Incumbents Chris Vincent and Joseph Bartos will be contesting their seats on Nov. 5. Robert Lawrence and Vice Mayor Deborah Ball did not submit their names by the filing deadline of June 18.

Along with Vincent and Bartos, Wayne Healy, Samantha Bohannon, Tara Guaderrama, Allen White and Jeff Cole will appear on the ballot in West Point.

Guaderrama was a vocal opponent of the town’s new foul ordinance enacted earlier this year that imposed new rules over the keeping of birds in West Point.

West Point is governed by Mayor Joshua T. “Jack” Lawson and a seven-member Town Council elected to four-year alternating terms. The town is administered under a council-manager form of government. Council seats are at-large.

Cherwanna Braxton, Resa Reid and Nicole Sweetin filed their names for two school board positions that will be on the ballot in November. Braxton is running for re-election on the five-member board.

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulcava@gmail.com

The board unanimously agreed with a motion by Supervisor Bill Hodges to put the Pamunkey library issue back on the agenda on Sept. 23.

At the board’s meeting on Sept. 9, Chair Lindsay Robinson said she supported the move made by Hodges. Robinson had promised to reopen the discussion on Aug. 26 at a meeting dominated by supporters of the PRL.

The Board of Supervisors has faced pressure over its July 8 decision to pull the Upper King William branch and the library in West Point out of the regional library system. King William wants to set up its own library system.

The board will reopen the discussion in the light of a Library of Virginia study that indicates running two libraries in King William County would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the $600,000 the PRL currently charges the county.

The research — obtained by the Tidewater Review via a Freedom of Information Act request — suggests it would cost about $1.12 million a year in operational costs for the county to run a two-library system. County leaders have denied a claim by West Point Town Council Manager John Edwards, derived from FOIA information, that the county based its withdrawal decision on a financial case for running the Upper King William branch library alone.

The Library of Virginia study contains some “speculative figures based on experience.” It assumes salaries and benefits of more than $420,000 a year.

During public comments on Sept. 9, Fran Freimarck, a retired director of the PRL and a King William resident, urged the board to rescind its decision to withdraw from the library system.

She took issue with a claim made in a media release by the board, excluding Hodges, that accused opponents of an independent library of creating “division without any communication from this Board or the facts surrounding our decision to move to an independent library system.”

“I am persistent because I am concerned that you as a board made the decision to leave the Pamunkey Regional Library without complete and accurate information about the financial and service implications of that decision,” Freimarck said. “I’m committed, like you say you are, to financial responsibility and to good government.”

Resident Laura Johnson said King William residents have access to over 200,000 books through the PRL system.

“What we are talking about is 170,000 books that will be lost to this community because of your decision and not all of those are books you don’t like,” she told the board.

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

County Administrator Rodney Hathaway outlined a draft program to assist landowners with the initial costs of establishing conservation easements on their properties at the Sept. 9 Board of Supervisors meeting.

Hathaway said New Kent’s strategic plan contains several goals to preserve the rural nature of the county.

“That’s also a very consistent theme in our current comprehensive plan,” he said. He said the objective would form an important part of future planning.

“I’m not saying that we don’t want growth, but we want to grow smartly to preserve our character,” Hathaway said.

New Kent is the fastest-growing county in Virginia. Between 2010 and 2020, New Kent’s population grew by almost 5,000, an increase of 26.5%.

The strategic plan recognizes the control of growth via its Agricultural and Forestal District program as well as conservation easements.

“Right now we have about 11,000 acres, just over, in conservation easements. That sounds like a big number but I believe there’s about 143,000 acres in the county, so we are talking about just under 8% of the county is currently in conservation easements. There is still room to encourage additional easements,” Hathaway said.

Property owners face a raft of costs if they want to get land into conservation easements including legal charges, surveying fees and administration costs levied by the trusts that assume the easements, he said. The fees can reach up to $30,000.

Hathaway recommended that the county provide $100,000 a year to offset costs to landowners who want to set up conservation easements. He is proposing grants of up to $25,000 to assist with upfront costs.

“In my opinion, this is the best way to preserve land,” Hathaway said. “This is truly a permanent program.”

Grants would be given through reimbursements and not until land is in a conservation easement. The county would work with the trusts that create easements.

