[StBernard] $1.5 Million oak tree?

[Westley Annis]

I think it's disgusting to see the way that our hard earned taxes go for
idiotic crap such as this and nobody cares!
 
BL
 
	-----------------------------------------------------
	I learned something interesting this weekend.
	
	Did you know we have oak tree in Chalmette worth $1.5 million?  No
joke.
	You're probably thinking maybe it's one of the beautiful majestic
oaks near
	Paris Road by the Packenham Oaks.  Nope.  This oak tree sits in
front of the
	old, soon to be new Lacoste school.
	
	What?  I know, you've seen those oak trees - they're nice, but $1.5
million?
	You're saying "C'mon John, you must be suffering from vitamin C
deficiency
	or something?  Well, let me explain.
	
	I have a good friend who works on the project of the new Lacoste
school.  He
	started telling me about the project to construct the pedestrian
walkway
	that will span over Judge Perez Drive from Chalmette High School to
the new
	Lacoste School.  To make a long story short and to get to the crux
of the
	issue, the span originally was going to have a "straight across"
design
	which would have been efficient in both its design and cost.  But,
in its
	original design and location, someone realized it would require one
of the
	oak trees in front of Lacoste to be taken out.  Well, this certainly
could
	not happen!
	
	So now, the design of the pedestrian bridge is going to have a big
bend or
	crescent shape to it, to avoid the trees.  What was the difference
in design
	and construction cost for this slight modification?  $1.5 million.
That's
	right!  A million and a half smackaroos MORE!  This prompted them to
	completely redesign the bridge.
	
	But there's more.  Have you noticed how there are a lot of curved
and
	rounded sides to the new building?  Add another $14.5 million to
	construction costs compared to have a squared or "right angle" edge
to the
	buildings.  I was told "you can't believe how much more curved metal
	costs...it's major."  Oh, but John, we can't have our kids going to
be
	educated in a squared or rectangular building...God forbid, how will
they
	ever learn anything???
	
	I learned from Lacoste school project contact that the new Lacoste
school
	could have been built for tens of millions of dollars less by
"making simple
	modifications to the design - plus with these simple modifications
there
	would have had more building square footage for less cost.  Not to
mention,
	profession tree relocation experts could have carefully pulled up
the oak
	and relocated it for less than $20,000.  That's when my friend
looked at me
	and said, "next time you're driving in front of the new school, take
a look
	at what a $1.5 million oak tree looks like, probably the most
valuable oak
	tree in the United States."
	
	But hey, it's FEMA money, right?  It's not costing us anything.
Wrong...we
	all eventually pay for it.  People used to criticize Lynn Dean when
he spoke
	this way, and we're all learning now the old man was right.  After
all, a
	Lexus with only 6 cup holders will operate just as effectively as
one with 8
	cup holders - minus the extra $1,000 for two more cup holders.
	
	Personally, I would have preferred to build more school building for
the
	same buck being spent.  I just hope and pray after all the extra
tens of
	millions of dollars that are being spent on the current design,
another
	Katrina doesn't come along and wash it all away.
	
	John Scurich
	
	P.S.  For anyone who doubts or questions the accuracy of what I've
said, it
	took over 30 minutes for my contact to explain all the details.
Everything
	said was backed up - this was not some off the cuff 20 second
comment made
	to me.  I believe he brought this to my attention because he wanted
me know
	how much tax dollars are being wasted on the specific design of this
	project.