Edinburg
Minutes
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 13, 2026
The Edinburg Town Council met in a regular session on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. Mayor Harshman called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. All the Council members were present except for Councilwoman Wymer-Hollar. Also present was Capt. Wes Dellinger and Dep. R. Wetzel from the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Department.
A motion was made by Councilman B. Dellinger and seconded by Councilwoman Strong to approve the minutes of the December 9, 2025 regular meeting. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Wood and seconded by Councilman Crisman to approve the Treasurer’s report and to pay all the bills as presented. Motion carried.
Mayor Harshman called attention to the Inboden report and stated that water production was up with an average of 188 gallons a day in December.
Mayor Harshman reported that he met with the Engineer, Patterson Construction, Ortts Electric and the SCADA people at the 200,000-gallon tank pump station and most, if not all the final details on completing the pump station were worked out. The mayor also reported that the weather is going to determine when water can actually be put in the tank and the tank will need to be sterilized before it can be used and he stated that winter isn’t really the best time to flush out a tank.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Town sent out a second letter to the 59 residents that are served by a galvanized line on their side of the meter. As he explained last month, the second letter is required with the Lead Line Inventory that was completed last year. The mayor stated that he misspoke last month when he said that the Town is required to come up with a plan by the end of 2026 to replace all the galvanized lines. He stated that the plan will be to know when and how the Town will be replacing the 84 galvanized lines that connect customers’ meters to the Town’s main water lines. The mayor reported that a number of these were corrected when the Town completed the new line in Cave Springs.
Mayor Harshman reported that there was a blocked line at the Wastewater Treatment Plant which required First Choice Septic to come to pump out the old contact tank and extensive cleaning of the UV lights also had to be done. He reported that this problem was caused by leaves that had settled in the aeration basins and worked their way to the telescoping valves where they clogged the line. The mayor reported that solutions to this problem are being looked at, but so far no one has come up with anything. The mayor stated that the obvious solution is to put a roof over the aeration basins to stop the leaves from settling there in the fall, but this would require major construction because of the size of the basins.
The Street Committee had no report. Councilman Crisman stated that the sidewalk in front of the Post Office is falling apart, but the mayor stated that they didn’t want the sidewalk repaired since they didn’t want customers to have to use another entrance. Mayor Harshman reported that he heard a number of positive comments about the Town’s Christmas lights again this year. He also reported that the Rotary Club made their choices for the Outdoor Decorating Contest: The Traditional Award went to 508 Stony Creek Boulevard, the Modern Award went to 212 Princess Caroline Court, the Business Award went to the VFW and the Griswald Award went to 111 S. Whissen Street. The mayor included a $50 gift certificate to the Mill Gift Shop with each award certificate.
The Ordinance Committee had no report.
The Personnel Committee had no report.
The Finance Committee had no report.
The Property Committee had no report. Mayor Harshman reported that work is still continuing at the King Cola building.
The Cemetery Committee had no report. Mayor Harshman reported that Wreaths Across America went well again this year and he thanked all that volunteered. He also reported that he was going to contact the FFA students later this month to help with removing the flags and wreaths, but Ron Ross told him that the Maintenance Department would do it.
The Park Committee had no report. Last month, Mayor Harshman mentioned the $50,000 T-Mobile Grant and he has put together information on some possible ideas for equipment including 2 types of active fitness circuit equipment, spring mounted animals and 2 small play areas for the playground The mayor asked the Council to look it over and let him know if this is the type of thing the Town is interested in and then maybe the Park Committee could meet to discuss it further. The mayor stated that the Town has until March 31st to apply for the Grant if the Council wants to do it this quarter.
Mayor Harshman also reported that he shared an email with the Park Committee from Chris Heird about the Masons 2026 BBQ event. As the mayor stated in the email, he thinks this needs to be a committee item if they are planning to do this annually and it continues to grow. Mr. Heird is interested in someone from the Town attending their planning meetings and Councilwoman T. Dellinger volunteered to attend the meetings.
The Insurance Committee had no report.
