The board approved a $2.7 million contract with JSG Corp. to do needed work to improve roads in the Settlers Market area. Improvements include milling and repaving the existing pavement, striping of lane markings, fixing and updating handicap accessible ramps, and working on the stormwater/drainage infrastructure, said Assistant County Administrator Jason Purse.

Purse said the improvements should be done within the next six months.

The board also authorized a $1.9 million fiber optic cable purchase to complete the county’s internet and communication infrastructure. The installation of the cable will complete connections to local public sites in the county, eliminating the need for leasing fiber optic cable use.

Currently, fiber optic cable serves 15 county sites, two James City Service Authority sites, 14 Williamsburg-James City County School sites and the two Williamsburg Regional Library sites.

Because one county site and three school system sites currently rent use of the cables for $76,000 per year, buying and installing 19 miles of new cable will eliminate the need to lease them.

“The installation of this fiber will also provide an improved infrastructure assuring continued communications in the event of a fiber cut or the failure of communications equipment at any given site,” according to the county.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, board Chair Ruth Larson reminded residents to take part in the annual National Night Out, which is being recognized in James City County on Aug. 6. The event is a chance for the police department and community to come together.

“It’s always a special night on National Night Out when we go into our communities to really continue to build on those relationships and friendships,” James City County Police Chief Mark Jamison said. “It takes all of us to really provide a safe and vibrant community.”

That evening, from 5-8 p.m., groups of officers and staff will attend neighborhood block parties at 14 different locations throughout the county.

Also Tuesday, the board also heard a presentation on how to stay safe during hurricane season, which began June 1 and goes through Nov. 30.

Fire Chief Ryan Ashe presented advice on storm preparation for severe weather such as flooding, thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes. Recommendations include making a family plan, building a storm kit, staying informed and taking protective measures during emergencies.

“The time to prepare for severe weather is not when the announcement comes out when the storm starts, it really should be an all-around process,” Ashe said.

Residents should maintain an emergency support network and identify meeting places and transportation options in the case of severe storms, he recommended. Residents should also have evacuation kits on hand that include supplies such as food and water, prescription medications, first aid kits, emergency cash and important documents, extra clothing and hygiene items.

Households can find their hurricane evacuation zone through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s Know Your Zone map, available at vaemergency.gov/know-your-zone. Ashe also recommended that families be aware of drowning prevention measures such as supervision, knowledge of CPR and water competency.

More information about severe weather preparedness and emergency alerts can be found through the JCC website and social media accounts. County residents can also sign up for emergency notifications through JCCAlert.org.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com, and Emma Henry, emma.henry@virginiamedia.com 

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the state agency that governs new schools and programs, approved the school Tuesday, according to a news release.

The school will bring together four programs: applied science, computer science, data science and physics.

“I appreciate SCHEV’s shared commitment to preparing broadly educated, forward-thinking citizens and professionals,” W&M President Katherine A. Rowe said in the release. “The jobs of tomorrow belong to those prepared to solve tomorrow’s problems. Machine learning, AI, computational modeling — these are essential modes of critical thinking and core to a liberal arts education in the 21st century,” she said.

The school will be operational in fall 2025, and a national search for a dean of the school is underway.

W&M’s Board of Visitors approved the creation of the school in November. Its approval at the state level makes it the university’s sixth school — the first since the creation of the Raymond A. Mason School of Business in 1968.

Establishing the standalone School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics, will increase visibility of the programs and their growing career fields, the university said.

“Innovation has been part of William & Mary since its inception, and this school will serve as the catalyst for countless new discoveries, partnerships and synergies,” Provost Peggy Agouris said in a statement. “The School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics is launching at a pivotal time within these dynamic fields, and I’m incredibly proud to continue our journey of interdisciplinary growth and excellence across our undergraduate and graduate program offerings.

The four academic areas in the new school are experiencing strong growth in external investment (over $9 million in 2023) and student numbers, according to the university.

