Aledo Council Chambers, 200 Old Annetta Road
Council adopts five development-code amendments, calls a special election for Place 4, and votes 3-2 to appraise the old library
The first meeting in the new council chambers opened with a resolution honoring the late Councilmember Nelson Rowls and closed with a split vote on whether to hire a broker for the former library at 201 FM 1187.
The Aledo City Council met Jan. 15, 2026, in the new council chambers at 200 Old Annetta Road, its first meeting with City Manager Candice Edmondson, with Mayor Shane Davis, Mayor Pro Tem Shawna Ford and Councilmembers Ben Clark, Todd Covington and Summer Jones present. The council unanimously adopted Resolution No. 2026-R-01 honoring the late Councilmember Nelson Rowls and proclaiming Jan. 15, 2026, as Nelson Rowls Day in the City of Aledo. Later in the meeting it approved Ordinance No. 2026-O-06 calling a special election to fill the vacancy in Place 4.
Five amendments to the Unified Development Code, all of which grew out of a Nov. 10, 2025, joint workshop with the Planning and Zoning Commission and each of which the commission recommended 6-0 on Dec. 11, 2025, passed unanimously after public hearings at which no one spoke. Ordinance No. 2026-O-01 aligns the public notice requirements and protest criteria for zoning changes with new state law. Ordinance No. 2026-O-02 amends the allowed-uses table so that pawn shops are permitted by right in M-2 Heavy Industrial and adult stores, vape and CBD shops, and cash-advance establishments are permitted in M-2 only with a Specific Use Permit. Ordinance No. 2026-O-03 allows monument signs in the Downtown district with a Specific Use Permit. Ordinance No. 2026-O-04 clarifies site development permitting procedures, keeping non-point-source pollution controls and tree protection as requirements before construction rather than permit conditions. Ordinance No. 2026-O-05 adds definitions for service bays and self-storage facilities.
The council approved, with conditions, a replat of Lot 2 of the Mid-Park Business Community, 5.231 acres along Dean Drive near Bankhead Highway, into five lots of 0.989, 0.783, 1.600, 0.930 and 0.929 acres. The applicant proposes to tie into city water and wastewater and build 8-inch water and sewer lines to city standards; approval of the infrastructure and construction plans is a condition of the plat, and the City Engineer has asked for additional drainage data.
Susan LaFollett of Vail & Park presented the city's Fiscal Year 2024-2025 audit, which the council accepted unanimously. The council then voted 3-2 to authorize the city manager to hire a real estate broker and obtain an independent appraisal for the former Aledo Public Library property at 201 FM 1187, after discussion of the building's potential future use and its value. Ford, Jones and Davis voted yes; Clark and Covington voted no. The library study that was tabled in December came back with corrections and was accepted on a unanimous vote with Covington abstaining.
During citizen appearances, four residents of the Lasater Addition told the council their neighborhood is being used as a cut-through, including by tractor-trailers, and raised the safety of children playing outside. A Richland Hills councilmember spoke to congratulate the council on hiring Edmondson. Republic Services briefed the council on upcoming changes to trash and recycling collection, and staff gave a recap of Christmas Tyme in Aledo and a police department update.
The council met in executive session from 7:53 to 8:15 p.m. on the posted topics of the Dean Ranch development conversation, Grand Prairie v. State, litigation pertaining to annexation, and downtown development, took no action, and adjourned at 8:16 p.m.
Sources: City of Aledo: approved minutes, Jan. 15, 2026 (CivicClerk); City of Aledo: agenda, Jan. 15, 2026 (CivicClerk); City of Aledo meetings portal
How this was sourced: Primary documents: the approved minutes and the posted agenda of the Jan. 15, 2026 meeting on the city's CivicClerk portal. Every vote, number and name above appears in those documents; the Ledger did not review a recording of the meeting. Public commenters who are not officials are not named. Written Sept. 4, 2026, for the archive.