Lake Vista Property Owners Association, New Orleans

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

Time to update the main page of the web site.
The General Meeting was held, in accordance with our By-Laws, on the last Monday of April. The current Board was renominated to serve another term for the calendar year 2011 - 2012. We would like to thank the residents of Lake Vista for their continued support.
One important change to our By-Laws was proposed and will be voted on in October - a change in the Secretary's position. The position of Secretary is difficult at best. Most organizations split the job into Recording and Corresponding Secretary. A motion was made and seconded to make this the case for LVPOA. The motion will be voted on at the October General Meeting as per our By-Laws. How this will affect the make-up of the Executive Committee has yet to be determined but my guess is that the Ex-Com will now increase by one member and the At-Large Members will decrease by one. This can certainly be debated between now and then. It is my opinion that making this change will encourage otherwise hesitant residents to consider volunteering to serve on our Board. At least that's the hope.

Other important issues:

The permanent flood control structure to be built on the Orleans Ave Canal contract has been awarded to: CBY Design Builders; Brasfield & Gorrie General Contractors and W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company. I wish I could tell you what the station would look like but it is a design/build contract. I do know that the site is fixed - it will be approximately 300 yards south of Lakeshore Drive putting it roughly between Stilt and Warbler. The ACOE has indicated that they will "listen" to our concerns in terms of visual mediation but I wouldn't hold my breath too long. In my defense: look at the "landscaping" done at the Interim Control Structure at the end of Snipe/Thrasher.

In that line of thinking - I know all of you are wondering about when the lights will come back on along Lakeshore Drive. Susan Guidry attended our April meeting and is quite confident that the ACOE will finally take responsibility and get those lights turned back on. When that happens is an entirely different scenario.
Speaking of lights: I have had the opportunity to speak with a new "neighborhood liaison" for the City. I conveyed to him some of our most pressing issues and indicated that fixing the broken lights would be a very good start for positive PR relations between neighborhoods and the City. He told me that he would follow up on this and I have received some positive feedback from the interim director of Public Works. Again, don't hold your breath but there might be light at the end of this tunnel. Finally.
Crime: always a concern, even more so with the unclear status of the OLD Police force. The SLFPA-E has, for the moment, stepped up to the plate and will assume the financial obligations of the OLD Police. This is good news. The bad news is that they want to cut about 12 officers and "discontinue" patrolling of neighborhoods. How this will affect our Private Patrol service is unclear at this time. As soon as I can update this information I will send out a members notice.
Which leads to the next item: because of spam-like problems, I am no longer able to send out "quick and dirty" emails. I must now use Constant Contact to send out mass emails to our members list. As you have noticed, I am not so good at this. But I am trying to learn a new trick. Please give me some slack.
We are still trying to update our web page and make it more 'refreshing'.
Park signage: All of the iron work has been completed and updated. New signs will be replacing the damaged ones in the near future. You can thank Chuck Jonau for his tireless efforts to this job completed. Once this project is completed we plan on working with the Garden Club to keep the signs clean and planted.
Community beds: Yes, I know, the bed at Beauregard and Robert E. Lee is still "naked". We cannot replant it until we are 100% sure the fungus has died.
Blight: John Schneller has worked very hard - blight in Lake Vista has been markedly reduced and, I believe, we no longer have a single FEMA trailer in Lake Vista!
Redistricting: both Councilmanic and LA Legislature districts will change. How the current boundaries of District A and LA House District 94 will change has yet to be determined although District 94 appears to be headed to incorporating parts of Metairie (currently represented by John LaBruzzo). The changes must be approved by the Feds. The changes to District A are a different animal and are subject to only local political interests.
'Hood issues: we need block captains for Ani and Bluebird. Ani is such a small street that whoever volunteers could cover both Ani and Bluebird. Please contact me if you are interested. It really doesn't take much time or effort. We have decided, for the time being, to ditch the effort for a hard copy directory. This can be re-visited later but the effort is overwhelming and almost guaranteed to be obsolete upon publication. We are still entertaining an on-line version but are trying to work through security issues.
Dogs off leash: they continue to be a very big problem. There was a recent dog bite involving a child on Warbler. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep ALL DOGS ON LEASH AND UNDER CONTROL. This it not my wish - it is the law. Regardless of how nice your own "Fluffy" is, he/she must be on leash at all times.
Recycling: Metro Disposal continues to have spotty pick-up of recycling. I have made our neighborhood liaison aware of this problem.
Golf carts: summer is here. Please do not drive your golf carts in the park. Please do not allow your young children to drive these carts or their Barbie cars or whatever in the parks. They are a nuisance.
Hurricanes: yes, I can't resist - hurricane season is here. I will send out the latest City update in terms of preparation recommended by the City. I assume, by now, most of you already know the drill but still.

The LVPOA would like to thank everyone who has pitched in to maintain our parks and common spaces in the neighborhood. We have compiled a list of Gardeners and Landscapers working in or community to assist the LV residents in need of lawn and landscaping services. To view the list Click here

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