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JAMES CITY — James City County supervisors heard about solar farms, taxes, redistricting and lacrosse at their meeting on Tuesday.
Dozens of lacrosse players from all three Williamsburg-James City County high schools were among the members of the public who filled the board room Tuesday to make their case for a Virginia High School League-certified lacrosse program.
Superintendent Daniel Keever has included $225,000 in his proposed budget for a program next fiscal year, which would cover equipment, uniforms, coaching stipends, officials and VHSL fees. The amount is included in the additional $1.225 million Keever is requesting from the city and county in his $202.7 million operating budget to fund a lacrosse program as well as a JROTC program, a gifted resource teacher, additional safety officials and central support staff.
The school division’s proposed budget will go before supervisors and Williamsburg City Council next month.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, supervisors agreed to a permit extension for construction of a 3-megawatt solar farm at 360 Racefield Drive. The permit was previously approved in March 2022 but needed to be extended to give the builder more time to complete the project.
Construction of the solar farm is in progress but still requires site work, landscape plantings, building inspections and completion of training for county public safety personnel, said Morgan Risinger, a senior planner with the county.
Supervisors agreed to extend the permit to July 1. The solar farm, which was previously used as active farmland, is being built on 26 acres of the 65.26 acre site.
There are two solar farms currently operating in James City County, with several more in review stages. The county passed a new solar facility regulation policy in December 2024.
Besides lacrosse, other residents at Tuesday’s meeting spoke about taxes, asking supervisors to consider cutting the tax rate, while one supervisor asked the board to consider passing a resolution that would keep Virginia’s congressional districts as is.
In response to Republican redistricting efforts in other states, Virginia Democrats are proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow the General Assembly to redraw congressional districts beyond the 10-year redistricting process. A statewide referendum vote is scheduled for April 21.
Under the proposed congressional map, Williamsburg and James City and York counties, which are part of District 1 and represented by Republican Rob Wittman, would be placed into District 8, joining Fairfax, Arlington and Stafford counties. That district is currently represented by Democrat Don Beyer. The new map would favor Democrats in 10 out of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts, compared with the existing map, on which Democrats occupy six seats.
Supervisor Tracy Wainwright said a resolution would show that the board does not support a constitutional amendment that creates “partisan gerrymandering.”
“I know there’s been a lot of different proposals and types of resolutions,” Wainwright said. “This is just to vocalize support for the current districting process in Virginia.”
Supervisor Chair John McGlennon suggested the board take time to consider the resolution before their next meeting.
James W. Robinson, 757-799-0621, james.robinson@virginiamedia.com
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