This meeting pairs routine business with two items that go to the heart of how the city governs itself. Item 7 — brought by Mayor Palmer to address “the mayor being abruptly removed from the agenda-setting process” — follows the Code of Conduct discussion two weeks ago and touches on a governance ordinance the Council adopted in late 2025 that gave the mayor and city administrator control of the agenda. Item 6 brings City Manager Toni Fisher’s employment contract forward for formal action, with the full contract included in the packet.
The data-center theme continues: Item 5 returns the ETJ subdivision-regulation discussion that was tabled on July 14. Item 3 is a Texas Parks and Wildlife presentation on deer, and Item 4 is a wastewater treatment plant update timed to the July 28 bid opening for demolition of the old plant.
The executive session carries the recurring litigation and personnel items, plus a new economic-development negotiation involving an entity called BANDIDAS WILLOW PARK, LLC. Item 8 is the department staff reports for the 2nd and 3rd quarters — a wide snapshot of the city’s operations from January through June.
Presiding: Mayor Teresa Palmer. Council: Eric Contreras, Chawn Gilliland, Buddy Wright, Scott Smith, and Nathan Crummel (Mayor Pro Tem). City Manager: Toni Fisher. Proclamation: Recognition of the Aledo High School Baseball Team (postponed from July 14). Agenda posted: July 22, 2026 at 6:00 PM (72-hour requirement met).
A brief recap for continuity; a full July 14 recap is published separately. All five Council members were present, and two residents spoke during the public-comment period. The June 23 minutes were approved 5–0 (Wright/Contreras). City Manager Fisher recognized several employees, including the city’s new designation as a Film Friendly Texas Certified Community. The Lea Young park dedication was discussed but not acted on, with Fisher noting a dedication would most likely accompany the opening of a new park. The ETJ data-center item (returning as Item 5) was tabled.
On the Code of Conduct item, Mayor Palmer stated she requested it after receiving an email from a council member in another city reporting that Willow Park’s City Manager and City Planner had spoken negatively about her at a Texas Municipal League meeting; no action was taken. The charter-commission appointment item drew comment from two residents (Carol Brackeen and Gene Martin) but no action. Executive session produced no reportable action.
The proclamation recognizing the Aledo High School baseball team returns after being postponed on July 14, when the coach and team were out of town. It is a ceremonial recognition and carries no Council vote.
Routine approval of the July 14 minutes, summarized in the recap above. Consent items are enacted in a single motion unless a member pulls one for separate discussion.
A representative from Texas Parks and Wildlife will speak to the Council about deer issues. The agenda lists this as a discussion only and does not specify what aspect of the topic will be covered, or what — if anything — the city might do about it. TPWD is the state agency with authority over wildlife in Texas. What the presentation addresses will become clear at the meeting.
Councilmember Contreras requested this update at the July 14 meeting. The context is a live milestone: per the Public Works quarterly report in this packet, the bid opening for the Removal of the Existing Wastewater Treatment Plant is scheduled for July 28, 2026 — the same day as this meeting. That project (engineered by Jacob Martin, LLC) covers demolition, decommissioning, cleaning, sludge removal, and site restoration of the old 0.495 MGD plant on a 30-day timeline, and follows the new plant reaching operational status. The update will likely cover the new plant’s startup progress and the timeline for removing the old facility.
The new wastewater treatment plant was reported at approximately 90% complete in the spring, with startup expected in early summer and full operation to follow testing. Removing the old plant is the final phase, and its bid opening landing on the same day as this meeting means staff may report preliminary bid results or the range of contractor interest.
This item returns after being tabled on July 14. Councilmember Contreras is again proposing that the city consider subdivision regulations in its extraterritorial jurisdiction — the unincorporated area extending one mile beyond the city limits — as a way to keep data centers out of the areas bordering Willow Park. This is one of several overlapping approaches the city has pursued toward the same goal, alongside an ordinance restricting data-center water use, removing data centers from the Beall-Dean Ranch planned-development entitlements, and a proposed charter-level prohibition.
Cities have significantly less control over their ETJ than over land inside the city limits, and there is no zoning authority in the ETJ at all. Recent Texas legislation has further narrowed municipal reach there — including Senate Bill 2038 (2023), which lets landowners and residents petition to remove property from a city’s ETJ. Subdivision regulation is one of the few tools a city retains beyond its borders, but it is a limited one, and how far it can reach a specific use like a data center is a question for the city attorney.
Because this was tabled once already, watch for whether the Council now directs staff and the city attorney to draft specific ETJ regulations, or continues to hold the item pending legal review.
The full City Manager employment agreement is included in the packet. Toni Fisher was confirmed as permanent City Manager on June 9, and this item brings the finalized contract forward for Council action. The key terms:
| Base salary | $187,500 per year, effective June 9, 2026 |
| Term | Two years (June 9, 2026 – June 30, 2028), extendable by up to two additional one-year terms at Council discretion |
| Vehicle allowance | $10,000 per year, plus city-provided technology |
| Vacation / retirement | 20 hours of vacation accrual per month; standard TMRS retirement |
| Severance | 20 weeks’ salary if terminated without cause (conditioned on a signed release); no severance for termination for cause |
The contract is signed by Mayor Palmer, Fisher, and City Secretary Deana McMullen, and approved as to form by City Attorney Andy Messer.
At the July 14 meeting, Mayor Palmer requested that the City Manager contract be made public and posted online. Its inclusion in this packet — and this agenda item — reflects that request, placing the terms clearly on the public record.
