Students associated with one of five buyers of a contentious piece of property surveyed the land for a school project, another buyer has confirmed with Northwest Weekly.

The 33 acres on Scenic Loop Road sold to several San Antonio residents — mostly university colleagues — on Sept. 4. The group says the purchase was an investment and no plans are slated for the land.

The surveyors, who volunteered their services to the city of Helotes’ Parks and Open Space Committee, were students of Chi-Shin “Rocky” Shih, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Originally, the city had a stake in the land, but before funding could be finalized to fully purchase the land, the contract lapsed and another contract was put on the parcel immediately.

Alberto Arroyo, speaking on behalf of the group of buyers, said the students’ project has nothing to do with Shih’s investment of the property.

“Some of the students in one of his classes were indeed involved in this survey, but that is the extent of his involvement with this property until just recently,” Arroyo said in an e-mail, adding that he and co-buyer Elizabeth Ortiz initiated the selection of the property and invited Shih to participate.

He added that while looking at other land in the Helotes and Grey Forest areas, a real estate agent’s sign informed him of the 33 acres on Scenic Loop. It was then that he contacted David Culvert with LandTx, a real estate agency that identifies itself as “devoted to protecting the rural environment.”

Some residents were skeptical of the land grab when a July 12 announcement revealed that the acreage would not be going to the city of Helotes for the Sen. Frank Madla Memorial Park, which still has no home.

“The city was unable to perform under seller’s desired timeline, price and terms, and the new buyers were,” Culver said in an e-mail of the transaction. Arroyo said he made the initial contact with LandTx, and they toured the land only to be informed that there was already a pre-existing contract placed down.

“We were of course disappointed, but not surprised given the beauty of the property,” Arroyo said. “However, Mr. Culvert called us the following day to inform us that the existing option had expired earlier that month and that the property was indeed available for purchase if we were interested.”

Amir and Colleen Karimi are the other buyers.

Arroyo and Shih are professors for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, with air quality listed among their special interests. Arroyo is also the owner of Arroyo Engineering Inc. in San Antonio.

Amir Karimi is a professor and associate dean for the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The revelation that volunteer surveyors were linked to one of the eventual buyers has apparently not affected future collaborations between the Parks and Open Spaces Committee and student volunteers.

“We’re welcome to any kind of assistance,” said Ron Green, chairman of the committee, during a recent meeting of the panel in which somebody asked about using the help of UTSA students.

The committee is currently establishing criteria for future potential sites for Madla Park, with a goal of having its choices nailed down by Dec. 1.

Helotes has access to $1.25 million in state matching funds for the project, but the money is only available for the 2008 fiscal year. The park would be in honor of the late Sen. Madla, a longtime Helotes-area resident who died in a house fire last November.

The 33 acres, between Helotes and Grey Forest and part of San Antonio’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, originally belonged to three siblings of the Rhine family. The San Antonio Express-News reported last December that the Rhine family had sought naming rights for the park when Helotes had a contract on the land. However, officials told the family that doing so would interfere with the project’s funding. Helotes Mayor Tom Schoolcraft, along with some residents, preferred the park to go on land at Iron Horse Canyon, donated by the subdivision’s developer.

In June, the mayor blocked an agenda item on the city’s extension of the Scenic Loop site contract, one of three actions that prompted a restraining order against him last month.

Schoolcraft also made headlines at a June City Council meeting when he voiced a more than 3,000-word denunciation of the park going to the Scenic Loop location.

The land on Iron Horse Canyon was donated because it is not developable, opponents to the location say, and some residents of the subdivision are against having the park on that land.

As for the five buyers, they couldn’t be more befuddled as to why their purchase has attracted so much attention.

“Anyone could have purchased it,” Arroyo said. “We are just the lucky people who happen to be in the right place at the right time.”