[StBernard] Parish complex work is on the way

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Mon Jan 28 23:50:24 EST 2008


Parish complex work is on the way
St. Bernard staffers enduring elements
Sunday, January 27, 2008
By Paul Rioux
St. Bernard bureau

Bundled up in two shirts, a sweater, a jacket, a scarf and a blanket, Tracy
Brock tapped away at her computer with gloved fingers Friday afternoon while
sitting on a heating pad at her desk in the St. Bernard Parish government
complex.

"I'm pretty warm, but an electric heater would be nice," said Brock, a clerk
in the parish's community development office. "We can't have those because
they keep blowing the circuits."

Brock and her co-workers on the second floor of the complex in Chalmette
have had to find creative ways to stay warm in the drafty building, which
has not been repaired since Hurricane Katrina swamped it with more than 10
feet of water in August 2005.

An atrium in the center of the building acts as a wind tunnel, drawing in
chilly air from the gutted first floor, where there are gaping holes in the
brick exterior walls. The bare concrete floors and a damaged heating system
that operates well below capacity aren't helping either.

Just how cold is it? The temperature plunged to 41 degrees on a particularly
chilly day recently.

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro praised parish employees for
their perseverance and said a warming trend is in the forecast.

He recently signed a $3.5 million contract with Pete Vicari General
Contractor Inc. of Marrero to renovate the building.

The first priorities are to fix the heating system and repair the Parish
Council chambers so the council can stop holding meetings in a cramped
triplewide trailer near the complex.

Taffaro said the contractor is expected to move heavy machinery to the site
in the next week or so, with the goal of finishing the council chambers in
three months.

"The complex is the face of parish government, and it still looks like a
bombed-out building nearly 2 1/2 years after the storm," he said. "We're
asking residents to fix up their homes, and we need to try to lead by
example."

Parish officials had postponed repairs to the complex and other government
buildings for more than a year to delay implementation of new base-flood
elevations that would require rebuilt homes to be raised 3 feet above grade,
said David Peralta, chief administrative officer for the parish.

"Before we could accept money from FEMA to fix the government complex, we
had to adopt the higher base-flood elevations," he said. "We decided to wait
to give homeowners more time to rebuild at the lower elevations."

Chalmette resident Dora Mumphrey, who stopped by the complex to get a
rebuilding permit Friday, said she's pleased the building is finally going
to be fixed.

"It's a sign the parish is moving forward, but I think it means even more to
the employees," she said. "They're the ones who are suffering."

Parish employees acknowledged it hasn't been easy working in the inclement
conditions.

"It's almost like working outside," said Lauren Stone, a customer service
specialist. "We bundle up as best we can and drink a lot of hot chocolate
and coffee."

They also rely on a sense of humor to help ward off the chill.

"Before we leave at the end of the day, we remind each another to turn off
our bun warmers," Brock said. "We don't want to start a fire and not be able
to come back to work in the morning."

. . . . . . .

Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux at timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3321.









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