James City could spend $36 million even if it cancels the proposed government center
Good morning! Today we'll add up the work the county has ordered for the proposed center. And we feature an interview with the two deans of York County's board of supervisors.
James City County is on the hook for up to $36 million towards the proposed government center and library annex, even if the board of supervisors changes its mind on the project after the November election.
At their Oct. 14 meeting, the supervisors turned down requests by protesters to hold off doing work on the government center until after November’s elections, which feature two candidates who have said they oppose the center.
Tracy Wainwright, Republican candidate for outgoing supervisor Michael Hipple’s Powhatan seat, has said she opposes the building, as has John Slokovitz, who is challenging Board Chair Jim Icenhour for the Jamestown seat.
Supervisors voted 4-1 to proceed with the work, and Berkeley District member Ruth Larson said a future board could always decide to change course.
Stonehouse District member Barbara Null voted against the decision.
But even if the board were to change course after it is seated next year, taxpayers will have already spent millions on the design and preliminary work for the center.
The county has already spent $4.7 million for the first interim agreement to design the center, and there are another $14.7 million in various projects in the works, Assistant Superintendent Brad Rinehimer told us.
Supervisors also authorized signing an agreement not to exceed $16.5 million for site work on the center, which includes clearing trees and earthwork, Rinehimer said. He said the county is still working through details of the agreement, but the work should be done in the next weeks.
“If the election changes the desire of the Board of Supervisors, or any other event causes them to change their desire to move forward with the project, the County will owe for the work that is completed up to that point along with some other costs associated with stabilizing the site and termination of the contract.,” Rinehimer said.
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York County’s longest-running supervisors
Sheila Noll, Thomas Shepperd have spent years on the county board
Sheila S. Noll and Thomas G. Shepperd Jr. have served on the York County board of supervisors for so long their interactions sometimes sound like that of an old married couple – either finishing each other’s sentences or chiding each other at council meetings.
Noll, an energetic great-grandmother and grandmother of eight, can quiet rowdy crowds at a public hearing by simply raising a hand and telling them to hush.
She has served nearly three uninterrupted decades as District 2 representative with little electoral opposition since 1996.
Shepperd, who has served District 5 unopposed since 2001, is a former Air Force pilot who retired from the military in 1998 and then worked for a defense contractor until retiring for good in 2011.
The two have swapped the chair and vice chair role several times during their decades on the board. They are active in several regional groups like the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization and the Local Government Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay.
In an interview with Williamsburg Watch, they said supervisors’ work can be tedious, but it does require commitment and a lot of homework.
”The issues are actually variations of old issues,” Shepperd said. Mostly, he said, “It’s always the same arguments about taxes (and) land use.”
“People don’t want to do what we do, but they trust the fact that we’re going to protect them the best we can,” Noll added.
Noll’s biggest peeve is reserved for newly elected officials who come in with a political agenda.
“…they’re not willing to learn and listen the first year, they just want to change,” she said. “You don’t need to have a political agenda in local government. You need to…want to move the government forward in a good way.”
They cited the example of the bickering that took place when three new board members who initially opposed the school superintendent became a majority on the York School Board in 2024.
“That was a mess” at first, Shepperd said. “And the people weren’t going to tolerate that. I tell you right now, in my district, I was getting an earful.”
He and Noll said their best accomplishment has been to espouse middle of the road policies that balance county needs against its available resources.
”That’s the bad part about (some) new supervisors when they came in, it was ‘no taxes, no taxes, no taxes’” Shepperd said. “Then you have to explain to people that you can’t be stagnant in a county because prices of materials go up, salaries go up because you’ve got to keep your employees.”
He said 70% of the county’s tax revenue goes to schools, fire and police.
Though they are willing to raise taxes to cover rising costs, the two are fiscal conservatives who aren’t in favor of building what Noll called “Taj Mahal” government buildings.
The county government operates inside a 78-year-old former elementary school that is patched up as needed. Public meetings are held at York Hall, the historic building that houses the historical museum and a cooperative art gallery.
“There is no school (building) in York County that’s younger than 50 years,” Shepperd said.
But the county has the state’s 4th highest ranked school system in student achievement, an accomplishment that makes the county attractive to newcomers. And the county invests in keeping its school buildings updated.
“When we came on the board to build an elementary school was around $2 million… that was 20 years ago,” Shepperd said. “Today to build an elementary school is around$ 57 million. To build a middle school, which used to be around $50 million…now it’s closer to almost $90 million. And to build a high school, it used to be about $100 million to $120 million. It is now almost $200 million…This is one of the struggles we have. I’m telling people they’ve got to understand inflation (for) equipment, people, prices, and all the impacts on demand.”
And while Noll and Shepperd admire what they said was the world-class quality of the Williamsburg Regional Library, they say it’s more than most people need and don’t think York County should pay so much to belong to the system.
How much longer are York County’s most senior politicians willing to stay on?
“I’m not going to be running again, I don’t think,” said Noll. “Although people keep asking me to, and it depends on health.”
“I’m going to do another year, another term,” said Shepperd. He will then decide if he runs again, adding “I don’t plan to die in office.”
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Fun and games
Unseen Creatures: A Collector’s Tales. Oct. 23-30.Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. 6:30 p.m. $20.
Family Frights at James Town Settlement. Oct. 24-Oct. 25. 6p.m.-9p.m. $12 children under 12, $7 per adult.
Halloween Pickleball Pandemonium. Oct. 25. Veterans Park Williamsburg. 2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. $15.
Yorktoberfest. Oct. 26. Riverwalk Landing. Noon – 5 p.m. Free.
Passings
Louise Foley Stokes, 85, Oct. 16.
Frances Alice Hurlburt, 88, Oct.19.
$36M reasons why the Board of Supervisors should have polled the residents rather than ram the MegaCenter down our throats. On the 14th the Supervisors had the opportunity to "tap the brakes" for just a month so that no further commitments were made three weeks before what is shaping up to be a pivotal election; but they know best. They let their egos get involved and dug in on their single course of action despite the skyrocketing cost. Any contrary opinions were treated with disdain and called disinformation. The Board said that a referendum was too expensive and that it would "confuse" voters. Would it have been more than $36M? I think the public sees the issue clearly.
In other words, a HUGE SAVINGS of $214 MILLION DOLLARS!