Louisiana Water System Grades
Preliminary Report Card. Click your parish from the map. Some data will be updated May 2023.
By Murray Wennerlund published 6-15-2019 updated 1-15-2022
UPDATE 7-9-2019
Original Post:
On July 31, 2019 the State of Louisiana by Executive Order BJE-2016-65 under the guidance of OCD-DRU Director Patrick Forbes will pull the 2016 flood recovery grants from 1,565 homeowners if their grant closing documents are not signed and all program required documents are collected and approved.
Your grant will be REVOKED, CANCELLED, RESCINDED if you do not sign and close on the grant award by end of day July 31, 2019.
Updated 7-9-2019: State Office of Community Development asked that you DO NOT CALL your OHSEP regarding the SBA Loan's or Restore Louisiana Program issues.
I believe because you risk becoming homeless and many of you do not have your home rebuilt enough to weather a storm you should reach out for a "Game Plan" as we are with Livingston Parish OHSEP on how to prepare for disaster while recovering from a disaster.
Regarding the Deadline of July 31, 2019 related to the HUD CDBG-DR Floods of 2016 recovery you will need to follow the instructions in the update to save yourself from being revoked, canceled, terminated from the program. Our household has filed for an exceptions board review of our request for additional time so foundation engineers can complete their tasks. Once we hear we have been granted more time we'll update this post. Until that time and because this has all be verbally conveyed to us we will continue to share our experiences with all of those in our nation that are recovering from disasters using the long term recovery assistance HUD CDBG-DR offers each state. Basically, we still have 1,565 homeowners at risk of losing $58,100,192.15 in grants that we know will go to the Governor and fuel their agenda's while leaving the people of Louisiana asking "How did this come to pass?"
We ask HUD to assist in this matter with HUD national objectives in mind to remedy this issue.
Homeowners can no longer communicate with the program since Director Patrick Forbes dismissed the Louisiana Task Force members of their duties. Complaints are filed but with such a short deadline and knowing policy homeowners will not be offered an exceptions board review. We are all facing an ever changing pattern to state managed and state sub-contractor managed recovery efforts. Policy changes that work against homeowners of low to moderate income as well as average income will cause additional blight, homelessness and force families to live in unsafe houses. We ask you all to stop the state of Louisiana OCD-DRU policy makers and this deadline. We ask that you speak with Director Patrick Forbes and point out to him homeowners are working as fast as possible with the least amount of resources in hand. We need HUD to intervene and assist the state with a more logical approach to ending a program with a more realistic timeline and notification process.
List of Homeowners at RISK of losing their allocated grant by Parish.
This list does not include or reflect any SBA households according to the Pipeline Report used to generate the list. This list includes all income ranges. This list is exclusive to Homeowner Managed (Solution 2) reconstruction and repair households who received a grant award, have accepted the grant award but have not closed on the grant award for any number of reasons. THIS IS NOT SBA RELATED, please read completely to understand the issue.
Message to HUD CDBG-DR and Grantees.
Many homeowners are looking for or waiting for contractor quotes, foundation engineering and home blueprints to start reconstruction of their substantially damaged, condemned or demolished homes. Other homeowners are waiting for financial resources to purchase materials and pay for skilled labor to complete repairs of flood damaged homes.
On June 12, 2019 the state sent out a notices to homeowners that their grants would be cancelled on July 31, 2019 if they were not moving forward through the program at the pace that the state OCD-DRU controlled by Governor Edwards demands. The OCD-DRU will find homeowners that do not meet the deadlines as "Not Cooperative" and will cancel their grant awards without the right to appeal according to state OCD-DRU policy makers.
In accordance with federal register notices and allocations this deadline effects more than $8 million in grants and would actually require approval from HUD to cancel grant awards previously allocated to homeowners. This would also need to be presented to the public with an open meeting of current task force members present to allow for discussion and a vote. The state OCD-DRU Director has excused the task force from service to the Restore Louisiana Homeowners Program in Feb. 2019 which may have been done prematurely. Will this new policy change made to homeowners on such notice fund other programs once the homeowners are stripped of their grant awards? It appears so, based on history with the current leadership and policy makers at the Louisiana Office of Community Development Disaster Recovery Unit.
The announcement is estimated to effect 1,565 homeowners totaling approximately $58 million in grant awards allocated to the homeowners, based on the most recent pipeline report published June of 2019. The state added policy to allow 360 days for the homeowner to complete repairs or reconstruction and made this retroactive to the date of grant closing for all homeowners. This changes the timelines most homeowners were given by state officials in Feb of 2019 from "It takes time, we know it and we'll allow you the time." to "...grant offered will be rescinded..." on July 31, 2019.
State changed policy and rules mid-game.
Homeowners frustrated over the years working with the Restore Louisiana Homeowners Program and the state leadership are so stressed by this deadline they have mentally started to shut down without any hope of any recovery assistance. Others are ready to walk away including those that will not finish their repairs and will have to return all the grant money that was given to them so far. Living in a home substantially damaged by the flood with no walls will be the normal home for many in the program with this end date July 31, 2019.
Resources HUD CDBG-DR: