The Board held the annual General Membership Meeting at Jefferson United Methodist Church on Monday, March 28, 2016.
Here are some photos of the meeting, and further down, meeting notes:
Board Member Stan Leblanc with Carey Chauvin of BR Dept of Development:
Treasurer Danielle Bowen with Board Member Nadine Harrell and neighbor Cindy Plauche:
Board President Brett Smith with Terry Passman:
Meeting notes:
March 28, 2016 IEJT Civic Association General Membership Meeting Brett Smith, President, called the meeting to order Treasurer’s Report by Danielle Bowen, Treasurer •
Guy Koonce – reviewed books from 2015 and found them to be in order •
156 paid members year to date (50% of target membership) •
Review of 2016 Budget: 2 neighborhood entrance signs $1,600 2 sign permits $ 400 Newsletter Printing/Delivery $ 200 Office Supplies, Postage, Printing $ 175 Website $ 100 Jambalaya Luncheon $1,600 Landscaping/Lighting/Decorating $2,000 Yard Sale preparation $ 50 Dues: Federation of GBR Civic Associations $ 75 Meetings: annual/monthly $ 300 Computer Repair/Upgrade $ 500 • Motion made to approve Budget by member, seconded, approved
Brett announced 2 new entrance signs to be erected in next few weeks • Inniswold Road • BlueCross BlueShield – Upton/Groner 2016 Entrance Signs to be installed - Bluebonnet Road and Floynell Road entrances Yard of the Season awards rather than Yard of Month • Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter/Christmas Decorations Thanked the newsletter volunteers Announcement of Jambalaya Luncheon on Sunday, September 11, 2016 JTAC pool question – answered by Tim Mercer (www.jtacpool.org)
Speakers: Carey Chauvin, Department of Development • Effective April 2015, reorganized DPW to distinct departments, each with its own director o
Environmental Services – recycling, sewer engineering, collection, pump stations, treatment, landfill o
Maintenance – landscape, road (not rehab – point repairs only), ditches o
Transportation and Drainage – field and traffic engineering; drainage; capital projects o
Buildings and Grounds – architectural services, prison maintenance and building maintenance (internal) o
Fleet Management – maintain vehicles o Development – permits and inspections; blight; (Kerry is Director of this Department) •
Call 3-1-1 with issues to be routed to correct Department for service o Spending a lot of resources to make the 3-1-1 system more efficient o 400-500 calls/day input by dispatcher o Problem was getting routed to correct Department – closed complaint without resolution. This has been changed. The complaint CANNOT be closed until there is proof of resolution; the Departments can push to different department to get resolution and managers checking the issues to ensure they are resolved o Goal: 24 hour turnaround to get a plan of action for resolution •
ONE phone number for ALL 6 departments: 225-389-3158 • 4 months reviewing budget – cutting $380,000 in salaries to pay for reorganization •
Complaint from neighbors:
Bluebonnet Blvd where asphalt meets concrete by interstate exit. Kerry will look into it. The neighbor has called many times regarding this issue with no resolution. Neighbor has called regarding other, smaller issues, with great response. •
Grass cutting: o single biggest complaint o interstate cutting contract with DOTD (every 5 weeks) which takes all manpower; subcontract out this contract in future to get their manpower back out to the medians and rightaway and other street cuts o
Bluebonnet Blvd – median is subcontracted who cuts every few weeks. The outer edges are NOT subcontracted. Once contracts expire, Kerry says that they will rewrite to include outer edges. Some businesses cut the rightaway and others don’t and it makes the contacts difficult to write since they don’t want to pay for the contractor to cut something that the businesses o
Hackberry/Landsbury resident – pump station 36 – she calls 3-1-1 and various excuses given. They don’t cut the entire area. Kerry mentioned that this is in negotiations to be subcontracted •
Blight Ordinance- tall grass, junk, trash, abandoned vehicles and unkempt swimming pools; if it is occupied, no action can be done; no property maintenance code •
Sewer Repairs – notes on doors on Landsbury; program is in the final phase; this program targets neighborhoods with historical problems with overflows; many moving parts and all the pieces fit together and need to be in place to show results •
Danbury resident – will the open areas be covered; yes, but 1 month for limestone to compact before asphalt/concrete patch
Randy Aguillard, Sheriff’s Office •
Neighborhood Watch – this is something that often falls aside in neighborhoods • Crime is seasonal – Spring is lawnmower; Christmas time – presents • Be observant and aware of surroundings; watch out for each other •
The Sheriff’s office needs to know about the crime; he hears often that people complain to others but don’t report •
Sid Gautreaux – changed to one manned car to patrol – hoping that neighbors have notice more officers in neighborhood • Substation: Gardere Lane – distance doesn’t matter due to technology
Comments