Undergraduate students will not apply to the school directly; instead, second-year students who meet the criteria will be allowed to enter the school. Students will be able to double major or minor in other programs at the university while attending the new school, according to the release.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com 

The improvements were part of VDOT’s Route 60 Sidewalk and Bikeway Improvement Project, according to a release from VDOT. The project aims to improve pedestrian and bicycle access on the road between Croaker and Old Church roads to support nearby residential and commercial areas.

The sidewalks should now meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, VDOT said.

According to the release, the project included the widening of sidewalks, construction of a new roadway bike lane from Croaker Road to the Norge Crossing Shopping Center and the addition of a crosswalk with an upgraded traffic signal at the intersection of Richmond Road and Norge Lane.

The $1.6 million project is being undertaken by the J.S.G. Corp. of Williamsburg. The project is slated to be completely finished, landscaping and all, in the fall, according to VDOT.

To learn about other VDOT projects, including the Croaker Road Widening Project in the Norge area, visit vdot.virginia.gov/projects/hampton-roads-district/croaker-road-widening.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com 

This week, as part of the Sentara Health Careers Camp, campers got to explore the inside of an ambulance helicopter, learn about respiratory therapy and practice with instruments used in laparoscopic surgeries at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center.

Tiffany Smith-Stokes, who facilitated the camp and manages the education department at the hospital, said having a diverse health care workforce is important to represent different backgrounds.

“Sometimes you definitely want to go to a place where you see some of the same people that look like you to help you, because then that way you seem to have a better understanding of ‘how can I help you?’” she said.

Smith-Stokes said the number of young Black and brown people seeking futures in medicine is lacking.

“They’re not aware (of) the possibility of a health career,” she said. “So, this camp gives them that opportunity to come in and see the behind-the-scenes of what really happens in the hospital and all of the various health care career options that are available to them.”

The camp also is intended to help ignite interest in the wide variety of technical and support careers available beyond medical school and nursing.

On Thursday, campers practiced with instruments used for laparoscopic surgery and to suture wounds from incisions — things that would typically be done in sterile environments. Thus, campers had to put on “bunny suits” made up of footies, coveralls and hairnets.

Dacota Cauthorne, a nurse at Sentara Williamsburg, showed campers the steps to closing wounds with a “simple interrupted suture.”

“It’s the kind of suture that you would have after a surgery,” she said. “It’s the kind that doesn’t absorb itself, so they have to be cut out by the doctor a couple weeks later when everything’s healed up.”

She said the campers she was working with did great.

Lynn Savoie, a registered nurse at Sentara Williamsburg, showed campers how to use remote controlled instruments and robots to perform laparoscopic surgery. She had the campers working at a box on an operating table that represented what a surgery set-up would look like.

Campers used a tubular camera and grasping tools to try and grab wrapped peppermints from a box through small holes in the top. They couldn’t see in the box, so they had to rely on what the camera was seeing by looking up at a screen and manipulating the instruments based on what they saw — kind of like a video game with real-life implications.

Savoie said laparoscopic surgery is less invasive than traditional surgery, resulting in a faster recovery time for patients.

“Usually the surgical assistant will be standing across from (the doctor), the surgical tech will be standing next to them — they’re the ones who are passing different instruments to the doctor,” she said. “Usually you’ll have the person who’s holding the camera on one side — whatever side they need to look at — and then the doctor will usually be the one with the instruments.”

“It was pretty cool how they use a robot instead of actually doing it physical, because it might be a little hard — how they control the robot through like a little screen,” said 12-year-old Jeremiah Shepherd, one of the campers.

Jeremiah said he wants to go into the medical field, and this was his first camp that showed him the kinds of possibilities open to him.

Young people such as Jeremiah are the future of health care, Smith-Stokes said, which is a reason it’s so important to promote a diverse health care workforce.

“To be able to be a part of helping to grow our future is very important,” she said, “because I definitely want someone to be able to really come and take great care of me when (I need) that help.”

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com 

“Today we are celebrating the tremendous progress that has already been done to create a state-of-the-art police station,” Williamsburg Mayor Douglas Pons said to a crowd of around 75 people gathered at the Lafayette Street site.

