Editor’s note: The following are highlights from the top West Lake Hills stories of 2009.

January

The city of West Lake Hills issued an all-points bulletin in an effort to find new police officers.

February

West Lake Hills received $6.3 million to improve Bee Cave Road. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization approved the funding for “interim traffic and safety improvements.”

The Bee Cave Road plan was approved by the West Lake Hills city council and submitted to the Texas Department of Transportation.

Earl Broussard announced that he would not run for re-election to the City Council.

March

A Llano County jury sentenced former West Lake Hills Police Paul Kirksey officer to five years in prison and three consecutive 10-year probated sentences for distributing sexually explicit images over the Internet to a minor.

The Jos. A. Bank store in West Lake Hills was burglarized.

The West Lake Hills election was cancelled after two of the candidates dropped out of the race, including Jean Goehring and Jane Noble. Noble had served on the City Council for 13 years.

April

Brijesh Aghera, an Austin doctor, died in a single-vehicle accident on Loop 360 at Lost Creek Boulevard.

The West Lake Hills City Council approved $439,000 for improvements to City Hall.

A landscape fund created by the City Council gave developers and residents a new option if they could not replace the amount of trees on their properties that the city ordinance requires.

West Lake Hills City Councilwoman Cynthia Evans Probst was charged with a misdemeanor harassment charge after allegedly sending three text messages to a man who claimed they were harassing. The charge was later dropped.

May

Vice President Joe Biden made a visit to tour the National Domestic Violence Hotline office in West Lake Hills.

West Lake Hills-based St. John Neumann Catholic Church celebrated its 25th anniversary May 15.

West Lake Hills police charged Jeannie Harithas, 24, of Austin with aggravated assault after she attacked Officer Dan Arispe while he and Officer Sabrina Phillips were arresting her for allegedly burglarizing six vehicles.

The City Council passed an amendment at its May 13 meeting clarifying the right of inspectors to enter private property and contact people who might be in the process of violating an ordinance.

June

Residents and City Council members debated a proposed easement that would lie over a paved access ramp to Lake Austin. Council voted not to accept the proposed easement on Hull Circle but did secure the right to purchase the easement in the future.

The West Lake Hills landscape fund gained money from a lawsuit settlement with a Sugar Creek Drive resident in the amount of $5,000.

A resident was granted a variance request for an energy-efficient roofing material, despite its shiny appearance.

A police chase of two suspects in a Mazda SUV through West Lake Hills and Rollingwood ended in the arrest of one suspect and the hospitalization of the other. Driver Gabriel Molina, 20, was transported to the University Medical Center at Brackenridge with a broken leg, and passenger Carlos Palacios, 29, was arrested and charged with theft, two counts of aggravated assault against a police office, and evading arrest.

July

Richard R. Hanson, 68, tuned himself in to the Travis County Jail after a warrant for his arrest was put out on the charge of criminally negligent homicide associated with a Bee Cave Road car accident, which resulted in the death of another driver, Linda Gail Hartner.

West Lake Hills officials announced their intention to draft a resolution opposing a dense development plan for the Brackenridge Tract.

A burglar stole eight Picasso prints and four other works of art from the West Lake Hills home of Ruth Borinstein.

The West Lake Hills City Council took its first steps toward attempting to buy its newly installed sewer system from the Lower Colorado River Authority.

An Austin Energy employee was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana following a routine traffic stop in West Lake Hills.

August

The Westbank found itself subject to strict Austin water restrictions when a Stage 2 drought went into effect. Residents could only water their lawns one day a week.

The West Lake Hills City Council approved a new $68,000 sidewalk on Reveille Road.

Former City Council-woman Amy Simmons was cited by the Texas Ethics Commission for using the name and products of her business, Amy’s Ice Creams, in her campaign for the City Council.

September

The West Lake Hills City Council held its first public hearing on the 2009-10 budget and tax rate last week.

West Lake Hills police officers investigated an assault from the night of the Lake Travis-Westlake football game.According to a police report, a group of Lake Travis High School students attempted to enter the home of a Westlake High School student having a party.

For the second time in four months, a Pablo Picasso print was reported stolen from a second West Lake Hills home in broad daylight, according to police reports.

October

City council members asked traffic engineers to begin a study on the issue of cut-through traffic affecting the intersection of Bee Cave Road and Red Bud Trail .

The West Lake Hills City Council approved a conservative budget last week, with wiggle room in the form of asterisks built in for a possible turnaround in the sales tax slump.

The Texas Department of Transportation completed intersection improvements at Bee Cave Road and Loop 360 about four months ahead of schedule, helping to unsnarl the notoriously slow interchange.

November

Police charged a local man with deadly conduct for allegedly shooting two deer on Rocky River Road.

While the 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.

A retention wall that sparked a lawsuit between a local couple and city officials was removed, and city officials say they are on their way an amenable resolution.

Despite an early mistake on the part of West Lake Hills staff allowing a resident to bring a pre-existing structure into the city limits, the Board of Adjustments voted last week to prevent Ray McMackin from moving the 1930s bungalow onto his Yaupon Valley Road property.

December

City Council members voted 3-2 to double the fee for after-the-fact variances, raising it from $250 to $500.

Police charged the driver in a fiery July one-car crash on Westlake Drive with two counts of third-degree felony intoxication assault for injuring his passengers when allegedly driving while intoxicated.

After months of dialogue and debate over new monument signs for The Village at Westlake shopping center, the West Lake Hills City Council approved several variance requests for two new monument signs for the entrances to Bee Cave Road and Loop 360.

After considering a traffic engineering study, the West Lake Hills transportation commission plans to recommend a dedicated left-turn signal onto Red Bud Trail from Bee Cave Road.

As Mayor Dave Claunch continued to mediate annexation of the Ridgewood Village Water System by Travis County Water District 10, residents must now give an official yea or nay to annexation.