Here are 3 takeaways from the June 12 Bee Cave City Council meeting.

1. Newest council member

Bee Cave’s newest council member on the dais is Andrew Clark; he was appointed at the June 12 regular meeting. Clark, who most recently sat on the city’s planning and zoning commission, will hold his seat through May 2019 to fill the vacancy left by Mayor Monty Parker. Parker was elected in the May 5 election after running unopposed.

Also last night, the council approved the appointments of Steve Schmidt to P&Z Place 1 and Andrea Willot to Place 2. Earlier this spring, the council appointed Larry Ohls to fill Place 6. All terms run until June 2020. A vacancy remains for Place 3. Clark will put forward a nomination at the next council meeting, staff said. The seat is currently being filled by Jim Miles. The term expires in June 2019.

2. Extending Vail Divide Drive

The council held off Tuesday night on agreeing to spend city funds to help pay for as much as half the cost of extending Vail Divide Drive down to the 15700 block of Hamilton Pool Road from Lake Travis ISD's new Middle School No. 3, which is now in early stages of construction. The as-of-yet unnamed school is due to open for the 2018-19 school year, district staff has said.

Travis County Precinct 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty made his pitch to the council suggesting if the city of Bee Cave would agree to split the estimated $5 million to $10 million cost of building out Vail Divide, including a bridge over Little Barton Creek, it is more likely the county would kick in the other half at a future date.

Mayor Pro Tem Bill Goodwin reminded Daugherty and those at the meeting that $5 million is about 75 percent of the city’s annual budget, and the city recently committed that same amount to the Texas Department of Transportation to help pay the cost of widening RM 620.

The Lake Travis ISD acquired the roughly half-mile strip of land for the Vail Divide extension last year but told Bee Cave city staff it did not have the funds to complete the roadway itself. When completed, the Vail Divide extension will effectively connect West Hwy. 71 and Hamilton Pool Road more than a mile and a half west of where the roads now merge at Bee Cave Elementary School.

3. Saltgrass Steak House comes to Bee Cave

The council gave the nod last night to approve plans for Saltgrass Steak House at Hill Country Galleria in the space recently vacated by Mimi's Cafe.