Henderson eyes levee annexation

With the legality of the proposed I-10 area annexation to be decided in an appeal hearing on March 21, Henderson officials will now explore the possibility of annexing a section of the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee.
That would place levee clubs and tour operations, as well as the planned Boy Scout Swamp Base, within the Henderson town limits.
At the Feb. 13 town council meeting, council members gave Mayor Sherbin Collette permission to proceed with an engineering study for the levee annexation. The engineering firm Domingue and Szabo will be contracted for the study, Collette said.
Collette reported that he has spoken to all of the business owners on the levee and all have expressed support for the proposal.
Legal advisor Jerry Mallet said all the right-of-way servitudes needed for sewer line extension to the northwest annex area are now complete. Collette said upgrades to the sewer lift station are also finished as well.
It remains to be seen whether the 16th Judicial Court will rule in favor of the contested annexation proposal this time around. It was refused in the initial 2006 hearing and that decision was affirmed in a 2012 appeal.
With more than $188,000 of Henderson’s funds spent in preparation for it, officials are clearly optimistic that the annexation will be allowed.
In other business, the council voted to introduce an ordinance accepting the donation of a parcel of land by Farmers and Merchants Bank for the location of a new city hall building. The land is next to the old location of the bank on Main Street.
They also approved dedication of the required 25 percent, or $83,333 local matching funds, that will secure a $250,000 state Capital Outlay Grant for construction of the building.