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Record of Proceedings

Design Review Commission Meeting – July 28, 2026

Board of Mayor and Aldermen & City Boards — Tuesday, July 28, 2026
BodyGermantown, Tennessee
SessionBoard of Mayor and Aldermen & City Boards
DateTuesday, July 28, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 10:10

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0:00

Shall we begin?

0:03

I'd like to welcome all of you to the design review commission for the City of Germantown Tuesday, July 28, 2026.

0:10

Our first order of business will be to establish a quorum.

0:14

Please call roll.

0:16

Mr.

0:16

Nischwitz.

0:18

Here.

0:19

Miss Meanwell.

0:21

I am here.

0:22

Mr.

0:22

Schmidt?

0:23

Present.

0:24

Miss Kimbrough.

0:26

Here.

0:27

Miss Dahlgren.

0:29

Here.

0:29

Mr.

0:30

Schreikofer.

0:31

Here.

0:32

Alderman Hicks.

0:33

Here.

0:34

Chairman Bruns.

0:35

I am also here, and we have a quorum.

0:38

And Chairman, if you don't mind, I am I should have done this during executive session, but I'd like to introduce our attorney for this evening, uh, Miss Maria Bartlett with uh Birch Porter Johnson.

0:47

Mr.

0:47

Mounts is out today, and uh Miss Bartlett is filling in for him.

0:51

Well, thank you for being here.

0:52

I certainly always feel much more comfortable with counsel.

0:58

Well, very good, and that will bring us to the citizen comments.

1:01

Uh you're welcome during each of the public hearings on the regular agenda and during the new business for any topics that are germane to the commission.

1:10

All right.

1:11

How about the minutes from the June 23rd, 2026 meeting?

1:15

Do I have a motion for approval?

1:17

Move to approve the minutes from the June 23rd, 2026 regular meeting and the July 9th, 2026 subcommittee meeting.

1:25

Second.

1:26

Very good.

1:27

Please call roll.

1:30

Mr.

1:31

Nischwitz.

1:34

Yes.

1:36

Miss Meanwell?

1:37

Yes.

1:39

Mr.

1:40

Schmidt?

1:40

Yes.

1:42

Miss Dahlgren.

1:43

Yes.

1:44

Miss Kimbrough.

1:45

Yes.

1:46

Mr.

1:47

Schrehofer?

1:48

Yes.

1:48

Alderman Hicks.

1:50

Yes.

1:50

Chairman Bruns.

1:52

Yes.

1:53

Minutes are approved.

1:55

Which will bring us to the cons tonight's consent agenda, in which we've had one change during executive session.

2:01

5A is the Germantown Collective, the approval of the ground mounted sign in Old Germantown.

2:06

5B.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement████████████████████████████████████████40%
Procedural███████████████████████████████████35%
Arts And Culture████████████████████20%
Election█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Design Review Commission Meeting – July 28, 2026

The Design Review Commission of Germantown, Tennessee, held a regular meeting on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 6:00 PM (with an executive session at 5:30 PM). The meeting included approval of minutes, a consent agenda with four items, a staff update on the Thrive Germantown 2050 comprehensive plan, and liaison reports. No public comments were made.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes: Approved unanimously the minutes from the June 23, 2026 regular meeting and the July 9, 2026 subcommittee meeting.
  • Consent Agenda Items (A–D): Approved unanimously:
    • 26-013 Germantown Collective – Ground-mounted sign at 7622 Poplar Pike.
    • 26-017 Ciel Senior Living of Germantown (formerly Brookdale) – Re-faced ground-mounted sign at 8199 Poplar Ave.
    • 26-016 Ramblin’ Joe’s Coffee – Site modification (patio & landscaping) at 1227 S. Germantown Rd., Ste. 101.
    • 17-749 Pike & West – Ground-mounted sign in Old Germantown at 2277 West St. (added to consent during executive session).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public spoke during the citizen comments portions.

Discussion Items

  • Old Business: Staff (Sarah) provided an update on the Thrive Germantown 2050 comprehensive plan, encouraging attendance at upcoming public engagement meetings and use of the project website/QR code.
  • New Business: No topics were raised; the chamber was empty.

Commission Liaison Reports

  • Historic Commission (Ms. Kimbrough): Noted upcoming events but could not recall specific dates; will report at next meeting.
  • Parks and Recreation Commission (Ms. Meanwell): Did not meet; no report.
  • Public Art Commission (Ms. Meanwell): Reported:
    • Official celebration and opening of the Riverwood Tunnel murals occurred in late June with about 50 attendees.
    • A fundraiser on July 9 raised sponsorships for five of eight murals at $1,500 each; three remain available for sponsorship. The City of Germantown matches sponsorships up to $50,000.
    • The commission received a grant from the Tennessee Art Commission to support the Creative Parlor program (artist-led workshops at John Gray House, train depot, or Oak Lawn Gardens), to be completed by June 2027.
    • The city’s public art manager was recognized for her work on the murals.
  • Sketch Plan Committee & Tree Board: Did not meet.
  • Board of Mayor & Aldermen (Alderman Hicks): Reported that the previous night’s BMA meeting was consent only; he urged commissioners and the public to vote in the ongoing county election (early voting through July 30, election day August 6), emphasizing that many county offices (e.g., county clerk, criminal court clerk) are on the ballot and will not appear in November.

Key Outcomes

  • Approval of Minutes (unanimous).
  • Approval of Consent Agenda (unanimous) – all four sign/site modification requests approved.
  • No other resolutions, votes, or referrals occurred.
  • The meeting adjourned shortly after 6:10 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Shall we begin? I'd like to welcome all of you to the design review commission for the City of Germantown Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Our first order of business will be to establish a quorum. Please call roll. Mr. Nischwitz. Here. Miss Meanwell. I am here. Mr. Schmidt? Present. Miss Kimbrough. Here. Miss Dahlgren. Here. Mr. Schreikofer. Here. Alderman Hicks. Here. Chairman Bruns. I am also here, and we have a quorum. And Chairman, if you don't mind, I am I should have done this during executive session, but I'd like to introduce our attorney for this evening, uh, Miss Maria Bartlett with uh Birch Porter Johnson. Mr. Mounts is out today, and uh Miss Bartlett is filling in for him. Well, thank you for being here. I certainly always feel much more comfortable with counsel. Well, very good, and that will bring us to the citizen comments. Uh you're welcome during each of the public hearings on the regular agenda and during the new business for any topics that are germane to the commission. All right. How about the minutes from the June 23rd, 2026 meeting? Do I have a motion for approval? Move to approve the minutes from the June 23rd, 2026 regular meeting and the July 9th, 2026 subcommittee meeting. Second. Very good. Please call roll. Mr. Nischwitz. Yes. Miss Meanwell? Yes. Mr. Schmidt? Yes. Miss Dahlgren. Yes. Miss Kimbrough. Yes. Mr.

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