Westlake City Council and administration look forward to future development along its waterfront and expressed its appreciation of three firefighters for long-standing service at its Monday meeting. Honored with a helmet presentation were Assistant Chief Melissa “Missy” Bowles, 25 years; Chief Tim Martin, 20 years; and Captain Matthew Webb, 20 years.

Westlake Fire Chief Jonathan Duff said those years of working together has made the difference in communication, level of involvement and thus, performance.

“Think of it as a sports team,” he said. “You get a group that starts playing together when they’re young…. That just makes for a better team.”

The Westlake Fire Department “tracks” about 100 calls a month, according to Duff.

A video from Barry King, Westlake’s architect, helped Council and administration envision what Westlake could look like in the future as investors see the  potential of the perfectly situated waterfront property and take advantage of the tax benefits.

Mayor Hal McMillin said he shared the video when he attended the Louisiana Community Resilience Institute two-day workshop in Baton Rouge earlier this year, an event especially for mayors that brings together architects, engineers, hazard mitigation specialists and other planning experts for an intensive session on the importance of urban design tailored to a community’s needs, according to McMillin.

The workshop experience and the film prompts some driving questions for the City about how public investments could be made to connect recreation amenities and other publicly owned properties across the City in a pedestrian friendly manner? Can design elements shift the City from an industry to a destination location? How can Miller Avenue be redeveloped to support connections between amenities and keep pedestrians off busier transportation corridors? What do parish-city or public-private partnerships look like, and how can these types of coordination support the City’s vision?

As Westlake looks at the future, it’s working in the present to make the city a more attractive place to live and visit for all.

Properties at 1716 West Wehrt St., 500 Magnolia St., 827 Live Oak St., and 220 Myrtle Springs Rd. were slated for condemnation.

McMillin announced that Waffle House has broken ground, and he looks forward to more franchises locating on and nearby Sampson St., where 40,000 cars pass per day.

The names of the Westlake High School Students of the Month were announced, Hallie Wilrye, Gage Sanders, Nadia Carlson, Decklan Ewalt, Chloe Bertrand, Jonah Arnold, Emma Tradewell and Cole Bazinet.