BlightStat 17

June 30, 2011 by Charlie London

by Charlie London

CLICK HERE for the City’s June 30, 2011 BlightStat Presentation

This was the seventeenth BlightStat meeting where the public was invited to attend.

The City continues to march toward its goal of eradicating 10,000 blighted properties within three years. City departments that can help with this process meet every two weeks for a “BlightStat” meeting.

Goals have been set for each department and a presentation is made at each meeting to show how each department is doing toward meeting those goals.

BELOW ARE NOTES FROM THE JUNE 30th BLIGHTSTAT MEETING

Attendance from the public at the BlightStat meetings remains low due to information from and about the meetings being readily available. Mr. O.J. Wise announced he and his wife have a baby due around Christmas. Mr. Jeff Hebert did not attend the meeting as he is on vacation.

The meeting began with a report from Mr. W.H. Reid noting that inspections were down a bit with 900 inspections this bi-weekly period due to vacation and sick days. While this bi-weekly period was down a bit, the Code Enforcement Department has already done over 20,000 inspections just this year.

Ms. Kristin Illarmo and Mr. Reid are constantly working toward getting more hearings done.

Mr. Andy Kopplin suggested that inspections may not now be a priority as demolitions and hearings need more focus. Resources need to be moved around to have balance in progress.

Mr. Reid stated his department is looking at other “tools in the toolbox” to get things done.

There was some discussion about how FEMA inspections are categorized.
Mr. Reid noted that backlogged inspections continue to be a problem.

Grass inspections are a priority during the summer growing season.
There was some continued discussion about the backlog. Mr. Reid summed up the discussion by stating, “Bottom line… we’ll take care of it.”

Ms. Illarmo said that Ms. Brenda Breaux is organizing a volunteer day for city attorneys to help with hearings. The Accela system, while better, continues to thwart the progress of hearings.

There is a specific issue with photos being attached to hearing files.
Ms. Illarmo and Ms. Breaux are working on a write-in form for judgments which is a production of the actual judgment at the time of the hearing so it can be mailed out the same day or the next day.

Mr. Kopplin noted that this will make the hearings more efficient.
Ms. Breaux will have Asst. City Attorneys come in on two Saturdays. Inspectors will also be brought in from the field to help with case management.

Mr. Kopplin demanded a plan to make more hearings happen whether it involves contracting out or whatever. We will be hard on the problem and soft on the people. We will solve whatever the problem is.

Mr. Kopplin said he will approach the Bar Association for assistance.
Ms. Illarmo gave a report on hearings. 24% of the hearings were found guilty, 20% complied. A discussion ensued about the mechanics of the reports. Accela continues to be a problem along with the unavailability of a color printer for photos.

Mr. Reid continued the meeting with a report on demolitions. The process is moving smoothly right now. Mr. Wise reviewed the strategic demolition process shown on a flow chart. A discussion ensued on the process.

Many more people are appealing the decision to demolish their property. Mr. Wolcott reviewed FEMA funded demolitions stating that the process is going well. Mr. Wolcott is working on funding sources to keep the process moving. Abestos inspections and abatements was a sticking point that has been worked out.

Mr. Kopplin asked if there are unresolved bottlenecks. Mr. Wolcott noted that owners appealing the demolitions slows the process.
Mr. Kopplin asked for more details on things that aren’t working so those problems can be solved.

Mr. Kopplin stated that Mr. Horan of Safety & Permits indicated that all of the FEMA trailers should be removed by August 1st.

Mr. Keith Ferrolet proudly reviewed the lot clearing process stating that the process is moving along smoothly and that the City does charge for every lot they cut.

Ms. Cynthia Sylvain Lear noted that there are still large groups of volunteers to help with lot clearing. Mr. Kopplin noted that Mr. Hebert is working on getting volunteers to help maintain the properties stay cut after the City does it.

Ms. Lear reported that big successes are being made with enforcement of tire and other dumping. The new Sanitation Ranger is doing well. NOPD and LDEQ are working on the dumping problem as well.

Ms. Lear asked that everyone register for recycling carts at http://recycle.nola.gov
28,000 recycling carts have been delivered to date. Mr. Kopplin noted that as the Sanitation Department does “house counts” and other non-standard duties that the numbers on regular duties will go down due to finite resources.

Mr. Myles Granderson gave a report on Sheriff Sale files. The files received remains around 250 each biweekly period with a consistent number of 60 cases accepted each bi-weekly period.

