Irish Channel Neighborhood Association

Hello friends and neighbors,

Hopefully everyone has had a chance to recover from the craziness of the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras — just in time for St Patricks day! Our monthly board meeting is this Thursday at 7 PM at 819 First Street (Irish Channel Christian Church) . These meetings are open to the public. Our next big general meeting is scheduled for April and we will have some exciting guests, including representatives from ReNew Schools, the Charter Management Organization that will be taking over Live Oak and Laurel elementary schools. Please mark your calendar now for that meeting which will be on April 8th.

In addition to the agenda I want to take a moment to speak about something that is extremely important to our neighborhood, city and the state. I am assuming many of you, like me, had your Census 2010 form hand delivered over the weekend. Please make sure you fill this out and return by April 1st. Please also remind your neighbors to send in their forms. Besides being a legal requirement, it is vital to our community and used for everything from federal funding to private marketing. Here is a link for more information.

Thanks so much to everyone for making the Channel such a wonderful place to live,

Kara Morgan

3 /11/2010 Agenda:

Treasurer update

Newsletter Update

Land Use committee updates — Tran’s, Gnott Gourmet, Cultural District expansion, and 1027-29 9th street — and recruitment of new members

PRC Sellabration (March 20th at the PRC)

NPN and Capacity College update

Greening the Channel update

LBB Update

Crime & 6th District updates

April Big Meeting

- Schools – update on charter of Laurel/Live Oak – ReNew Schools will speak at April meeting; costume donations; other needs?

- Crime – discuss inviting someone from the 6th to speak

- District 93 Special Election (Karen Carter-Peterson’s seat)

- Census 2010

Website issues update from Trey

January 14, 7 p.m., Irish Channel Christian Fellowship, 819 First St.

Hear about the Cultural Districts program. Residential and commercial tax credits and sales tax exemptions are available to the Irish Channel! Representatives from the state, the city and other districts will be present to answer your questions.

Cultural Districts are designated areas that are meant to revitalize communities and contribute to the lives and livelihoods of the citizens by creating locally driven hubs of cultural activity. This program provides two primary incentives for communities to create or rebuild cultural destinations:

1. Any buildings in the Cultural District over 50 years old, including both residences and businesses are eligible to apply for state historic tax credits for renovations.

2. Sales of original, one-of-a-kind works of art are exempt from local and state sales taxes.

See you on Jan. 14!

Wendy Waren, ICNA Program Coodinator

Hello members (and non-members) of the ICNA,

As is tradition, our December meeting will be replaced by our annual Holiday party. Tess Conrad has once again graciously agreed to host this event. The event is a potluck with a White Elephant gift giving game. The party starts at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 10th at 2406 Laurel.
We encourage everyone to donate some food items to the less fortunate this holiday season. You may bring donations to the Holiday party next week and we will drop them off for you.

We are actively supporting the Christmas at the Sixth fundraiser. Last year they were able to give away 177 bicycles to children in the 6th District. To make a donation, email Karen Chabert at kc4nsicrn@aol.com. You may also bring your cash or check donation to the Holiday party next week.

We are planning a Holiday home decorating contest for our neighborhood this year. We will ask for entries or nominations and have a team of judges pick the winner. There will be a small token prize awarded but it’s mostly for pride. Look for more details soon!

Our monthly ICNA Board Meeting is this Thursday, 7:00 PM at 819 First Street (Irish Channel Christian Fellowship), Board members are open to the public

Welcome & Announcements
> Community Events
    * December 5, Irish Channel Bike Tour, 1-4 p.m
    * Other?
Committee Updates
> Committee Meeting Night on 11/19
    * Review of last meeting
    * Some ideas for improving
> Community Outreach
    * Greening the Channel
           – Home Depot grant
           – Discussion on welcome signs
> Youth Outreach
     * LBB Club updates
     * Laurel Elementary School needs
> Land Use
     * Cultural District Tasks
          - Vote on using December vs January vs a separate date for public meeting
          – Update on costs for mailing
          – Finalize what we would like to include
   * 548 Jackson – Tran Vuong will discuss potential uses for this property
> Crime updates
> Technology
Other
   * Holiday party and Candidate meet & greet dates

Trick or Treat

To encourage families to Trick-or-Treat in the Irish Channel, we are compiling a list of participating homes. Please take a moment and follow the link below to register your house as a designated Trick-or-Treat participant. Your home will be listed as a place families know they can stop. The final list will be sent out to our membership email list.

Click here to sign up!

Thursday, October 15 at 7 p.m.
NOLA Brewing Co., 3001 Tchoupitoulas St.

The ICNA has multiple initiatives underway and we need your help. There are several committees to join and make a difference in your neighborhood.

Community Outreach and Membership (Co-Chairs are Wendy Waren and Jane Howard):

This committee is tasked with creating and distributing the newsletter, the weekly community calendar, Greening the Channel and membership drives. We would also like to work on things like monthly socials and events at Burke park.

Youth Outreach (Co-Chairs are Jason Nix and Ed McGinnis):

This committee is working with other neighborhood associations to form the Lyons and Burke Booster (LBB) Club. The LBB Club will help support NORD activities at the parks, help with improvements to the park and allow us to hold community events there. They are also working to bring Kaboom! back to the neighborhood. We would also like to support our neighborhood schools but need more volunteers.

