Marble Falls EMS contract gets conditional approval
That approval came at Monday’s regular meeting, where the council also heard residents’ objections to the proposed Falling Waters development on the east shore of Lake Marble Falls.
The EMS contract’s approval came after more than a month of postponements to give council members more time to review the document, which calls for the city to pay EMS at least $128,000 per year.
The contract also assesses fines against EMS for a number of contract violations, including late filing of reports, failure to respond to medical emergencies within a specified time and failure to stock needed equipment onboard the EMS company’s vehicles.
Those proposed fines were reduced to $100 per incident after council members in October expressed concern over the original, stiffer, penalties of up to $500.
Assistant City Manager Ralph Hendricks said city staff worked to incorporate the council’s concerns into the updated contract, adding EMS lawyers have yet to see the latest version.
Councilman Josh Parker, who opposed the contract’s conditional approval along with Councilman Bryan Hicks, said he was leery of supporting the document before EMS lawyers could review it.
“If we approve it, and the EMS lawyers come back with a number of changes, then we’re back in the same mess we’re in,” Parker said.
The new contract will now be forwarded to EMS lawyers for their approval, Hendricks said.
In other action, representatives of a new group dubbed The Friends of Lake Marble Falls spoke out against a proposed development they say could negatively impact the waterway.
Scott Kendrick of the group said the new Falling Waters development that’s planned for about 320 acres on the lake’s east shore could result in overcrowding on the narrow waterway.
The council took no action on a requested re-zoning of the property that would have allowed developers to build high-density housing, choosing instead to re-examine the request in December following updates to the city’s comprehensive plan.
“We feel the planned rezoning could result in a development that is too high-density,” Kendrick said. “The Friends of Lake Marble Falls want the land around Lake Marble Falls to remain for single-family low-density housing.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Pilley echoed Kendrick’s sentiment, saying that many recent developments in the city have highlighted multi-family housing.
“Everything we’re looking at is for multi-family developments,” Pilley said. “We need more (single family residential housing). I think we need to really start looking at that.”
Kendrick said the group doesn’t oppose planned commercial development on one portion of the land fronting RR 1431, adding the group hopes to work with the city to reach a compromise.
The next council meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17 in council chambers, 800 Third St.
chris@thepicayune.com