By Lauren McSherry

The Purissima Hills Water District is set to vacate its termite-riddled headquarters - nearly as old as the district, which turned 50 this year. The district intends to build a 2,000-square-foot building on Los Altos Hills Town Hall property near the intersection of Fremont and Concepcion roads.

The city council approved the building plans Thursday on the condition that those shepherding the $850,000 project participate in PG&E’s Savings by Design program, the same program that the city participated in when designing its new town hall.

The program offers monetary compensation for implementing energy-efficient features in buildings.

“It would be in keeping with the ecologically friendly commitment we’ve made for the entire site,” Mayor Breene Kerr told district officials.

Kerr was instrumental in finding funding sources to pay for the new town hall’s solar panels and other features that cut the building’s electricity use.

Referring to the town hall’s drought-tolerant demonstration garden, Councilman Mike O’Malley said the city would appreciate “quid pro quo” on the district’s part.

The city opted for the demonstration garden to set an example since expansive lawns and over-watering are blamed for residents exceeding their water allotments through the water district, which serves two-thirds of residents.

John Miller, a Mountain View-based architect and Los Altos resident, designed the new headquarters, which will house up to four staff members and contain a reception area, a conference room, offices for staff and a room to house equipment for monitoring water flow.

It will be more than twice the size of the existing building and its copper trim and board-and-batten siding will complement the new town hall.

The old building needed to be replaced because it had become totally inadequate for district operations and was not handicap accessible, Miller said. Estimates peg construction time at eight to 10 months.

District officials concurred they would not raise water rates to pay for the construction project. Patrick Walter, district manager, said the funds will come out of the district’s operating revenue and the district could borrow money if necessary.