At present the county has funds of $120,000 approved in its capital budget for the purchase of development rights.

The Board of Supervisors did not take action on the draft report on Sept. 9.

“This is something we can look into but I think it will take a bit of time to get it right,” board Chair Thomas Evelyn said.

Supervisor John Moyer spoke about the importance of farmers keeping open fields in the family for future generations.

David Macaulay, davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

But while more than 14,000 homes are on course to be connected by early next year, not all residents are fans of the company’s contractors, sparking some complaints to the county Board of Supervisors.

Chris Kyle, vice president of industry affairs, addressed some of the concerns when he spoke to the board on Tuesday.

Kyle described the company’s Glo Fiber as “the gold standard in our industry.” He said 6,581 homes in James City County have been hooked up to high-speed broadband to date, leaving 8,058 to be linked to the network by the first quarter of 2025.

Notwithstanding the progress, some supervisors expressed concern about Glo Fiber’s contractors.

“I have heard a fair amount from folks about their concerns,” said supervisor John McGlennon. “In the case of Shentel, we’ve seen a couple of instances that were concerning  … where there was some damage.”

McGlennon said the company had been responsive but citizens wanted to get answers when a problem was occurring.

“I haven’t heard from the district that I represent of people getting prior notification and that’s been a big complaint that I’ve had,” he said. He said residents are also concerned about gardens being destroyed.

There has also been an issue concerning the dumping of soil on National Park Service land, McGlennon said.

Board Chair Ruth Larson said the lack of prior notification has been an issue in her district, too. She said utility lines were cut in some cases.

Kyle admitted the company had missed making some prior notifications to neighborhoods and urged residents who experience issues to contact Glo Fiber via its website — glofiber.com —or via 866-997-6474.

“We did have a contractor here that’s been dismissed that we think has caused some of the questions, that was not doing the proper door hanging and prior communication,” Kyle said. He said a new contractor has been brought in for the project.

“We want to fix this while we deliver on this multimillion-dollar investment,” Kyle told the board. “If we damage something we are going to fix it.”

James City County’s Board of Supervisors approved the Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel’s) Glo Fiber’s contract in 2021 after residents expressed concern about Cox Communications’ monopoly in the county.

“The citizens are benefitting from this multimillion-dollar investment we are making in James City County,” Kyle said.

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

The James City County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday backed a request from the police department for school speed enforcement, making James City the latest locality to use the technology.

The county will contract with private company Blue Line Solutions to set up cameras. The police department has already been researching the technology’s necessity and practicality by collecting data on speed violations, police spokesman Tayleb Brooks said.

The Blue Line system uses automated photo speed trailer systems to monitor and enforce speed limits. Cameras capture and process speeding violations automatically, “with a focus on education over citation where feasible,” a memo to the board said.

A draft agreement between the county and Blue Line would allow the collection of a civil penalty of up to $100 for speeding violations of 10 mph or more in school zones.

Blue Line would provide and maintain all necessary equipment in a program that aims for zero fatalities in the county’s school zones.

“The mission behind this initiative is to change driver behavior, protect our students and school staff, and engage and educate the community to comply with speed limits in school zones,” Brooks said.

At its meeting, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the agreement with minimal discussion.

Board Chair Ruth Larson described the program as “extremely important.” The board also voiced support for red light cameras.

After the agreement with Blue Line is finalized, the police department will research where the cameras would be the most effective in reducing traffic violations, Brooks said. The department will also launch a public education campaign to ensure residents are aware of the initiative “and their role in improving safety,” he added.

There will also be a 30-day non-enforcement period following the public information campaign and completion of installation, during which no citations will be issued to violators.

The Virginia General Assembly approved legislation in 2020 that allows state and local police to set up speed cameras at highway work sites and school crossing zones. Under that law, only motorists caught going at least 10 mph over the speed limit are ticketed up to $100.

Neighboring New Kent County introduced speed cameras in its school zones last year. Chesapeake, Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton and York County also have speed cameras in local school and some work zones to deter speeding and enhance overall public safety. Hampton and York County’s programs started this fall.

As James City County began looking into the cameras, Blue Line Solutions conducted a five-day speed study from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 last year at Stonehouse Elementary, Norge Elementary and Toano Middle schools, Brooks said. The study recorded “speeding” vehicles — those that exceeded active school zone speed limits by more than 10 mph, and the findings “were alarming,” he said.

