Aledo

Police chief asks the council to consider rules for e-bikes, golf carts and other small vehicles

Chief Carol Riddle brought the issue to the council on June 4 as the new department builds out traffic enforcement. It returned as a work session on Sept. 3.

Published Friday, June 5, 2026, by The Aledo Ledger. Publisher: Christopher Weaver.

Aledo Police Chief Carol Riddle presented the City Council on June 4 with her concerns about e-bikes, golf carts and other specialty motor vehicles on city streets, and the lack of local ordinances that would let officers regulate them, opening a discussion about whether Aledo needs rules of its own to go with state law.

Texas law treats these vehicles differently. Cities may allow golf carts on streets with posted limits of 35 mph or less, and electric bicycles fall into three classes with different speed and age provisions; Class 3 riders must be at least 15. Cities may prohibit e-bikes on sidewalks or paths, set speed limits on dedicated bike paths and require helmets by ordinance. The presentation came as the department, which began operations in January with Riddle as its first chief, takes over daytime patrol inside the city.

The topic came back as a council work session on Sept. 3. The Ledger will track any ordinance that follows; agendas are posted on the city's CivicClerk portal before each first- and third-Thursday meeting.

Sources: The Community News: Aledo; City of Aledo: Sept. 3 work-session memo (CivicClerk)

How this was sourced: The Community News' account of the June 4 meeting, and the chief's Sept. 3 memo and presentation in the council packet on CivicClerk.

Aledo

October sales tax allocation to the city: $220,671, down 0.5% from a year earlier; 2026 stands at $2,221,575 through ten months, 8.7% ahead of 2025

The October 2026 payment is the first month of 2026 to come in below the same month of 2025. The 2026 total through October, $2,221,575, is the highest ten-month total in the Comptroller's series, which begins in 2013; the same months of 2025 totaled $2,043,811. Calendar 2025 closed at $2,506,603.

Sources: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts: Sales Tax Allocation, City (data.texas.gov dataset vfba-b57j), Aledo; The Aledo Ledger: sales tax series

Aledo Council Chambers, 200 Old Annetta Road

What the council passed Sept. 3: the $932,729 FM 1187 design contract and the sheriff's overnight renewal by unanimous vote; the Axon contract and the 112 Robert Street rezoning with one dissent

The draft minutes, on pages 42 to 46 of the Sept. 17 packet, record all six members present and four votes on the regular agenda; the Sept. 17 minutes record the consent agenda that carried them passing by unanimous vote.

Sources: City of Aledo: draft minutes of the Sept. 3, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting, pages 42 to 46 of the Sept. 17, 2026 agenda packet (CivicClerk, fileId 3273), read Sept. 27; City of Aledo: agenda packet, Sept. 3, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting (CivicClerk, fileId 3255): the Freese & Nichols, police protection and Axon memos and agreements, read Sept. 27; City of Aledo: minutes of the Sept. 17, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting, pages 5 to 8 of the Oct. 1, 2026 agenda packet (CivicClerk, fileId 3278), read Sept. 27

Aledo city limits

Aledo golf cart ordinance: what the adopted rules say. Carts on public streets posted 35 mph or less, with a plate, lamps, insurance and a licensed driver; helmets under 17 on bicycles and e-bikes (2026-O-24 and 2026-O-25)

Both ordinances passed by unanimous vote on Sept. 17, 2026 and add Article V, Vehicles, to Chapter 77 of the municipal code; ATVs, utility vehicles and recreational off-highway vehicles stay off streets and sidewalks, and a parent answers for a child's violation.

Sources: City of Aledo: Ordinance No. 2026-O-24 and the police chief's memo, pages 76 to 84 of the Sept. 17, 2026 packet (CivicClerk), read Sept. 27; City of Aledo: Ordinance No. 2026-O-25 and the police chief's memo, pages 85 to 91 of the Sept. 17, 2026 packet (CivicClerk), read Sept. 27; City of Aledo: minutes of the Sept. 17, 2026 meeting, pages 5 to 8 of the Oct. 1 packet (CivicClerk); City of Aledo: agenda, Oct. 1, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting, item 8b (CivicClerk), read Sept. 27