Culver Town Council to Compile New Comprehensive Plan

Culver Town Council Members Ed Pinder, Ralph Winters, Ginny Bess, Sally Ricciardi
Culver Town Council Members (from left to right) Ed Pinder, Ralph Winters, Ginny Bess, Sally Ricciardi

A new comprehensive plan for the town of Culver may be in the works to replace their current, 12-year-old plan. According to Kevin Berger, President of Easterday Construction Co., the town is eligible for an OCRA Planning Grant, which can provide the town with up to $50,000 for compiling this comprehensive plan. The grant allows a portion of the funds to go toward grant administration, which allows the town to hire an outside firm to work on it.

“It affects all the groups,” said Berger. “It would be very for the Redevelopment Commission to have the new direction on what the town wants to do. It’s one of those things that they’re looking for how to do it, and the comprehensive plan should be that guide and it’s not, at this point.”

The current comprehensive plan is extremely outdated, mentioning outdated topics such as annexation of the lake, and it leaves out important details of the town such as the Tree Commission, downtown businesses, plans for the park, and other issues.

Berger said it’s usually a three to four month process, and he expects it to cost somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. The town could opt to write a completely new, full comprehensive plan, or they could go with revisions to the current plan which has never had a revision or a review in its 12 years of use.

The grant does require a 10% match, so Berger requested the council to approve his request and submit a Letter of Intent. The council unanimously approved a motion to contact Project Priorities, the current grant writer for the town, to submit a grant application to get the ball rolling.