W-JCC schools to meet with local governments, hearing on 1,006 new homes in James City
Happy first day of December! We hope you and your loved ones had a happy Thanksgiving. For those busy with travel and family, we’re going to start with a look at top headlines from last week:
Government center injunction denied; electric bills going up
James City County government center OK to proceed.
A substitute judge denied a request by local taxpayers last week to halt preliminary work on the center until the broader question on how it is being funded could be resolved.
Substitute Judge Jan Brody set a Jan. 13 date in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court to hear arguments from the county that the statute of limitations on the central issue had expired.
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 under Virginia law.
Attorney Christopher Woodfin told the judge the EDA is not truly independent, and the use of the EDA money was an attempt to avoid issuing a general obligation bond.
County attorney Adam Kinsman responded that the EDA was established in full compliance with state law and is, in fact, an independent body even if its members are appointed by the board of supervisors. He said the Oct. 8, 2024 board resolution on the bond in question made it clear the current board of supervisors was not obliging future boards to repay it, and thus it was not a county debt obligation.
Instead, the county is essentially leasing the building from the EDA and paying fees that would cover the debt service.
There have been four elections since the board decided to move forward with plans for the new government center, and we asked county officials why they hadn’t used that time to stage a referendum.
County Administrator Scott Stevens said Virginia law substantially restricts what can be asked in a referendum, so staging one would allow voters to approve a general obligation bond but not opine on the value of a new government center.
“Based on conversations with our financial advisors, Davenport and Company, they indicated that borrowing could be less expense (using the current system) due to timing the market, tracking interest rates, and increasing construction costs,” Stevens told us. “Although there have been elections, I don’t believe we would have been ready for a referendum vote until the plans and specifications were fully developed. We expect that will be in early 2026.”
“The county has to do something to provide space to continue providing services to a growing population, so moving forward with the (EDA funding) made sense to us from a timing the market perspective; with our ability to borrow as needed, and to begin construction before final plans... which should limit our construction cost increases.”
Your electric bills will be going up, but data centers will have to shoulder more of the cost of their energy needs:
Dominion Energy got the OK from state regulators to increase rates for the average domestic customer by $11.24 a month in 2026 and another $2.36 the following year.
The utility said rapidly growing demands and an aging infrastructure required more investment in Virginia electricity production capacity.
The State Corporation Commission agreed but trimmed the utility’s proposed consumer rate increases by 23.7% the first year, and by half in 2027. Regulators are allowing the utility to increase its return on equity from 9.7% to 9.8%, less than the 10.4% Dominion requested.
In its final order during Dominion Energy’s biennial review last week, the SCC agreed to place heavy electricity users, such as data centers, in a new GS-5 rate class that will pay higher rates starting January 2027.
To further shield consumers from the high cost of ramping up data centers’ power needs, regulators will require certain large-scale customers to pay a minimum of 85% of the power they contract for, whether they use it or not.
W-JCC school officials to meet with Williamsburg and James City County leaders
Williamsburg-James City County schools will hold their first joint meeting with local governments Friday, under the new operating agreement negotiated for the school system.
Williamsburg and James City County agreed to increase their contributions to local schools by 5% next year while giving localities greater say in school funding.
Under the agreement, student performance at the division and community level will be used in determining budgets, so that funding is based on student outcomes.
School officials have acknowledged that lower income and minority students are doing more poorly than those from high income households, and that county students are outperforming those from the city.
Black, Hispanic or low-income students who lived in the city underperformed county students from the same demographic groups by 13 points or more in the latest reading tests. Students with disabilities fared relatively the same, while those for whom English is not a first language were six points apart. Science scores were even further apart for some groups, while math scores were closer, with English learners in the city edging out county English learners.
Only 67% of the schools’ third graders passed the English reading test in last year’s Standards of Learning tests. In neighboring York County, 85% of third graders passed.
Friday’s meeting is open to the public. It starts at 8:30 a.m. at Legacy Hall, 4301 New Town Avenue.
County planners to hear proposal for 1,006 new homes and commercial space Wednesday
James City County planners are recommending approval of a mixed used project that would add more than 1,000 homes and 162,000 square feet of commercial property space.
The county planning commission will hold a public hearing on the request from D.R. Horton at their Wednesday evening meeting for the Cardinal Ridge project. They will vote whether county supervisors should approve rezoning 365.6 acres of surplus Eastern State Hospital land between Galt Lane and Ironbound Road.
Cardinal Ridge would have 1,006 homes, according to the proposal, of which 309 would be detached single family homes, 247 townhomes and 450 apartments.
Planners said the project would be a fiscal positive for the county and would not surpass the student capacity of schools.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the boardroom of the county government center on Mounts Bay Road.
Other government meetings this week:
Williamsburg:
Board of Zoning Appeals, Dec. 2, 4 p.m. Stryker Center.
York County:
Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting, Dec. 2, 6 p.m. East Room York Hall, 301 Main St. Yorktown
Passings
Marguerite Dingman Hendrickson, 94, Nov. 25.
Janice Carol Lebron, 87, Nov. 23.
Lealand “Deal” Knight, 95, Nov. 25.
Wesley Phillip Wheeler, 62, Nov. 25.
Charlene M. Mann, 83, Nov. 23.
Virginia G. “Ginger” (Brougher) Brown, 88, Nov. 23.