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Mayor: Laketown amphitheater permit filed; fire millage will fund equipment rotation
Summary
Kenner's mayor told the Feb. 21 council the city has submitted permit plans for the Laketown Amphitheater and said a recently passed millage will fund a multi-year rotation of fire apparatus and equipment replacements.
Kenner's mayor told the City Council on Feb. 21 that the city has submitted permit plans for the Laketown Amphitheater to the Louisiana Department of State Lands and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and that the plans are "pretty much complete," city officials said.
"They did say they received it," the mayor said, adding that if the permit is approved crews will place surcharge and preload material on the site — "a large amount of sand" — that will settle over several months before the structure is built. The mayor said the finished grade will be about 22 feet in the air initially and will settle into its final position as the site is surcharged.
The mayor also summarized the city's recently approved millage dedicated to the fire department, saying it will support capital replacement and regular apparatus rotation. "The millage is completely dedicated to the fire department, meaning anything that we do not spend goes back into next year's capital for the fire department," he said. He said the department's operations for the 2024-25 fiscal year were budgeted with a $7.8 million deficit that the general fund covered and that the millage will reduce general-fund transfers over time.
The mayor outlined short-term and longer-term fire-department plans: the city has two apparatus on order and two remaining payments on recently received apparatus; once a rotation is established, the oldest units will be replaced approximately every two to three years. He said station projects are underway: Station 38 (Duke Street) is under construction and Station 35 (the old City Hall station) will be relocated to 20 Fourth Street at Williams, with planning and architect meetings ongoing.
The mayor also noted that the planning department completed a study of zoning and permitting that allows gas stations and vape shops to operate; he said the analysis may lead to legislation to tighten code if the council desires. No specific ordinance was introduced at the Feb. 21 meeting related to that study.
Councilmembers asked follow-up questions about timelines and costs; the mayor said expensive equipment (the next fire truck) was estimated at about $1.4 million in current prices and that it will take several years to catch up on capital needs even with the millage.
