"We're gettin what they promised. They said we'd be last. And we are last."

At the most recent VA neighborhood meeting, I noted that the ongoing work on streets like S. Rocheblave, Palmyra, and Cleveland - the streets immediate above the VA Footprint - is being done explicitly in furtherance of the VAMC project.  Some seemed to take umbrage at that assertion, but I think it's relevant given the problems the street work has been causing for residents for months and the constant attempts to shift blame.

The title quote comes from Mr. Leon, a resident on S. Rocheblave, who has been facing tumult on his street, the lakeside boundary of the VA site, since the fall of 2010 - dust, digging, mud, vibration, sudden lack of access, etc.   He's been at almost every VA neighborhood meeting since they began early last fall to discuss the issue.  And, as he noted, it's still not over.

A look at a 2007 letter from the City of New Orleans to the VA Administration, incorporated as Attachment B in the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the City and VA, shows that the street work is very explicitly being conducted in furtherance of the VA project:

The text reveals that the VA, even if it is not conducting the street improvement work on the adjacent and feeder streets, was very much involved in the planning of what the reasonable improvements would consist of...

....which, one would think, would entail some planning to ensure that the work was conducted in a manner that reduced impact on the peripheral neighbors.

At any rate, the VA's construction contractor has at least made greater outreach efforts to address existing and potential damage to homes than the City of New Orleans has - or the City's contractors.

On a different note, the meeting also revealed that VA had consulted with the State Historic Preservation Office regarding Dixie Brewery to see how much of the building can be saved, the 1907 portion being the part VA wants to save.  A VA rep said that VA was seeking ways to stabilize some of the weaker external wall bays from the inside.

State failed to remove all underground storage tanks in VA Footprint

If you look closely, you'll see mounds of dirt in the shadows before Dixie Brewery.

At last week's VA neighborhood meeting, I asked why they were there.  I knew that the location was very close to where the contractors had dug up a great deal of seemingly contaminated soil - and "UST"s that were transported to River Birch landfill.

Well, I was told that an additional UST was discovered - which the state had not removed.  And VA said the state was now going to have to remove the tank.

It makes one wonder what else was not completed...and what else will get covered by the approximately 7 feet of fill that will be coming in soon to "surcharge" the VA Footprint - compact the soil and "de-water" it through sheer weight.

Ms. Stokes asked where all the 450,000 cubic yards of fill will be coming from - again, relevant because some entity will be getting paid that would not get paid if the hospitals had been put back in their CBD location.  The answer was a bit unclear, but the word "Murphy" was in the mix, a company providing sand located "12 miles away" - perhaps Murphy Sand Company out of Chalmette.

Mid-City Mitigation Grant Program unveiled last night

Last evening, with two security guards outside the doors of the First Pentecostal Church's meeting hall on Canal Street (brought in by VA contractor Clark/McCarthy), the VA held its monthly neighborhood meeting with residents affected by the project.

Representatives of the State Historic Preservation Office were on hand, based on a request at the last meeting, and they shared the outlines of a rehabilitation grant program for historic buildings in the Mid-City National Register Historic District here in New Orleans (here's a map that gives some rough idea of the district, LSU/VA site is shown in red).  The program is being implemented in compliance with the Progammatic Agreement that governs the LSU/VA site preparation.

While the official unveiling of the grant program will take place at the August 8, 2011 meeting of the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization, here are the basic, tentative details of the grant program as laid out last evening:

- The total pot of funding equals $1.4 million, made up of contributions from the VA, City of New Orleans, and State of Louisiana
- The total amount of funding that will comprise grant awards is approximately $1 million; some of the funding is for administrative overhead, some has gone to help with funding rehab of moved VA houses in the Mid-City district
- The cap on individual grants to property owners will be $20,000 - the amount awarded can be any amount equal to or lower than that
- The grants will be available to any property owners with contributing historic properties in the Mid-City National Register District, but the district will be tiered into three areas: the area below Broad nearest to the hospitals site, the area between Broad and Carrollton, and the area above Carrollton farthest from the hospitals site.
- A panel of reviewers, seemingly SHPO staff, will review applications and give preference based on a variety of factors including which tier the applicant's property is located in (preference to those closest to and most affected by the LSU/VA hospital project).  It is not clear whether the panel's deliberations will be open to the public or open for public comment.
- Owners will need to provide a scope of work with an application
- Applications will be due on October 14, 2011
- Awards will start to trickle out in about December 2011
- Owners of historic properties that are not contributing due to a building's disrepair will likely be able to apply for funding for repairs that would result in the building become contributing once again
- It sounds like the "first zone" below Broad Street will receive flyers about the grant via a door-to-door walk around, which is good to hear
- The grant will not be a matching grant; owners are welcome to match the grant amount, but they are in no way required to put up funding to get funding
- SHPO staff will hold a grant workshop for residents on August 23 and may host another at some point in September

