The budget, which can be found on the Aledo city website at https://www.aledotx.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6511/f/uploads/fy_25-26_proposed_budget.pdf, includes the creation of a new “Strategic Initiatives Fund,” as well as the adding of seven new staff positions including five police officers and one librarian.
During the public hearing regarding the budget, council and residents were invited to speak and discuss any concerns about the budget, with Mayor Shane Davis mediating. The main topic of discussion during it was the library’s share of the budget, $321,942, which is about $71,000 more than last year.
Council member Todd Covington asked about the increase in the library’s budget as well as a mentioned email sent to council that claimed around 75% of the patrons of the Aledo Public Library were not residents of Aledo but were residents from cities around East Parker County.
He said that with the withdrawal of the county to provide funding for the library in the coming years, he didn’t think it was right for the taxpayers of Aledo to have to shoulder the funding increase that would be going toward the institution when only a quarter of the people using it came from Aledo.
He also brought up that he disagreed with moving the library to the new City Hall that is being built and wanted there to be a thorough study done into how the library is going to proceed in the next few years with a feasibility study.
Through this study he wants to look at how the increased funding for the library can be taken off the taxpayer’s tab, especially with the decreased contributions of the surrounding cities.
“The question becomes how do we manage that?” Covington said. “Does it make good sense for us to continue to carry that weight of those expenses by the entire county at our taxpayers’ expense? Or is there a better option to have a plan?”
For a feasibility study, the staff and city manager will put together a scope of what they believe council wants to understand from it, including how much the cost of the study would be, and it will come to the council for a vote before it is implemented. Interim City Manager Mark McDaniel said that the study could cost anywhere from $25,000 to more than $100,000.
There was discussion in council if a feasibility study is needed, or if instead a strategic plan for the library should be formed instead. Davis said that one facilitates the other with the feasibility study focused on the costs of the subject with the strategic plan being how the needs of those costs are met through different methods.
“You’re initially going to look at what the costs are involved in the library,” he said about the feasibility study. “Those costs of maintaining all those things. We’ve also got to consider what does it bring to the community, what does it add. Tonight, we have added basically two new services to the community with the library and the police station and we’re lowering the tax. It’s not something you see here, it’s nothing to take lightly.”
Council member Ben Clark also had concerns about the increased funding and wondered if the new full-time library staff position that was included in the budget was really needed.
McDaniel said that with the new earlier hours the library was planning, they would need the position to ensure a librarian was there at all times that it was open.
Council member and Mayor Pro-Tem Shawna Ford said she was fully in the support of the library and brought to the meeting a list of statistics she got from an AI research tool, which pulled in data from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The report covered items such as the amount of physical and digital titles that are available to members, as well as the free resources that are found in the library.
“The community benefits are education and literacy,” she said. “If your community is reading over a million minutes during the summer, that’s impacting your community in a positive way. So, the literacy rates have a big impact on the community. The workforce in business, the free Wi-Fi, the public computers, the job search tools, the text share databases that the library works so hard to get accredited, that provides extra resources for our community.”
Along with these community benefits, she also talked about how there was a fiscal benefit to the library that would not necessarily be easy to track and see, such as non-Aledo residents coming to the library and stopping at different establishments during their trip in the city and providing sales tax through purchases.
She said that she believes it’s an essential resource for the community especially with the growing population of the city.
“The growth is happening in these communities like Brook Hollow and Parks of Aledo, where these young families are,” she said. “I feel like that also adds to the need for a public library and the hope that the library will continue to grow to meet the needs of those families and that percentage of patrons that are Aledo residents will go up”
A few members of the public spoke to the council regarding the budget including previous mayor Kit Marshall. She said she has always been in support of the library as well as a feasibility study done on it.
“Why would you fear doing a feasibility study if your heart and your service, which is supposed to be to the residents of this City of Aledo, is true and honest?” she said. “Why would you not want to know the big picture and what this impact is going to be for our pocketbooks, not just today, but into the future?”
In the end the budget was passed with no amendments 5-to-1 with Covington voting nay.
After coming out of executive session during council member comments, he requested that city staff put together the feasibility study for the library.
Along with the budget, the proposed tax rate of $0.355353 per $100 of valuation was passed. This is a 3.5 cent decrease from last year’s rate of $.390082 per $100. The new rate is based on the voter approval rate.
According to the budget this year will be the first that Aledo will surpass $1 billion of total assessed property valuation.
Also approved were the new fiscal years fee schedule and financial policies for the city.
In other council matters, two Unified Development Code amendments recommended by the Planning and Zoning Committee were approved.
The first amendment had to do with the allowed uses of car washes and self-storage uses. The second concerned the design of automobile-related site elements, specifically to prohibit service bays from facing any street.
During the public hearings for these items, Westbrook Company’s Fred Disney and his son Andrew came to address the council with concerns about how these amendments would affect already established businesses, such as their flex-office building Aledo Workspace, as well as future opportunities in Aledo going forward.
They asked the council to delay approval of the amendments until the specific definitions of terms like “self-storage”, and “automobile-related sites” are outlined by staff and for a public workshop with business owners, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and landowners be held so everyone can have a better understanding of the amendments.
“We’re urging you to not approve this proposal until the definition of self-storage has been well defined because without that clarity you’re going to risk confusion, uncertainty, and unnecessary obstacles for the businesses that keep Aledo’s economy moving and for the property owners who are investing in developing in your great city,” Andrew said.
Council member Summer Jones asked staff if there was any urgency in passing these amendments and city attorney Alicia Kreh said that according to chapter 245 of Texas local government code, if these amendments were postponed it would mean if someone were to file a business the next day, despite development not starting for a while, they would still be entitled to that same zoning even if the amendment were to be passed later on.
Along with the amendments the council also approved the purchase of furniture for city hall at an amount of $388,507.
During public comments, Jennifer Beck addressed the council with concerns about the purchase of the commercial lots in front of her neighborhood of Brook Hollow by the hospital district. She asked the council to keep the quality of life of the residents in mind when future development plans are submitted and approved by the city.
“Our top concerns as of right now include commercial light trespass and siren noises if an ambulance hub is proposed,” Beck said.
She also asked for code enforcement to ensure the lots are maintained better than how the previous owners managed the property.
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