Of 35,385 vehicles counted, 23,439 were speeding — nearly two-thirds of all drivers. At Norge Elementary alone, almost 91% of drivers exceeded the speed limit.

The police department plans to consider those three schools for implementation of the cameras, and will determine whether they should be used at other schools, Brooks said.

“Speeding in school zones poses unnecessary and significant risks to children walking, cycling, being dropped off by parents, or riding school buses. It also endangers school staff and others traveling in the area,” Brooks said. “Our goal in bringing this initiative to James City County is simple: meaningfully and significantly reducing speeding in school zones.”

Most of the schools in the Williamsburg-James City County school division are in James City County, with only three in Williamsburg — Matthew Whaley Elementary and Berkeley and James Blair middle schools. The city has not taken any action on speed cameras at this point, a city spokeswoman said.

In other business Tuesday, a public hearing on a proposed development on Monticello Avenue was deferred until next month.

The hearing was scheduled to discuss a proposal to put retail and office space called the Monticello Avenue Shops on an undeveloped swath of land between News Road and New Town Avenue.

Texas-based Verdad Real Estate Development Inc. wants to construct three standalone structures, each 4,000 square feet, that would occupy the 2.75 acres. Last month, the planning commission recommended the development, but on Tuesday, supervisors said the applicant had asked to defer its presentation until Oct. 8.

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

Kim O’Brien Root, kimberly.root@virginiamedia.com

Ken Pollock, the transit director of Bay Transit, outlined the proposal to members of the West Point Town Council on Aug. 27. The new service is likely to start operating by the end of the year.

Bay Transit set up fixed routes Monday to Friday in West Point in early 2000. The following year, King William County, West Point, and King and Queen County formed a partnership that provided a two-vehicle “rural door-to-door transit service” in both counties.

“We kind of think it’s time to look at what we might be able to do a little differently,” Pollock said.

The service would operate similarly to how Uber works, in which users download an app and hail a ride to an address of their choice, with a driver typically arriving within 10 to 15 minutes, Pollock said.

Bay Transit piloted microtransit in Gloucester three years ago with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The Gloucester service became so popular, Bay Transit expanded it from one to three buses and increased the size of the ridership zone.

“It was the first of its kind in Virginia for rural public transportation to try this microtransit type of service,” Pollock said. “We have since won state, regional and national recognition for the success that it has had.”

Bay Transit is creating an app called Bay Transit 4U for West Point that will allow riders to contact a vehicle and schedule a ride. A phone option will also be available.

“Typically it’s about 8-10 minutes’ wait time. That’s what we’ve been doing in Gloucester. It’s gotten so popular it’s now up to 12 or 15 minutes,” Pollock said.

He said it compares favorably to the rural routes that must be booked two days in advance or the fixed route that means waiting at a bus stop between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., sometimes for over an hour.

Pollock stressed that the new service will not be a taxi service, but a “ride-share” application in which multiple passengers can ride each minibus.

“This is an on-demand service … we try to aggregate rides whenever possible,” Pollock said.

The demand in Gloucester has continued to rise, Pollock said.

“From 8 to 5 Monday to Friday, we have three vehicles in the Gloucester area … It has grown dramatically. We are up to over 1,500 rides a month when our fixed route was doing 300-400 rides a month.”

Pollock says Bay Transit has bought a new, more fuel-efficient bus for the West Point service.

“One of the things that comes up a lot is that a lot of our users may not be smartphone-friendly. We also will have a phone number that people can call in and schedule the rides themselves if they can’t use or don’t have a smartphone,” Pollock said.

Bay Transit has developed a “tentative zone” of eight square miles for its West Point services extending into King and Queen County.

Pollock hopes the new service will be up and running by Nov. 1. It would cost $1 a ride.

Bay Transit is the public transportation authority of Bay Aging, a nonprofit organization serving seniors and people with disabilities. Bay Transit serves “all people, of all ages, for all reasons,” according to its website.

Michael Norvell, the marketing and public relations manager for Bay Transit, appealed for input from town council members in drawing up routes. He suggested the buses could pick up “transportation disadvantaged kids” allowing them to enlist in after-school activities at West Point High School.

“We think it’s going to be a huge success,” Norvell said. “We learned a lot marketing the program and growing the program in Gloucester.”

