[StBernard] Council Asks Electricians to Meet With Residents

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Tue Aug 15 01:11:02 EDT 2006


Parish officials are seeking local licensed electricians to meet with parish
residents on Aug. 19 and 26, two Saturdays, to help them apply for
electrical permits from the parish.

The Council is also looking into whether they can offer special Katrina
rebuilding permits to cover any work someone has done on their home,
including gutting, in order to grandfather them in at the existing flood
elevations that would allow homeowners to meet standards of the Louisiana
Recovery Authority's Road Home program.

Both issues will be discussed at the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, Aug.
15 at 7 p.m.

The public can come to the brown and white tent behind the parish government
complex from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 19 and 26 to meet with electricians
about applying for an electrical permit to work on their residences,
officials said. Locally licensed electricians are being invited to attend
the meeting to help people apply for what is known as "will call'' permits
which starts the process of getting an electrical permit.

The efforts are being aimed at helping St. Bernard homeowners to be eligible
for the Louisiana Recovery Authority's Road Home program and help people
avoid having to elevate their homes if they don't want to.

The efforts are being aimed at helping St. Bernard homeowners to be eligible
for the Louisiana Recovery Authority's Road Home program and help people
avoid having to elevate their homes if they don't want to.

The LRA program will follow new advisory Base Flood Elevation guidelines
issued by FEMA in which homes with 50 percent or more damage would have to
be raised by 3 feet.

St. Bernard's Council hasn't adopted the new FEMA guidelines for the parish
but will likely do so shortly.

Council member Craig Taffaro Jr. said electricians can charge for their
service but they are needed to help residents who haven't been able to
connect with an electrician so far.

Council member Mark Madary said in "an effort to preserve citizens' rights,
we're trying to get them in under the wire'' if they don't want to elevate.


"We're trying to save our community'' by helping people rebuild, Council
member Judy Hoffmeister said. Getting electricians and the public together
is an example of "thinking out of the box'' to accomplish something, she
said.

Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez and Council Vice-Chairman Joseph
DiFatta said they are concerned about stories they have heard that some
electricians may try to take advantage of the public's need by charging
extra to get them a permit.

Council members have said residents who don't want to elevate should start
work on their homes or obtain electrical or gas permits to do work, which
should stand as documentation that they began work before the base flood
elevation guidelines go into effect. Officials of the Road Home program have
said they won't penalize a homeowner who has started work on residence which
is in compliance with the current flood elevation standards in St. Bernard
which go back to 1974 and were updated last in 1985.

The Council is also looking into the possible use of a special Katrina
rebuilding permit as proof that homeowners began the rebuilding process
prior to the Louisiana Recovery Authority's deadline, allowing people to
rebuild at existing flood elevations.

Officials had been assuming that St. Bernard residents renovating
flood-damaged homes would only need permits for electrical, plumbing and gas
repairs.

But now there are concerns that the National Flood Insurance Program may
require some type of rebuilding permit even for gutting, officials said.

The parish has issued about 9,700 permits since Katrina's winds and storm
surge damaged about 27,000 structures.




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