West Lake Hills City Council held its first meeting in the city’s new municipal complex Aug. 27, in which officials discussed opening the building for future public use.

The background

The new municipal complex is located across from Eanes Elementary School on about three acres of land at 4010 Bee Caves Road, and houses the city’s municipal court, administration and council, and police department.

Part of the city’s 2021 bond project, the complex was approved by voters under Proposition A, which provided $13.2 million in funding. An additional $9.5 million was later authorized by City Council for land acquisition and cost escalations.

What they’re saying

During the meeting, city officials discussed potential public uses for the new city hall building, floating the idea that residents of West Lake Hills and city groups, such as civic clubs or book clubs, could host meetings or events in the building.

The building’s multipurpose room, lobby and conference room would be candidates for rentals, City Administrator Trey Fletcher said.

Issues debated during the meeting included whether or not the city would require security for events over a certain size, allow alcohol on the premises, allow fundraising events or require a security deposit for cleaning of the rental space after the event.

“Once you open it up, you open it up,” said Charlie Sullivan, West Lake Hills senior planner. “So you have to be very careful how you open it up. We will take a look at this policy and do an analysis [on it].”

Sullivan said he was unsure if usage could be limited to West Lake Hills residents only, as was suggested by Mayor James Vaughan, but would look into structuring a use policy that best suits the city's needs.

“I like the idea that there is interest,” council member Brian Plunkett said. “This is a beautiful building, the community has not had a gathering place, and the fact that there [are] people interested in that is a positive statement.”

What else?

A ribbon-cutting celebration will take place at the complex Sept. 9

“As I walked in here, [council member] Plunkett and I were reminiscing that it’s only been 8 years that we have been discussing building this new city hall,” council member Darin Walker said. “I think we should be really proud of the journey it’s taken to acquire the land, build the facilities, and really deliver [a] state-of-the-art facility, really going into the next 50 years, for the residents of the city of West Lake Hills. I think there’s a lot to celebrate.”