Staunton City News Briefs

August 10

Staunton has officially launched the “Less to the Landfill” initiative.

The community goal is simple: reduce Staunton’s total trash tonnage by 5% this year. To help get us there, they’ve rolled out two upgrades to make waste diversion easier:

Co-Mingled Plastics: When dropping off at the Recycle Center, you can now mix #1, #2, and #5 plastics in the exact same bin! Caps can stay on… just make sure your containers are completely empty and clean.

Expanded Composting: Free food scrap drop-off is available anytime the Recycling Center is open! Look for the four new dedicated bins for your fruit peels, eggshells, coffee grounds, and more.

From our amazing partners at Shenandoah Green and Black Bear Composting to our youngest residents tossing in their bottles, it is going to take our whole city working together to hit this goal.

We can save valuable landfill space and lower our community’s costs by changing how we throw things away. Let’s do this together!

More information can be found at staunton.va.us/recycle

July 27

Staunton Citizen University will be back this fall!

The 10-week behind-the-scenes look at local government returns soon. We are finalizing the details for this year’s facility tours and sessions, but we wanted to give you a heads up since their 25 spots (first come, first-served) typically fill up fast.

Check out the program details and before applications officially open.

Applications open Monday, August 3

Learn more at www.staunton.va.us/SCU

More details to come!

July 20

It’s HOT! This is your reminder to keep up your water intake.

Whether you’re traveling, working outside, or just running errands, don’t wait until you feel dehydrated.

Keep water with you / Take breaks in shade or AC / Never leave people or pets in parked cars

Staunton has a cooling shelter available at Faith Lutheran church at 17 N Lewis St.

The shelter needs volunteers to help staff the cooling center. Please reach out to them via email if you can volunteer some time: stauntoncoolingshelter@gmail.com

July 13, 2026

Do you know what to do in an emergency? You don’t have to be a first responder to save a life! Sign up for FREE CERT Basic Training class!

Thursdays, Sept. 17 – Oct. 29 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Empower yourself with Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Basic Training this fall.

This is hosted at Augusta Health.

You will learn:

- Disaster Medical Operations and First Aid
- Fire Safety
- Leadership in Disaster
- Light Search and Rescue
- Emergency Preparedness

Learn vital skills to save a life in disaster situations. Your training can make a lifetime of difference

www.surveymonkey.com/r/CERT_AH

July 8, 2026

With heavy rain continuing in the forecast this week, we want to provide a quick update on the water levels during storms in Gypsy Hill Park.

If you see water leaving the stream banks near the baseball fields in Gypsy Hill Park, don’t worry—the area is functioning as designed.

The recent Gypsy Hill Park Stream Restoration project was built to intentionally reconnect the stream to its natural floodplain. Before the restoration, fast-moving stormwater would rush downstream like a fire hose, cutting the channel deeper, causing erosion, and speeding toward downtown. Now, the water is able to spread out safely within the park like a spacious, healthy river.

This localized stream expansion during big rain events helps protect areas downstream. If we see flooding here during these bigger storms, that means it’s not racing downtown as quickly, and that’s a good thing.

While City staff are out doing minor maintenance and clearing small debris like sticks and leaves from the area, the stream banks are stable and the project is doing what it’s supposed to.

Stay safe this week! As a reminder, Staunton has installed rain gauges and stream flow monitors to help alert the public when flooding becomes dangerous. You can sign up for these direct notifications on our website: https://bit.ly/StauntonStreamFlowAlerts