West Lake Hills is one step closer to beginning a renovation and expansion of City Hall after a unanimous vote by the city council last week to name Knight Construction as the contractor on the project.

The push to renovate and expand City Hall has taken more than two years, Mayor Dave Claunch said.

The plans for the expansion will go before the Building and Design Committee and the Zoning and Planning Commission in July. The council will then have another vote to finalize the plans. Public comments will be welcome at each meeting, Claunch said.

“For the last two years I’ve been working with staff and council on how to combat our space problem at city hall,” Claunch later said. “We’re kind of cramped.”

The expansion plans include a two-story building built off the back of the current administration building. The second floor will be mostly used for files and storage and first floor of the new building will be a flexible space that can be used for meetings. That room will also be available to the public.

The renovation part of the project will fix the roof and touch up some siding, as well as fix other structural problems in the 27-year-old building, Claunch said.

“That building very much needs a makeover,” Claunch said.

The changes to the building will increase safety, as well as energy efficiency, thanks to federal stimulus dollars to make buildings more environmentally friendly.

The city staff will begin hammering out the details of the contract with Knight Construction within the next few days.

An estimate of the cost of the project was not available.