From the president

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

2008/2009 has been another good year in the neighborhood. While we were saddened by the death of two long time residents, Genevieve Collins and Bert Turner, we were glad to welcome new families and residents into University Hills.

We felt the brunt of Hurricane Gustav but survived the power outages. We have cleared the debris and rebuilt the houses and, in the place of large trees, we now have blue sky.

As an Association, we continue to represent the residents and work hard to ensure that University Hills continues to be the place that we choose to live. In the past year the Association has worked closely with the city-parish to ensure compliance with residential zoning laws. I would like to thank Bob Benedict, especially, for his determined efforts.

We have maintained a Web site that is informative and up-to-date and is an ideal tool to have open communication in our neighborhood. I would like to thank Louis Castaing for his efforts here.

David LaPlante, Jared Rivet and Marshall Watts have maintained the median so that we can all be proud of our beautiful trees as we enter and depart our streets. Thanks, guys.

The board has met, discussed, and acted to remedy issues such as zoning violations, speeding, neighborhood crime prevention and beautifying the medians and I thank each of the board members for their efforts. We welcomed the addition of Paul Bell and Tracy Molidor to the board. Their addition increases the size of the board to nine and will allow for greater continuity of leadership. Thanks Tracey and Paul.

We currently have around 80 contributing members who have paid the $35 dues to our treasurer Rob. Last year, we had an all-time high 116 contributors. If you have not yet paid, please do so now! (It's easy to pay your dues, either by check or online. You can pay with most credit cards or with PayPal. Check the Dues page for details.)

The money that we collect is critical to maintaining the gardens and median in the front of the neighborhood. The distinctive concrete street signs are also a responsibility of the neighborhood. Many neighbors have commented that $35 is lower than other associations, so if you have not yet paid, then please do so either using PayPal or credit card directly through our Web site or drop a check payable to University Hills Civic Association in Rob’s mailbox at 345 Centenary.

Neighborhoods are only as good as the people who reside in them. Get to know your new neighbors. Reach out to those that you see infrequently. Take an evening stroll to enjoy all the beautiful gardens and say hi to those who choose University Hills as their home.

Have a great year.  

Chris Liddy
President
417 Delgado Drive

PS: Make universityhills70808.net your home page. That way you can follow our progress and keep up-to-date about your civic association and your community.

Median beautification project progresses

On June 29, the Association board met with Stephen A. Shurtz, Landscape and Forestry Manager for East Baton Rouge Parish, to discuss cooperation between the Association and the city-parish on  plans to beautify the Delgado Drive median. The median is city-parish property; but the Association generally maintains it by mowing and watering the lawn and caring for the front garden. Landscape architect Bill Reich, who is developing plans for the median, also spoke at the meeting.

Mr. Shurtz told us that the city-parish is eager to work with the Association on the beautification project. He spoke enthusiastically about the horticultural importance of the two centennial oaks on the rear median, which he said may be upwards of 300 years old.

He said that he would investigate several possible sources for grants to, at least, partially finance the improvements. The city-parish may also be able to contribute some trees as it did in providing the live oak to memorialize John LaPlante. The city-parish can also assist in the planting of trees and the removal of unwanted existing trees. He will look into extending water pipes from the rear median under Centenary Drive where it crosses the median to provide irrigation to front median. He will also check with the utility companies that have equipment and servitudes on the median about access issues.

Shurtz also advised the Association that a grant would most likely be awarded if it addressed issues important to the city-parish. Those issues include efforts that would help protect the oak trees, help provide sidewalks that connected to Highland Road, and help beautify the median. It would not include money to erect signs for the Association. Although he could not give definite figures, Shurtz said individual grants probably would not be large — he spoke of grants in the few-thousand-dollar range; but the project might be eligible for several different grants that could be combined.

Shurtz mentioned that, if Association members volunteer to help with the planting, that could improve chances of getting grants and would hasten completion of the project.

He said that he will get back to us by July 15.

Meanwhile, the Association will look into finding someone in the neighborhood who can assist in constructing the new signage for the front of the median. If you can have masonry skills and would like to help, please contact us at web@universityhills70808.net.

Also, if you are willing to work on the project, please contact us at web@universityhills70808.net so that we will have a list of volunteers when we begin work on the project.

More information on the beautification project can be found on the Your Thoughts page.

Owner keeps his promise

The owner of the abandoned house at 4615 Tulane Drive (at the corner of Delgado Drive), David Bazzell, promised in a recent e-mail to the Association that he would find someone to clean up his property. Mr. Bazzell has found that person, subdivision resident and LSU student, Marshall Watts, who began working on the lot June 29.

(As is obvious from this undertaking, Marshall is a hardworking entrepreneur and cuts grass around the subdivision, including being one of the mowers of the Delgado Drive median. If you need your lawn mowed, you can reach Marshall at 333-2710.)

