May Meeting Minutes
President Ed McGinnis called the meeting to order and began his president’s notes.
He stated that most of the issues around the Irish Channel involve zoning issues and called on Michelle Kimball to assist him in going over the various meetings they had attended over the last month.
They are as follows:
· Demolitions at 400 Jackson Avenue- GSA is opposing this because they feel the properties could be renovated. The ICNA previously opposed their demolition back in 2001 and since then the owners have maintained a policy of ‘demolition by neglect,’ hoping the buildings would simply fall down if not cared for.
· Belladoggie- 801 Washington Avenue- received final zoning approval. The owner has agreed to a title restriction stating that the zoning change will not be grandfathered in if the building is sold and another business comes in.
· Brix- the zoning committee met with a group wanting to open a tapas restaurant/wine bar in the same building as Design Within Reach on Magazine Street. The owners want a liquor license but no video poker. They are trying to open by August 1st, but have many hurdles to overcome, one of the most notable being that they are located within a 300 feet of a school and city law states no alcohol shall be served within that radius.
· Charcoal- Ed spoke with the architects today and signed a Good Neighbor agreement. They have been very agreeable and are looking toward an August 1st ground breaking once they receive final HDLC approval.
· NORA- the RFP (Request for Proposals) has been released and there have been several contractors indicating interest already. The bids will close on May 12th. Our efforts to redevelop blighted housing has been favorable mentioned in several publications recently, including the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
· HANO scattersite on Tchoupitoulas – A meeting scheduled with the Lower Garden District, Stacey Head and HANO has been postponed until May 27th. Neighbor Tamela Miller has been working directly with HANO to resolve these open, abandoned apartments which have been used as a dumping site for everything from dead pit bulls to stolen cars. Approval to tear these down was given even before Katrina further damaged the buildings, so Ms. Miller is attempting to get them to follow through.
We then moved on to the crime report since it related to the HANO sites.
Karen Chaubert was called away on business at the last minute and could not attend. She provided notes to Ellen Brandao to share with the meeting.
Karen has been working with adjacent Neighborhood Associations to determine what practical steps we could take to assist them. Two immediate things we could do to improve their everyday work environment and morale are:
1) Establish a “supply cabinet fund” where the Associations collectively purchase basic office supplies such as toner, pencils and the pastel green paper police reports are printed upon. These things are required for the police to adequately do their jobs, yet they consistently have difficulty obtaining them from the city.
2) Work with the other Associations to canvas local restaurants for donations of $50 gift certificates to be presented to the Officer of the Month as a token of our gratitude.
Ed added that the police in general and Lieutenant Michael Lohman in particular are to be commended for getting information out to the neighborhood via the email blasts.
Adolph Lopez discussed the progress he’s made in researching the feasibility and implementation of a Crimestoppers donation. As previously discussed, the ICNA is considering a donation of $500 to be placed in an account to increase the reward for information leading to a conviction of a murder within the neighborhood. The police will work with us to determine which crime would be most likely to produce information so the money could be best spent, and if no one came forward the money would eventually be returned to us.
Ed has been working with the Marriott on continuing work on the Kaboom! Soraparu park build. Marriott has given an extra $500 toward the project to construct additional barriers to keep cars from driving over the adjoining grass and endangering the children.
Additionally, Tamela Miller has begun a new Kaboom! application on a small park across from the aforementioned HANO scattersite. It is still early in the process, but once NORD (New Orleans Recreation Department) approves the build we will be put on the waiting list for a donor.
So ended the Committee Reports.
Old Business:
Ed discussed the possibility of a meeting format change. His recommendation is that we revise our schedule to have monthly board meetings instead of membership meetings. These board meetings would still be open to the public for anyone who wished to attend, but would primarily be to focus on the administrative issues that must be dealt with that are not typically very interesting to the average resident.
Quarterly, however, we would have a large membership meeting which would focus on those issues that do affect the neighborhood as a whole. Stacy Head and the 6th District police officers would be invited to attend. Other possibilities such as a potluck dinner being served or activities for children during the meeting will need to be ironed out. Quorum was not possible at the meeting, so an email will be sent to determine if people are interested in implementing this change.
New Business:
The street repaving project has created many concerns in the neighborhood that Ed has been trying to follow up on.
Adolph Lopez voiced his concern that the storm drains are being covered over and are being built up too high to be as effective as they should be and suggested the asphalt should be graded to better drain the streets.
Ellen Brandao has been receiving complaints from her neighbors about confusion about when and where it’s okay to park. Paper ‘no parking’ signs were stapled up to poles weeks ago and many have blown down. At any rate, the workers come only sporadically, so it’s not feasible to simply never park in the street, given that there will likely be no work on any given day.
She went on to express on behalf of her neighbors and herself how upset everyone is about the destruction of the old street name tiles by the crews. She was treated very rudely when speaking with the workers who have made no attempt to save and protect these city symbols.
Ed has been speaking with Boh Brothers at length about the work they’re doing. The project manager (Mr. Nary) stated that there is at least another week of patching holes in the Irish Channel before they can begin the actual repaving work, which should begin in 3 weeks time. He committed to keeping Ed informed and also states that they will be making every effort to see that no further tile damage is done. Boh Brothers is working to have replicas made to replace the broken tiles.
Ed said that he would contact Mr. Nary to confirm they will be doing proper grading and to address Adolph’s drainage concerns.
Additionally, there are going to be issues with overhanging trees when the repaving begins. Boh Brothers will be bringing in tree trimmers to insure clearance of 14 feet over the street for the paving machines. This will be a concern for many neighbors who have crepe myrtles and other trees planted at the curb. One possible solution for this is would be to wrap the trees in netting (similar to how Christmas trees are wrapped for shipping) for the duration of the work. Ed will contact Mr. Nary to get a specific date on when this will need to occur and send an email explaining this to the general membership.
After determining there were no further issues or question, Ed made a motion the meeting be adjourned. Michelle Kimball seconded, unanimously approved.
