It’s something you wouldn’t expect to hear about the city’s recovery pace – it’s moving too quickly for some.

Wednesday, as the head of the city’s recovery detailed big plans that are getting ready to move forward, some tell him moving forward too fast is a problem.

One of the first concerns of Recovery Director Ed Blakely was that the pressure to rebuild fast can meant taking away neighborhood character.

Producing these thoughts to the city council in a Wednesday meeting brought out a spirited back-and-forth between Blakely and District E council member Cynthia Willard-Lewis.

“I just went past some developments in a neighborhood where every single house is the same, and that bothered me tremendously,” Blakely said.

“If we send a no-nonsense, firm and fast agenda and plan of action to the developers, if we make it very firm that this is what we want as government and that it is an opportunity to create a win-win but certainly not off the back of our neighborhoods and citizens, they will accommodate,” Willard-Lewis said. “But if they think they can get away with it, they will.”

Said Blakely, “Sometimes, the planning commission is pushed to get something through so we have something on the ground. I think we have to take a good look at what we’re putting on the ground. That’s my point. That there’s a lot of pressure to get things done fast.”

Blakely also said the city is moving forward in getting people out of trailers and into homes.

On group sites, there were a couple of thousand. Now, that’s down to 202. There has not been enough rental property for these people, but now, more is coming available.

In trailers on people’s home property there were 7,000. That’s now down to 5,000, with those people still needing to see assistance money, like Road Home funds.

Blakely said he’s also getting ready for the end of the school year.

“Money has been released to open up some parks, to clean them up and to fix them up so they will be ready for summer,” Blakely said. “Not all the swimming pools because the swimming pools were severely damaged, and so it’s gong to take awhile before we get the swimming pools up.

“But those swimming pools that are up are going to be operating, and we have a couple of swimming pools that are in the final throes. Hopefully, they will be ready this summer.”

Blakely also said they are concentrating on an area in Central City that badly needs attention. They are working with non-profits and other groups to decide which houses should be demolished and which ones should be renovated.