The team of Henderson Inc. and Moseley Architects is designing and building the new station, which is expected to cost roughly $19.2 million. Work at the site began in April with excavating the basement. The foundation is next.

The city marked the progress Friday by signing a beam that will eventually go just above the basement in the new 43,400-square-foot station and support the building for the entirety of its existence, officials said.

Williamsburg Police Chief Sean Dunn said the new facility will help the department carry out its mission of contemporary community policing.

“We’ve been in our current building since 1978, and we have certainly outgrown it. It doesn’t have the infrastructure, the technology, the space to accommodate us to do 21st century and community policing,” Dunn said.

He explained that his department takes a proactive approach to policing, acting as not only enforcers, but also as community ambassadors to provide people with needed resources in many situations.

“For me, community policing is all about building relationships, building bonds with members of our community, increasing our trust and that relationship to allow us to serve our community better,” Dunn said.

“But also, (the) 21st century is about looking at the police department (through) a much more broad lens to ensure that our training is in line, our recruitment is in line, our facilities are in line — that everything we can think of is where it needs to be to ensure we’ve got our officers who are well, they’re positioned to do the job, they’re highly trained … to support the function of community policing.”

The current station, at corner of Lafayette Street and Armistead Avenue next to the Williamsburg Regional Library, is a dated structure that has outlasted its use. It will be demolished once the new station is operational.

Dunn said the new station will give the department the resources they need to better serve the community.

Among the new facility’s updated infrastructure and technology, according to Dunn, will be more comfortable interview rooms “so when we’re dealing with children — maybe who have been victimized or adults who have been victimized with very sensitive situations — we will have a softer room to be able to handle those types of interviews.”

“We’re really excited,” Maj. Ashley Nichols said. “We’re going to have a whole new patrol space as well as more technologically savvy criminal investigations bureau space. So, we’ll have more interview rooms, more technology inside of our department to help us with our investigations.”

The new station will also have space dedicated to officer wellness, including a fitness facility.

Williamsburg’s Vice Mayor Pat Dent commended the department for their persistent service to the community.

“They’ve been dealing with an aging facility, but they continue to serve the community with the same dedication and commitment regardless of the facility they were in,” Dent said.

“We hear all the time from citizens how they interact, they build relationships, so when someone does have an issue, they have the neighborhood resource officers,” he added. “They can pick the phone up and call them or email them. It’s not all about enforcement.”

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com

The 10:30 a.m. ceremony is open to the public and will take place at the site of the new station at 715 Lafayette St. Those attending the ceremony can park at the Municipal Building at 401 Lafayette St.

The 43,400-square-foot station is expected to open in fall 2025.

“We are excited to celebrate this milestone for the new Williamsburg Police Station with the public,” Mayor Doug Pons said in a news release. “Our officers and this community are deserving of a state-of-the-art police station that can provide the best platform for public safety for the next 50 years.”

Henderson Inc. and architectural firm Moseley Architects are in charge of designing and building the station.

Discussion of the project began in 2016 to address the aging police station currently in use, according to the city. That station, located at the corner of Lafayette Street and Armistead Avenue next to the Williamsburg Regional Library, will be demolished once the new one is operational.

Among the amenities of the new station will be a community room with seating for 70, a state-of-the-art property and evidence facility, a fitness facility and other space dedicated to officer wellness and multiple interview rooms.

More about the police station project can be found at williamsburgva.gov/policestation.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com 

She and her fellow police officers joke with each other before they leave the station for patrols, and then things get serious.

“A typical day, honestly, I can’t even describe. It always keeps me on my toes,” Beltran said.

Beltran’s dashboard radar sounds like an endless muffled siren coming through a speaker, and then there’s the chatter on the radio. Officers rush to the scene when they hear that other officers are engaging with people — either due to a traffic stop, someone loitering where they shouldn’t be or any other of a wide range of reasons.

“We definitely have each other’s back. Any call that I had that’s like a domestic, there’s always somebody that’s like, ‘backup en route.’ And I think the camaraderie that I’ve experienced here is one of the best I’ve ever had,” Beltran said.

