Granbury City Council Meeting Ends In Walkout As Recall Petitions Top 1,300 Over Data Center

Residents filed out of a special Granbury City Council meeting Monday night after public comment, as the mayor and council defended their record on a proposed industrial campus that has already produced recall petitions, a lawsuit, and months of distrust over how the city handled annexation.

The walkout came as Councilman Skip Overdier began arguing against the recall drive. Attendees said they had already Annexation Set the Fight in Motion

The land at issue is the former Knox Ranch along Meadow Wood Road, south of U.S. 377. On January 6, the council annexed about 2,090 acres there. On April 7, it rezoned the tract for industrial use, a designation that allows power plants and data centers.

Dallas-based Bilateral Energy is tied to the proposal known as Project Patriot, a concept for a large campus with on-site generation. In 2025, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued an air permit for turbines and generators at 1225 Meadow Wood Road, at the center of the property.

Granbury officials say concept plans are not the same as approval. The city has stated it has not received a development application or signed off on a site plan, and that any formal request would still have to clear ordinary zoning and development review.

Residents Say They Were Kept in the Dark

Opponents argue leaders did not level with the public about industrial plans before the annexation and rezoning votes. That complaint is the core of the recall campaign Organizers reported roughly 1,446 to 1,470 signatures on each petition, above the charter mark of 15 percent of qualified voters — a floor they put near 1,300. That is a share of the voter roll, not of Granbury’s full population.

Resident Rachael Jacobson told Fox 4 the pattern is familiar.

“They tend to do this. We speak, they don’t hear what we’re saying,” Jacobson said. “Maybe they hear it, but they don’t hear what we’re saying — and then the rest of this show goes on and they just do whatever they want.” She later called the meeting “a circus.”

Alex Wolf, a resident and incoming council member, said the signature totals were the public’s answer.

“The city council, whatever their intentions may be, neglected to listen to the citizens and the citizens have decided they’re not going to tolerate that anymore — to the tune of over 1,300 signatures on multiple recall petitions,” Wolf Mayor Refuses to Quit

Jarratt told the Monday meeting he will “I will not resign,” Jarratt said. “The petition against me does not explain any substance whatsoever, which makes it impossible for me to defend my public record against a generic accusation that could potentially span over the past five-and-a-half years. That’s how long I’ve been your mayor.”

On July 28, Granbury refused to certify the petitions, saying few signatures could be verified and the charges were not specific enough. After residents took the fight to court, the city said in late August that the petitions would go to the council, per KERA. Organizers still want the question on the November ballot. City officials said Monday that delays mean the earliest recall election would be in May.

Lawsuit Already on File

The political fight is running beside a case filed in April. Property owners What is no longer in dispute in Granbury is the split: a bloc of residents wants the current leadership removed, and the mayor says he is not leaving.

Provided by Dallas Express