West Lake Hills residents have a new way to dispose of yard waste after the city expanded collection services last month.

The gist: The city of West Lake Hills expanded services with Texas Disposal Systems in June to begin offering monthly yard waste collection on the third Saturday of each month.

Residents can now set out neatly stacked brush piles, cut into 4-foot lengths, with each bundle under 35 pounds and limbs no more than 4 inches in diameter. No tying is required. Each residence can also have up to 35 paper lawn bags and 3 cubic yards of yard waste per month.

Other guidelines for the monthly yard waste service, per a city social media post, include:

• Placing brush and yard waste at least 5 feet away from objects, such as fences, homes, vehicles, mailboxes, water meters and low-hanging wires
• Placing cut ends of branches facing the curb
• Keeping green waste organized neatly
• Not placing items on roadways or streets
• Not including noncompactable items, such as gravel, dirt, rocks, sand or construction debris

A children's creative studio, clothing store and pet hospital are among the new businesses to open up around the Lake Travis-Westlake area. Check out these 11 updates.

Now open

Austin Surf Lodge: The lakefront “micro-resort” and wellness club opened in Spicewood on Memorial Day. The property offers lakefront cabins and suites that can be rented individually or combined for large groups. Wellness and water activities including paddle boarding, kayaking, a sauna, and hot tub, while wakesurfing and pontoon charters are available to overnight guests and the general public.

• Opened in May

• Opened June 27

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In Texas, 246 of the state’s 254 counties are designated by the federal government as “mental health professional shortage areas,” meaning local law enforcement are often tasked with responding to mental health crisis calls.

The situation: All Texas peace officers are required to complete crisis intervention and deescalation trainings, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

What's happening: Across Community Impact’s coverage areas, some city and county law enforcement agencies are partnering with local mental health professionals to respond to crisis calls. However, law enforcement and criminal justice leaders from smaller communities told state legislators July 7 that they have “limited tools” to effectively respond to mental health calls and help people in crisis.

“We do not have any inpatient mental health facilities in my county—we've never had that, and we've needed them for decades,” Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp said July 7. “We originally started out sending individuals to the San Antonio area, and right now we are transporting individuals for inpatient treatment to North Austin.”