[StBernard] Road Home slabs being removed in St. Bernard!

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish sees its Road Home slabs being removed

More than 3,500 lots will have slabs demolished and cleared

 

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr., St. Bernard Parish
Housing, Redevelopment and Quality of Life Commission members and Louisiana
Land Trust officials announced that more than 3,500 slabs will be removed
from lots where Road Home structures once stood. 

 

Officials gathered at a site in the 3400 block of Decomine Street in
Chalmette Monday to review the program that began June 9 and should be
completed in less than a year. 

 

"This spurs our recovery one step further," President Taffaro said. "It is
much more feasible to restore a neighborhood when the slabs are removed. In
total, we hope to have 6,000 slabs removed, including LLT properties and
non-LLT properties. We are still hopeful that the Louisiana Recovery
Authority will be able to pay for the removal of all the slabs."

 

The cost for removing the slabs is being picked up by Louisiana Land Trust,
the non-profit holding company for Road Home properties across the state.
The federally-funded work is expected to cost $10 million in St. Bernard,
said Mike Taylor, executive director of the Louisiana Land Trust.

 

"With over 9,500 pieces of property that must be returned to parishes
throughout South Louisiana, we are pleased with the progress being made with
the slab demolition in St. Bernard Parish," Taylor said. "This important
step gets us closer to restoring these parcels and getting them back into
commerce."

Camp Dresser & McKee is overseeing slab removal and home demolition across
the state for the Louisiana Land Trust.

"LLT is moving forward quickly with the first phase of slab demolition and
site restoration in St. Bernard Parish with this group of nearly 300
properties," said Bob Batherson, CDM Program Manager. "Following closely
behind this initial contract will be the next phase of slab demolitions in
St. Bernard Parish."

In addition to the more than 3,500 LLT properties where slabs will be
removed, there are more than 100 LLT houses that still must be demolished.
The work is being bid out in several phases over the next year. Durr Heavy
Construction is performing the first batch of slab demolitions. Shortly
after the slabs are removed, the contract calls for workers to return, cut
pilings to 2 feet below the grade, backfill the lot and sprinkle it with
Bermuda Grass seeds. 

Removing the slabs is a key step to kicking the Lot Next Door program into
high gear and getting the properties to neighbors who want to improve the
lots and reclaim their neighborhoods.

The St. Bernard Parish Department of Housing and Redevelopment will oversee
the program with Global Risk Solutions acting as an intermediary for the
parish on the Lot Next Door transfers. 

Once slabs are removed, the process of actually selling the properties will
begin. Contact letters from Global Risk Solutions on the behalf of St.
Bernard Parish will be sent, by geographical areas, to individuals
concerning the purchase of the Lot Next Door. 

 

Once individuals receive the letters, the lots will be appraised and the
owners of homestead exempt properties next to the LLT properties will have
the first chance to purchase the properties. At that point, interested
individuals should send their response to Global Risk Solutions, P.O. Box
1099, Chalmette, LA 70044. Residents interested in purchasing a lot next
door should expect a phone call from Global Risk and a certified letter,
detailing what needs to be done to purchase the lot.  

 

St. Bernard Parish has been collecting name and addresses of persons
interested in the Lot Next Door program for more than a year, said Clay
Cosse, Director of the Parish Department of Housing and Redevelopment. 

 

"If you have called and put your name on the list already, there is no need
to call the parish or Global Risk Solutions until you receive the letter,"
Cosse said.

 

For more information about the Lot Next Door, call 569-1905 or visit St.
Bernard Parish Government's website at www.sbpg.net
<https://mail.sbpg.net/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sbpg.net/> . For
more information about the Louisiana Land Trust, visit the website at
www.lalandtrust.us <http://www.lalandtrust.us/> . 

 

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