City officials gave final approval Tuesday on a request to annex nearly 17 acres of property just north of Interstate 10 to allow for a commercial truck dealership to be built in the city limits.

The council also introduced a separate measure to rezone a plot of the Sunshine Addition annexation from suburban to commercial for construction of the dealership. The council will vote on the rezoning request at its Sept. 12 meeting.

“Old River is an 18-wheeler dealership that is requesting to locate inside the city limits of Jennings,” Mayor Henry Guinn said. “Anytime that a property is annexed into the city it is automatically classified as suburban, that way it goes in front of the Zoning Committee, then it is up for discussion and debate on how it should be classified.”

The Zoning Committee met prior to the council meeting and there were no objections to rezone the property to commercial, Guinn said.

Old River Truck Sales plans to build a commercial truck dealership specializing in sales, parts and service of Mack, Volvo and other brands of heavy trucks and trailers on property located 3346 N. Frontage Road. The property is located just west of the Camelot Brookside retirement home and the Louisiana Oil and Gas Park.

The truck dealership is the second large business to announce plans to locate on the North Service Road this year.

In May, the city annexed 10 acres of rice fields on the North Service Road for Sunshine Equipment to relocate its John Deere dealership from Welsh and build a new $7.5 million dealership and service center in Jennings.

Construction of the 28,750-square-foot facility is underway. It is expected to be completed by March 2024.

No date has been announced for construction of the Old River truck dealership.

In other matters, the council introduced an ordinance to permanently close North Avenue between Church and State streets.

If approved next month, the closure would allow the city to move forward on a proposed $7.2 million renovation and expansion of the city’s water plant. The project will allow the city to double its water capacity.

The plan calls for demolition of the current administration building at the water plant. A million gallon above storage tank will be installed where the administration building is currently located.

“This road closure will allow us to move our administration and warehouses to recently acquired property on the north side of North Street,” Guinn said.

The city is seeking funding through the Louisiana Department of Health Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund for water system improvements, including adding two-and-a-half miles of water lines to the North Service Road and sand blasting and repainting both water towers.