While the West Lake Hills City Council made no official decision, members moved closer to approving a uniform sign agreement and two much larger monument entrance signs for The Village at Westlake shopping center.

“What’s changed is competition,” center spokesperson Colin Beardon told council members of the need for the signs. “Sales are down, and it’s very concerning for not only the ownership but the tenants themselves. We desperately need to capture some of the commuter traffic.”

The shopping center management has requested new signs for the entrances on Loop 360 and Bee Cave Road. The Loop 360 sign would be taller than the Bee Cave Road sign and include internally lit letters and H-E-B’s signature red, while the smaller sign would have white letters with halo lighting.

“It’s tremendously recessed,” Beardon said of the need for a more noticeable sign on the highway. “The distance between where cars will actually see that and where the sign is is very long.”

In return, the center has agreed to repaint much of the signage in the center with a color palate similar to the greens and browns of the Westbank Market. The issue will again come before council at the Nov. 11 meeting.

The council withheld a decision on the sign package but gave the green light to staff to put together a construction package to send out for bid to repave several city streets. The 2009-10 budget has $150,000 in it for street repair and council members wanted to take advantage of the currently rock bottom construction prices.

The bid package will include edge repair and stabilization on Westlake Drive and asphalt overlay on Wild Cat Hollow, Las Lomas Drive, Hillcrest Court, Bent Tree Court and Wren Valley Cove. While doing all of the projects will be ideal, City Administrator Robert Wood said that they would only do as much as they could within the budgeted amount.

In other action:

• The council opted against applying for a Safe Routes to School grant that would put sidewalks in at Eanes Elementary School after a poor result from a community survey, since the grant requires significant community backing.

• Council members moved their scheduled Nov. 25 meeting to Dec. 1 and moved their regular Dec. 9 meeting to Dec. 16 to better accommodate holiday schedules. They will also have a second lunch time meeting concerning the tree ordinance Nov. 17 at 11 a.m.

While the City Council made no official decision, council members came closer to approving a uniform sign agreement and two much larger monument entrance signs for The Village at Westlake shopping center.

“What’s changed is competition,” center spokesperson Colin Beardon told council members of the need for the signs. “Sales are down, and it’s very concerning for not only the ownership but the tenants themselves. We desperately need to capture some of the commuter traffic.”

Shopping center mamagement has requested new signs for the entrances on Loop 360 and Bee Cave Road. The Loop 360 sign would be taller than the Bee Cave Road sign and include internally lit letters and H-E-B signature red, while the smaller sign would have white letters with halo lighting.

“It’s tremendously recessed,” Beardon said of the need for a more noticeable sign on the highway. “The distance between where cars will actually see that and where the sign is is very long.”

In return, the center representatives agreed to repaint much of the signage in the center with a color palate similar to the greens and browns of the Westbank Market. The issue will again come before council at its Nov. 11 meeting.

While council members withheld a decision on the sign package, they gave the green light to staff to put together a construction package to send out for bid to repave several city streets. The 2009-10 budget has $150,000 in it for street repair, and council members wanted to take advantage of the currently rock bottom construction prices.

The bid package will include edge repair and stabilization on Westlake Drive and asphalt overlay on Wild Cat Hollow, Las Lomas Drive, Hillcrest Court, Bent Tree Court and Wren Valley Cove. While doing all of the projects will be ideal, City Administrator Robert Wood said that they would only do as much as they could within the budgeted amount.

In other action:

• The council opted against applying for a Safe Routes to School grant that would put sidewalks in at Eanes Elementary after a poor result from a community survey, since the grant requires significant community backing.

• Council members moved their regular Nov. 25 meeting to Dec. 1 and moved their regular Dec. 9 meeting to Dec. 16 to better accommodate holiday schedules. They will also have a second lunch time meeting concerning the tree ordinance Nov. 17 at 11 a.m.