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

The county is considering updating its ordinances to make the rural county more attractive for giant data and technology centers.

The county’s planning commission at its Sept. 3 meeting discussed rules for data centers, technology centers and facilities such as battery storage plants. The commission decided to schedule a public hearing on the proposed changes.

Senior Planner Sherry Graham presented a draft ordinance that would add “data centers and technology centers to the use matrix and pave the way for any new facilities that may want to come into the county.”

Graham said the ordinance did not reflect any proposed applications. “We just want to be ready just in case,” she said.

Some commissioners spoke in favor of the county attracting data centers to increase its economic base.

Ben Edwards, the commissioner who also sits on the King William Board of Supervisors, said it would be foolish not to bring a data center into King William if a developer showed an interest.

“Do you want to pay more taxes or do you want a data center?” he asked.

The draft technology ordinance casts the net wider than data centers.

“The proposed requirements would include supplemental regulations to allow data warehouse centers, electrical component manufacturing facilities, energy storage facilities, flex industrial, and renewable energy generation facilities, which would be permitted with approval of a Conditional Use Permit in the Agricultural-Conservation District and in the Industrial Zoning District,” Graham’s report to the commission stated.

The draft ordinance states that centers should cover at least 300 acres with a maximum height of 45 feet. No loading or unloading activities should take place within 250 feet of homes.

Commissioners opposed a proposed 75-foot buffer between a data center and homes, saying a buffer should be at least 100 feet.

Graham suggested a buffer of 150 feet in response to the concerns.

The draft states that any centers would be located in “large contiguous areas of the county that are located in close proximity to strategic and necessary resources, such as high-capacity electric generation and transmission facilities, natural gas lines and navigable waterways.”

Virginia is home to 70% of the world’s data centers, the Virginia Mercury reported in May 2024. These huge warehouses that store computers’ associated processing equipment and internet network servers are located in Northern Virginia.

Caroline County has been linked to data center projects in recent years. However, the Board of Supervisors there rejected a 900-acre project in June. Opponents have warned the centers could take millions of gallons of water from the Rappahannock River, causing environmental issues for communities downstream.

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

Lindsay Robinson said the board would revisit the issue in the light of a study into the costs of an independent system in King William County by the Library of Virginia.

During the Aug. 26 Board of Supervisors meeting, members of the public cited the study, which was obtained via a Freedom of Information request. They stated it would cost King William County about $1.1 million annually to run a two-library system, compared to the $600,000 it currently pays under the PRL.

Robinson said she had met with Library of Virginia staff and had the report. She said she was frustrated that it was made public before the county had time to examine it in detail.

Robinson acknowledged that “things had just spiraled out of control” since the board requested to withdraw from the PRL on July 8.

“Could I have handled things a little differently coming out of the gate? 100 percent I could have,” she said. “I’ve been trying to gather information from the Library of Virginia.”

Robinson said she now has the report in hand, but has not yet discussed it with fellow board members.

“We are going to set something on the agenda in the months and weeks ahead,” she said.

Earlier in the meeting, District 1 Supervisor Bill Hodges called for a new vote on the library withdrawal, but tabled his motion. More than 10 speakers called for the board to halt its decision to pull out of the PRL during public comments on Aug. 26.

“Having access to a regional system, not just in this county, is just as important as having one in this county …don’t take us backwards,” resident Elaine Prince told the board. “Having the library in this county is the best thing that’s happened in this county.”

Elizabeth Sims, who criticized the board’s vote for following a closed session discussion, said she wrote the FOIA request to the Library of Virginia and learned that it cost more than $1.1 million to run two libraries.

I’m thinking either you don’t want two libraries or you’re not telling the truth to what’s going on,” Sims told the board.

The Board of Supervisors has faced increased pressure over its unanimous decision on July 8 to pull the Upper King William branch and the new library in West Point out of the PRL effective July 1, 2025. King William wants to set up its own library system.

The decision sparked a petition, the creation of the Facebook group KW Residents for Truth and opposition from the Town of West Point. Town Manager John Edwards claimed the county’s figures do not appear to support a future West Point library, an assertion denied by four members of the King William board.

On Aug. 26, former supervisor Travis Moskalski urged the board to change its mind over the PRL. He said the previous board considered an independent library and the figures did not add up.

