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Algiers Development
District
The meeting of the Board of Commissioners for the ADD was called to order by Chairman Arnold at 9:11 a.m. Roll call of the commissioners was taken by Ms. Duplessis. Chairman Arnold referred the commissioners and others in attendance to the Rules of Order in the packet. Members Present: Board members present were Rep. Jeff Arnold, Assessor Tom Arnold, Senator J.P. Morrell and House Speaker Jim Tucker. Others Present: Attorneys Fred Chevalier and Ken Pickering, Gen. David Mize, Ariana
Tipper of NORA and ADD’s staff Kathy Lynn Honaker and Vanessa
Duplessis. The minutes from the last board meeting were presented for approval. Assessor Arnold made the motion to approve which was seconded by Senator Morrell and approved by all. Old Business
Quarters A Federal City Chairman Arnold summarized our prior discussions on Quarters A (the general’s quarters at the military base) and our desire to keep the commanding officer located at Federal City in Algiers. The Federal City team has been working with the Navy to accomplish this and Attorney Fred Chevalier has been leading most of the discussions and negotiations. Chairman Arnold turned the meeting over to Mr. Chevalier who explained that on January 20 NOFA drafted a CEA to memorialize the understanding that as of March 31, 2012 NOFA will be responsible for paying the agreed upon amount per our appraisal (estimate is currently 400,000) to HRI-ECC. If NOFA is not financially able to make the payment, then ADD would be called upon to make the payment if it is approved in ADD’s budget and the Board of Commissioners for ADD approve doing so at that time. The first step is to come up with the correct amount to compensate HRI-ECC and since ADD is a public body, they will need to get an independent appraisal. The board discussed getting an appraiser and using someone from Terrytown or Algiers with qualifications to perform an appraisal on this historic building. Speaker Tucker made the motion to authorize three (3) bids to do the appraisal, and to use the NOFA appraisal as a starting point to keep costs down. The board discussed and approved getting three (3) bids and to pay up to $12,000 for the appraisal. Attorney Chevalier was asked to assist with the three (3) bids, due to his expertise in real estate and his work with Federal City.
Blight Update Ariana Tipper of New Orleans Redevelopment Authority provided the Board with a recap of all the activities with the blighted properties on ADD’s target list sent to the City by ADD and Councilman Carter’s office. She answered specific questions on the individual properties and vacant lots. She gave an update on Higgins Gate explaining that even though the buildings have been demolished, all the debris must be removed. They are going to give him until the end of February with the court date still scheduled for March. Ms. Tipper was asked to make sure the School Board buildings were on the ADD blight list along with the apartments behind our office location. Speaker Tucker has been working on the Postal Building and has a number for Ms. Tipper to contact. Ms. Honaker will forward the number to Ms. Tipper. The priorities are the Blue Grocery store on L B Landry, followed by the apartments behind ADD (the Woodlands), and the Postal building on Garden Oaks Drive. Ms. Honaker and Ms. Tipper were thanked for the great work by Speaker Tucker and the board in accomplishing all that has been done recently with blight, including Higgins Gate and the Prior Conoco Bldgs. He emphasized this was all accomplished without spending state money. This enables ADD to work on more buildings for the Algiers community. Bond Issuance by the ADD Speaker Tucker proposed a small bond issue for the Algiers Development District board to consider. An amount of $500,000 for a road project was discussed and agreed upon by the board members. Sequin Street in the Point was one road to put on the list. Ms. Honaker was asked to come up with a list of road projects by getting input from Board members and Robert Mendoza. Ms. Honaker and Attorney Pickering were asked to move forward with the request and bring the final recommendations and process back to the board for approval. Attorney Ken Pickering was asked to find out if we need to do a public vote to do the bond and if it needs to be filed and advertised before session.
Meeting with Mayor-Elect Landrieu Ms. Honaker was asked to schedule a meeting with Mayor elect Mitch Landrieu and the Executive Board members to discuss transition issues involving ADD. Public Input There was no additional public input. A motion was made to adjourn by Senator Morrell and seconded by Assessor Arnold. The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted, Kathy Lynn Honaker
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