Dublin Council Considers Appointments; Budget Update

dublin sealBy DAVID QUESENBERRY

Patriot Publishing

 

At its organizational meeting on January 15th, the Dublin Town Council made its annual staff appointments and received an update on the mid-year performance of the Town Budget.

Town Council made administrative appointments for the term from January 15, 2026 to January 15, 2027.

Appointed by unanimous vote of Council for the coming year were Kimberly R. Dalton, Treasurer; Darrin Cullip, Town Manager and Clerk of Council; David A. King, Jr., Chief of Police; and Trent G. Crewe, Jr., Town Attorney.

Dalton was appointed treasurer following the retirement of long-time treasurer Rebecca J. Wright after 42 years of service to the Town.

Council also unanimously voted to affirm the officers in place for the Dublin Volunteer Fire Department as approved by its members in June 2025 until new officers were elected in June 2026.

Concerning appointment of Town representatives to commissions and authorities, Council unanimously reappointed Mayor Debbie Lyons to the New River Resource Authority and Town Manager Darrin Cullip to the Mount Rogers Cigarette Tax Board.

Also approved by Council was the selection of Robinson, Cox and Farmer to serve as auditors for the Town for Fiscal Year 2026-2027.

Town Manager Cullip gave Council an update on the Town budget for December 2025, which marked the half-way point in the current fiscal year.

The General Fund revenues were a little low he said, because some revenue was late coming in. Overall the General Fund revenues were at 46 percent of the budgeted amount which he said was not far “from where we need to be.” As far as General Fund expenditures, Cullip said that, with the exception of the Street Department, expenditures for each line item were below 50 percent. Total General Fund expenditures were at 45 percent, which was 5 percent below what was budgeted. He said that the Street Department balance would improve as the fiscal year moved on.

For the Enterprise Fund, Cullip said that revenues were at 54 percent, while expenditures were at 36 percent of the budget.

“We’re getting a lot done” Cullip said “but we’ve tightened the belt a little bit and the budget is showing it.” He said that the Town had discussed putting funds back to do some projects in the Town for the community and that things were on track to do that.

During the Public Comment period, Councilman Doug Poe noted that a contractor currently building homes in the Town was highly complementary of the Town staff and the overall working relationship with the Town.

Cullip told Council that he had attended a meeting about the work on the housing at the Dublin Middle School. He said work was underway to secure funding for the project and that it appeared on schedule. The Town is currently working with the project’s management concerning several zoning issues. As to when work in earnest might begin on the project, Cullip estimated it probably would be 2027, since some abatement work had to be done during the later quarter of this year.

Prior to the conduct of business, Mayor Lyons welcomed Ms. Leona Reed, student representative from Pulaski County High School, to the Council meeting. Ms. Reed, a senior at PCHS, was chosen from a number of student applicants from the Pulaski County Public Schools to be the student representative to the Dublin Town Council.

Her appointment is part of a program to strengthen ties between local governments and the Pulaski County Public Schools by giving students the experience of observing local councils and boards at work.

The next scheduled meeting of the Dublin Town Council will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday, February 19, 2026 in the Council Chambers of the Dublin Town Center.