LG Wards to Change

The City of La Grange will have to redraw its voting wards due to population changes identified by the 2020 Census.

The new census figures show that Ward 2 decreased in population by about 28 percent. Ward 2 covers the south and southeast portion of town, including the area along the Colorado River. That area was devastated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 with many homes destroyed by the historic flood.

Ward 3, which covers the eastern portion of town, increased in population by about 25 percent since the last census. That area has seen much residential development over the past 10 years. Hope Hill, the new subdivision on Horton Street that was built for those who lost homes in the 2017 flood, lies adjacent to Ward 3 but it has not yet been annexed into the city.

City Manager Shawn Raborn said each of the four wards must contain a roughly equal population within a margin of 10 percent. He said the populations in Wards 1 and 4 have not changed by more than 10 percent.

The City Council voted Monday night to hire the law firm of Alan Bojorquez to handle the redistricting. Raborn said Bojorquez would aim to keep all Council members in their current wards.

In other business at Monday’s meeting, Council awarded a bid for the Hilltop watertower rehabilitation project to the low bidder, A&M Construction and Utilities, for $289,500. The City L received 10 bids for the project, which involves repainting the interior and exterior of the watertower.

“The bidding was very competitive, and I’m very pleased with it,” Raborn said.

The 10 bids ranged from A&M’s low bid of $289,500 to a high bid of $449,009.