West Lake Hills City Council held a special meeting June 18 to discuss the city budget and goals for the coming fiscal year as well as what council members had hoped to accomplish in the past year.
Mayor Dave Claunch highlighted several budget items and policies from the current fiscal year that the council has either completed or is in the process of completing, such as brush pickup, Bee Caves Road right of way acquisition, a grant for added fire breaks and updating the outdoor lighting ordinance. Council members also discussed a number of items—budget- and policy-related—they would like to address in the next fiscal year.
"This is an opportunity for the council to think proactively about the coming year about bettering our community," Claunch said. "Too often we get caught up in reactive mode, caught up in the crisis of the day. This gives us the ability to chart a course and get on the same page knowing how [each council member] feels about certain issues. It also helps us know what we want to bite off for the year."
Council members listed a number of items pertaining to roadwork they said they would like to see addressed in the next fiscal year's budget, including continued work on Bee Caves Road as well as additional work on Camp Craft Road, Westbank Drive, Westlake Drive at Redbud Trail and Bee Caves Road, Forest View Drive, and Rocky River Road.
Claunch said the city would also discuss a possible drainage master plan during the upcoming budget discussions.
"There are definitely a lot of drainage issues in the city that need to be addressed," he said. "We will need to discuss a master drainage study and a number of individual projects that would result from that."
Council has already identified a number of drainage issues that would cost more than $1 million to fix, Claunch said.
Along with future budget items, council members also discussed some code and policy changes they would like to address in the coming months.
Much like when council updated the city's outdoor lighting ordinance during the past year and a half, an update to the city's tree ordinance is something council members said they hope to tackle.
Claunch said council wants to discuss landscaping issues, the removal of invasive species without penalty, making the fire buffer zone larger for area houses and other issues.
There was hesitation during the discussion as nobody wanted a repeat of the lengthy and exhaustive discussions that took place during the lighting ordinance update process.
"I think we can learn a lot from the way the lighting ordinance went," City Administrator Robert Wood said.
Councilman Taylor Holcomb also discussed the creation of a business advisory committee to advise business owners on how to approach the city's sign ordinances and site improvements.
Council will continue discussions on budget items and policy changes in the next few months leading up to the beginning of the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
