[0:23] time. August 11th, 2026.

[0:26] Regular Council meeting. Roll

[0:27] call. Madam Clerk. Mayor Reeves

[0:30] here. Vice Mayor Shaw here.

[0:32] Council member. Dike here.

[0:34] Council member Olinger here.

[0:36] Council member. Rimeikis here.

[0:37] Council member. Russell here.

[0:39] Council member. Schmidt here.

[0:41] Council member Sternberg here.

[0:43] And council member Yao here.

[0:44] All right. Any changes to the

[0:46] agenda? If not, motion to

[0:48] approve. So moved. Second. All

[0:50] in favor? Aye. Opposed? All

[0:53] right. Pledge allegiance, Mr.

[0:56] Sternberg. I pledge allegiance

[1:03] to the flag. And the United

[1:05] States of America. And to the

[1:07] Republic for which it stands.

[1:09] One nation under God,

[1:12] indivisible, with liberty and

[1:15] justice for all. All right.

[1:22] Consent agenda. Jim. Good

[1:26] evening. Consent agenda. 5.1

[1:29] report and recommendation for

[1:30] approval to purchase. Two stand

[1:32] on track loaders. 5.2 important

[1:35] recommendation for approval to

[1:36] purchase K-9 Luna from Culpeper

[1:38] County Sheriff's Office. 5.3

[1:41] Report and recommendation for

[1:43] Acceptance of Virginia Tourism

[1:45] VA. 250 Grant funds. 5.4 Report

[1:49] and Recommendation Resolution

[1:51] adopting the two 2026 Personal

[1:53] Property Tax Relief Rate. 5.5.

[2:00] Paid bills listing and 5.6

[2:03] minutes of previous meetings

[2:06] the consent. Second. All in

[2:08] favor? Aye. Opposed? All right.

[2:10] Thank you. Public forum.

[2:15] Members of the public forum may

[2:16] address Council on matters

[2:18] related to town government. At

[2:21] this time, please state your

[2:23] name and address for the record.

[2:25] Each speaker shall have three

[2:26] minutes and shall comply with

[2:27] the citizen Participation

[2:29] policy. Groups are requested to

[2:31] have a spokesperson. Questions

[2:33] should be directed to the mayor.

[2:35] Is there anyone would like to

[2:37] speak tonight on any town issue?

[2:42] No one. All right. Close the

[2:45] public hearing. I mean, close

[2:47] the hand at this time. All

[2:48] right. 9.1 ordinance amending

[2:52] chapter eight of the Town Code.

[2:54] Second reading. Andrew. Thank

[2:59] you, Mr. Mayor. As noted, this

[3:00] is a second reading for an

[3:01] amendment to the town's outdoor

[3:03] burning ordinance requiring

[3:05] permits. It's an update, really,

[3:06] to bring the ordinance in line

[3:07] with current practices. And

[3:10] it's a provides much greater

[3:13] clarity and certainty as far as

[3:14] what requires a permit, what

[3:15] does not require a permit, as

[3:17] well as safe burning practices.

[3:18] So the recommendation before

[3:19] you this evening is that

[3:20] Council holds your second

[3:21] reading and adopts ordinance

[3:22] number 2026-006, amending

[3:26] chapter eight of the Town Code

[3:27] by adding sections 8.31 through

[3:30] 8.34 related to permit required

[3:32] for outdoor burning and

[3:33] authorize authorizes the mayor

[3:34] and town Clerk to execute the

[3:36] document. Happy to answer any

[3:37] questions the Council may have.

[3:40] Okay. Hey, Andrew. One of my

[3:42] one of the constituents

[3:44] contacted me regarding the

[3:46] burning plan, and they brought

[3:49] up fireworks and, you know,

[3:51] being close proximity to homes

[3:53] and units and people lighting

[3:55] it and potential dangers of

[3:57] fireworks going near people's

[3:59] homes or striking people's

[4:00] homes. Can you comment on how

[4:01] that could possibly relate to

[4:03] this? Sure. It really wouldn't

[4:05] relate to this. We do have a

[4:06] separate section of town code

[4:08] related to fireworks and to the use of fireworks. We

[4:12] amended that a couple of years

[4:13] ago, related particularly to

[4:15] indoor use of fireworks that

[4:16] was occurring. But so this

[4:18] particular section is not

[4:19] related to fireworks, right.

