[StBernard] Question for Craig

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Mon Jun 25 20:27:55 EDT 2007


Craig: I do not mean to continually add to your list of problems, but
apparently other elected officials are invisible unless a photo opportunity
is involved. Thank you for being our voice in parish government. On a
positive note, our neighborhood association took on (and eventually won) the
battle of having debris piled on our neutral ground. We also filled in the
neutral grounds with sand, then had it leveled off, and have an active
president who makes immediate visits to anyone mishandling their debris! We
replaced our front entrance garden, repaired the entrance lights and
sprinkler system, and are currently obtaining bids to replace our eight
stop signs. This is progress that we, as a neighborhood, have worked hard
to realize. Now we need help to address a few problems.

First, why is it we cannot get the parish to cut the grass on our neutral
grounds once or twice a month as pre-Katrina? We pay to have the neutral
grounds cut every other week in the growing season, and rely on the parish
to do the same. Without the parish support, we cannot afford the current
pricing schedules!

Second, we have a contractor who purchased a home and over the past several
months piled his "rebuilding debris" between the street and the sidewalk of
the home he is selling. When told verbally and in writing that this material
will NOT be picked up by the parish, we received a "not my problem"
response. The pile has grown, and now smells. Can we file a complaint with
the parish to have this "homeowner" slapped with a daily fine until he gets
interested enough to remove the debris? The house has been for sale, and
while it would be logical to remove the debris to expedite the sale
process, apparently logic doesn't prevail.

Also, we have one home which has been gutted, but little more. The pool
is a safety hazard. Add to all this the fact that Ma Bell tore up the
corner to do work nearly a year ago, yet has never returned to completely
fill in the hole, nor replace the sidewalk! What parish agency handles
this? Telephone calls to "the new AT&T" are as futile as they were to SCB!
Also, can our association file a complaint against the homeowners to do a
better job of cleaning their property and make basic repairs until they
finally sell it?

Last, we are also interested in the progress of the homes surrounding us, as
everyone should. 3213 Corinne Drive and 3503 Charles Drive (behind St.
Mark Church), have NEVER BEEN GUTTED. The home at 3213 Corinne has had a
"yellow sticker" on it for almost two years now. The home at 3503 Charles
has no sticker, but still has the furniture, refrigerator, etc. in the home.
I have been to the Parish Government Complex numerous times and have
verified that the proper notices are on file and "that they will eventually
come down." I beg the question: Why not update the parish list of
properties that are still scheduled for demolition and place an expected
"scheduled date" beside it? I can see where this would be a benefit to the
parish to first know how many properties are left to be demolished, second,
to insure that the company(ies) doing the demo work are meeting the parish
governments expectations, and last, so that an address will stand out when
the schedule is not adhered to. At this point, everyone at the government
complex tries to be helpful, but I am tired of being told to be patient when
no one can provide an estimated action date!

Any guidance you can provide will, as always, be greatly appreciated. I
assure you that our association will continue to do our part to see to it
that our neighborhood is properly maintained. Thank you.

John




More information about the StBernard mailing list