San Marcos — The public will get a better idea on Tuesday about how the city intends to finesse taking over a county funding agreement for construction of the first segment of the San Marcos Loop.

Mayor Susan Narvaiz said Thursday that City Manager Dan O’Leary will give a presentation at Tuesday’s City Council meeting laying out what authorities know, and what they don’t, about the multi-million dollar project.

The loop, FM 110, has been on the drawing board for years as a 12.5-mile eastern route around San Marcos but due largely to the costs involved, emphasis has been whittled down to a three-mile segment that would run from McCarty Lane to Hwy. 123, making access easier to both the new San Marcos High School and the still-in-construction Embassy Suites Hotel and city-owned conference center.

But last spring, Hays County voters rejected plans for that segment of the loop and the widening of FM 1626 near Buda and RR 12 from San Marcos to Wimberley.

Narvaiz had pushed for plans for the loop to stay alive if the “pass through” agreement between the county and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) could be transferred to the city; and last week the Hays Transportation Advisory Board voted to recommend the county do just that.

“The commissioner’s court has not officially done that yet but that was the signal,” from the board, Narvaiz said. “We don’t have the official nod but it seems like it’s headed in that direction.”

Under the pass through agreement, Hays County would have funded design, construction and right-of-way for all three projects but would have been partially reimbursed over the years, with the amount depending on traffic counts along the roadways.

Tuesday’s presentation, Narvaiz said, will “get the council thinking about how we’re going to proceed,” mainly, figuring out how much money is already available and how to get more.

“It’s still to be determined,” she said of available money for the venture. “We are waiting on information from TxDOT and the county on other funds they may have available. The early indication was there was approximately $17 million in the pass through account but the question at this point is, is that truly the amount we’re working with? The pass through is wrapped up with several different roads, so we just need to confirm those dollars and I think the city manager will have all that done before Tuesday’s presentation.”

Tuesday’s regular city council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 630 E. Hopkins. Prior to the regular meeting, proclamations will be made at 5:30 p.m.