While Mr. Kopplin is always involved in the meetings, he had a more intense “take charge” attitude reflecting not only his own but the public’s frustration with the progress of eradicating blight.

Mr. Granderson continued with a lien foreclosures report noting that the City is continue to reap financial benefits from enforcement. Total year to date collections from the city getting aggressive with foreclosure on those who refuse to take care of their property is $352,174.83.

Ms. Joyce Wilkerson reviewed the progress of sales of NORA properties. Ms. Wilkerson noted that people are bidding on the properties from six different states. The current focus for NORA is to sell the “best of the inventory” first to get things moving.

Mr. Wise inquired about people who are bidding from other states and cities. Are they speculators? Ms. Wilkerson noted that these are homeowners because they sign an agreement that the high bidder will keep the property for a minimum of three years.

Questions from the audience were answered.
PRC and National Trust are organizing a Sherrif Sale instruction course tentatively scheduled for July 28. NORA is also having training sessions.

***

BLIGHTSTAT MEETING (every 2 weeks)
WHO: Key blight policy and code enforcement staff

WHEN: Thursday, July 14, 2011
8:00-9:30 AM CST

WHERE: 1340 Poydras Street
9TH Floor—City Planning Conference Room
New Orleans, LA 70117

BlightStat Meetings
Nov 4, 2010 | Nov 18, 2010 | Dec 2, 2010 | Dec 16, 2010
| Jan 13, 2011 | Jan 27, 2011 | Feb 10, 2011 | Feb 24, 2011 |
Mar 10, 2011 |
March 29, 2011 | April 7, 2011 | April 21, 2011 | May 5, 2011 | May 19, 2011| | June 2, 2011 | June 16, 2011 | June 30, 2011

Filed Under: BlightStat Meetings Tagged With: blight, BlightStat, eradication, ferrioullet, hebert, kopplin, landrieu, lear, New Orleans, reid, square, wise

BlightStat 16

June 16, 2011 by Charlie London

by Charlie London

CLICK HERE TO SEE A PDF OF THE CITY’s June 16, 2011 BlightStat Presentation

This was the sixteenthth BlightStat meeting where the public was invited to attend.

The City continues to march toward its goal of eradicating 10,000 blighted properties within three years. City departments that can help with this process meet every two weeks for a “BlightStat” meeting.

Goals have been set for each department and a presentation is made at each meeting to show how each department is doing toward meeting those goals.

BELOW ARE NOTES FROM THE JUNE 16th BLIGHTSTAT MEETING

Attendance continues to be sparce at the BlightStat meetings but interest from the public remains strong. Reports from various sources allow people to get the information without having to attend the meetings.

Mr. Oliver Wise continues to work as moderator for the meetings.
Mr. Jeff Hebert asked Ms. Lear to talk about Household Hazardous Waste day.

Ms. Cynthia Sylvain Lear – over 600 vehicles showed with up 5 tons of ewaste, 3,400 gallons of paint which was donated to the Green Project. City is committed to doing it again. Ms. Lear urged citizens to save their hazardous waste for the event.

Mr. Winston Reid – inspections remain above target in spite of Memorial Day holiday. Uptick in sweep levels. Targeting FEMA properties. Continuing demo pipeline and inspections for hearings. Continuing sweeps. Still working on backlog. Updated backlog by address with internal filtering to look for matches of properties already done.

Mr. Jeff Hebert – Kristin away. Slight increase in hearings but remains far below the target. JPHebert, AKopplin, and Brenda Breaux working together on a strategy to get cases moving. Dedicating two Saturdays to just go through files. Considering staff adjustments.

Mr. Andy Kopplin – there is a much bigger backlog than two Saturdays. Fill the capacity of hearings officers. Spend two Saturdays to fill the short term pipeline but that doesn’t remove the backlog. Suggested to go back to the bar association for help. Let’s get together to make a pitch to the bar association to Brenda Breaux…will do.

Mr. Jeff Hebert– uptick in cases with 24 percent guilty. Resets are down.

Mr. Hillary Carrere – abatement – 6 emergency demos. Strategic demos lower due to SHPO. SHPO has not responded to requests for review of some properties.

Mr. Winston Reid – continuing to monitor processes to see how to streamline the process. SHPO continues to be the problem. Only one SHPO employee in Baton Rouge reviews the files and there is no travel budget. Working on ways to get that person to New Orleans or the files to them.

