Suburban Terrace Civic Association May 2023 President’s Report
Summer is upon us! Hopefully everyone has their gardens, homes, pets, and themselves ready for the hot, humid weather yet to come!
March 2023 Meeting Recap
Mr. Chris Genard of Genard Company, LLC presented himself, his business, and his plans for redeveloping the property at 3401 Jefferson Hwy. This is the site of the now shuttered pawn shop and motel behind it. He plans to renovate the property in phases and is currently waiting to obtain permits to start renovations. His plan is to convert the motel into short term rentals (monthly), possibly for traveling nurses or some others who need extended stay options. The previous pawn shop will be converted into retail space, preferably something that will benefit the tenants of the rentals. Chris is open to ideas from the community as to how this space should be best utilized. If you have any ideas, please let us know.
We had updates on the Jefferson Highway sidewalk project (more to come).
It was announced that the new playground equipment at the Little Jefferson Playground at the corner of Jefferson Park Avenue and Jefferson Highway will be coming this year. We thank our Jefferson Parish Councilman, Deano Bonano for helping us make this possible.
We also expressed our concerns about the number of streetlights that are out in our neighborhood. Councilman Bonano told us he has addressed this issue with Entergy and is working on a resolution. We may have a representative from Entergy at a future meeting so we can address this with them directly.
Neighborhood News
Suzanne Falgout, STCA Advisory Board Member, is still hard at work uncovering the correct path to take to have our sidewalks along Jefferson Highway repaired. She has been in touch with Angela DeSoto, Head of Jefferson Parish Engineering. Ms. DeSoto stated that the State Department of Transportation owns the land where the sidewalks lay, but they would prefer that there be no sidewalks. Jefferson Parish wants sidewalks but needs the permission of the State to issue notices to the property owners. The State and Parish are currently working on a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA). This agreement will give Jefferson Parish permission to work on several projects currently under control of the State, including the sidewalks on Jefferson Highway. The CEA is now in the hands of the attorneys. It will then go before the Jefferson Parish Council. Suzanne will check back on the progress in 30 days. Great job navigating this maze, Suzanne!
We have ordered solar lights for the “Welcome” sign on Jefferson Park Avenue and Jefferson Highway. As the trees mature on the median, we will consider placing lights to illuminate them just as we have on Dodge Avenue. They are too sparse now, but we will watch their growth. For now, we will just light up the beautiful sign!
May 2023 Meeting
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at the Pink House (Thomas C. Laughlin Building) located at 4518 Jefferson Hwy. We are using this building until further notice.
The doors open at 6:30 pm and we will start promptly at 7:00 pm.
Our guest speakers will be:
Jefferson Parish Director of Drainage, Ben Lepine.
Mr. Lepine will give us an update on the drainage projects taking place in our neighborhood as well as other parts of Jefferson Parish.
Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court, Jon Gegenheimer
Mr. Gegenheimer will address the new JeffWatch program.
From the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court website:
In response to increasing citizen concern about potential exposure of property owners to title fraud, the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court has launched a new online alert service, known as JeffWatch.
Please come listen to Mr. Gegenheimer speak about this new program that has been instituted to protect us against the theft of our property titles.
Jefferson Parish Senior Expo
Jefferson Parish will hold its 20th Annual Senior Expo in June. Here are the details:
• Thursday, June 22, 2023
• 8:30a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• Alario Center, 2000 Segnette Boulevard in Westwego, LA
To learn more, please visit their website: 2023 Senior Expo – Jefferson Community Foundation
STCA Small Business Spotlight for May 2023:
Elizabeth A. Ford-Jones, D.V.M.
Home Veterinary Services
Jefferson, LA
504-734-7946
Dr. Ford-Jones will speak about the services she offers to keep our pets healthy.
Refreshments for our next meeting will be delicious cookies provided by our STCA Hospitality Committee. We thank Jeanie Knesel and Kristy Reeser for their work in providing us with a sweet treat at our meetings.
Again, your Suburban Terrace Civic Association would not be in existence without a team effort by our STCA Advisory Board Members. We do what we do on a volunteer basis to help preserve our neighborhood and make sure that it is a place we are proud to call home. We are effective in our undertakings due to the leadership of our STCA President, Lisa Loup. Please thank her at our next meeting for her tireless efforts. We couldn’t do it without her!
Hope to see you at the meeting!
Judy Wolf
STCA Advisory Board Member