The Health and Safety Committee had no report. Capt. Dellinger called attention to the Calls for Service report and stated that there were 1,859 calls for December. Capt. Dellinger also stated that there has been a lot of traffic enforcement in Edinburg lately and the Town should be seeing revenues soon from the summonses that they are giving out. Capt. Dellinger reported that the I-81 Bridge Project will take place on March 7th and the southbound side will be closed for approximately 20 hours.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Tourism Council met in December and all the Towns reported that their Christmas Parades and activities were a success. He also reported that most of the businesses in attendance reported that December was a pretty slow month. The mayor will forward the minutes from the meeting to the Town Council when he receives them.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Town’s Christmas Parade went well. He reported that the Rotary and the Lion’s Club assisted with the Children’s Christmas Party this year and handed out gifts to around 100 kids. The mayor also reported that they ran out of hot dogs and food for the first time in a number of years.
Mayor Harshman reported that visitation at the Mill was slow for most of December and there were 793 less visitors for the year by the end of December. He also reported that December had 64 less visitors and around $1,000 less in gift shop sales compared to 2024. The year ended with around $3,500 less in sales compared to 2024, but there was a slight increase in visitors between Christmas and New Years.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Town received another PFAS payment of $12,276.01 in December totaling $32,450.02 for the year. He also reported that these payments were from the 3M Phase 1 settlement so there could be future settlements from other manufacturers.
Mayor Harshman reported that a 50% payment was made to the LOVE sign fabricator and they have sent the final design with the dimensions to the local designer that is working on the artwork. The mayor is waiting to hear back from suppliers on light fixtures for the sign.
Mayor Harshman reported that the group is still working on more squares for the Glass Mosaic Project at the Edinburg Mill and he believes that they have the number required to do the first section of the wall. The mayor stated that the Department of Historic Resources (DHR) came to the Mill in November for their Annual Stewardship Inspection for the Historic Preservation Easement that is on the Mill property. The mayor reported that during the inspection they asked about the maintenance of the floodwall which is starting to show signs of peeling paint and he explained the Mosaic Project and that there will also be maintenance done on the wall as part of that. The inspector said that she would need to check if this project will need to go through the review and approval process. The mayor stated that he has received the report from the DHR which stated that overall, the Edinburg Mill is in excellent condition and that approval was required for the Mosaic Project. Mayor Harshman has asked the mosaic group to get him photographs of a few of the quilt squares and the description information that will be displayed for each one. The mayor will do a scale drawing of the wall showing what the finished project will look like to go with the photos and he is going to stress to the DHR that this is a continuation of the Museum exhibits and it has very strong community support.
Mayor Harshman reported that he heard from Virginia Regional Transit that the Town’s portion of the County Bus Service will be $5,715 for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Town received a thank you note from the Central High School Band for the donation they were sent for performing in the Town’s Christmas Parade. He also reported that the Council received a thank you from Donald West, who is one of the part-time employees at the Mill for the cash gift and the kind words that were included in the Christmas greeting.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) voted to transfer the Rail/Trail project and the funding to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority who will be working with the Battlefield Foundation to work toward the Rail with Trail option. He also reported that the CTB had a tied vote of 6-6 and the tie was broken by the outgoing Secretary of Transportation. The mayor felt that the whole decision process was rushed and very political. The mayor stated that the one good thing that came out of the final vote was that the State will be having additional public engagement in the months to come.
The Architectural Review Board did not meet.
The Planning Commission did not meet.
There were no Zoning Permits issued.
Mayor Harshman stated that there was nothing to report on pending litigation.
Mayor Harshman reported that the Audit noted two Material Weaknesses that were similar to those in the previous year’s Audit, which were Material Audit Adjustments and Segregation of Duties. The mayor also reported that since Edinburg’s population is less than 3,500, the Town is only required to have an Audit in a year where more than $750,000 is spent in Federal Funds, so this should be the last Audit for a while. A motion was made by Councilman B. Dellinger and Councilman Wood to approve the Audit for the year beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2025. Motion carried.
Mayor Harshman stated that he had sent the Town Council an email about the Town Real Estate Tax Rate and the impact of the County’s Reassessment Values to look over so it could be discussed at today’s meeting. The mayor reported that he heard from some residents that they have questioned the increased assessment values and it appears that the total amounts are going to change. Hopefully, the new amounts will be available quickly so that the Town can move forward with a new Tax Rate prior to starting on next year’s Budget. After some discussion, Mayor Harshman is leaning toward the Town Tax Rate being lowered to $0.14, which would result in $7,828.46 in additional tax revenue and he asked the Council to think about this since there must be a Public Hearing if the Town decides to adjust the rate.
With no further business, a motion was made by Councilman B. Dellinger and seconded by Councilman Crisman to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.