Here are the provisions in the PA regarding the mitigation fund and grant program (which outline the amount contributed by the various parties):

Update on Dixie Brewery - and ongoing concerns about "replacement acreage"

According to VA representatives at the VA Neighborhood Meeting this evening, the structural assessment for Dixie Brewery is complete.  It is now in the hands of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

SHPO has requested a consultation, and the VA is working to set up that consultation, which will focus on the entire building, in the next three weeks.  I asked if this was an official consultation under Section 106 (federal law) or just a meeting.  I was told it was an official consultation.  When asked, VA said that consulting parties under Section 106 were not invited to the consultation.

When pressed, VA would not even give an estimated date for when it would release the assessment to the public (I encourage any Louisiana residents out there to make a public records request upon the Louisiana SHPO to try to obtain the document).

One VA representative on hand did say, when addressing some query, that "...the building did take a lot of water."

And that somewhat ominous note brings up another issue, one that was also addressed this evening: what if Dixie is found to be inadequate for the VA's research facility needs, for whatever reason?

Well, according to the old Memorandum of Understanding that governs (or at least governed) the relationship between the City of New Orleans and the VA for the project (a Nagin-era folly), the VA could look for "replacement acreage."  In other words, if Dixie doesn't work...then the City of New Orleans will provide the VA with replacement land.  Now that's ominous - especially for the many people who still live between S. Rocheblave and Broad Street, immediately adjacent to the present VA Footprint.

Here's the provision, something I'd call "The Sinister Clause" - and VA, when asked, would not take the option off the table (although since VA has seemingly had the Dixie Brewery property tansferred to itself, from what I know...it's unclear whether that would moot the issue):

Note that the replacement acreage under the agreement would be contiguous to the existing VA Footprint - or within 150 feet.

Someone could also make a public records request upon the City to determine if it has received notice in writing from VA regarding VA's intentions for the Dixie Parcel - or to see if there has been any discussion of replacement acreage that would functionally grow the size of the VA Footprint as we know it, almost certainly resulting in the destruction of something else around the current site.

A Packed VA Neighborhood Meeting

Last evening, over 35 people attended the VA's neighborhood meeting for folks who live in the neighborhood of the proposed VA Hospital.  Months ago, when I started attending the meetings, that meant people who lived in the VA Footprint itself.  Now, it means the people who live on the periphery - in the area between S. Rocheblave and Broad Street.  The people who've been dealing with issues stemming from the hospital construction for months.

I've never seen so many people at one of these VA neighborhood meetings.

Derrick Morrison of the Committee to Reopen Charity, pictured below in full question mode, has been instrumental in organizing residents and pushing city hall to address the problems caused by the city's association with VA and the state.

Strangely, as much as the VA has destroyed in its push for a hospital, I have to say that at least it holds a monthly meeting for residents.  The state and LSU/UMC have never done such a thing for those in the LSU Footprint facing similar problems.  Additionally, Clark/McCarthy, the contractor who is actually constructing the VA - the joint venture was not responsible for site prep thus far - seems to try to address and head off issues proactively.  To my knowledge, a person from Jacobs Engineering, prime contractor for the site prep, has never once attended a VA neighborhood meeting through the many, many months of site preparation despite an occasional request.

Last night, the refrain that I kept hearing was this: the City of New Orleans has not been doing its job of standing up for residents in all of this.  People have continued to ask the same questions and express the same concerns over and over.  Residents noted that a city contractor working on streets and utilities to service the VA Hospital is rejecting their claims for structural home damage from construction activities.  They took umbrage at the idea of having to pay to get their homes photographed by the VA's contractor to provide recordation of any future damages from pile driving - test pile driving is set to begin in the site next week and continue for a month.

Various property owners complained that they had not received notice of the recordation offer, that lead testing had not been done, that dust continued to be a significant problem, that vibration concerns were real, that neighbors were still getting sick from conditions caused by the VA hospital and surrounding street construction.  Mary Howell, whose office is in the neighborhood, took the city to task.

Additionally, we learned that the VA has officially taken over the VA Footprint property from the state (except, it seems, the Dixie Brewery site).  One VA representative expressed concern that one bay of the brewery building may fall during the test piling phase.  It's not clear that any extra bracing will be in place to prevent damage to the building.