Occasionally, because Bedico Creek Preserve is such a popular neighborhood on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, Louisiana, we will have newspaper, magazine, and online articles and blogs written about our master-planned community. We feature these articles in our Press Room area. Also, we sometimes create press releases for special news and events that are happening at Bedico Creek Preserve. You can find all of this information, plus make media inquiries all right here in our Press Room.
Madisonville Historic Museum
201 Cedar Street
Madisonville, Louisiana 70447
Saturday, July 14, 2012
12:00pm – 4:00pm
Bring the kids and tour a piece of history in St. Tammany Parish! A perfect weekend outing! FREE to the public!
Open Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 4:00 p.m. Call 985-845-2100 for More Information.
Madisonville Historic Museum
201 Cedar Street
Madisonville, Louisiana 70447
Saturday, July 7, 2012
12:00pm – 4:00pm
Bring the kids and tour a piece of history in St. Tammany Parish! A perfect weekend outing! FREE to the public!
Open Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 4:00 p.m. Call 985-845-2100 for More Information.
Madisonville Historic Museum
201 Cedar Street
Madisonville, Louisiana 70447
Sunday, July 1, 2012
12:00pm – 4:00pm
Bring the kids and tour a piece of history in St. Tammany Parish! A perfect weekend outing! FREE to the public!
Open Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 4:00 p.m. Call 985-845-2100 for More Information.
In the last six months of 2011, St. Tammany Parish Government watched a rise in permits issued for new housing starts. In a decline since Hurricane Katrina, the number of new housing permits began to move upward in the latter half of 2011 with a 22% increase in new housing permits over the same six month period in 2010.
Parish leaders watched the rise with quiet, but cautious, optimism in the hopes that the trend would continue. The permit data for the first six months of 2012 confirms their optimism; new housing permits are up 18% over the same period in 2011.
“St. Tammany’s economy is improving,” said Parish President Pat Brister. “Sales tax collections are up parish wide by 3.44% over last fiscal year, which is about double the consumer price index for the twelve months ending in May 2012. If we combine this increase with the upward swing in new housing permits, it creates a positive picture for St. Tammany.”
Remodeling permits, which rose by 150% in 2011, are on pace to meet that rise in 2012. “This demonstrates citizen’s commitment to remain in St. Tammany,” said Sidney Fontenot, the parish’s Director of Planning. “People are investing in their own homes.”
Commercial construction permits are down in 2012 but that trend is expected to turn quickly. MECO, a water purification systems manufacturer, recently committed to build a new $11 million facility in the parish. Several other large developments are also in the planning stages.
Tyler Thomas park in old Mandeville will soon sport new playground equipment, part of a move by the city to bolster parks and recreation areas across the city. The city might also install public restrooms at several recreational sites.
American All Fun Inc. of Monroe submitted the lowest of five proposals the city received for the playground equipment, which is aimed at the younger children who frequent the park on Lamarque Street. The City Council recently awarded an $87,000 contract to the company and the work is expected to 
begin soon, Mayor Donald Villere said.
The playground equipment at Tyler Thomas will consist of four areas containing swings, slides, monkey bars, etc. Villere told the council, which unanimously approved the contract, that a review committee which included neighborhood residents evaluated the proposals.
The improvements to the park were formalized at the same meeting at which the council adopted a budget amendment that increased the amount of money to be set aside for public restrooms from $75,000 for the current fiscal year to $270,000. The initial $75,000 was for a restroom at Sunset Point, which has picnic tables and a public fishing pier. The increased line item reflects the city’s intention to install public bathrooms at several other locations as well, Villere said.
The money would finance new restrooms at Sunset Point, Tyler Thomas Playground, the harbor area and the Dew Drop jazz hall and improvements to the restrooms at the Paul Spitzfaden Community Center.
City Councilman Jeff Bernard said that while building bathrooms at Sunset Point, which currently has several portable toilets, and the Dew Drop might not cause a huge stir, the same probably cannot be said for the playground and harbor area. The question of public bathrooms, including areas along the lakefront, came up during some campaign forums in the last round of municipal elections, with a range of opinions offered by the candidates.
Bernard said some residents worry about maintenance issues and possible vandalism and crime in the bathrooms. “I’m not necessarily in favor of a bathroom at Tyler Thomas park,” he added. “I think there still has to be some discussion.”
Villere said he realizes that some residents might object to restrooms in some areas, but that there is a need at Sunset Point and the harbor area.
“This is advance notice,” he said of the amended restrooms line item in the budget. “We’ve put up the money. We’re floating this idea. We’re saying ‘We want you to be aware of where we’re headed with this.'”
