Text follow CityofWalker to 40404 to get text alerts on your cell phone. Please note: Standard messaging rates apply.
Get the latest news
Punk Smith Park renovations begin
As part of the City of Walker's continuing upgrades to parks and recreation, workers have begun major renovations to Punk Smith Park. We are replacing playground equipment installed decades ago with new play structures that are also handicapped accessible. Additions iinclude a new swing set, a jungle gym unit and a space whirl merry-go-round. To see the new playground additions, click here.
For special needs children: Challenger Division
Developmentally and physically challenged youth can now take part in Little League through the City of Walker’s Challenger Division. The program allows special needs children to enjoy the full benefits of T-ball and baseball in an athletic environment structured to their abilities. The program is open to boys and girls ages 4-18. Practice and games begin later this month. For more information, click here.
Walker: The Year in Review
So what did your tax dollars do in the City of Walker in 2011? Check out our newest Annual Report, We Built This City, so named because it was Walker's first official year as a city, and we as a community worked together to continue improving our quality of life. Learn about all the infrastructure we built, free community events we offered, grants we won and improvements we made. Click here to see the report.
Business is booming!
Business continues to boom in the City of Walker. In January, sales tax receipts increased 39% over the previous January. We collected $409,147, compared to $293,796 during that same month a year ago. Our growth certainly helps. So far this year, we've welcomed four new or expanding businesses, and last year welcomed 38 new businesses to our community. Read more in our Year in Review here.
Check out this blueprint.
What are our next priorities for annexation into the city? Which of our roads should be expanded into parkways? Where will we focus our next beautification efforts? These and other questions are answered in the latest draft of our master plan, "Blueprint of a City," available online for your viewing here. We've delayed adoption of the document until later this spring to give everyone a chance to review it.
New Year. New Walker.
Happy New Year, Walker! We're very excited about the coming year in our community. We have a number of improvements coming our way in 2012, including the widening of the interstate and intersection improvements, the opening of Our Lady of the Lake Livingston in the fall, new equipment and trails at the parks and more. To get a glimpse of all that's in store, click here.
Beautification begins
That heavy machinery you see working along La. 447 is a sure sign that Phase II of our gateway beautification project is under way. Our contractor, Hard Rock Construction, is planting Crepe Myrtles, Little Gems, Hameln Grass, Creeping Juniper and Indian Hawthorne on both sides of the roadway from Aydell Lane to Pendarvis Lane. The work continues through Jan. 9. There should be no disruption of business.
Walker gets a major parks grant
The City of Walker has won a $35,000 grant from the National Park Service Land & Water Conservation Fund for even more improvements to Punk Smith Park. Some of our plans: new ISO-certified play equipment, a new swings [including handicapped], a new jungle gym, a sitting bench and a space whirl merry-go-round. A second phase calls for refurbishing the restroom facility and the pavilions.
Recycle it right
Please help us keep the City of Walker's recycling bin at the Municipal Building from becoming a community eyesore. DO NOT leave large bags or items outside the bin. Please place your recyclables in smaller bags that will fit through the openings, and break down larger items so they can be properly placed in the bin. For more recycling dos and don'ts, click here.
What the independent audit says
For those of you with neither the time nor the inclination to read all 79 pages of our latest independent audit, here's the short version: Net assets rose from $11.5 million in 2009 to $13.1 million in 2010. Total revenues were $13 million; expenses, $11.3 million. We spent 12% less on general government expenses and more on public safety and parks & recreation. No deficiencies found. Read the full report here.
Our Animal Shelter now has extended hours
In hopes of uniting more animals with their new forever homes in our community, the City of Walker is extending the hours of the Walker Animal Shelter to include Saturdays. The shelter is now open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day for those seeking a new family member to adopt. For all the details about our shelter and adoptions, click here.
Walker's water rating improves
Through the efforts of our hard-working Department of Public Works, Walker has improved its water rating by 30 points on the Department of Environmental Quality's Municipal Water Audit. The audit examines water quality, equipment, timely reporting, compliance with permit standards and sampling techniques. This comes less than a year after our Energy Conservation System of the Year Award.
Turning up the pressure
The City of Walker is getting ready for a major improvement in sewer services. The Eastside Force Main infrastructure project will improve the efficiency of our sewer operations and may also lead to further upgrades. New 10-inch, 8-inch and 6-inch force mains will be built, as well as a new collection system and improvements to pumping stations.
Honoring those who serve our country
The Walker Museum announces the opening of a new exhibit, Honoring Those Who Serve. This unique collection of historical military memorabilia represents all branches of the armed forces, on loan from families throughout South Louisiana. See treasures from the miliary in action at war and in peace, including uniforms, weapons and more. It's open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.
