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Turner Concrete wins town award; council hears park, grocery-site and museum updates
Summary
The council presented Turner Concrete and Excavating with a community enhancement award and heard updates on Big Gem Park improvements, a potential grocery site (Aldi requirements not met), increasing museum visitors, a $32,500 VDH grant deposit and local community donations to the SPCA.
Turner Concrete and Excavating received the Community Enhancement Award for the fourth quarter of 2025 and told council it could move a large mound of dirt at Big Gem Park in the future, and that it is adding fencing, light poles and a small storage building on the property.
Parks and recreation items included a Memorial Day committee decision to add a golf cart decorating contest and a planned cleanup by Public Works at Veteran's Park. Chair Brenda Haggett asked about updating landscaping at the Police Department hilltop.
On economic development, Chair Denise Cave reported a business networking breakfast planned for Jan. 27 and that buyers are scheduled to close on the old pharmacy property on Jan. 26, 2026. Town Manager Charlie Jenkins said Aldi's publicly listed site requirements include a minimum of three acres and 20,000 cars per day; he added a VDOT estimate for the town location is about 6,000 cars per day, meaning the town does not meet Aldi's stated threshold.
Museum Curator Lora Turner reported the Shenandoah Museum had 364 visitors in December 2025, the highest month to date, including 71 for the EPC Handbell and Chime Teams (Dec. 1) and 180 visitors for the Santa event (Dec. 6). Council Member Denise Cave also noted four loads of donated items were delivered to the Page County SPCA.
Town Manager Jenkins said the town received a Virginia Department of Health grant of $32,500 for lead-and-copper work and a deposit of $32,478 for non-budgeted items after the grant was finalized.
No formal votes or ordinances were taken on these updates; council recorded them as informational and scheduled or ongoing projects.