[4:24] Anyone else? Thank you. Andrew.

[4:29] Motion to approve. Agenda. So

[4:31] moved. Second. Any discussion?

[4:34] Roll call, Madam clerk.

[4:36] Councilmember dich I

[4:38] Councilmember Ohlinger I mayor

[4:41] Reeves I. Councilmember

[4:43] Rimeikis. I Council member.

[4:45] Russell. Aye. Council member.

[4:47] Schmidt. I. Vice mayor. Short.

[4:49] Aye. Council member. Sternburg.

[4:50] Aye. Council member. Yao. Aye.

[4:53] The motion carries. All right.

[4:56] 9.2 proposal for historic

[4:58] Storywalk at Rockwood Park.

[5:00] Andrew. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[5:02] The Parks and Rec Commission a

[5:04] couple of months back received

[5:05] a request from a local Eagle

[5:07] Scout wanting to do a project

[5:08] in conjunction with the town

[5:10] library to install a series of

[5:12] signs at Rockwater Park. These

[5:13] signs. There'll be 17 in total.

[5:16] When read in progression would

[5:17] essentially tell a story. The

[5:19] story would be rotated by the

[5:21] town's library. The library

[5:24] services would take

[5:25] responsibility for both.

[5:26] Selection of the stories,

[5:28] installation of the stories,

[5:30] the signs, and then again, the

[5:32] maintenance of the particular

[5:33] signs. Parks and rec did

[5:35] recommend approval of this idea

[5:37] and recommended the County

[5:39] Council. It was presented at

[5:40] Council Committee and the

[5:41] recommendation before you this

[5:42] evening is. The Council

[5:43] approved the installation of

[5:44] the Storywalk signs at

[5:46] Rockwater Park and authorizes

[5:47] the town Manager to sign an

[5:48] agreement with the Culpeper

[5:49] County Library related to the

[5:51] maintenance and decommissioning

[5:52] of the signs. So I'd be happy

[5:54] to answer any questions the

[5:55] Council may have on this matter.

[5:58] Any questions? Go ahead.

[6:00] Rimeikis. Go ahead. Do you want

[6:03] to? I'll let him. Go ahead.

[6:05] I'll move the motion. No. Let

[6:07] him go ahead. Go ahead. And ask.

[6:13] Probably should have been asked

[6:15] at committee, but never seem to

[6:17] have enough time to. And it

[6:22] probably be answered better by

[6:23] the librarian and I, I don't.

[6:27] There's nobody here

[6:28] representing the library. Not

[6:29] this evening. So I'm just going

[6:30] to throw it at you. So so a lot

[6:33] of it's a great idea and a lot

[6:35] of thought went into putting

[6:36] this together, but most of it

[6:37] is all the implementation and

[6:40] it kind of stops there and

[6:41] doesn't go any further. So one

[6:43] of the questions I had was.

