"I can't control a state hospital"

Outgoing Council Member Fielkow stated that just now on WBOK radio this afternoon as he talked about the Council's influence over where various government dollars go.

Unfortunately, I don't think that's entirely accurate.

Looking back, Fielkow, as a City Council member, was involved at the very beginning in permitting the LSU/VA project to move forward.  For example, he was involved in the March 2007 Regional Planning Commission resolution pushing for a "downtown" VA site - which an April 2007 CEA between the City and State revealed to be...the RPC site above S. Galvez.  The CEA also laid out the current site of the UMC.

He also voted in support of the December 2007 ordinance that established a moratorium in the LSU/VA footprints, banning people from even repairing their homes and functionally establishing a blanket of planner's blight over the site that depressed property values as expropriation was getting underway.

Fielkow also voted for the revocation of the streets in both the VA and UMC footprints.

So, council members did have several opportunities to control the state hospital (and the federal hospital)...it's just that they didn't choose to control the hospital - or the funding involved.

City of New Orleans to use additional federal dollars to fund moved VA house rehabs

Per a notice in the Times-Picayune, the city's Office of Community Development is amending the Consolidated Plan of 2008, which, as I understand it, governs the use of Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) monies in the city, to add the following moved VA houses to the Neighborhood Stabilization (NSP) Program, thereby providing funding to move the properties back into commerce:

613 N. Rocheblave
619 N. Rocheblave
627 N. Rocheblave
631 N. Rocheblave
633 N. Rocheblave
635 N. Rocheblave
1718 Bienville
1722 Bienville
1726 Bienville
1730 Bienville
1803 Bienville
1833 Bienville
2010 Bienville
2224 Bienville
2410 Bienville
2310 Iberville
2630 Palmyra
220 N. Derbigny
421 N. Miro
3000 Conti

These are the destination addresses of the houses in questions.  Significant amounts of work have already been done on many of these.  The total amount of funds involved is $2,302,208, but there are other properties involved that are not moved VA houses or Builder of Hope sponsored.  Builders of Hope is the sponsor for the houses listed above.

UMC, State Continue Hospital Push without Financing in Place, Seemingly Jeopardizing HUD Backing

Despite having the UMC Board's own financial consultant state recently that the construction and site preparation for the proposed hospital was way out ahead of financing realities, the State of Louisiana and UMC are apparently bulling ahead in the LSU Footprint regardless:

Three companies bid to manage University hospital construction

State officials will interview the bidding firms in February, with an announcement of the winner of the project management contract expected on March 24.

You'll recall that according to the UMC Board's own consultant..."as long as the state is pursuing the HUD insurance, the state cannot proceed with site preparation and construction without HUD's permission."

I hope HUD takes notice.  And I hope the firms bidding on the job understand the risk they're taking on - this hospital project is hundreds of millions of dollars away from being a reality.

The CityBusiness piece also, somewhat misleadingly, concludes with this:

Construction of the University Medical Center will coincide with the building of a new Veterans Affairs hospital in the same Mid-City footprint.


No, actually the construction of the UMC will not likely coincide with the building of the new VA hospital.  Site preparation and funding in the VA Footprint are a completely different story - construction of VA will likely start far before UMC gets underway, if UMC ever gets underway. 

Furthermore, the two proposed hospitals are in the same overall Mid-City footprint, but it should be noted that the two hospitals are separate.  They are not joint hospitals as originally conceived.  The acreage being used for the two hospitals went from 37 acres to 67 acres in 2007 when they were suddenly no longer both sited on what is now the LSU Footprint.

ADDED:

Admittedly, my argument above is an indirect one - that moving forward with an expenditure and hiring a construction manager will lead to the actual unwise result - construction before financing is known.


Here's something else that happened today in the LSU Footprint, though, that shows a broader disregard for the consultant's warning - a physical site preparation step forward that would seem to overtly jeopardize HUD funding based on what the financial consultant said and what the Times-Pic reported.

Possible Funding for LSU Footprint House Moves

Here's a way for you to help.

In the middle of the above image, you'll note a public meeting notice.  It's set for tomorrow night:

Monday, November 29, 2010

5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

City Council Chambers, City Hall

The City is looking for public input on how to use $1.9 million of CDBG money for housing, economic development, and infrastructure, with a focus on eliminating blight and slum, urgent need, and benefit to low and moderate income people.

*Please attend this meeting and call upon those present to use a portion of the funds to move historic homes off the UMC (LSU) Footprint.  The rehabilitated moved homes from the VA Footprint, now found in various neighborhoods thanks to Builders of Hope, demonstrate the positive impacts of a house moving effort - one that falls squarely within the goals of the funding grant.  House moving is certainly better than demolition.

Unlike in the VA Footprint, there is still no concrete house moving plan in place for the UMC Footprint.  Over 50 historic structures are at risk of demolition, and seven structures have already been demolished.  Please attend tomorrow evening's meeting to help make the house moving effort a reality.

A Way to Save LSU Footprint Houses?

Has anyone started a project here to raise funding to move houses?