[StBernard] City Funds Further Blight Recovery

[Westley Annis]

City Funds Further Blight Recovery
updated 12:32 p.m. CT, Mon., Dec. 10, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - The City of New Orleans will dedicate a total of $7 million to
eradicate urban blight in 17 target recovery areas and the biomedical area
around the planned Veterans Administration and Louisiana State University
hospitals. The funding was sealed Friday, when Mayor C. Ray Nagin and New
Orleans Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Joe Williams signed an
agreement Friday, according to a statement from the city. 

Under the agreement, the $7 million will be channeled through NORA, which
will organize the efforts, as will an additional $1.2 million to reimburse
the cost of NORA?s start-up this year. 

The agreement includes programs to support home ownership, property
rehabilitations, voluntary housing swaps, expedited permitting and other
tools to bring people home and improve neighborhoods. 

The city?s 2008 budget also includes $2 million for NORA staffing and
overhead.