The City of San Antonio is giving two square miles of its land to the City of Converse. Converse will also annex three square miles of unincorporated Bexar County. The two cities are entering into an agreement to provide better services to the areas.
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The Northampton neighborhood is included in the two square miles San Antonio is turning over to Converse. Debbie Fassett a Northampton resident hopes the change will shorten police response times.
“I had to call police and had about 45 minutes for a 911 call out to the house because they’re having to come from East Houston Street.”
San Antonio Councilman Alan Warrick says San Antonio has a hard time providing services there. “It’s been tough to offer exact services with just San Antonio resources because they’re kind of an island over there. They’re definitely closer to Converse City Hall than San Antonio City Hall.”
San Antonio will also give Converse portions of Gibbs-Sprawl Road. The three square miles of unincorporated Bexar County that will be incorporated into Converse includes the blighted neighborhoods of the Glen and Camelot.
Converse Mayor Al Suarez says his city will provide needed police services. “That’s basic planning. We’re not going to take anything we can’t handle,” he says.
These areas were part of San Antonio’s aggressive annexation plans last year but the city scaled back its plans and declined annexing these parts of the county.
San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor says the city would have lost money if it had done that. “The cost to provide services was more than we would gain in revenues,” she adds.
The annexation is expected to take seven years. The Converse City Council will vote on the agreement next week. The San Antonio City Council is expected to approve it on Feb. 2.
