St. Bernard Parish is no stranger to this problem. As the great Mississippi River’s natural flooding was contained by a levee system, the coastal wetlands carved up by the pursuit of oil and gas and the infamous MRGO was dug seem to be melting away rapidly. Other causes— subsidence and sea level rise— have contributed as well. Thousands upon thousands of acres of land have gone underwater and centuries old cypress swamps and oak tree laden chenieres have been destroyed. The large chain of barrier reefs the Chandeleur Islands formed thousands of years ago have rapidly disappeared since the 1980’s, diminishing near shore protection. Thus the shoreline of eastern St. Bernard has been under severe wave action erosion. The coastal wetlands are the natural protection from the storm surges of hurricanes. The question becomes what do we do to protect and build our shoreline from this loss.

New young oysters, one-year-old, 2-3 inches. Eventually the reef block will be completely
covered with multi-generations of oysters, shedding oysters and shell.
Photo by Jimmy Delery

 
As a young man growing up in New Orleans, Sherwood Gagliano developed a fascination for the Mississippi River. From his home in the Carrollton area, he could see the great might the river had as a source of freshwater and a land builder. Woody, as his friends call him, pursed his academic education and ended up teaching at LSU. His talent to understand the coast has earned him a reputation as the father of modern coastal science. His approach engages natural processes and manmade assistance when needed. Woody’s role as a scientist before and after Katrina was invaluable.

The shoreline is unprotected and prone to heavy wave action, vegetation loss,
and no shell armoring. Photos by Jimmy Delery

Defending the shorelines from wave action and erosion was the challenge Woody was to ponder. The question of how to mimic a natural barrier oyster protection system stirred. Having experimented along with his young son with some oyster spat, which is the young larval stage oyster, the design began. Oyster cultch beds, manmade oyster reefs with a standard height, were the answer. After much thought and many designs, the oyster reef system was ready to go.

Here is a side view of the oyster reef cages’ external
spat adhesion. Initially the cage is filled with oyster
shells recycled from restaurant consumption. This is
the surface for spat adhesion and new growth.

It would take time to get the first demo set out into the Louisiana coast in Lafourche Parish. An initial system was established along a western barrier island. Success was evident. Through a private grant the system would be placed along a shoreline in eastern St. Bernard, near Breton Sound shore. The project was completed in the summer of 2012 just before Hurricane Isaac. It would take an oyster spawning season in order for the spat to adhere to the suspended dead oyster shells contained in the triangular reef block. Employing nature was a critical factor. The oysters would not only help to protect from wave action but would also help to filter the water depositing nutrients and shells on the shoreline, helping to stabilize it.

On May 7, we traveled to the new reefs. The tide was a bit lower because of the northern front, exposing the top of the new reef line. We were surprised with the results of one year of growth, oysters attached all over the reef blocks. Nature had taken her role, setting the stage for the future. It was good as well to observe the wave energy attenuation that the system was accomplishing. This shoreline now has a positive potential to endure the wave action and continue a course of sustainability. The pocket of water behind the reef will perform as a habitat for smaller fish, small sea life and aquatic vegetation. Mission accomplished. A big thanks goes to a great inventor Woody Gagliano, a person who has always cared about the very land we live and survive by. Next year, we just need to remember to bring an oyster knife, a little cocktail sauce, and the fishing poles.

The United States’ lawsuit alleged, among other things, that the parish:

• Passed a law, known as the Permissive Use Permit (PUP)ordinance, that prevented homeowners from renting single-family homes in residential zones without first obtaining a permit from the parish,

• Revised its zoning code to reduce dramatically the amount of land available for multi-family apartments,

• Interfered with individuals’ housing rights.

The lawsuit further alleged that these actions were done to limit or deny rental housing to African- Americans, which is in direct violation of the Fair Housing Act. These actions came on the heels of the parish’s other efforts after Hurricane Katrina to restrict rental housing opportunities, including halting the re-establishment or redevelopment of rental housing and enacting a permit requirement for single-family rentals but exempting renters who were “related by blood” to the homeowners. The parish later rescinded these restrictions.

Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center will be receiving $900,000 and NOLA Capital Group–a land owner who sought to rent their property and was denied– will be receiving $775,000. Eight private plaintiffs will be receiving $275,000 collectively.

The settlement also requires the parish to create an Office of Fair Housing and hire a Fair Housing Coordinator within 90 days, whose annual salary will be $40,000 and will be charged with promoting available fair housing in St. Bernard. The Office of Fair Housing will be within the Office of Redevelopment and will function as the office that current or prospective developers, renters, landlords, property managers and real estate agents may contact to obtain information about rental and rental development opportunities in the Parish.

