CUNA’s 1st Quarter General Meeting will focus on ways you can REUSE, REDUCE, RECYCLE, and SAVE MONEY.

Time: 7pm
Date: Thursday, Jan 28
Place: JCC, 5342 St. Charles Ave, corner of Jefferson (enter at Leontine St. entrance)

Learn about the new Energy Smart energy efficiency program sponsored by the New Orleans City Council and Entergy New Orleans, Inc. that could annually make up to 7,300 homes and businesses more energy efficient and save customers money beginning in 2010! Also, Sun Power LLC will discuss on government rebates and company financing for solar panels that can be installed on residential properties at minimal cost! And meet The Green Project, a non-profit retail store that sells used building and art materials at an affordable price to the community. They also offer recycling drop-off, paint recycling, art materials through Recycle for the Arts, and community workshops.

Finally, catch up on what your neighbors and your association have been up to! See you Thursday!

The master plan, when completed, will have the force of law! If you’d like to review the plan go to http://www.nolamasterplan.org/

On Nov. 10, the City Planning Commission voted unanimously to delay consideration of the Master Plan until the January 26, 2010 meeting. Public comments received before the Oct. 28 deadline will be considered as amendments at the Jan. 12 CPC meeting. CPC staff will post the public comments and staff recommendations to the master plan website in advance of Jan. 12 meeting

The New Orleans City Council will then deliberate the Plan and conduct additional public hearings. A final decision on a Plan is expected in 2010.

Orleans Parish lost 70% of its tree canopy during Katrina (by comparison, Miami lost 42% during Andrew in 1992 – the previous record). If you would like to plant trees to replace those you lost, make a donation to help other residents replace trees, OR if you have trees you would like to maintain, the following organizations are available to help:

HIKE FOR KATREENA
This organization was founded by Monique Pilie’ who hiked the Appalachian Trail (2,175 miles!) to raise money to plant trees in New Orleans. They have planted over 3500 trees and are still going strong! Go to their website www.hikeforkatreena.com if you would like to:
* Plant a tree on your property
* Volunteer on city-wide planting projects – such as the Broadway replanting project from Fontainebleau to the river.
* Make a monetary donation

PARKWAY PARTNERS
Parkway Partners perform the following services for a minimal fee:
* Buckmoth Caterpillar Spraying by March 31 will kill the stinging caterpillars that damage live oaks and threaten humans and pets. This season will be especially severe.
* Termite spraying protects your trees and your home.
* Fertilization program helps strengthen your trees.
* Tree and plant sales provide homeowners with the opportunity to buy low-cost plants that are well-suited to our area.
For more information and to apply for spraying/fertilization services, please go to www.parkwaypartnersnola.org

The New Orleans City Council’s Lot Next Door program will allow residents to purchase a NORA-owned property immediately “next door” to their own. NORA will send notification letters by registered mail on a rolling basis to eligible homeowners. These letters will include specific instructions for participating in the Lot Next Door program. Letter recipients are determined based on the status of their city tax and homestead exemption records and whether they are adjacent to NORA-owned or potentially owned property. NORA owns a small number of properties and has limited sources of property. NORA expects to receive property sold to the State as part of Road Home program and can file expropriation lawsuits to acquire property officially designated blighted. For more information on which properties can participate, go to the following links.

To be eligible, Lot Next Door participants must:
1. Have a homestead exemption on your property;
2. Live directly to the right or left of the property NORA owns or will come to own;
3. Currently comply with City building codes and health and safety ordinances on all properties you own in Orleans Parish;
4. Be current on taxes on all property you own in Orleans Parish;
5. Be prepared to pay NORA the appraised, fair market lot value plus legal fees and costs; and
6. Plan to hold ownership of the subject property for at least five years or pay a penalty

Additional information can be found at:

http://www.noraworks.org/Lotnext.htm

CUNA has done some great things since our founding in 2006, including the following 2008 milestones:
• Participated in city-wide planning efforts in support of the Master Plan.
• Assisted in the Expansion of the National Historic District of Carrollton to include the CUNA area.
• Organized a successful Night Out Against Crime Block Party at University Village.
• Received free trees from Park Way Partners for neighbors to plant along streets.
• Organized volunteers to survey the blighted properties remaining in the neighborhood.
• Obtained 501(c)4 tax-exempt ruling from the IRS
• Held campaign forums and keep in touch with local politicians to promote our neighborhood.
• Received $18,000 grant for upcoming traffic study on S. Claiborne at University Village (Calhoun St.)
• Quarterly meetings keep residents informed of our progress on various projects.

We look forward to building on our progress in 2009!

As discussed during our last general meeting October 30, CUNA will be conducting a traffic study on South Claiborne Avenue between Nashville and Broadway, made possible by an $18,000 grant we received earlier this year from the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Denis Finegan, the traffic engineer for the project, was present at the meeting and shared with us a presentation outlining the process, which you can view by clicking on the link below:

traffic-study-presentation_10_08

For additional details, please see the October 30 meeting minutes at the link to the left.

Times-Picayune columnist Stephanie Bruno points out our “area is rich in house variety and quality”:

THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The Claiborne/University area, which the neighborhood association has defined as stretching from Freret Street on the south to Earhart Boulevard on the north and from Jefferson Avenue on the east to Broadway Street on the west. It encompasses parts of several historic districts but has a character all its own. My Street Walk visits the area between Fontainebleau Street and Claiborne Avenue, Nashville Avenue and Calhoun Street.

THE BLOCK: The 3300 to 3700 blocks of State Street Drive, on the downtown side.

THE HOUSES: A colorful mix of early 20th-century houses that includes Arts and Crafts bungalows, several duplexes and a scattering of Mediterranean revival houses. One house has elements of the Tudor revival style.

To read the rest of the article, click here:

On Tuesday, Aug. 4, CUNA will host its annual Night Out Against Crime gathering on Calhoun Street (3100 block between S. Tonti and S. Miro). Come enjoy great food, music, family-friendly entertainment with your neighbors and friends!

CUNA has received one of 19 grants awarded by the Greater New Orleans Foundation to help bring to life some of the neighborhood recovery projects envisioned in the Unified New Orleans Plan for rebuilding the city after Hurricane Katrina.  We received $18,500 to conduct a traffic study for South Claiborne Avenue between Nashville and Broadway Avenues.  Our goals are to improve pedestrian and driver safety, slow traffic flow, and improve access to University Village, the business district on Calhoun Street, which was a focus of our post-Katrina planning efforts.  CUNA and the traffic study consultants will be hosting a meeting with residents to gather our concerns, so we will keep you posted!

One June 2, approximately 40 volunteers from the Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church youth choir in Knoxville, Tennessee canvassed the entire CUNA neighborhood to note blighted, unrepaired, and/or unoccupied properties.  The results of this survey will be provided to city inspectors to accelerate the application of the city’s new housing code.  As lagniappe, the group beautified the traffic island at the intersection of State St. and Willow.