The Association is grateful to Mr. Bazzell for honoring his pledge and, especially, to Marshall for his titanic efforts in taming this eyesore. There really was a house behind the weeds.

2009 Association annual meeting

The Civic Association held its once-rain-delayed annual meeting on Sunday, May 31. The meeting took place on the Delgado Drive median at 5 PM. (An attempt to meet on May 3 was called because of thunderstorms. Yes, it actually rained within the past two months.)

Association president Chris Liddy gave a report on the Association's activities during the past year. Treasurer Rob Canzonire gave his financial report, explaining how dues were spent and saying that about 70 residents had paid dues for this year, in contrast to the 116 who paid last year.

The next order of business was the election of new board members. Paul Bell and Tracy Molidor were elected to the two new board seats, bringing the total board membership to nine. Robert Canzonire, George Daniels and Erick Swenson were re-elected without opposition. Those elected at the meeting will serve two-year terms. The terms of the four other board members will expire next year. (For a listing of board members with their terms can be found here. The board met June 15 to elect officers. See story below.)

After the elections, landscape architect, Bill Reich presented his plans for Delgado Drive median beautification and answered questions from the assembled Association members. The "D" option for the front median had narrowly beaten the "A" option in an opinion poll on this Web site. Later this month, the board will discuss possible city-parish assistance in the project with EBR director of Landscaping and Forestry, Steve Shurtz. Although the civic association maintains the median, it is city-parish property. The city-parish donated the live oak that was planted last year in memory of the late John LaPlante who was an association president.

Board member and Zoning Committee chair Bob Benedict reported on progress concerning abandoned properties, in particular 4665 Tulane Drive that was demolished by the city-parish recently and 4615 Tulane Drive (at the corner of Tulane and Delgado Drives) which remains a problem. (Soon after the meeting, the owner of that house has written the Civic Association to promise to clean up the property.) Bob also passed out a written report to go along with his discussion.

Zoning Committee member, Tommy Watts, discussed problems with rental properties and possible remedies. (If you're interested in working on the Zoning Committee, contact Bob at zoning@universityhills70808.net.)

[Complete annual meeting minutes and the treasurer's report are available on the Reports page of this Web site.]

New Association officers elected

The board of the University Hills Civic Association met June 15 to elect officers for 2009-10 and conduct other business. The new and returning officers are:

• President: Chris Liddy, who was re-elected to that office
• Vice-president: Bob Benedict, who replaces Michelle Spielman in that office
• Secretary: Michelle Spielman, who replaces George Daniels
• Treasurer: Rob Canzonire, who was re-elected to that office

Thanks to those who served in 2008-9.

Further information on the board meeting is available on the Reports page.

Owner promises cleanup

On June 1, the owner of the property at 4615 Tulane Drive (at the corner of Tulane Drive and Delgado Drive) sent the Association the following e-mail:

My name is David Bazzell. I own the house at 4615 Tulane Drive, on the corner of Delgado. I received a call over the weekend from one of my old University Hills neighbors who was angry with me for not keeping the grass cut and the bushes trimmed on my property there. He went on to say that some of the other residents are upset as well. I apologized to him and assured him that I would remedy the situation promptly. I am writing to offer my apologies to the civic association and to the other University Hills residents, as well. About two years ago my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly thereafter, she was laid-off by her employer, which caused us to lose our health insurance. Dealing with the fallout from these events has consumed much of my time and energy, and most of my resources. I regret that in the process I have relegated the house on Tulane to the "back burner." While my circumstances certainly do not excuse my inattention to the property, perhaps they do help to explain it. I hope the residents of University Hills will accept my apologies for what I am sure has been an ongoing source of annoyance for many of them. I am also writing to let you know that I began contacting maintenance contractors this morning in an effort to hire someone to clean up the property and to maintain it going forward. I expect to have the initial clean-up completed within the next week, and I assure you that I will keep it maintained in the future. Please convey my deepest apologies to the neighbors for having allowed the lawn maintenance to lapse for so long.

Editor's note: Sometimes, because of space and clutter considerations, the navigation on a Web site can be slightly cryptic. What does How To mean? What are Resources? Actually, they can mean what you want them to mean. If you know how to do something that others in the community can benefit from, then let us know and we'll put it on the site. Have a product or service that your company sells? Then that can be a resource. We encourage Civic Association members to patronize other members' places of business.

Are you a teenager who is looking for lawn mowing work or babysitting? Let us know and we'll post that on the site. Want to volunteer to help elderly neighbors? We can facilitate your finding neighbors in need. Know a good handyman? Recommend him to the community.

That's what this site is for. You.

If you're really stumped about what a button means, hold your mouse over the button to see a further description of the contents of the page.

And, if we need other buttons, that's OK. Buttons are cheap.