Be a part of our master plan
Think you have some pretty compelling ideas about the direction Walker should be heading in the future? Put those views in action by serving on one of our small-group charrettes for our master planning process. Call us at 225-665-4356 to sign up. Learn other ways you can make your views known on our new website, Blueprint of A City: A Community Vision for Walker.
More beautification is on the way
Look for more magnolias, crepe myrtles and Indian Hawthorns springing up along La. 447. The City of Walker has competed for and received another $100,000 beautification grant to green our major thoroughfare all the way to the interstate. Beautification efforts began in 2009, with the planting of foliage along La. 447 from just past U.S. 190 to about Aydell Lane. This will pick up where that left off.
Walker's top scholars
Please join us in congratulating the five Walker High School students honored for their academic achievement by the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce. Recipients of $1,000 scholarships were Alana Smith, Kayla Hill, Kelci Sibley, Stephanie Arledge and Katelynn Harris. Walker Mayor Bobby Font co-sponsored a vocational/technical scholarship. A total of 23 Livingston Parish students won awards.
Boy Scouts in action
Walker's young people are pitching in to help improve this community. Boy Scout Troop 174 has built a new flower bed to adorn the entrance to the Walker Parks & Recreation's Ball Park on La. 447. The city supplied the materials; the scouts did the work. The project was the idea of Colton Romito, a 14-year-old Westside Junior High School student earning an Eagle merit badge. To read more, click here.
'Scenes From A Country Life' at The Walker Museum
The Walker Museum Community Art Gallery features award-winning Walker artist Patricia Delk's 'Scenes From A Country Life.' The collection features images of days gone by — horses, mules, pioneers, cowboys and spring blooms — in pencil, watercolor and acrylic. To read more, click here. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.
Making it to the top
Our All Star Team ranks among the top three Biddy Basketball teams in the nation, and one of its players has set a new "hot shot" record. Two players were also named to the Biddy All American Team. The 7- and 8-year-old All Stars took first in the district tournament in Plaquemine; third in the regional tournament in Galiano; and third in the World Biddy Tournament in Thibodaux March 30. Read more here.
On the roads again
Livingston Parish's top community leaders and a room full of residents met in Walker with a single purpose in mind: To prioritize road projects for our parish. And they accomplished just that — in about 90 minutes. At the top of the list of major projects: The widening of the La. 447 overpass and one mile of La. 447 heading south. Several other key Walker projects are included. To see the entire list, click here.
Our local economy: Still going strong
Another good sign that our local economy remains strong. Sales tax collections were up 8% in the City of Walker last month compared to the same time a year ago. The community collected $248,661 last month, compared with $230,699 in February 2010. Collections are also up 2% for the past eight months, compared to the same eight months of 2010. Thank you all for supporting our local businesses!
Our town becomes a city
The 2010 Census numbers are out, and the Town of Walker is no longer a town. Our population has grown to 6,138 — up 28% since the last count a decade ago. That makes us a city. Walker grew faster than Louisiana, the South and the nation as a whole. We'll celebrate our new-found status at our Independence Day celebration in Sidney Hutchinson Park on July 2.
Our Lady of the Lake Livingston breaks ground
Our Lady of the Lake Livingston broke ground this spring on a 140,000-square-foot facility in Walker that includes a 24/7 emergency room, outpatient services like lab and imaging, an onsite pharmacy, a Community Health Education Conference Room and physician offices. It will create 200 jobs in the first year of operation and is expected to open in the Summer of 2012. Click here to see an artist's rendering.
10 Things We Loved Most About Walker in 2010
What was so great about life in the City of Walker in 2010? We tell all in our new Year In Review — a brand new annual report for the City of Walker. Stroll with us down memory lane as we revisit our many community events, our first-ever summer camp for kids, upgrades to the Walker Animal Shelter, our national public works award, the launching of our master plan and more. To read it, click here.
Walker's Master Plan moves forward
Citizens have told us that one of the community's most pressing needs is a comprehensive master plan to guide growth. We are pleased to report that one is on the way. The City of Walker has hired Kendig Keast Collaborative — a national award-winning planning firm — to help us develop a strategy. Read more about what a master plan will mean in 'The Walker Report' here.
Seven road projects in the works
Look for a host of road improvements coming our way. Later this month, road crews will begin striping work on Pendarvis Lane and Duff Road. We have also obtained funding for intersection improvements at U.S. 190 and La. 1029 [Corbin Road]. Want to know what other projects are slated? Read about them all in The Walker Report here.