Beltran is one of eight female officers in Williamsburg’s 45-member police department, or roughly 17% of a force that covers the city of 16,000. Last year, the department joined the 30×30 Initiative, a national effort to increase the amount of female police officers to 30% by the year 2030. In doing so, Williamsburg joined about 360 law enforcement departments across the country that have pledged to increase female representation.

“We want a department that represents our community as a whole,” said police Maj. Ashley Nichols, who heads Williamsburg’s patrol bureau and spearheads the department’s initiative. “We want to have a diverse police department, and the city of Williamsburg, I believe, is 53% female, so obviously we want to represent the female citizens in our community.”

Currently, women account for 12% of sworn police officers and 3% of police leadership in the United States, according to the 30×30 Initiative, a coalition of police leaders, researchers and professional organizations that champions the importance of women in policing. In Hampton Roads, female representation in law enforcement is above the national average, with almost 17% of officers women. Only the Norfolk Police Department falls below the national average.

Still, departments say they want to do better. Besides Williamsburg, four police departments have joined the 30×30 Initiative, including Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Suffolk. Other departments, including Chesapeake, are considering.

“Everybody brings certain things to the table that help when you’re dealing with the community, because if that’s who we’re serving, then we have to reflect the community — women, minorities, people with different religious backgrounds,” said Chesapeake police Sgt. Dorienne Boykin. “So, it’s important that we’re all here to service the community because we are in customer service.

“We do so much more than just take people to jail and write tickets.”

The 30×30 Initiative began in 2019 on the heels of a national research summit on women in policing. From there, organizers began working with policing agencies to improve recruiting and strive toward making police departments “truly representative of the jurisdictions they serve.”

“This 30% threshold is where change begins to happen, but it is not our end goal,” the initiative says on its website, 30x30Initiative.org. “While 30×30 is focused on advancing women in policing, these principles are applicable to all demographic diversity, not just gender.”

Part of the initiative’s goals is to spread awareness about the important role women can play in policing.

“This under-representation of women in policing undermines public safety. Research shows women officers use less force and less excessive force; are named in fewer complaints and lawsuits; are perceived by communities as being more honest and compassionate; see better outcomes for crime victims, especially in sexual assault cases; and make fewer discretionary arrests,” the group says.

___

Out in the field

Women can help people feel more comfortable in a wide range of situations, such as in sexual assault cases where a female victim wants to speak with a woman, Nichols said. Women are also more likely to use discretion on certain arrests and can help build community relations.

“Sometimes if we arrest a female, they request a female officer to search them, but if we don’t have a female on staff, we’ll reach out to a neighboring jurisdiction to see if they can accommodate that request for them,” she said. “Same with victims of crimes — sometimes they request to speak to a certain gender, so we want to be able to oblige that request whenever we can.”

For the Williamsburg department, which covers the city and often interacts with William & Mary students, community policing is a must. The department is big on proactive policing — stopping issues before they happen.

“You go out and really get to know the community,” Beltran said. “People know your face, people know your name, and you offer resources to them.”

It serves the community to see themselves represented within the department, Nichols said, pointing to a recent school visit where she noticed students were excited because they had not seen a female police officer before.

Beltran said another benefit of having women available on staff is that they provide more options for some harder calls like domestic calls.

“People’s relationships are very touchy. Those can be more high-caliber calls sometimes, (because) you just never know what you’re walking into,” she said. “When you have at least a female and a male perspective, you don’t know who’s going to open up to you. Sometimes even the males (like) talking to me more just because they want, like, a calming voice.”

Williamsburg Police Chief Sean Dunn said the department’s signing on to the initiative speaks to the department it wants to be. That means working to attract, recruit, retain and develop women to not just be patrol officers, but to also move to specialized assignments and leadership roles, he said.

Williamsburg residents can drop off recycling and trash at the Tewning Road and Jolly Pond Road convenience centers, and an agreement approved by the council will allow the arrangement with the James City County-owned centers to continue until one party terminates the agreement or it is renegotiated.

A study revealed that roughly 20% of the people who use the centers are city residents; thus, the city agreed to pay 20% of the operating costs, amounting to $12,000 per year. The city will also pay 20% of capital improvement costs up to $100,000. Anything exceeding that amount will be negotiated by the localities.

