The open agenda is heavy on water and growth. The Council will decide whether to join a new Parker County Public Utility Agency (Items 5 to 7), a regional water body with fourteen participating governments, and will consider commercial zoning and the Tractor Supply final plat tied to last month’s annexations (Items 8 to 12). Also up: appointing members to the Comprehensive Planning Advisory Committee, a new utility fee ordinance that affects household bills, a water-tank replacement at the El Chico pump station, an IT contract, and a voter-information document for the November 3 certificate-of-obligation election.
Closed session includes the item most likely to matter beyond this meeting: the Beall-Dean Ranch annexation lawsuit is now listed as a “Mediated Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release,” language that signals the long-running case may be settling. The closed session also includes the police chief search and a personnel matter.
Presiding: Mayor Teresa Palmer. Council: Eric Contreras, Chawn Gilliland, Buddy Wright, Scott Smith, and Nathan Crummel (Mayor Pro Tem). City Manager: Toni Fisher. Invocation: Pastor Clark Bosher, Willow Park Baptist Church. Agenda: 26 numbered items, including a five-item executive session. Posted: September 16, 2026.
At the September 8 regular meeting, the Council adopted the FY 2026-2027 budget (Ordinance 947-26) and the $0.429041 tax rate (Ordinance 948-26), approved both James Oxer Survey annexations, and sent the Flock camera ordinance back to staff and the city attorney to rework after a police chief is named. A September 15 special meeting handled committee applications and a closed session. The September 8 minutes appear on this agenda’s consent list for approval.
The meeting opens with the invocation (Pastor Clark Bosher, Willow Park Baptist Church), the pledges, and the Mayor’s standing comments, including a Bible verse and a business recognition. The item is ceremonial, with no Council action.
Three routine items pass in one motion unless a member pulls one. Item 2 approves the September 8 regular meeting minutes. Item 3 appoints Deputy City Manager Michelle Guelker as the city’s voting member, with Public Works Director Chase McBride as alternate, to the Fort Worth Wholesale Water and Wastewater Customer Advisory Committee (Willow Park buys wholesale water from Fort Worth). Item 4 renews the city’s three-year user agreement with the Weatherford Mountain Bike Club to build and maintain the “Trinity Trail” single-track hike-and-bike trail, running December 2026 through December 2029.
Three linked items would commit Willow Park to a new regional water body. The Parker County Public Utility Agency grew out of the county’s “Hydrology 2050” planning effort and would join fourteen governments (including Aledo, Hudson Oaks, Springtown, Weatherford, Parker County, and Willow Park) to coordinate water supply, develop new drinking-water sources, and provide potable water countywide. Item 5 approves the city’s participation by resolution, Item 6 approves the interlocal agreement creating and initially funding the agency, and Item 7 appoints Guelker as the city’s director and McBride as alternate on the agency board.
Per the packet, Willow Park’s initial cost share is $20,000 (the tier for cities of 5,000 to 10,000), due to Parker County by September 30, and refundable in full if the agency is not created by May 31, 2027. The agency would be a separate political subdivision able to issue debt and build infrastructure, with weighted board votes based on each member’s population and water use. This is a long-term regional commitment, so the funding, the governance, and the exit terms are worth a look.
These items follow through on the two small annexations the Council approved September 8. Items 8 and 9 hold a public hearing and vote to set an initial zoning of Class III Business “C” Commercial on the roughly 0.82-acre Bar-Ko Land Company parcel; Items 10 and 11 do the same for the roughly 0.33-acre Willow Park Services parcel in the Bankhead Commons Addition. Both are in the James Oxer Survey, and the Planning and Zoning Commission approved them 3 to 0 on September 15. Staff describes the rezonings as cleanup to match the surrounding commercial parcels.
Item 12 then considers the final plat for the Tractor Supply Addition, 8.441 acres across Lots 1 and 2, Block 1 (Property ID 118980), which dedicates the former Willow Bend Court right-of-way to the city and sets the stage for the Tractor Supply store and future commercial frontage along East Bankhead Highway.
The Council will appoint 7 to 11 members to the Comprehensive Planning Advisory Committee, the resident body that will help guide the update of the city’s long-range Comprehensive Plan. The application window ran through mid-September, and the committee’s public workshops begin in early October. Watch who is appointed and how the committee is balanced.
Item 14 considers the city’s FY 2026-2027 information-technology contract with Covington Services. Item 15 would authorize Jacob and Martin Engineering to solicit bids to replace the ground storage tank at the El Chico pump station, a piece of the city’s water infrastructure. Item 16 is a new Utility Fee Ordinance for FY 2026-2027, which sets the water, sewer, and related rates residents pay. The fee ordinance is the one here that hits household bills directly, so it is worth watching for any rate changes.
The Council will consider approving a voter-information document, and an accompanying ordinance, for the November 3 special election on the certificates of obligation the Council called in August (up to $10.11 million for water, sewer, street, and drainage work). State law lets a city distribute factual information about a bond or certificate measure; watch that the document stays informational rather than advocating a position.
The Council recesses into closed session for five matters. Item 18 is the Beall-Dean Ranch lawsuit (Cause No. CV26-0175), now listed as a “Mediated Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release,” a notable step up from the earlier “mediation” language and a sign the case may be nearing resolution. Item 19 is the Police Chief position. Item 20 is a legal consultation on employee complaints, and Item 21 a legal consultation on the Mayor’s requests for confidential documents. Item 22 is a personnel hearing on a complaint the City Manager has filed against the Mayor; the Open Meetings Act allows such a hearing to be closed, though under Section 551.074(b) it must be held in public if the Mayor requests. After reconvening, the Council may take action on the complaint (Item 23) or on any other closed-session matter.
The Beall-Dean matter is the one most likely to matter beyond this meeting. A “mediated settlement agreement and mutual release” is the language used when parties have reached terms; if the Council approves a settlement in open session afterward, it would resolve one of the biggest disputes in recent city history. Any reportable action, on that or on the personnel items, would come after the closed session. WPCN will report these from what is stated on the public record, not from the substance of matters discussed behind closed doors.
City Manager comments (including National Night Out on October 6 at The District), Council and Mayor comments, and future agenda-item requests. No action.
Mostly water and growth. The Council decides whether to join a new countywide water agency for $20,000 a year, sets commercial zoning and the Tractor Supply plat from last month’s annexations, seats the new planning committee, and adopts a utility fee ordinance that affects household bills. The certificate-of-obligation voter-information document also moves the November 3 election forward.
Watch the closed session. The Beall-Dean annexation lawsuit is listed for a possible settlement, which would close a long and costly chapter. The closed session also includes the police chief search and a personnel matter. Any action would come in the reconvened open session, and WPCN will report it from the record.
