St. Bernard Parish—Priority Issues

Economic and Workforce Development

• Small businesses need technical and financial support in order to recover.
• Tourism from riverboat cruises and the Chalmette National Battlefield needs to be restored.
• Commercial fishing piers, docks, icehouses, processing plants and vessels need to be reconstructed.
• Debris needs to be removed from channels and marsh areas critical to the fishing industry.
• The port needs to expand in order to diversify and strengthen the parish economy.

Environmental Management

• The oil spill needs to be cleaned and neighborhoods protected from future spills.
• Natural areas, parks and open space areas were destroyed and need to be restored and or reconstructed.

Flood Protection and Coastal Restoration

• Levees need to be built taller and stronger to protect the parish in the future.
• Coastal marsh, ridges, and wetland areas need to be restored.
• Barrier islands need to be restored; they play a critical role in hurricane protection.
• The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) needs to be closed or re-commissioned as a small craft canal.

Housing and Community Development

• Residents want security from future flooding and hurricanes this includes commitments to improve levees and restore coastal areas.
• Every home in the parish will require repairs. A large number of homes will need to be replaced and most every home will need to be elevated to meet new base flood elevations.
• Residents need to have a place to go where they can gain information about when where and how they can come home.
• Residents will not return until essential services such as medical care and schools are operable.
• It is the objective of the parish to build the community back in a manner that is stronger and safer.

Human Services

• Human services include government service capacity was wiped out in the storms. The hospital, mental health, medical, dental, pharmacy, and many other basic community services need to be reconstructed and adequate staffing needs to be put in place in order for recovery to occur.

Education

• Schools need to be re-aligned to serve the returning population and the future population distribution.
• School locations should correspond to neighborhoods as re-building occurs.
• Schools need to instill vision and students need to undertake extraordinary effort to achieve extraordinary results.

Public Health and Health Care

• Temporary healthcare facilities need to be established.
• The hospital needs to be reconstructed in an area that is safer from future flooding
• The development of the hospital needs to incorporate a wide range of activities including offices, retail shops, and housing for senior citizens and returning residents.

Public Safety

• Future public safety facilities (sheriff office and emergency services) need to be reconstructed in a manner that will resist disasters in the future

Transportation and Infrastructure

• The water and wastewater systems were damaged, and need to be updated and reconfigured to serve industry, business, and the returning population. This should occur in a manner consistent with the community redevelopment plan.
• The roads need to be repaired, and the street signs and lighting should be reinstalled
• Roads need to be added in order to support port expansion, provide better access to the new medical site, and to improve future evacuation.