MEMA COTTAGE RALLY - PROTEST IN WAVELAND

The following announcement was initiated by KATRINA RELIEF VOLUNTEERS whose home base is located in Waveland, MS/Hancock Co.





Come help advocate for equal rights in housing options

Housing advocates and activists are coming in from all over the country this weekend - many arriving today (Sunday). These are people who have dedicated their lives to making sure that housing is available to all. People next door and ministers - all with the same heart for the cause.

Where: Bourgeois Park (the ball field at Waveland) - Corner of Waveland Ave. and Central Ave.
When: Monday Jan. 26th. :: Time: 11a.m.

Relief Volunteer blog - continuous updates and lots of photos.
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More Subversive Delay Tactics by Waveland City?

According to the Sun Herald, Waveland Mayor Longo said, "residents who filed the lawsuit made a mistake. The Board of Aldermen had decided to allow cottages to stay when the board meets next." He continued by saying, "The crazy thing is, it was about to happen . . . now nothing can be done until it's heard by a judge."

Longo evidently is in some form of denial when he states that, "It's unbelievable that they would file suit. If you truly needed it, you were probably going to get your cottage." I think the key word here is "probably" as that is "flexible wording" that really doesn't mean anything. He isn't operating on "specifics" that will help those who need help the most. Else, why is it that the first MEMA cottage deadline is prior to the next scheduled meeting of the Aldermen. AND, the residents filing suit against the city were DENIED permission to keep their cottages as permanent housing!

COTTAGES ARE MODULAR!

Beleaguered Issue Seeing Positive Resolution?

HANCOCK CO. attorney Ronnie Artigues received a letter from Balch & Bingham LLP, which represents the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, which stated that the MEMA cottage is modular housing. A copy of that Jan. 7th. letter was sent to Hancock Co. officials. By Jan. 9th., Bay St. Louis officials were seemingly of the mind that they will have to comply with the state's definition.

Now after all of this time, it just seems to me that any dunce could've looked up this concern on the internet! All anyone had to do was go straight to the horse's mouth: Mississippi Cottage. Google it for Pete's sake! Or. . . maybe they did. . . and they just wanted to play hard ball in order wear people out so that they would perhaps give up and leave the area altogether??? Something surely was up with this long drawn out deal which essentially smelled of exclusionism and discrimination.

According to a recent article in The Sea Coast Echo as far back as May 2008, the Mississippi Fire Marshal's Office's definition of a "modular home" is "a structure which is transportable in one or two sections; designed to be used as a dwelling when connected to the required utilities; constructed in accordance with a nationally recognized building code; and designed to be permanently installed on it's final destination on an approved foundation."

We can only hope that the state's official declaration on the matter WILL prevent Bay St. Louis City Council from condemning and confining the cottages to "trailer" parks. Pass Christian and Biloxi have been allowing the cottages within residentially-zoned areas as long as elevation, foundation, and setback requirements are met.

Cottage features include:
* A front porch
* Comfortable living areas
* Durability
* Wind resistant up to 150 mph
* Hurricane strapping
* Plenty of insulation for energy efficiency
* Design for maximum storage space
* Design style which fits Gulf Coast architecture
* 1, 2, or 3 bedroom models

There will also be an Eco Cottage which is currently in the planning stage.

MEMA WASTING MONEY ON "TEST"

Lowe's Katrina Cottages available in different plans.


According to a recent article in the Mississippi Press, MEMA is conducting a TEST to see "if the cottages are better solutions than FEMA trailers."

A $280 million federal grant will cover the cost of this "test." A test is almost laughable, if it wasn't so sad because it is wasteful and non-productive. MEMA just needs to talk with those who suffered or still continue to suffer the confines of a trailer and the mold and toxic formaldehyde issues with those trailers.

What has happened to logic and common sense? This country has wasted and squandered more money in the past 8-year administration than is humanly possible to imagine! That $280 million would house a lot of people in cottages! Just get on with solving the problems and stop messing around!

Mississippi Cottage


Mississippi Cottage built in Ocean Springs as a model home.

JACKSON CO. RETHINKS MEMA COTTAGES, ZONING

This MS Cottage, located in Waveland, replaced a FEMA trailer just a few months ago. The people who live in this one are extremely happy with it.
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The Jackson County Board of Supervisors has indicated that it just might rethink the issue of MEMA Cottages as permanent housing.

As I see it, this is a very smart move. It's logical and reasonable. It's practical and it will provide much more realistic housing for those who still suffer those intolerable FEMA trailers that are FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE TOXIC!

The Mississippi Cottages are modular built homes. The fact that they are portable should not dissuade officials or neighborhoods from allowing them to become a real housing solution. The cottages are built to withstand winds up to 150 mph. That's pretty tough. They are also energy efficient, don't produce mold, and are built to housing code standards whereas plumbing and electrical are concerned.

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"In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?" – Saint Augustine

MODULAR HOMES for the COAST

This is a copy of a letter I sent to the Biloxi Sun Herald

I am writing in reference to the July 31st. story, "County rejects modular home."

MODULAR homes are NOT MOBILE homes. Modular and Mobile are two different words with totally different meanings.

I would like to challenge all of those posting negative remarks in the comment section of the story and all CITY "LEADERS" to go to "GOOGLE" then click "Images," then type in "Modular Homes." DO YOUR RESEARCH. Educate yourselves instead of causing more problems than is necessary. Then create some guidelines as pertains to DESIGN and STYLE and let modular homes be included in site built neighborhoods.

I am in agreement that Mobile housing/TRAILERS should NOT be put into a neighborhood of site built housing. TRAILERS are cheap boxes made with cheap products which decrease in value.

Modular homes are an important piece of the puzzle for accomplishing the rebuilding of homes along the coast. There are many, many types of designs and styles of architecture for modular homes and THAT is where to begin in solving the issues of Modular Homes in site built neighborhoods. People just need to pick the style that blends with the environment.

As for covenants??? Katrina has changed the coast in ways that those covenants nor their creators could have forseen. NEW IDEAS are what is needed now. What's wrong with getting yourselves up to date and educated and then make changes in those outdated covenants to include MODULAR HOMES?

Now, quit bickering!