Recyclables and trash that can be dropped off include paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs, glass bottles and jars, aluminum and tin, antifreeze, kitchen grease, motor oil, propane tanks (20-pound maximum), lead-acid batteries, scrap metal and appliances made of 50% metal.

“I am one who particularly uses the Tewning Road one now that they have separate containers for glass, and I think that that may be a reason there may be more city residents that use that as opposed to throwing their glass in with their regular recycling,” council member Barbara Ramsey said.

Tewning Road also has an oyster shell depository, Ramsey said.

Also Thursday, City Council also approved Williamsburg’s participation in an opioid settlement involving Kroger.

Virginia agreed to participate in a settlement agreement reached with Kroger, and the total amount of the money the commonwealth receives will depend on how many localities agree to participate.

“The City’s relative share of the settlement is very small (0.085% of the non-litigating locality share), which equates to a few thousand dollars per year per settlement,” according to the agenda item.

Most of the funds the city receives will need to be used to address damage caused by the opioid epidemic. So, Williamsburg is participating in an application led by James City County to seek state funding for a drug court to serve the region.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com

Emma Henry, emma.henry@virginiamedia.com

Ten school buses, part of a school bus replacement system developed by the county, would cost $1.5 million.

Most of the funds would come from the fiscal year 2025 Capital Improvement Projects section of the school system’s budget.

Board Chair Sarah Ortego questioned the purchase, considering the current school bus driver shortage and the large number of buses the system already has.

“Years ago, the division adopted a smoothing replacement plan,” said Rene Ewing, chief financial officer for the district. “The recommendation … is to replace the buses once they reach 15 years of age or over 250,000 miles, and we currently have 26 that are at that 15-age mark, so we annually replace 10 buses just to keep the fleet up.”

There a number of buses in the fleet of 160 set aside to be used as spares or for parts in case of unusual circumstances, according to county staff.

Board member Randy Riffle clarified that the vehicles would all be gas powered, not electric.

Also Tuesday, the school board reviewed tuition rates for non-resident students. The proposed regular education tuition rate for the 2024-25 school year is $13,667, and the proposed special education tuition is $23,239. The regular tuition rate would increase by $689, or 5.31%, and the special education tuition rate would increase by $637, or 2.82%, compared to last school year.

The school bus purchase request and tuition rate reviews are part of the annual process aimed at keeping the school system fully operational. The board will vote on the items at its next meeting.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com 

The board approved the addition of over 65 acres to the agricultural and forestal districts — roughly 16 acres added to the Mill Creek AFD and around 50 acres added to the Barnes Swamp AFD. These districts are designated as conservation areas, set aside for agricultural production, timber and the preservation of open land for environmental and economic value.

Linda Rice applied to have nearly 17 acres of her property on Forge Road added to the Mill Creek AFD. A portion of the land, aside from the residence, is used for grazing horses, and the rest of the property is forested. Rice said she has no plans to harvest timber on the property.

The approval of Rice’s application brought the size of the Mill Creek AFD to 3,406 acres.

Nancy Bradshaw applied to have about 50 acres on Fire Tower Road added to the Barnes Swamp AFD. There is a residence on the property, but much of the property is forested, according to the agenda item.

The addition of the land brought the Barnes Swamp AFD to nearly 1,912 acres.

According to the county, AFDs are part of state policy to “conserve and protect and to encourage the development and improvement of the Commonwealth’s agricultural and forestal lands for the production of food and other agricultural and forestal products.”

Doing so also protects land and provides “essential open spaces for clean air sheds, watershed protection, wildlife habitat, as well as for aesthetic purposes.”

Also Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved a change to the incoming industrial and commerce center at 275 Old Stage Road. Lovett Industrial will be allowed to put semi-trailer parking and loading docks in the interior of complex, which will shield them from public view.

The county has proffered for up to 3.2 million square feet of warehouse, industrial and office space to be built at the complex, along with up to 75,000 square feet of commercial space.

Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com