Mayor Palmer has placed an item on the agenda “to address the mayor being abruptly removed from the agenda-setting process.” This is the most notable governance item of the meeting. Understanding it requires the underlying ordinance: in November 2025, the Council adopted Ordinance 926-25, which amended the City Code’s meeting rules (§1.03.035(m)) to provide that “the mayor and/or city administrator or designee shall set the agenda and have control over the agenda, including supplements and amendments.” That same ordinance preserves the right of the mayor and any council member to request that an item be placed on a future agenda, requiring it to appear no later than the second regularly scheduled meeting after the request.
The ordinance uses “and/or,” which means agenda-setting authority can rest with the mayor, the city administrator, or both. The Mayor’s framing — that she was “abruptly removed” from the process — suggests a disagreement over how that shared authority has been exercised in practice. The packet does not include supporting detail beyond the agenda item itself, so the specifics of what occurred, and what change (if any) the Mayor will propose, are not established in the record and would come out in the discussion.
The key question: whether the Mayor proposes amending Ordinance 926-25 to restore or clarify the mayor’s role in agenda-setting. Because agenda control determines what the Council can and cannot vote on, any change here has real procedural weight. Watch whether this produces a direction to amend the ordinance, or remains a discussion.
Department heads will present 2nd and 3rd quarter reports covering roughly January–June 2026. The packet includes the full report materials. Highlights by department:
430 new cases filed and 387 closed. Total revenue collected was $100,434.21, of which $66,209.01 was kept by the city and $34,225.20 remitted to the state. The court is working on standard operating procedures, a possible fine-schedule update, and planning for a new court-space renovation.
Activity included the TxDOT Transportation Alternatives grant kickoff for Kings Gate and Meadow Place sidewalks and bike lanes, playground inspections at Cross Timbers and Kings Gate, and receipt of seven bids for the Kings Gate Park restroom/pavilion facility. The department participated in community events including 760 Fest, WP Palooza, and the Parker County Chamber golf tournament.
The office reported 132 fire inspections, 15 certificate-of-occupancy inspections, 84 plan reviews, and 38 code-enforcement cases. A February compliance inspection by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection found no violations. Two new Fire Marshal / Code Enforcement vehicles were placed in service.
Project updates included the Kings Gate Road Bridge replacement (the prior contractor went out of business; the surety is securing a replacement); Bankhead Highway Utility Extensions Phase 2 (Skyblue Utilities began work July 21); the Bankhead West Water Line loop ($647,300, funded by impact fees, advancing to bid); the West Oak HB 500 grant application (deadline July 30); and the wastewater plant removal (bid opening July 28).
415 total permits processed (79 commercial, 190 residential, 146 development/miscellaneous), up from 399 completed the prior full fiscal year. 914 building inspections and 147 plan reviews were conducted. Visible projects include Adobe Interiors, Baylor Scott & White, and a Goddard School, plus a proposed I-20 West Business Park. The department also issued certificates of occupancy for a long list of new businesses.
The department managed messaging on home rule, the Squaw Creek Road project, the January winter weather event and April tornado-warned storm, the Republic trash-cart conversion, a western-city gas leak, and a boil-water notice. The city was designated a Film Friendly Texas Certified Community. Social metrics showed record engagement; the report notes a possible minor Facebook page restriction that the department associates with reported comments on a Juneteenth closure post.
Over the reporting period: 1,201 calls for service, 1,587 security checks / close patrols, 44 arrests, 430 citations, and 370 warnings. The department completed a radio-system upgrade, placed new patrol vehicles with new camera systems in service, fitted officers with new vests, and filled most open positions. It is transitioning to a new web-based Records Management System.
The Council will recess into closed session under Texas Government Code Chapter 551 to discuss four items. Any action must be taken in open session after reconvening.
Item 9 — Fort Worth/Aledo litigation (CV26-0175). Continuing consultation on the annexation boundary lawsuit, with the case caption including Beall-Dean Ranch and Parker County. Notably, the Halff Associates litigation — present on recent executive-session agendas, including July 14 — does not appear on this agenda, which may indicate a development in that matter or simply that no consultation was needed this cycle.
Item 10 — Charter and Charter Commission legal issues. Continuing legal review of the charter process. With the August 17 deadline to call a November 3 election now close, this session and any open-session follow-up bear on whether the charter reaches the November ballot.
Item 11 — Police Chief position. Personnel consultation on the Police Chief position. Quincy Hamilton has served as Interim Chief since the removal of Chief Ray Lacy; the July 28 police quarterly report notes most open positions are now filled and the department has stabilized, but the permanent-chief question remains open.
Item 12 — Economic development negotiations: BANDIDAS WILLOW PARK, LLC (new). A new executive-session item under §551.071 (legal consultation) and §551.087 (economic development negotiations) naming BANDIDAS WILLOW PARK, LLC. The §551.087 citation indicates the city is in active economic-development discussions with this entity that, if disclosed publicly, could harm the city’s negotiating position — which is why they are handled in closed session. The nature of the project is not described in the packet.
Items 13 and 14 are informational: City Manager comments, and Council and Mayor comments. Under Community Interest, “Bearcat Nation 101,” an Aledo ISD back-to-school event, is set for Saturday, August 1 (9:00 AM–noon) at Aledo High School; National Night Out is October 6 at The District at Willow Park; and the city’s Muni-versity resident-education series continues.