Land Use (Co-Chairs are Michelle Kimball and Harvey Stern):

The land use committee is responsible for reviewing all zoning requests and making a recommendation to the board and general membership. We currently have two requests that are technically in the Coliseum Square district but they would like our support as well. Both are on Chippewa & Jackson. An investment group would like to turn the old Synagogue at 709 Jackson into a local and organic upscale market. The other proposed project is to turn the old hospital across Chippewa into condos. Representatives from both projects will be at the Thursday meeting to present their ideas and answer questions. This committee is also very involved in making sure our voice is heard in the Master Plan process. Additionally, the Land Use committee monitors blighted housing in the Channel. We have worked over several years to document every blighted house in the neighborhood and push to have them cleaned up or sold. Going forward we will track the blighted houses in a more timely fashion, post a map with links to blighted houses on our website and continue to work with the City to turn them around.

Crime (Co-Chairs are Adolph Lopez and Karen Chaubert):

This committee attends the NONPAC meetings hosted by the NOPD 6th District every 3rd Wednesday of the month. This is considered their monthly committee meeting and allows us an opportunity to voice any concerns the ICNA has with crime in our neighborhood. This committee also acts as a liaison between the 6th District and the ICNA forwarding announcements for donations or events as requested. Additionally, the Crime committee plans and hosts the National Night Out Against Crime each year in Burke park.

Ad-hoc Committees:
There are two committees working on short-term temporary issues. We have a Legislative session committee that is tasked with developing a plant for tracking and voting to support or oppose the many bills proposed during each legislative session that affect the Irish Channel. This process would apply to city ordinances too. We also have a committee working on updating our by-laws.

Technology (Chair is Trey Bornmann):

This committee manages the ICNA website and email list. We are also working to publish our blighted housing list to the web, link our community calendar to the website and make some general improvements to the site. This committee supports each of the other committees on technical issues.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday,

Kara Morgan
ICNA President

Help support the neighborhood kids? Join the LBB!

The Lyon & Burke Boosters will be launched on November 17th. While ICNA supports the efforts of this new non-profit it will be a separate entity from the neighborhood association.

To stay up on the latest news and for information on how you can help, join the LBB email list below. You can also check out the LBB group page .

Board meetings are open to the public. Items in bold will be voted on. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at 819 First Street (Irish Channel Christian Fellowship).

Thanks,

Kara Morgan
ICNA President

1. Welcome & Announcements (5 mins):
a. Introduce new board
b. Community Events
c. CJ Peete Community Meeting 10 AM @ community center on 10/13
d. Sixth District Barbeque Picnic @ 12 PM on 10/19
2. Committee Updates
a. General Announcement — Committee Meeting Night on 10/15, 7 p.m. at NOLA Brewing Company.
b. Community Outreach (5 mins)
c. Community Calendar – vote on proposal by President that we include all submitted events located in the Channel or directly affecting the Channel, including business and community events except those deemed offensive or otherwise not within the character of the ICNA by the Executive Committee (i.o.w., the Executive Committee will review each week)
d. Greening the Channel
e. Membership list update
3. Youth Outreach (5 mins)
a. Booster Club/NORD – Jason or Ed
b. Kaboom! – Ed
4. Land Use (25 mins)
a. Outcome of 2401 Rousseau Vote – Harvey
b. Master Plan Feedback – Michele/Charlie/Harvey
c. CPC Public Hearings on 10/13 and 10/16
d. Tchoupitoulas corrider vote — support or oppose Master Plan designation as Multi-Use vs our recommendation for Light Industrial
e. Cultural District Tasks – Cele
f. Mass Community Mailout — proposed weekend is 10/29
g. Committee proposed to make November meeting the public announcement event
h. Jackson Oaks Condos presentation (5 mins)
5. Crime (2 mins) – Karen
6. Technology (5 mins) – Trey will give brief update on Google Apps and interested board members can stay after to get hands on instruction on how to use new tools

The Office of the Lt. Governor and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism are pleased to announce certification of 6 new Cultural Districts. This brings the total number of Cultural District to 45, and they are in all corners of Louisiana, making this a successful, growing statewide initiative. The Irish Channel was the only designation in New Orleans in 2009.

Six (6) Round 3 Cultural Districts certified effective September 16, 2009

St Francisville Downtown Cultural District St. Francisville
Hammond Cultural District Hammond
Abbeville Cultural and Heritage District Abbeville
Village of Grand Cane Cultural District Grand Cane
Irish Channel Cultural District New Orleans
Perkins Road Arts District Baton Rouge

Cultural district Frequently Asked Questions:

http://www.crt.state.la.us/culturaldistricts/faq.aspx

To read the Times Picayune article, October 4, 2009:

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/10/post_27.html

Since our ICNA Athletics basketball league last Spring NORD has taken a renewed interest in the Burke Park and Lyon’s Center.  Here are some pictures of recent activities sponsored by NORD.  They currently have 3 different football teams, separated by age groups, practicing in the two parks.  In the years since Katrina kids from the neighborhood had to travel to Taylor park to play organized sports.  Our goal is to provide many more options over the next few years contingent upon Lyon’s Center reopening. 

 NORD also held a Health and Recreation Fair on Saturday, September 26th at Burke Park.  There were many booths there including the Booster Club we are forming with other neighborhood associations for both Lyon’s Center and Burke Park. 

NORD Table at the Fair

Face Painting