While officials at City Hall are today expecting to receive the first of several petitions from St. George area property owners seeking annexation into the Baton Rouge city limits,
organizers of the St. George incorporation say they, too, have been fielding calls from property owners outside the proposed boundaries of St. George wanting in.
St. George spokesman and attorney Drew Murrell says the requests have come from “businesses, neighborhoods and HOAs” both in unincorporated East Baton Rouge Parish and in the city of Baton Rouge.
At the moment, there’s not much St. George can do to begin annexation proceedings because it’s not an official city until it is certified. Certification cannot happen until 30 days after organizers of St. George, which was approved Oct. 12 by a majority of voters inside the proposed municipality, places a notice in the parish’s official legal journal.
Murrell says organizers contacted The Advocate, the official legal journal, earlier today about placing the ad and expects it to appear in the coming days, which would start the clock on the 30-day countdown.
In the meantime, Murrell says St. George organizers are “in limbo” but are developing a process neighborhoods and property owners can go through to request annexation.
Asked whether he is concerned about the potential loss of sales tax revenues from commercial properties requesting annexation into the city of Baton Rouge, he acknowledges it could have an effect on St. George’s revenue projections.
“But to be forewarned, that goes both ways,” he says. “Remember, we’ve had commercial properties contact us as well.”
In other St. George-related developments:
• St. George organizers met Thursday with East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux to discuss law enforcement protection for the new city. Murrell says Gautreaux assured organizers the EBRSO will continue providing patrols to the city, but he says there was no talk about actual costs for protection once the city is legally incorporated. Gautreaux could not be reached for comment this afternoon.
• A meeting between St. George leaders and Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, originally scheduled for today then postponed until Oct. 23, has been pushed back until Oct. 30 because of a scheduling conflict.
