York County Wants To Change Regional Library Operating Agreement

"We need a better agreement," county manager says.

Mar 06, 2025

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York County wants to improve the agreement for its participation in the Williamsburg Regional Library, County Manager Mark L. Bellamy Jr. told county supervisors.

The issue surfaced during a York County board of supervisors work session Tuesday night, as supervisors reviewed the county’s five-year capital spending plan.

First District Supervisor Douglas R. Holroyd said he wanted “to take a hard look at the regional library contract and what we could do to satisfy ourselves that we are getting a fair deal.”

But he emphasized he was not talking about leaving the regional program. “I don’t want to get into a Williamsburg/JCC school situation” where James City County temporarily pulled out of a joint school system after learning Williamsburg was studying whether to go on its own.

The two localities have since committed to retaining their joint school system and are working to hammer out an agreement.

York County expanded its regional agreement with the library board to give all county residents access to the two Williamsburg regional libraries in 2013. But York residents have some limitations in the number of items they can check out or place on hold.

The county will contribute 10.68% of the regional library’s cost next year. Williamsburg and James City County pay the balance, with James City paying the largest share.

“We don’t want to see a third library added (to the regional system) …and suddenly we’re paying the operational costs of three libraries instead of two,” Holroyd warned.

James City County’s proposed construction budget for the next five years includes adding another library adjacent to its proposed government county center.

Bellamy said he met last week with a representative of the regional library board and explained the county’s goals are to get similar privileges for York residents as the other two library members receive. York wants to slow or reduce its operating contribution and increase its representation on the library board.

“We have no desire to leave the agreement, we need a better agreement,” he said.

Bellamy said the library board representative with whom he met was ready to work with York. Any changes to the agreement would have to be approved by the regional library board.

York supervisors had asked for proposed trims to the county’s new five-year spending plan at a retreat earlier this year. York County’s current policy is to limit debt payments to 10% of the annual budget.

Bellamy’s original $226.2 million plan was getting close to that limit, based on conservative projections of future revenue and expense.

By trimming $11 million from his proposal, he was able to lower that figure to $214.9 million and trimmed the percentage of county revenue devoted to pay off loans close to 8.9 percent. $97.1 million of the spending total will go to the school system.

York Woman Charged in Hit & Run Death

Authorities charged a 60-year-old York County woman with the hit and run death last month of a 43-year-old man who was walking on Merrimac Trail at night.

The Williamsburg/James City County Commonwealth Attorney’s office charged Delana Greenhow, 60, in the Feb. 25 incident.

Police said a couple was walking alongside Merrimac Trail that night when they were struck by a vehicle.

They found an injured woman who said they had been struck from behind by a driver who did not stop.

Police had to search for 43-year-old Kenneth Jackson Jr., who was knocked from the immediate scene by the crash.

Jackson, a resident of Newport News, was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:07 p.m. His female companion was taken to Riverside Doctors Hospital in Williamsburg with injuries not considered life threatening.

Greenhow had called dispatchers about 20 minutes earlier to report she was involved in a collision, possibly with a deer.

Police went to her home and inspected her vehicle, determining it had damage consistent with the hit and run. They said Greenhow was the person who called the dispatch center and was the driver.

New State Standards Impact Schools

Just as they are preparing to ask local taxpayers for a double-digit increase in funding, the Williamsburg James City County school board learned at least three schools may not be on track to meet stricter new state school standards.

Williamsburg/James City County School Board members got an overview of how the state’s new school performance and support framework may impact the schools when they met for a work session Tuesday evening.

The system in place until this year had three levels of accreditation:

1. At or above standard

2. Near standard

3. Below standard

Under the new system, Assistant Superintendent Sean Walker explained, schools will fall into one of four categories:

1. Distinguished

2. On track

3. Off track

4. Needs intensive support

Based on last year’s test results, Walker cautioned, only one school in the W/JCC system would fall into the distinguished category. Twelve would be considered on track, and three schools would fall into the off-track category.

Walker did not identify any of the schools, and board members did not ask him to name them. We reached out early Wednesday morning to the schools’ spokeswoman for the names, but had not heard back by the time we completed editing this story last night.

Mastery of subject matter is the largest component of the state grading system, but class attendance and student personal growth is also measured. In high schools, 35% of the grade will be based on students’ readiness to continue to college, vocational jobs or the military.

Interim Superintendent Daniel Keever said that schools support the new system but would have preferred another year to prepare for its impact.

This comes as school leaders are readying to meet with local governments to seek a 12.9% increase in contributions from the taxpayers of James City County and the city of Williamsburg. And it comes against a backdrop of concern from the city that its economically disadvantaged students are lagging significantly in subject knowledge, absenteeism and graduation rates.

The two localities’ elected representatives will meet with school officials March 14 to review the schools’ $197.1 million proposed budget.

While the schools’ enrollment has remained basically flat for the past four years, its spending per pupil increased 18.5 percent from the year before Covid hit to $14,902 per student in 2023, the schools say.

Schools want to hire the equivalent of 63 more employees in the fiscal year that begins this July.

“We’re not asking for frivolous dollars,” said Schools Chair Sarah Ortego. She said the schools improve student performance “by hiring and retaining quality teachers and staff.”

Brandon Keister (York/Poquoson Sheriff’s Office Photo)

A 30-year-old man was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with sending sexually explicit photographs to an underage local girl, the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office announced.

The arrest of Brandon Keister came nearly a year after the girl’s mother told the Sheriff’s Office she had learned her daughter was engaged in an online relationship with him.

The Investigations Division was able to positively identify the male suspect and determine he had sent sexually explicit photographs of himself to the girl.

The suspect lived in Arizona when the investigation began, but later moved to Pennsylvania. In February of this year, Sheriff’s Office Investigators were able to locate him in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and he was arrested Feb. 28.

Keister is in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail and was charged with five felony counts, including one of producing child pornography.