A substitute judge denied an emergency injunction to stop preliminary work on the James City County government center Wednesday. The judge said she was not convinced the case against the county would eventually succeed.
Local taxpayers represented by Attorney Christopher Woodfin argued James City County needed to go through a voter referendum to approve a bond to pay for the $190 million government center.
The county, which has denied that premise, filed a motion saying the statute of limitations for filing the complaint had passed.
Substitute Judge Jan Brody set a Jan. 13 date in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court to continue the case.
Site work on the government center will continue.
At the center of the legal arguments is whether the bonds being used for the current work, issued by the James City County Economic Development Authority, are a long-term debt obligation of the county, which would then require a voter referendum u…