Mid-City Neighborhood Organization

If you own a historic building damaged in last year’s storms, you should be aware of a grant opportunity that may help you. $10 million has been appropriated by Congress to the National Park Service for the purpose of saving and preserving the character of historic properties damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita. The deadline is December 15th, so apply today! You can get the application from the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation website. There will be a workshop to help with your application: Saturday, Dec 9, 12-2pm, first come, first served, 2414 Palmyra Street, sponsored by the good folks at Phoenix New Orleans.

The city has a link for reporting nuisance properties — everything from overgrown weeds to drug activity to rodent infestations danger of imminent collapse. Visit the City of New Orleans website, click on the “Good Neighbor Online Application“, and it will allow you to submit addresses where nuisances exist.

The following is just in from Christy A. Wallace, Program Officer for Hope Community Credit Union:

Mercy Corp has committed to assist with the redevelopment of New Orleans as well as the Gulf Coast and has targeted specific areas of New Orleans in which they feel they can have a significant impact. As a part of their mission, they have created along with Hope a small business micro loan program for businesses in the 9th ward and Mid City areas, that need to borrow up to $15,000 to get their businesses back up and running, or expand their current operations.

I have attached the Hope/Mercy Corps flyer [PDF] as well as the program details [Microsoft Word].

Here’s a handy number: (504) 589-1691. That will connect you to Larry Leehans, who is a “Postal Ambassador.” He can help you with specific problems you may be having with delivery of your mail.

I just talked to a Post Office employee who confirmed what I had heard from a neighbor: There’s a glitch in the system. After Katrina, I had my mail forwarded because I was evacuated, but then I returned home in November, cancelled the forwarding order in January, and began receiving mail at home. Service was fairly reliable — until last week, when it stopped abruptly and without notice. Apparently my forwarding order has been reactivated. Apparently my mail is going up to Indiana again. To correct this, I was instructed to fill out another “change of address” form, just like I did in January, specifying my old address as my new address and writing “CANCEL” in big letters in the middle of the form. It could happen to you tomorrow! Even if your mail is still coming to your home, I recommend filling out this form as a proactive measure, to avoid the aggravation of having your mail forwarded back to Houston or Omaha or wherever. Have a postal employee help you fill out the form so you are sure you’ve done it right.

For those of us who currently pick up our mail at the Mid-City Finance Station Post-Office, at 501 North Jefferson Davis Parkway, I just noticed a sign that said as of January 19th, mail pick-up will be moving to the Central Carrier Station Post Office at 1300 Florida Avenue. You can see a map of this location here at yahoo maps. At the Mid-City Office, you can also sign a form to have your mail delivered, as they are delivering mail a few times per week.

As noted in today’s Times-Picayune, building permits are “going like hotcakes”. Many homeowners are nervous about the recently proposed four-month moratorium on permits.

What the story doesn’t mention, however, is that you don’t have to go down to City Hall and wait in line. You can get your permit from the official website for the City of New Orleans.

First, check the Damage Assessment Report for your property. You’ll be prompted to enter the address of your home. Then, if the damage to your home has been assessed at less than 50% of its total value, you should see a link to “FastTrack Permitting.” You’ll be required to enter credit card information. (The city’s website uses a secure connection to protect your privacy.)

Be patient — the city’s web server is under a heavy load. If you keep trying, you’ll get through eventually.