Culpeper finally approves utility deal, town boundary expansion

The deal is done.

At a ten-minute meeting Monday night, the 16 elected officials comprising the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors and Culpeper Town Council unanimously, and officially endorsed an agreement whereby growth areas around the town will have equal access to the town’s water and sewer utility.

It also means the town of Culpeper is about to expand its geographic boundaries for the first time in more than 40 years.

It took at least two decades for the town and county to come together on the difficult issue, and there is no turning back now — the Voluntary Settlement of Annexation and Utility Issues, once endorsed by a three-judge panel, is good through the year 2042.

Four Culpeper citizens spoke one last time at Monday’s public hearing in the Daniel Tech Center and all were whole-heartedly in favor of putting an end to the long utility debate and looking to the future.

“We have come to the end of the long road,” said Richmond attorney Carter Glass, special counsel obtained by the town to draft the settlement agreement.

“I want to commend you.”

Former Town Councilman Tom Huggard called the agreement “a win-win for all” and “a roadmap for the future.”

Local attorney Bruce Clark said he couldn’t thank the local governments and staff enough for the end result.

Culpeper Chamber of Commerce President Jim Charapich relayed his group’s support once again, saying, “It is a great day to be here and to watch this positive conclusion.”

Finally, former Del. Butch Davies commended the local leaders. “The work has not been easy,” he said. “It shows community leadership.”

“Any discussion here?” asked Culpeper County Board Chairman Bill Chase, closing the public hearing.

None was heard from council or the board.

“We are ready,” said Mayor Chip Coleman, promising a ceremonial kiss after.

Applause followed from the audience and handshakes all around.

Once ratified by the courts, the agreement will allow water and sewer customers around the town to access the town’s water and sewer at the same rate as in-town customers. And at midnight on June 30, the town of Culpeper will expand its boundaries by 302-acres most notably taking in the entire commercial area around Lowe’s and Target.

The town currently ends at Ira Hoffman Lane, alongside Walmart as depicted for years by a sign traversing that border which inaccurately read: “Enter the town of Culpeper, now leaving Culpeper County.” The town of Culpeper has been located at the center of Culpeper County since the year 1759, and yet for years local officials were unwilling to budge on the utility issue or recognize the fact that the commercial area that sprang up around the town in the last decade looked very much like the town.

In fact, much of the Montanus area is already served by town water and sewer.

As part of the ratified agreement, all businesses in old town and new town will receive a 20 percent reduction in business license taxes and fees for at least a year. The town and county, per the agreement, will create a joint advisory body to make recommendations regarding future development of growth areas.

At the end of Monday’s brief meeting, Culpeper County Administrator Frank Bossio passed around a press release from 1996 announcing initiation of discussions between the town and county over what is now reality.

“These areas are important to the county for future industrial growth,” said the County’s Board Chairman at the time, Brad Rosenberger, of areas adjoining the town. “We need to discuss with the town how we can have water and sewer made available to them, as we attempt to attract new business and assist existing businesses in our economic development program.”

In the 16-year-old press release, the late Mayor Waller Jones remarked, “The council will pursue this to a point where we can define what is possible. Following that, I envision the public will desire, and that council will also desire, that there be a very thorough review of any proposal that comes from these discussions.”

Thorough, indeed.