Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association (CRNA)

12 April 2021

Please sign up for the Together Louisiana People’s Assembly, via Zoom, Monday, April 12 at 6 p.m. to kick off the 2021 legislative session. This is a very well-organized group of members across the state. TLA is a nonpartisan organization.

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Spider shared this yesterday. Thanks, Spider!

“Everyone in the hood watched Mama duck from the time she first nested in a hollowed out stump at the back corner of the property. A healthy sign of Spring. Viewed from one of our rooms, we have quietly observed her lay the eggs, hatch them, and walk all ten babies the two block trek to the river ! When you were in the yard taking your lovely pictures, Elaine, I was sad that you had just missed their fuzzy exodus by merely one day. I’m a musician, so I wrote 2 songs about them over the last couple months.

I hope ducks will be ducks and all eleven of them return to this spot again next year. I may want to compose some more happy variations on this theme at that juncture. Oh….. I’ve also come to realize these last three years of staring down onto the garden property from my kitchen window every daybreak…..on this side of the street, for just this one block, there are only 8 trees ! For the whole block !!! One is in the back yard behind the Church’s Community House on the corner, and the other 7 are on the property in question.”

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CRNA Meeting Minutes

11 March 2021

6:30: Minutes

6:45: Councilmember Joe Giarusso

7:00: Sewerage and Water Board

Attendees:

CRNA Board: Nicole Bouie, Tammy Butler, Bernard Guste, Bill Ives, Elaine Leyda, Melissa Lilly, Julianna Padgett, Nathan Schwam, Gwen Smith

Residents: Debra, Grace, Meagan, Teresa Bode, Emily Bullock, Will Davis, Megan Douglas, Taslim van Hattum, Chelsea O’Lansen, Amanda Rizzo, Dave Thomas

Guests: CM Joe Giarusso, Claire Byun, NEO: Stephen Mosgrove; Sewerage and Water Board:Supt Ron Spooner, Comm Dir Courtney Barnes, Amy Shashar; NOPD: Edgar Staehle; Advocate: David Hammer, A. Thornhill. Alliance for Affordable Energy: Logan Burke

Councilmember Joe Giarusso

• Vaccinations available throughout the city
• Utility Committee meets next week. Topic: Entergy
• the shedding event over MG/weather issues which went from 27MW to 81MW, maybe more like 100MW. Claim is computer glitches.
• S&WB is developing flexibility with Entergy
  • $1.3B lawsuit against Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant for “imprudent operation” and subpar performance.
• Public Works Committee: Working with S&WB about billing, infrastructure and communication with the public
• Doubles to Dormitories: Proposing a motion for the CPC to study expanding the IZD (parking must be included 1:1 when adding more bedrooms) to larger boundaries, cutting out commercial areas, including a homestead exemption, Will be filed on March 25^th. 3-4 month study.

Question: Why did Dawn Massey cancel her time with CRNA?  Answer: She prefers to answer questions on an individual basis.

Sewerage and Water Board

General Superintendent, Ron Spooner and Communications Director, Courtney Barnes were asked to address the high level of noise that impacts a portion of the CRNA area, emanating from the Carrollton plant.  They began by stating that they wanted better communication with neighbors and were pleased to be invited to the meeting. They present a powerpoint showing a current system of (old and vulnerable) turbines and EMDs (Electro Motive Diesel Generators), underscoring the reality that the city is dependent on these to distribute drinking water.  In the near future: Turbine 4 is currently out of service and projected to return on May 3. Turbine 5 returns on June 14.  The EMDs which create much of the noise will be used less, and the noise, somewhat diminished. The long-term solution is the construction West Power Complex which would provide for frequency changes via Entergy – but a timeline for that construction is not available. 

By 2021, Turbine 7 is to be built. Turbine 4 & 5 will be phased out.  The noise often happens when a rain event is expected to provide extra pumping capacity.  They are run for 10-12 hour intervals and can’t be stopped.

Essentially, the two requested our patience.

Questions/ Comments:

• There is ongoing challenges in informing neighbors about impending noise levels. S&WB has been informing via Nextdoor Neighbor and Instagram. Nicole Bouie indicated that the Community Commitment Center could distribute flyers to inform about 50 neighbors that don’t have computers.
• When are you going to stop damaging our eardrums with 100 decibels of noise?
• It is hard to have to choose between noise (for us) and clean water (for the city)
• There is a 2018 report where Robert Lofton had proposed a noise wall.  What has happened with noise reduction proposals? Costs for mitigation are included in the report.
• Additional concerns with noise in the Southport area

CRNA requested that the S&WB provide the following in relation to the turbines and EMDs.  We were told that they would be forthcoming:

• Copies of permits
• Copies of noise variances
• Decibel level testing
• Meeting with S&WB when noise is happening

Police Community Advisory Board.  Elaine Leyda has been appointed to this board.  Congratulations!

Meeting Adjournment at 8:00 PM.

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For those of you who have not seen the space that is proposed to be subdivided and developed, here are pictures.

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I urge everyone to go have a look at the lovely park-like side yard at 914 Dante St. This is what a real estate agent and the owner are trying to destroy, to create a narrow subdivision on which to build a house. There are matures trees (oak, magnolia, camphor, crepe myrtle), old winding brick pathways, and it is, quite frankly, a peaceful green space with no paving–just some benches, chairs, and a chicken coop. The side yard is part of the historic site of a two-story historic building that dates from the Civil War. The site and building are featured in Cangelosi’s New Orleans Architecture: Carrollton book. The building is a grandfathered-in non-conforming six-unit apartment building.

Last week, CRNA requested a public hearing from the CPC. No word back yet.

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All are welcome.

This month, we’re going to catch up with ourselves a bit. I hope our new members will join us! (Logan, with the Alliance for Affordability may sit in, but she’ll join us in our May meeting.)

Melissa has been leading a working group’s efforts to get info about the SWB industrial noise and proposed mitigation, measured noise levels, and more. Outstanding work that continues. But she’ll be out of town, so I hope you’ve read the summary she sent yesterday about her and Andreas’ meeting with Ghassan.

A number of neighbors and residents are very concerned about the proposed subdivision of a historic site at 914 Dante St. Thanks to Joe’s efforts, the real estate agent held a Zoom NPP meeting yesterday. A bunch of us are zooming tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 4/3) about next steps.

I continue to try to get Trinity Christian Community to clean up their vacant lots at 1719-1723 Monroe St., which have become dump sites.

And we need to have a fun, relaxing picnic at the end of May. 🙂

6:30-6:45: Welcome, minutes, money

6:45-7:00: Councilmember Joe Giarusso: 914 Dante St, Monroe vacant lots, D2D legislation, etc.

7:00–745: Updates, discussion on HANO-Iris (Betty), SWB industrial noise, 914 Dante, Together Louisiana Accountability Assembly (9 April, Zoom)

7:45–8:00: Updates from Stephen Mosgrove, District A Liaison

8:00–8:15: Adjourn

Time: Apr, 2021 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

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