[6:49] Well, one of the questions is

[6:50] like monthly seems like a

[6:52] little ambitious for Rock Water

[6:54] Park. And, and the reason is my

[6:59] thinking is the water park is

[7:01] like a one season park and the

[7:05] draw is the splash pad. So I

[7:09] was wondering, like, how did

[7:11] the number 12 come up? Why not

[7:12] every two months or quarterly

[7:15] or that sort of thing? Because

[7:16] that seems to be like a lot of

[7:18] work for the library to, to be

[7:21] doing. Sometimes there's two

[7:26] seasons if there's snow and

[7:27] there's a lot of sledding going

[7:29] on over there. And I'm there

[7:30] too, with the. And then the

[7:34] next question. Well, and that

[7:35] is that okay, if you build it,

[7:36] will they come? I mean, will,

[7:38] what's the incentive for. Oh,

[7:42] and I asked about a committee

[7:43] and I think the age group was

[7:45] preschool. Isn't it like

[7:47] elementary, elementary, but

[7:49] early elementary because it's

[7:50] still like reading development,

[7:52] that sort of thing. So that's, not, you know, some kid

[7:55] running around on his own,

[7:56] that's a parent that has to go

[7:58] with them so that it's like an

[7:59] extra, you know, factor to, to

[8:01] consider. And how's the library

[8:04] going to measure? The response

[8:08] or the effectiveness of it? I

[8:09] mean, how are they going to

[8:10] know how many kids in a month,

[8:13] you know, read the story? I

[8:14] mean, there's a lot of ways to

[8:16] do that. I'm just wondering if

[8:17] they thought that out, because

[8:19] that then leads to the what you

[8:20] mentioned with the

[8:21] decommissioning.

[8:22] right. What, you know, what's the

[8:25] trigger on that? I mean, how

[8:26] many years when you have these.

[8:32] Structures which are permanent,

[8:35] you know, embedded in concrete,

[8:37] there's, you know, two legs for

[8:38] each one of these. Signs, you

[8:44] know, that public Works now has

[8:46] to mow around 17 obstacles on a

[8:49] half, half mile loop. Or we'd

[8:51] walk around. And have they ever

[8:57] considered something less

[9:00] permanent? So. I think it's, I, think they're all important.

[9:14] Anyone else? Motion to approve.

[9:17] So moved. Second. Any

[9:20] discussion? Mr. Yeah. Mr. mayor,

[9:23] just a quick comment. This is a scout an Eagle Scout

[9:29] candidate project. And just for

[9:30] those of you who are unaware,

[9:32] this is a capstone project for

[9:34] this young man to earn his

[9:36] Eagle Scout. And it is quite an

[9:38] extensive program. It's a it's

[9:40] an in-depth project management

[9:42] exercise. He's. He's got to

[9:44] determine where the materials

[9:45] come from. The stakeholders in

[9:47] the Community planning office,

[9:50] any sponsors in the area,

[9:51] Lowe's or construction

[9:53] companies. He's got to assemble

[9:55] a team, plan it out and lead it

[9:57] all the way through to

[9:59] implementation. So I wish we

[10:00] could have met the young scout

[10:02] tonight, but just hats off to

[10:03] him and I'm glad he's looking

[10:06] at his community to support it.

[10:08] So and thank you for the

[10:09] description. Thank you. Anyone

[10:11] else? Yes. Thank you. It's also

[10:14] my understanding that he's also

[10:15] working with the and library,

[10:17] working with the county Parks

[10:19] and Rec and Park, you know,

[10:22] which I think is probably more

[10:23] appropriate than our Hill.

[10:26] Anyone else? Roll call, Madam

[10:29] clerk. Council member. Olinger

[10:33] I mayor Reeves I Council member.

[10:36] Rimeikis. No. Council member.

[10:39] Russell. Aye. Council member.

[10:40] Schmidt. I vice mayor. Short.

[10:43] Aye. Council member. Sternberg.

[10:45] Aye. Council member. Yao. Aye.

[10:48] Council member. Dike. Aye. The

[10:50] motion carries 9.2 resolution.

[10:54] Adopting the r r r regional

[10:58] hazard migration plan. Andrew.

[11:01] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So the

[11:03] town partnered with the

[11:05] Regional Commission in the

[11:07] development of a Regional

[11:09] Resiliency and hazard

[11:10] Mitigation plan. This process

[11:12] took place over the course of

[11:13] approximately two years. The

[11:15] plan then actually sat for

[11:16] another year to 18 months

[11:18] waiting approval at the state

[11:19] and federal level in terms of

[11:21] all components. But essentially,

[11:22] it was a collaborative effort

[11:23] to to come up with a plan to

[11:26] address primarily hazard

[11:28] mitigation in the region, what

[11:30] we could do to help prevent

[11:31] hazards or emergencies

[11:33] occurring in the future, as

[11:34] well as if they occur best

[11:35] practices. In terms of being

[11:37] able to deal with these, it was

[11:38] broken down into recommended

[11:40] actions to be taken by each of

[11:41] the jurisdictions, the counties

[11:42] as well as the towns contained

[11:44] therein. So there are some

[11:46] specific for Culpeper that have

[11:47] been pulled out. If these are

[11:48] to move forward, that will come

[11:50] back to council independently,

[11:52] for they have costs involved

[11:53] with them to be evaluated on a

[11:56] case by case basis individually.

