By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

The engineering to correct the foundation and expand office space at City Hall is moving forward in West Lake Hills, but the initial costs were higher than the Council expected. 

The West Lake Hills City Council authorized Mayor Dave Claunch to spend up to $20,000 for the engineering services of Haynes Whaley Associates to complete two phases of improvements to the City Hall building during its meeting on June 24. 

The first phase of engineering is to repair the foundation of the current building, which the company estimated would cost the city about $6,000. 

The second phase is to prepare the structural engineering for the architectural drawings of an expansion to City Hall, which the company estimated at about $15,000. 

City Councilman Davin Fillpot, who is also an architect, said the estimate for phase two seems a bit high. 

He said the nature of the project is simple.

“I felt that it wasn’t a real complicated thing,” he said. 

Haynes Whaley Associates is a bigger firm, however, and that may account for the cost, Fillpot said. 

Claunch asked the City Council to authorize him to make an agreement with the firm to spend $20,000 for the combined cost of the two projects. 

Fillpot said he thinks $20,000 is reasonable for the two projects.