Recycler competing against regional authority in James City County

Good morning! The regional recycling authority faces competition from a company it fired. Tomorrow, our candidate forums begin, and speeders face $100 tickets outside county schools.

Oct 07, 2025

The regional recycling authority is facing competition.

James City County residents who were left without curbside recycling service this month are being offered a chance to continue getting service from their old provider – at a discount to boot.

The Virginia Peninsula’s Public Service Authority board of directors voted late last month to terminate its recycling contract with Tidewater Fiber Corporation effective Sept. 30. That gave little time to affected customers in James City and York Counties and the cities of Williamsburg and Poquoson.

TFC is now offering the approximately 10,000 James City County curbside recycling customers it served the chance to sign up directly with them for $9 a month – a discount over the $10.50 VPPSA was charging them.

“They can keep their service and pay less,” Williamsburg Watch was told by TFC Owner Michael Benedetto. He said TFC has already reached an agreement with the city of Poquoson to continue its recycling service through the city.

In announcing the termination of its contract with TFC, the service authority cited “significant performance issues” including lack of documentation from Tidewater Fiber to back up its billing, missing records, failure to meet performance standards and increasing amounts of spilled trash and fluids due to what it said was the poor condition of vehicles.

But Benedetto countered that the authority had suddenly begun scrutinizing the company’s performance and making demands that were not in its contract.

The authority has not paid TFC since January, he said.

“Imagine not getting a paycheck for 9 months,” the TFC owner said, saying the authority owed TFC “a little over $1 million.”

We left a message for WPPSA Executive Director Jennifer Wheeler but had not heard back by press time.

Benedetto said that, contrary to the authority’s complaint, 99% of TFC’s customers were being served on time.

“We’re the local guys…we care about what we do and we care about our customers,” he said. He said two of the local recycling providers – GFL and Bay Disposal -- are Canadian owned, while Republic Services is based in Arizona.

Since TFC owns the recycling carts used in James City County, customers can continue to use them, he said.

William & Mary received a $2.8 million federal grant to train 300 teachers to educate students about the nation’s 250^th anniversary, the university announced Monday.

The three-year grant is the largest award to a Virginia university under the grant program, which goes by the ponderous title of American History and Civics Education National Activities – Seminars for America’s Semiquincentennial program.

The money will be used to give teachers the tools to train students in grades K-12 on how to connect America’s founding principles to civic life.

The university will use it to launch a program it calls “We the Teachers: Preparing the Next Generation Through History & Civics.”

At the heart of “We the Teachers” is the Congress of Educators, an annual four-day seminar that will bring together 100 teacher delegates from all 50 states each year — 300 delegates over the life of the grant.

The inaugural congress takes place in July 2026 across the Historic Triangle, where participants will study the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Mark Hofer, senior director at the university’s Strategic Cultural Partnerships group and professor of educational technology in the W&M School of Education, will serve as co-principal investigator and project director. Danny Devlin, senior director of outreach and engagement, will serve as co-principal investigator.

Attention speeders — ticketing starts Oct. 8!

Speed during school hours in James City County tomorrow and you will get tagged by a new automated system and fined $100.

The automated safety cameras have been in operation for 30 days when school zone lights are flashing at Stonehouse Elementary, Clara Byrd Baker Elementary, Norge Elementary, D.J. Montague Elementary, James River Elementary, Toano Middle and Lafayette High schools.

Drivers exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph or more when the lights are flashing will be captured on camera and sent a civil violation with a $100 fine.

A 2024 speed study revealed nearly 38,000 violations in just five days across these school zones, a county press release noted. More than 7,600 warnings have been issued since the program began on Sept. 8.

Complete details about the program are online here.

Candidates for the James City County board of supervisors and the school board will answer questions at a forum hosted by Williamsburg Watch and WHRO tomorrow night.

The forum begins at 6 p.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Williamsburg Regional Library theater on Scotland Street.

Free seating may be reserved online here, subject to availability.

Regional & state headlines

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Growth, tourism and turnout collide in House District 71 rematch

Fun & Games

Editor’s Note — the New Town concerts will last an extra week due to an earlier rain cancellation and will run through Oct. 15.

Revelation Band Plays at New Town Tunes. Oct. 8. Behind Legacy Hall. 5-8 p.m. Free. (check for potential rain cancellation).

Good Shot Judy plays at Rhythms on the Riverwalk. Oct. 9. Yorktown Riverwalk. 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Free.

Boo Bash at the Beach. Oct. 11. 1- 5p.m. Jamestown Beach Event Park. $5 per car.

2nd Sundays Williamsburg Art & Music Festival. Oct. 12. 401 N. Boundary Street. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Free.

Passings

James Robert Saunders, 81, Sept. 28.

Brigitte Charlotte Maria Bowers, 91, Sept. 28.

Jerry Edward Walton, 63. Sept. 29.

Gerald L. Simmons Sr., 82, Sept. 29.

Dwanda T. Franklin, 54, Sept. 26.

Betty Ann (Clark) Hawkins, 84, Oct. 3.

Tony Alvin Martin, 69, Sept. 23.

Patsy “Pat” Faye Bowden Driscoll, 80. Sept. 30.

David Robert Sprott, 78, Oct. 2.

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