Changes coming for city operations

UPDATE: On Thursday, June 27, the Aledo City Council ratified the agreement betwen the city and the East Parker County Library.

Dirt is being moved on the west side of the Aledo Commons traffic circle as construction is now under way on the new Aledo City Hall, which will include a library and also house a future police department.

City staff and the board of the East Parker County Library finalized details for an arrangement in which the city will receive the assets of the library in return for providing a new location within the new city hall.

Under the asset transfer agreement, all library assets — its property at 201 FM 1187, all personal property, books, furniture, computers, and other equipment will be transferred to city ownership.

The library will also transfer all of its funds to the city except for $15,000, which will be used to assist the library in forming a foundation for the purpose of working with the city to acquire books, materials, and funding.

On the city’s part, it will take over as employer of library staff and assume most of the contractual obligations of the library.

The contract between the city and the library is expected to close before Sept. 30 pending approval of the city council at its June 27 meeting, which was after press time.

Since its inception, the library has been privately funded, with only a portion of funds coming from government entities. The lion’s share of those funds came from the City of Aledo and from Parker County. The absorption by the city is anticipated to provide more financial stability for the library.

Completion of construction of the new city hall is expected to take about 16 months at a cost of about $17.5 million. Once complete, the library will move to the new facility. Aledo City Manager Noah Simon said the city has not determined what the disposition of the library property will be at that time.