Additionally, the settlement requires the parish spend $25,000 a year for three years on a robust print, TV and radio marketing campaign to promote its affordable rental properties. The parish must also create a Rental Land Grant Program that markets available land to developers who are looking to build affordable single and multi-family rental properties. According to the settlement, the parish must offer to the public a minimum of $83,000 worth of Available Excess Lands and Potentially Available Excess Lands to the public for each of the five years that the Rental Land Grant Program shall be in operation.

The Office of Fair Housing will also be responsible for maintaining a list of available rental properties and making that list available for the public via the parish website.

According to the settlement, the Office of Fair Housing will also be required to promote homeownership, and will be required to conduct home buying clinics three times a year. Each clinic will include, at a minimum, a presentation by the Office of Fair Housing about services offered by the Office, financial incentives available to home buyers and renters in St. Bernard Parish (including information about the Rental Land Grant Program), and the fair-housing rights of prospective home buyers and renters. The settlement requires the parish to apply for Community Development Block Grant funding to pay for the new Fair Housing initiatives.

All parish council members, all planning commission members and several parish department heads must attend training sessions with a DOJ-approved Housing of Urban Development Official on the requirements of the settlement agreement and the requirements of the Fair Housing Authority. Planning Commission and parish department heads will be required to do the training annually.

Settlement Breakdown:

GNOFAC $900,000

NOLA Capital Group, LLC $750,000

8 private plaintiffs $275,000

Department of Treasury civil penalty $15,000

Fair Housing Coordinator position $40,000 annual salary

Fair Housing Marketing Campaign $25,000 annually for three years

“The note is in anticipation of revenue that has been billed, but not collected,” said Akers. “This is not unusual for a small hospital…It’s more so to handle cash-flow issues that hospitals who handle third-party
reimbursements face.”

Hospital Service District CFO Joseph Kempka explained that the hospital currently has $29 million in billed charges, and they anticipated collecting around $9 to $10 million from those third-party sources. The hospital’s current operating cash balance is $2.5 million.

“The bond will just be to provide cash until we can collect outstanding receivables,” said Kempka.
That $2.5 million cash-balance figure raised some eyebrows from members of the council, especially
since in January, Hospital Service District chairman Wayne Landry reported a $9 million cash balance
during his update to the council.

“It makes me uncomfortable to vote on this, when a few months ago you all were saying you had a cash
balance of $9 million,” said District A Councilman Ray Lauga.

Kempka explained that the hospital is still paying down construction costs and used some of the funds for
operational costs, which quickly ate into the $9 million operational cash balance.
“In the last 3 months, we’ve payed around $3.5 million to contractors and we used the remainder for operations,” said Kempka.

The resolution to approve the bond passed unanimously.

“The US Postal Service loses $29 million everyday; the change in hours is an effort to still provide service for many customers without having to close offices,” explained USPS Public Information Officer McKinney Boyd. “What we’re experiencing with losing revenue, we have to make the necessary changes to best serve our customers.”

The legislation, HB328 is a constitutional amendment that “adds property tax exemptions for certain inventory held by manufacturers, distributors, retailers and natural gas used in providing natural gas storage services or operating natural gas storage facilities.”

According to David Fernandez, St. Bernard Finance Manager for St. Bernard Parish Public Schools, the inventory tax exemption for these large manufacturers would reduce the already anemic post-Katrina tax base and cut school revenues by 27 percent.

The 2012 Annual Inventory Report from the Louisiana Tax Commission the total taxes generated for the School Board by ad valorem taxes as $3.8 million– $2.9 million for the general fund for operations and
$838,875 for debt service that the school system is legally required to have to help pay off municipal bonds.
If the tax credit passes and the school system does sustain those cuts, SBSB will have to increase the debt
service millage by 3.7 mills.

“It looks pro-business but the bottom line is tax payers will suffer,” said School Board President Diana Dysart.

Superintendent Doris Voitier says that bill’s unseen repercussions will not only impact the classroom, but
any other governing body who collects a millage.

“If that bill passes the school system will not receive over $3 million in revenue,” said Voitier. “That means
cuts for teachers and programs for our children. The tax base will be reduced so anyone who collects a millage will be affected.”

District 5 School Board Representative Joseph Long questions how far the bill will go.

“It’s amazing what this governor is doing to our state,” said Long. “I don’t think it is going to fly, but we
have to make an effort to kill it as quickly as possible.”

District 11 Representative Don Campbell called for a formal resolution from the board to formally oppose
the bill.

