By Tony Cantú
Contributing Writer

Terrell Hills City Council members have opted to wait on performing any additional roadwork on arteries on the city’s northern sector until an analysis of water lines is completed.

During its regular council meeting March 10, the council was to be briefed on potential road construction projects for 2008-09. But City Manager Mark Browne said the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) is currently doing an analysis of water lines toward possible replacement of some of them. As a result, the city will put a hold on future roadwork, Browne said in a later interview.

“It just doesn’t appear there are any likely candidates to have additional work done,” Browne said. “SAWS is doing some analysis for us, looking at some of the lines on the north side of the city. They want to see if they want to replace water mains on those streets.”

Up to now, Terrell Hills had aggressively pursued road repair work in recent months.

In June of last year, several long-planned road projects were approved for completion at Morningside, Eventide, Wiltshire and Merrie Lane. The city approved an expenditure of $510,163 for that work, awarding Ryan Materials Inc., the contract. Previous major road repair projects targeted improvements to Stillwell, Grandview, Burr, Duval and Coventry roads.

Also during the meeting, council members discussed the status of a pending agreement with Alamo Heights regarding emergency services although no decision was made. For the past 25 years, Alamo Heights personnel have provided the 911 pre-hospital emergency medical service system for its own residents as well as Olmos Park and Terrell Hills.

But in light of attempts to revamp the system, Alamo Heights has met with some resistance from its partner cities. The delay in hammering out a final agreement is largely related to the form the arrangement would take – Alamo Heights pushing for a cooperative service while the two partner cities insisting on a partnership with a buyout provision.

To sweeten the pot, Alamo Heights even offered to increase its funding share of the tri-city agreement to a 60 percent/40 percent split, with Terrell Hills and Olmos Park responsible for a 27 percent and 13 percent share, respectively.

Despite the slow pace of negotiations, Browne said a final agreement with Alamo Heights was imminent. The updated EMS pact with Terrell Hills would run from April 1 of this year until Sept. 30, 2011.

“We briefed council on some of the provisions of that contract, and we want to make sure there are not any loose items out there,” Browne said. “I think we’re close, but you never know what council will do.”

More solid footing was noted in the city’s bottom line, with income far exceeding expenses. The city manager noted the city was over budget with $1,988,234 in year-to-date total income, versus $892,060 in total expenses. The increase is largely attributable to recently collection of property taxes, Browne said.

“That’s to be expected,” he said. “We take in all our tax money in the early part of the year during January, February and March. Our budget is in good shape right now.”