Mr. Oliver Wise – numbers of cases under historical review only went up by 2. Of the 123. 66 site layouts. 53 in newspaper ads. Remaining called to come back. 6 on hold. 5 deferred. 14 town houses.

Mr. Andy Kopplin – is process flow charted? Yes. Properties can have multiple actions to get them into the pipeline.

Mr. Andy Kopplin – Scott Hutcheson used to be the SHPO. He will be assigned to work on the SHPO problem. He is to work on helping code enforcement solve the SHPO stop gag.

NORA – LLT asked NORA to identify 350 more NORA properties to be demolished. Would like to target multi-family properties. Doesn’t want funding to run out. NORA also has a SHPO backlog. It is a lingering problem.

Mr. Jeff Hebert – have to find a solution to moving the people out of multi-family so the building can be demolished.

Mr. Dean Wolcott- FEMA funded demolitions. Has report. City did a large file location project and most files have been found. Focusing on tracking and accountability.

Mr. Andy Kopplin asked that numbers from FEMA be simplified to make them more meaningful.

Mr. Jeff Hebert – David, please give a report on the file finding process.
Shut down office to make it happen. David- 260 files searched for. Found 107. Some on desks. Did total inventory.

Mr. Hebert to shut down office again to find the other hundred files.

Mr. Allen Square – this is a painful process but one that needs to be done and will likely result in better file management.
JPHebert – it is very effective and another day will be set up to find the rest.

Mr. Andy Kopplin – 47 FEMA trailers remain. FEMA trailer at Fire Dept in Lakeshore area to be removed this week.

City’s grass cutting program for blighted properties ramping up for the summer growing season.

Mr. Hebert – priority for lower 9th Ward and N.O. East. Not satisfied with current efforts on grass cutting.

Ms. Cynthia Sylvain Lear – cleaning dump sites. QOL officers have been busy working in all of their districts. Dumpsters out of public view, citizens contain refuse properly. Sanitation Ranger to start Monday and will focus on bandit signs. Will take pictures and document where the signs are being placed. Will take more than city resources to get bandit signs removed. Stressed that ANYONE can remove bandit signs.

Recycle bins are being delivered except to DDD and French Quarter. Get yours at http://recycle.nola.gov or 658-3800

Keep America Beautiful going well. Submitted 3 grants. One for additional carts. Anti-graffiti project. Education project.
Household hazardous waste day was extremely successful.
Tire dumping continues to be a problem but they are being picked up.

Mr. Miles Granderson – steady, consistent progress on filing cases to go to Sheriff sale. Many people are coming in to pay liens as properties go to Sheriff sale. Over 140,000 dollars collected this two week period. $234,000 collected just this year.

If the Sheriff can’t personally serve the defendant it is turned over to curator. There is a follow up process with curators.

The city is aggressively going after code enforcement liens. If you have one better pay it or it’s going to Sheriff’s sale.

NORA closings – 68 properties closed. LLT is working on additional properties. 200 properties for sale. Working on auction for Lakeview properties in August. Training needed for people participating in auction so that more closings can be completed. Working with 203K lenders to provide financing. Signed 1000th purchase agreement for lot next door program.

Mr. Wise – ahead on inspections behind on hearings.

Mr. Hebert- David to work on pulling together numbers to see where we are where we have to go.

If properties don’t sell at Sheriff sale what then? Ms. Brenda Breaux –Goes to second sale, comparison data, check minimum bid. The law department has a detailed policy on this.

***

BLIGHTSTAT MEETING (every 2 weeks)
WHO: Key blight policy and code enforcement staff

WHEN: Thursday, June 30, 2011
8:00-9:30 AM CST

WHERE: 1340 Poydras Street
9TH Floor—City Planning Conference Room
New Orleans, LA 70117

BlightStat Meetings
Nov 4, 2010 | Nov 18, 2010 | Dec 2, 2010 | Dec 16, 2010
| Jan 13, 2011 | Jan 27, 2011 | Feb 10, 2011 | Feb 24, 2011 |
Mar 10, 2011 |
March 29, 2011 | April 7, 2011 | April 21, 2011 | May 5, 2011 | May 19, 2011| | June 2, 2011 | June 16, 2011

Filed Under: BlightStat Meetings Tagged With: blight, BlightStat, eradication, ferrioullet, hebert, kopplin, landrieu, lear, reid, sanitation, square, wilkerson, wise

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