Town and Country Talks Fire, Ambulance and New Neighborhood

Two contracts affecting Town and Country's fire and ambulance service could be voted on Monday night at the Town and Country Board of Aldermen meeting.

At the end of the last board meeting, aldermen and the mayor went into closed session, then returned to open session in the board chambers to add two new bills to the agenda for first reading. 

Bill 11-37 would authorized a Fire and Ambulance Service Agreement and Lease with the West County EMS and Fire Protection District.

Bill 11-38 would authorized an agreement between the city of Town and Country and the Central County Emergency 911 for dispatching services. 

Both bills are set to be read again and could be voted on at Monday's meeting.

Since Town and Country does not have its own fire and ambulance service, it has contracted those services out to the , formerly the Manchester Fire Protection District, since Dec. 1, 1983. The current contract is set to expire and the new five-year contract would take effect Jan. 1, 2012.

The city also contracts out to Central County Emergency 911 for fire and ambulance dispatching services.

New Neighborhood

The board could also vote on the preliminary site development and move forward with the architectural review of The Estates at Town and Country Crossing. The new neighborhood of 65 homes would be located at 1000-1272 Town and Country Crossing Drive.

At the last board meeting, the consulting firm working on the new project gave a presentation to the board.

Ward 3 alderman Steve Fons expressed concern over the look of a few of the homes in the plan. 

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, but  I don't know anyone who would be interested in a home like this," said Fons. "It looks 'pre-fab.' "

Fons tells Town and Country - Manchester Patch that he will not support the proposed architectural design of the subdivision because it does not meet city standards. Fons said houses in Town and Country must be made of at least 90 percent brick and stone. Moreover, he said the proposed houses would only be six feet apart from each other, contrary to zoning ordinances that mandate at least one acre between houses.

Fons said he hopes the developer reconsiders and redraws the architectural plans for the proposed homes or he will not vote to approve them. 

The company left the last meeting saying it would consider aesthetic changes to some of the houses the board had concerns with. 

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Energy Efficient Home Loans

The board is also set to discuss participating in St. Louis County's Residential Energy Efficiency Home Loan Program.

The program offers low interest home loans to homeowners to make energy efficient home improvements.

The city of Manchester recently began participating in the program

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For more details on Monday's meeting see the agenda and supporting documents included in the PDF portion of this article.

Town and Country - Manchester Patch will attend Monday's meeting. Check back Tuesday for any updates.

*Reporter Carlos Restrepo contributed to this report.