“It just doesn’t make sense to me that we would bow out of that without really solid numbers that it makes sense to do it that way … there is just no way to do that without the support of the entire system,” he said.

“The unfortunate reality is if you continue down that course the library services will be degraded in this county,” Moskalski said.

Some speakers backed the decision of the board to pull out of the PRL.

Jessica McLane, from the group King William for an Independent Library, praised the board’s “brave and right decision.”

“It was a financially, logically and morally sound decision,” McLane said. “The majority of King William stands with you.”

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

All Points Broadband has faced criticism from the present and previous county leaders as deadlines have slipped. On June 10, Tom Innes, vice president of business development for the company, told the Board of Supervisors that the company was targeting an Aug. 5 completion date.

However, Innes appeared before the board on Aug. 26 and indicated the project would be completed by the end of the year. About a quarter of the fiber network has been constructed to date, according to a presentation shown to the board.

The revised timeline envisages “substantial completion of the entire network” in the fourth quarter of 2024.

“We are planning to be done by the end of the year. Customer installations will be ongoing,” Innes said.

The All Points project was held up by the lengthy “make ready” process as hundreds of poles owned by Dominion Energy and the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative were made suitable for fiber. Innes said all of Dominion’s poles are now ready while the REC’s should be complete by Sept. 9.

Innes said railroad crossing issues that had held up connections to the Pamunkey Indian Reservation had been resolved. “It took Norfolk Southern about 120 days to schedule flaggers, which in our crossing agreement was supposed to take 20 days,” Innes said.

In 2023, Innes said the entire network would be completed by late February 2024. On Dec. 11, Innes changed the commitment to the second quarter of 2024 between April and June. On Feb 26, Innes again revised this prediction to the third quarter of 2024.

“We are targeting August for finishing the network,” Innes told the King William Board of Supervisors on June 10.

Supervisor Ben Edwards, who joined the board in January, spoke of the project’s delays.

“I just remember we were three months away from being 100% when I took office. It’s going on a year now,” he said.

Innes said the delays were beyond the control of All Points Broadband.

All Points is providing high-speed broadband to 2,236 locations in King William County over a 250-mile network. Innes encouraged potential customers to register for service at APBfiber.com. The standard installation will cost $199.

Breezeline, another company, is providing broadband to about 1,500 homes and businesses in a central part of the county.

David Macaulay, davidmacaulayva@gmail.com

Ashcraft’s resignation was posted on the county’s website on Aug 20. The announcement said the county administrator resigned the previous day.

No reason was given for the decision in a county that has seen a rapid staff turnover in recent years. The Board of Supervisors formally approved the county administrator’s resignation after a short closed session on Aug. 26.

“After years of dedicated service, our County Administrator, Percy Ashcraft, has decided to step down from his position,” the county’s statement said.

No supervisor provided any further details about the reason for Ashcraft’s resignation. Deputy County Administrator Steve Hudgins said in an email he could give no information beyond the statement posted on the website.

According to the statement, the process of hiring a new administrator was to begin right away.

“We are committed to finding a leader who shares our vision for the future,” the statement said. “… Hudgins will assist the Board of Supervisors in ensuring a smooth transition and help maintain continuity in our operations.”

“We will keep you informed throughout this process and encourage you to reach out with any questions or concerns,” the statement continued. “However, please be mindful that this is a personnel matter and certain details are not releasable to the public. We appreciate your continued support during this period of change. We wish Mr. Ashcraft all the best in his future endeavors.”

Ashcraft was hired as the county’s administrator in late 2021, months after former administrator Bobbie Tassinari resigned after learning a former county supervisor and a former commissioner of the revenue withheld information pertaining to the county’s tax reassessment.

Before arriving in King William, Ashcraft served as county administrator for Prince George County for 11 years, and prior to that as county administrator for Caroline County for nearly 12 years.

King William County has seen a raft of resignations in recent months including the majority of the finance department and the clerk to the Board of Supervisors.

Ashcraft’s resignation comes as the Board of Supervisors faces increased pressure over its unanimous decision to remove the county’s two libraries from the Pamunkey Regional Library system. King William has maintained that it wants to set up its own library system.

It’s unclear if the library issue had any bearing on Ashcraft’s decision.

David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com