[11:58] The one in in primary practice

[12:00] that that would be would be

[12:02] potential planting of

[12:03] additional trees in Palmetto

[12:06] Park along Mountain Run to aid

[12:08] in the riparian establishment

[12:10] and growth of the riparian

[12:11] buffer there to aid with

[12:13] flooding. But again, there are

[12:15] a number of measures that are

[12:16] taking place that are, that are

[12:18] called for within this plan.

[12:19] And again, this is part of a

[12:21] regional collaboration. So the

[12:23] recommendation before council

[12:24] this evening is that council

[12:25] adopts resolution number

[12:29] R-2026024, adopting the

[12:30] Rappahannock Rapidan Regional

[12:31] Commission's Regional Hazard

[12:33] Mitigation and Resiliency Plan,

[12:34] and authorizes the mayor and

[12:36] town clerk to execute the

[12:37] document. Again, I'd be happy

[12:38] to answer any questions that

[12:39] Council may have. Any questions,

[12:42] John, in these discussions,

[12:45] were there any is there any

[12:48] bantering back and forth about

[12:50] supply chain? So if if we do

[12:53] have a disruption in a highway

[12:55] or a rail or anything like that,

[12:59] is that going to be is this is

[13:02] that in here? Because I didn't

[13:03] see it, but the plan is not

[13:05] focused on any sort of specific

[13:08] identity identified incidents,

[13:09] but more identifies essentially

[13:11] the forces that would come

[13:12] together to deal with incidents.

[13:14] So it essentially identifies

[13:15] how the town's police

[13:16] department would work with the

[13:17] sheriff's office in terms of

[13:18] road closures or things of that

[13:20] nature. In the event that we

[13:21] had a major accident, the

[13:23] routing, the rerouting of

[13:25] traffic, also expanding to the

[13:26] regional basis as well. Again,

[13:28] if there were significant

[13:29] impacts to 29 running

[13:31] throughout the majority of the

[13:32] region. So again, it's not

[13:35] contemplating specific

[13:36] incidents because they're so

[13:37] broad. And and we wanted to

[13:39] ensure that we had the

[13:40] flexibility to address any of

[13:42] these, but it helped to foster

[13:44] the relationships between many

[13:45] of these different agencies, as

[13:47] well as articulate who would be

[13:49] involved in dealing with some

[13:50] of these shocks that we could

[13:51] see to our system. Okay, anyone

[13:54] else so moved? Second, any

[13:59] discussion? Roll call, madam

[14:02] Clerk. Councilmember Rimeikis.

[14:04] Aye. Council member. Russell.

[14:06] Aye. Council member. Schmidt I

[14:09] vice mayor. Short. Aye. Council

[14:11] member. Sternburg. Aye. Council

[14:13] member. Yao. Aye. Council

[14:15] member. Darby. Aye. Council

[14:17] member. Olinger. Aye. Mayor.

[14:20] Reeves. Aye. Motion carries.

[14:24] 9.4. Resolution authorizing RR

[14:28] f for 302 East Davis Street

[14:31] page. Good evening. Before you

[14:35] this evening, we have a report

[14:37] and recommendation to authorize

[14:39] staff and the manager to submit

[14:42] on behalf of 302 East Davis

[14:44] Street, an Industrial

[14:46] Revitalization Fund grant. This

[14:47] would ultimately become a grant

[14:49] to loan program. As you are

[14:52] familiar, 302 East Davis Street

[14:54] was previously home to Sandra's

[14:57] Taqueria and and many other

[14:58] iterations during its

[15:00] Centennial. Plus, life building

[15:02] owner and business operator

[15:03] Miguel is with us this evening.

[15:06] The Industrial Revitalization

[15:08] Fund is a program that is

[15:09] administered through the

[15:10] Virginia Department of Housing

[15:11] and Community Development, and

[15:13] it is an opportunity for

[15:15] catalytic reinvestment for

[15:17] buildings that meet the

[15:19] criteria for being blighted.

