West Lake Hills City Council voted June 8 to continue to improve the city's drainage issues.

This map shows 56 areas where drainage is a potential problem, according to K. Friese & Associates. This map shows 56 areas where drainage is a potential problem, according to K. Friese & Associates.[/caption]

Council members approved Phase 1 of the plan—a 97-page document that details 56 areas consulting firm K. Friese & Associates identified as having drainage problems.

In Phase 1, Friese spent months gathering data and mapping areas of interest, performing field studies, meeting with various local, state and federal agencies, surveying citizens and creating a geographical information system database to give City Council a broad look at what areas are at risk.

The report lists the 56 areas of interest, or drainage concerns, along with citizen survey results and suggested project prioritization criteria. These areas of interest include Skyline Drive, Wild Cat Hollow, Laurel Valley, Yaupon Valley and Reveille roads, Cedar Oak Drive, Eanes Creek and North Peak Road.

City Council also gave K. Friese the green light in pursuing Phase 2, in which the firm categorizes and ranks the 15 most important potential projects, groups them by category or location and estimates a cost for each project.

Lastly, City Council voted to allow K. Friese to recodify the drainage-related ordinances and create a separate drainage and erosion control design manual that would detail drainage requirements and policies.

“This is something that is highly needed and long overdue,” Mayor Linda Anthony said. She requested the code revision and drainage manual be completed by the end of the year.

City Administrator Robert Wood said both phases of the master drainage plan and the creation of the drainage manual cost the city $200,000.