From Al Petrie, Greenspace Committee Chairman:


Green Spaces Committee

Our Green Spaces Committee will be responsible for our community’s neutral grounds, playgrounds and parks. I, Al Petrie, will be the head of the overall committee and the head of the Neutral Ground Subcommittee. Bob Becker will head up the Parks Subcommittee and Nancy Broadhurst will head the Playgrounds Subcommittee.

I have been a resident of Lakeview for forty years and want to see our area not just return to what it was in the past but be even better. I serve on the Parkway Partners Advisory Board and have contacts with the Parkway Commission. I intend to coordinate our committee efforts with the City’s efforts to be sure we develop our green spaces in a way that best meets our needs and expectations. I will also monitor what FEMA will provide to restore our green spaces.

While the task may seem overwhelming right now, as with any major project, if we break it down into manageable components, we will get the job done.

I see us having Short-Term, Medium Term and Long Term goals.

In the short term, we need to take back control of our immediate neighborhoods. We cannot wait for FEMA or the City or anyone else, we need to get started now. I hope to organize monthly or semi-monthly green spaces cleanups with volunteer help from residents, Boy Scout Troops, Girl Scout Troops, etc. We will not be able to do major cleanups but we can at least pick up non-hazardous trash. I plan to ask Jay Batt to get the street sweeping equipment to come with us or behind us.

Also in the short term, let’s get rid of those signs on the neutral grounds and on the lamp posts! The only signs I want to see in Lakeview are the ones in our front yards that say we are returning to Lakeview. It is against the law to place signs on public property without a permit and we are well within the law to rip them down. Once you have done your area, if you see a new sign show up, call their phone number and tell them they are breaking the law and that you are a volunteer with LCIA and we will have them fined if they do not remove them. I have done this twice with firms that put up a lot of signs and they removed them.

I and a friend personally removed over 60 signs this past weekend on Harrison Avenue. Notice how much better it looks now? We easily removed the ones they nailed up high with a long pole branch trimmer or a hoe.

For the medium term, we will work on getting the grass cut on the neutral grounds when the weather warms up and continue to remove dead plants. I would also like to see new ‘Welcome to Lakeview’ signs that say our renaissance is underway.

For the long term, this is where we can do some dreaming and then turn it into reality. My dream is to see Oak Trees back all along Canal Boulevard. There are places where large full size oaks can be purchased and transplanted successfully. I don’t want to just plant saplings that our grandkids won’t even enjoy. I am certain we will find private foundations around the US that will help us restore our trees if they know we are working to help ourselves. We will also monitor what FEMA will do to restore West End Boulevard. I would also like to see unique new neutral ground light standards that will clearly define our new Lakeview community.

These long term projects will obviously take the longest time to get done but will provide us the greatest benefit. We will need help from a volunteer grant writer to seek funds from foundations and coordinate our efforts with the City’s efforts.

While we had a number of volunteers sign up on Saturday 2/11, we need more. If you are interested in helping with my committee, please contact me at

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. We all have a lot going on in our lives right now so we will use whatever time you offer wisely.

News Release

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Task Force Guardian
Contact: Kim Gillespie 504- 862-2076
April 19, 2006

Tree removal to improve hurricane protection integrity

NEW ORLEANS—The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Task Force Guardian
will begin cutting trees later this month along the 17th Street,
Orleans Avenue and London Avenue outfall canals; the Inner Harbor
Navigation Canal; and the Lake Pontchartrain lakefront in Orleans and
Jefferson Parishes.

The removal of trees and woody plants is part of the repair
effort and is necessary to help insure the integrity of the hurricane
protection system. Trees blowing over and uprooting during a
hurricane or tropical storm may remove large amounts of soil from the
levee or its toe, or fall on a floodwall, damaging and weakening the
system and introducing the risk of failure.

Trees located on or adjacent to a levee or floodwall pose an
additional risk to the integrity of the system by providing a pathway
for water to work its way into the levees. Their extensive root
systems can serve as pathways for seepage, particularly after they
die and their root systems begin to decay.

The trees will be removed in phases. The first phase of the
effort will focus on cutting and removing trees and woody plants on
the water side of the canals, and within the known levee and
floodwall rights-of-way. As additional rights-of-way are
established, trees within 15 feet of the levee toe may be removed to
insure the integrity of, and prevent damage to the system. Uprooted
trees will be removed, their holes filled in, smoothed and cultivated
with grass. Generally, the stump will remain. An estimated 850
landowners will be affected by the tree removal effort. Efforts will
be made to contact those owners, and notices will be published in the
newspaper.

During the next phase the contractors will remove the stump
and root system, fill and grade the holes, and reseed. The Corps is
reviewing its criteria for root-free and vegetation-free zones, and
changes in that criteria may result in the need to acquire additional
rights-of-way and cutting of additional trees.

Residents or media with questions concerning tree removal
should contact Task Force Guardian toll-free at 1-866-830-5038.