Campbell also requested a formal response from St. Bernard’s State Representative Ray Garofalo on how he
will vote on the matter. Garofalo, however, called it a “non-issue,” in a phone interview Wednesday.

“After speaking with the author, it looks like he’s not going to move on it, “said State Rep. Ray Garofalo in an
April 24 phone conversation. “He’s going to try to pull it so it’s a non-issue.”

As of April 24, HB 328 was awaiting review by the House Ways and Means Committee.

After a recent zoning sweep netted 156 businesses for out-of-compliance signs, a hearing was held at the
April 10 Housing, Redevelopment and Quality of Life Commission (HRQL) meeting to try to get them into
compliance or pay the penalty.

According to the zoning ordinance currently on the books, any person who refuses to comply is “guilty of
a misdemeanor, and deemed a public nuisance and upon conviction shall be punished for each separate
offense by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 60 days…each day that any violation of this article occurs shall constitute a separate offense.”

While most people are glad to see the rusty, faceless business marquees removed, some feel the parish’s list
of prohibited signs unfairly targets small businesses trying to advertise with the means they have. In addition to the blighted and abandoned signs, portable signs are prohibited; and banners and flags outside buildings are not allowed more than two times per year for 14 days at a time.

The issue has caught the attention of the St. Bernard Chamber of Commerce, who recently formed a committee to discuss the sign ordinance and its potential to adversely affect the business community.

“I guess we want our cake and to eat it too,” said Jerry Calcagno, Chamber Chairman. “We’re passionately
pro-business and want to be able to advertise, but we also want beautification that will make residents want
to move back. I think we can meet in the middle on this.”

Chamber board and sign committee member Sam Catalanotto feels that the HRQL commission took the
ordinance too far and paints all businesses with the same broad brush.

“You can’t look at someone who has an eight-year-old sign that’s falling apart and an operating, viable
business with a chalkboard out or a flag out front in the same light,” said Catalanotto. “I want beautification for my parish, but I want my business to survive too.”

Today’s Ketch owner and Chamber member Jeff Pohlmann said he was given one warning and was served by the HRQL to appear at the April 10 hearing.

“I felt I was being dragged into a category that I shouldn’t be in,” said Pohlmann. “If we I have to take my signs down I will, but it should be fair for everyone across the board.”

At the Executive Finance Committee meeting on April 16, Councilman Guy McInnis questioned the HRQL’s legal authority to summon business owners for a hearing. At the council meeting that afternoon, he introduced an amendment that would take the enforcement of the zoning ordinance out of the single hand
of the HRQL. It instead would leave enforcement up to three entities: the Sheriff’s Office, the Parish’s Office of Community Development or a Parish Planner associated with the Office of Community Development.

“I think the sign sweep has been a huge success in getting more voluntary adherence to the ordinance than any other time we did a code sweep,” said McInnis. “But I think the HRQL has zero authority to issue a summons; this could’ve been done in the Office of Community Development not in a public meeting that’s broadcast on TV.”

McInnis says the council is taking the Chamber and business owners’ complaints into account, and hopes the final version of the amendment can settle some of their concerns.

“I think putting the sign ordinance together was a good thing, and tackling blight was the intention,” said
McInnis. “We’re taking all of that into consideration [Chamber and business input]. When the final product
comes out we will work with the business community and chamber.”

“This could have easily ended in a tragedy,’’ Pohlmann said. “To leave two loaded guns with your very young children in a parked car is the height of idiocy. Just leaving the kids alone, period, in a store parking lot at their ages was criminally negligent.’’

One gun was between the driver seat and the console and the other was between passenger seat and the console. Sheriff Pohlmann said a number of adults are arrested each year for leaving young children
alone in vehicles while they shop. Shelve Smith, 27, and Regina Lee, 24, who said they didn’t have a permanent address, were both booked with child desertion for leaving the minors unsupervised.

The incident happened in mid-afternoon on April 1. The couple has since been released from jail on bond.
The children were released to a relative after the parents’ arrests. A passer-by noticed the children alone in the vehicle and notified a sheriff’s deputy who was at the store working an off-duty, security detail, the
sheriff said.

Other deputies who were called determined from store video surveillance that the youngsters had been alone 20 minutes before Smith and Lee returned to the vehicle, acknowledging the six were their children.

When the vehicle was impounded for safe keeping following the arrests, a mandatory search
to inventory property revealed the loaded handguns, the sheriff said.

The intent of the resolution, introduced by District E Councilman Monty Montelongo, is to give a push to State and Federal delegation to consider exempting oil spill victims from paying taxes on any settlement money.

George Barisich, President of the United Commercial Fishermen Association told the council that as of now fishermen are expected to get paid out 40 percent of their loss for 8 years, but will be taxed on nearly 35 percent of that.