[15:21] And as you're aware, Sandra

[15:24] suffered a catastrophic fire on

[15:26] May 30th, 2026, took over a

[15:30] million gallons of water to

[15:32] suppress the fire, and today

[15:34] the structure remains unsafe,

[15:37] Unoccupiable continued

[15:41] deterioration and damages are

[15:42] being incurred because of its

[15:44] exposure to weather and

[15:45] additional elements. Since that

[15:47] fire, and this opportunity to

[15:49] submit for an IRF for a maximum

[15:51] award of $1 million provides an

[15:54] opportunity to help bring what

[15:56] has been a community asset for

[15:59] over a century and an economic

[16:01] driver back to life here in the

[16:02] town of Culpeper. The program

[16:04] does require a 1 to 1 match

[16:06] which has been pledged and

[16:07] committed to by the business

[16:09] owner and building owner,

[16:11] Miguel, so there is no

[16:12] financial impact for the town

[16:13] of Culpeper. And the

[16:15] recommendation in front of you

[16:16] this evening is that Council

[16:19] authorizes or adopts resolution

[16:23] 2026023, authorizing the

[16:25] submission of an application to

[16:26] the Virginia Department of

[16:27] Housing and Community

[16:28] Development for Industrial

[16:30] Revitalization Fund. Assistance

[16:31] for the redevelopment of 302

[16:33] East Davis Street and

[16:34] authorizes the mayor and Town

[16:35] clerk to execute the document

[16:38] further. That council

[16:39] authorizes the town manager or

[16:40] his designee to execute all

[16:42] documents necessary to complete

[16:43] the application process. Happy

[16:44] to answer any questions. Any

[16:48] questions, I move the

[16:50] recommendation. Second. Any

[16:52] discussion? Roll call, Mr.

[16:55] Mayor. I'm sorry. Just a quick

[16:57] thanks to Mrs. Reed for

[16:59] coordinating this through all

[17:00] of the millions of wickets. And

[17:02] also a shout out to the

[17:03] property owner for his passion

[17:04] for historic preservation, and helping keep

[17:07] our downtown. The way the way

[17:09] it's been through a very long

[17:11] time, the work with the ARB

[17:12] that you're doing and the

[17:14] surrounding stakeholders and

[17:16] contractors in the area, it's a great story. It's

[17:18] difficult to move through a

[17:20] team effort. The director of

[17:21] Museum of Culpeper history is

[17:23] helping Andrew Kukowski cry.

[17:25] The chamber has led support,

[17:27] and we have a number of state

[17:29] agencies that were actually on

[17:30] site today, DHCDDHDEQ

[17:34] Commonwealth Preservation Group

[17:35] and others. So this is

[17:36] definitely going to be just

[17:38] that, a team effort to to help

[17:39] bring this back to life. So

[17:41] thank you. Thank you. Okay.

[17:42] Roll call, madam clerk. Council

[17:46] member. Russell. Aye. Council

[17:48] member. Schmidt. I vice mayor

[17:51] short. Aye. Council member.

[17:53] Sternburg. Aye. Council member.

[17:55] Yao. Aye. Council member dich.

[17:57] Aye. Council member. Olinger.

[17:59] Aye. Mayor. Reeves. Aye.

[18:01] Council member. Rimeikis. Aye.

[18:03] The motion carries 9.5. Town

[18:07] and County Interaction

[18:08] Committee. Council may discuss

[18:11] potential item for the next

[18:12] meeting. There are currently no

[18:14] town item in the next meeting.

[18:15] Date has not been set. Anyone

[18:17] have any items they'd like to

[18:20] produce at this time? No one.

[18:24] All right, thank you. All right.

[18:28] Town manager, monthly report is.

[18:30] Any questions by anyone? All

[18:33] right. Anything else to be

[18:35] brought to the council? Anyone

[18:37] have anything else? If not, we

[18:41] are adjourned.

Culpeper Town Council Meeting - August 11, 2026

Transcript