The city of Lake Charles will begin to supplement the litter pickups in Calcasieu Parish. At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to enter into an agreement for additional interstate maintenance activities.

With the acceptance of the ordinance, the city will supplement the state’s vegetation and litter maintenance along I-10 and I-210, allowing for additional cuts, vegetation controls and litter pickups in all areas.

Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter expressed his aggravation with the litter issues in the city.

“Over the last couple of years, I think we have really seen an uptick in litter, and it’s bothersome, it’s frustrating. I think if you litter, you’re a bum, by the way, and I really get annoyed and frustrated by the amount of litter we see in this community.”

Reducing litter won’t happen overnight, he said.

Hunter explained that a cultural shift is necessary, and will be brought on with proper education on the detrimental effects of litter.

“I think if you’re an adult and you are thick-headed enough to litter, it’s probably going to take more than is humanly possible to get it through to you, to make you understand, that you’re not supposed to litter. So we’ve really got to focus on the future, we’ve got to focus on the youth, and education is a big part of that.”

He explained that the city can’t wait for that cultural change to happen. To address the problem, the city decided that supporting the state and parish in litter pickup was the best answer. The task will unfortunately cost money, he said.

“It’s not something we’re excited about doing, but it needs to be done.”

The areas alongside I-10 or I-210 where there are high amounts of litter and overgrown grass will be target areas.

The bid was awarded to Rotolo Consultants, Inc., a full-service landscape construction company, for $86,420.58.

Hunter confirmed that this will be an annual expense.

In the coming weeks, the Council will be presented with an ordinance that would create a partnership between the city and the Ward 3 Marshal’s Office to hire a dedicated law enforcement officer for litter-related instances.

The officer would have the jurisdiction to write tickets, as opposed to a city inspector who is unable to write tickets on the spot, and would focus on commercial, retail spaces with large parking spots, as much of that litter enters city waterways and greenspaces, he said.

“That’s huge, because if you hit people in their pocketbooks, you can get a better response. Unfortunately, that’s sometimes what it takes.”

In addition to the increased interstate maintenance activities, the city recently hired eight additional employees to increase internal litter detail crews. To increase litter detail crew activity, the city has begun to offer overtime work on weekends for city employees.

The city has also applied a program through the American Job Center to add an additional litter detail crew.

Hunter said that these actions are not “hot air,” but tangible solutions that cost money. Including the $86,000 interstate maintenance contract with Rotolo Consultants, the cost of every anti-litter city initiative will be an estimated $150,000 to $170,000 a year.

“At this point, we just have to do more and bite the bullet and try to clean up this city.”

John Ieyoub, District D, and Craig Marks, vice president, District F, were not present for the meeting.