Lake Charles City Hall and Calcasieu Parish officials today will celebrate the completion of the East McNeese Street extension
from La. 14 to La. 397.
Both agencies worked together in constructing the new road and installing infrastructure.
City Administrator John Cardone said the land surrounding the road is about 2,000 acres. With the installation of sewer and
water lines, that property represents the type of area that could be annexed into the city.
Annexation tops City Councilman Rodney Geyen’s list of governmental goals.
Wednesday, the council approved a
resolution, sponsored by Geyen, to allow Mayor Randy Roach’s
administration to study annexation
and create a plan for growing the city’s limits.
“We need to grow. I think we can grow faster,” Geyen said after the decision.
Next week, administration officials will meet with Geyen, City Councilman Mark Eckard and an undecided member of the panel
to discuss what areas of the city could be annexed.
Cardone said parts of southeast and southwest Lake Charles are areas where land could be added to the city’s limits.
“A plan was created in 2007. The idea
that grew from that was we understand it is costly to retrofit areas
where people live
but don’t have infrastructure. So it makes sense to annex property
where water and sewer doesn’t exist since it would be cheaper,”
he said.
Local government officials believe that making capital investments in such areas will also get the attention of developers.
“They would be able to build at a reasonable cost because water and sewer lines would already exist and all they would have
to do is connect to them,” Cardone said.
City officials intend to examine the cost to instal and maintain utilities and the overall cost benefit of annexing. Fire
insurance ratings will also be discussed.