Overjoyed about the council
planning to post a prioritized listing of homes to be gutted by volunteers
through the parish's program for gutting, then calculating the number of
homes that would be done by a date in August, and then making it known to
those signed up that to let them know that they WON'T GET DONE VIA THE
PARISH'S FREE GUTTING PROGRAM.  If people just know where they stand they
can decide whether to do it themselves, as many have, pay to have it done,
as many have, or sign up for total demolition, as many have.

Looking forward to  hearing you again tonight to discuss demolition, and
hope there is a mechanism proposed for letting people know where they stand
on that list so they can make their decision whether to wait their turn, how
long the wait will be, or pay for demo as part of building a new home. What
time will you be on WWL tonight?

With regards to the FEMA decision on new construction debris, just wondering
when FEMA notified the parish about new construction debris not being picked
up. Back in December you said on this web posting that FEMA told the parish
new construction was part of recovery and they would pick it up. Your
posting today is the first information I have seen saying otherwise. When
will the parish make an announcement on this? Although the parish may have
known of the change for awhile, this has not been in the media about St.
Bernard, although Jefferson and St. Tammany have had much publicity about
FEMA's not picking up new construction debris. I'll start calling around for
a hauler now. Hope the Paris Rd public dumpster comes fast.

Deborah Keller