“The money if it stays in our hands we can spend it down here,” said Barisich. “They’re telling you you’re getting paid for a 40 percent loss so the fishermen are assuming all the risk, if we get that 35 percent that we have to give President Obama, that money will help us stay down here.”

Councilman Montelongo reasoned that the resolution is essential to help the often-beat upon industry
that is the lifeblood of the parish.

“For the past several decades it’s gotten harder and harder for commercial fishermen to make a living in a trade that’s been in their families for generations,” said Councilman Montelongo. “It seems like everything has gone against them: hurricanes, high fuel costs, coastal erosion, imports and more recently, the BP oil spill. They just can’t seem to get a break. This resolution is requests that LA State Delegation, LA Legislature, and the Federal Delegation through legislation of executive order exempt the victims of the BP oil spill from taxes on any settlement money.”

Barisich said will be going to Plaquemines Parish government, and around the state to advocate for
similar support.

However, the bulk of Rain CII’s emissions improvements— achieved through sulphur dioxide scrubbing— will not be completed until March of 2016, as plans are still being finalized.

“Hopefully in the next six months, we will have something worked out to lessen spikes by a stack reconfiguration,” said Sweeney.

Last week Rain CII, a Calcine Petroleum Coke plant, admitted they were responsible for the majority of the
sulphur dioxide spikes seen over the last few months, but stressed that the levels recorded were not higher than the hourly limit on their air quality permit. But that permit is in the process of being changed by the Department of Environmental Quality to be more in line with federal air quality standards that were updated in 2010. Rain CII is currently emitting roughly 3,500 tons of sulphur dioxide per year, but their permit limit is 7,000 tons per year. The plant currently is in conversation with the Department of Environmental Quality to determine what level the facility is now permitted to emit under the new federal guidelines.

“What we have been emitting is within our permits, and we have been talking with the DEQ for at least 18
months,” said Sweeney. “Our emissions rate varies quite a bit, we could be up to 2,000 pounds [of product] per hour, and depending on the sulphur blend we’re using we could be down to 1,000, we’re going to bring in the capability to bring us down to a level that the parish, based on modeling, will always be in attainment.”

Sweeney says they have to work with the DEQ to determine what number Rain CII is responsible for to bring the parish to that attainment level, or level that puts them into compliance with federal air quality standards.

“We’re going to have capabilities to scrub 90 percent [of sulphur dioxide emissions] but where we actually have to scrub through is something we have to work out with the DEQ,” he said.

He added that the new capabilities will allow operators to monitor emissions levels in real-time, to let them know when they are getting close to the permit limit. The company also addressed residents reports of sulphur odors, which many have been attributing to Rain CII. Sweeney says that Rain CII is a sulphur dioxide emitter, but sulphur dioxide has the odor of a burnt match.

“A lot of complaints have been a rotten egg, or chemical smell, but we’re not producing anything odoriferous
other than sulphur dioxide,” Sweeney explained. “If people are complaining about heavy burnt match smell,
please contact us.”

Sweeney says that a big part of helping the parish come into that attainment level is the other refineries in the area also scaling back their emissions.

“I believe that if we weren’t here the parish still wouldn’t be at that attainment level, so its going to take
other facilities lowering emissions, and that will help us determine what we’ll do,” said Sweeney.

Landry said that the board would ideally like to hire a head hunting firm to perform a regional search for a hospital CEO, in which they would select the top 3 candidates, and the board would choose from their selections.

“We’re hoping to have a new CEO in between 60 and 90 days,” said Landry.

Originally, Goldman Sachs, one of the hospital’s main financiers, had an agreement with the hospital board that the SBPH would be run by a third-party manager. That posed a problem last fall when the selected third party management company, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, pulled out of
its management agreement.

Since FMOL’s unexpected departure, Landry has been acting as interim CEO– a move that the council and administration were worried could be viewed as unethical. During the last few months the board has been working to get out of that third-party management clause, and Goldman Sachs has been evaluating the hospital’s performance to determine whether or not the facility could operate without a third-party.

During Tuesday night’s council meeting, Landry said that he was given a verbal confirmation of the recent agreement change over the phone, and is waiting on a formal letter from Goldman Sach’s outlining the agreement’s revisions.

“We’re in a much better place financially than anyone thought; we’re at $9 million cash balance right now,” said Landry. “They [Goldman Sachs] said things we’ve been doing are brilliant.”

After councilman Guy McInnis asked whether Landry would be relinquishing his CEO duties and returning to his original role as the hospital board chairman only, Landry said that he “might step down altogether.”