February 13, 2023

Westlake Residents,

This year is off to an exciting and productive start.  While there are many things to look forward to in the coming months, the continued progress on the Entrada development and the improvements to Westlake Academy’s facilities are at the top of the list. Here’s a breakdown of the very latest happening with both along with other info on municipal business.

We greatly appreciate their kind gesture and continued support of the Academy.

Heads up Westlake, you’ll be seeing a large crane that will be a part of the construction of the new repository in Entrada. It will include 100,000 sq ft of office space, storage space, and a rooftop restaurant with a pool.

We are also excited to announce that the plumbing and flooring for Dahlias restaurant are now complete. A second restaurant, Hugos Invitados, just signed its lease.

And finally, the Chapel at Palacios, located in the heart of the development, is now open and booking for weddings, corporate functions, parties, and more! We think you’ll be extremely excited at all the progress that’s happening in Entrada now and in the coming months. 

more than a decade ago. These current units have considerable wear and tear after 23 years. I do not share the opinion of the previous Town Manager that these units are acceptable and believe there are legitimate safety concerns with each of them.

For example, while the current portables meet code for a temporary building, they lack fire suppression systems which would be required for a permanent building. To put this into perspective, Westlake has had three house fires this year. All of these homes had modern fire suppression, yet the WA portables have none. Immediate replacement is a must while we continue our work on planning for the eventual expansion of the Arts and Sciences building which will take 3-4 years. Brodie Modular, a company that specializes in portable classrooms, can deliver a quality and economical product before the start of the 2023-2024 school year. The building would be 12,500 sq ft and fully enclosed versus the current 8,600 Sq ft with uncovered hallways.

Since Brodie Modular’s owner is a proud Westlake Academy parent and WA supporter, they are willing to rearrange the company's manufacturing order schedule to make this timetable a reality for our school.  We intend to accomplish a swift resolution of this significant issue, which should have been handled years ago. The new modular units will not only have fire suppression measures in place but will also have bulletproof glass and additional windows for more natural light. We have an upcoming public meeting at 6 pm on Wednesday, February 15^th where this topic will be on the agenda.

The Deputy Town Manager has since retired, and a consulting firm has been hired and produced a finalized report in January of this year. The corporate clients are receiving their money back as well as a letter detailing what transpired and assurances that this will never happen again.

Finally, approximately, seven years ago, the Town received .67 acres of land in Entrada for a potential site for a future Town Hall in lieu of receiving $2.5 million in tree remediation fees from the previous developer of Entrada. This land is now worth $2 million. Additionally, since acquiring this land we paid nearly $150,000 in Public Improvement district fees. The land is currently for sale and the Town does have a bid for purchase. Assuming the transaction goes through, the Town will have lost at least $650,000 on this financial dealing. It is these types of decisions that were made many years ago that have made your current council further stress the importance of not making similar missteps in the future.

I hope you find these messages from the Mayor informative. It’s our goal to be open and transparent, showing you the good, the bad, and the ugly. I believe there’s a lot more good coming our way. We hope you can attend our next Town meeting on the 15^th in person. If not, you can always watch our live or archived stream online here.

We appreciate your interest in what’s going on with our Town and Westlake Academy. If you ever have any comments or questions, don’t hesitate to email me at [email protected].

Sean Kilbride

Westlake Mayor