Williamsburg City Council on June 12 voted unanimously to adopt a series of ordinances, contracts and resolutions that officials said ensure continuity of city services and align local code references with state stormwater and erosion rules.

The most consequential votes included adoption of a zoning text amendment to align the city zoning code with water quality and erosion-control chapters; award of a lagoon residuals removal contract for the water filtration plant; authorization of a bulk water purchase agreement with Newport News; extension of the residential curbside trash contract; and a set of mutual-aid, utility procurement and alerting agreements. Council members also approved routine appointments and a small grants appropriation.

Why it matters: together the measures affect stormwater regulation language in the city code, near-term utility maintenance, contingency planning for drought or large water‑system incidents and daily services such as trash collection. One award—removal and disposal of lagoon residuals at the water filtration plant—exceeded the project budget and will be covered from existing utility contingency lines.

Votes at a glance

- PCR 25-007 / Ordinance 25-06 — Amend Chapter 21 (zoning text references for erosion/sediment control and stormwater): motion to adopt carried unanimously. (Recorded vote: five councilmembers present voted aye.)

- Minutes (Council work session May 5; Council meeting May 8): motion to approve carried unanimously.

- Award: Removal and disposal of residuals from Water Filtration Plant lagoons — lowest responsive bid: Stage 3 Separation LLC for $361,075. Staff reported the bid exceeded the project budget of $238,358; council approved using $98,804 from current-year contingency and $23,911 from FY26 contingency to cover the overage and authorized the city manager to execute the contract. Motion carried unanimously.

- Bulk water purchase agreement with the City of Newport News — authorized the city manager to execute a long-term bulk water purchase arrangement that provides treated water at an industrial rate of $4.29 per thousand gallons, with no upfront payment and an available additional 3 million gallons per day for bulk purchase; term extends through 2050. Motion carried unanimously.

- Solid-waste curbside contract (Republic Services) — council authorized a one-year extension (07/01/2025) with up to four one-year options; rate reported $16.12 per household per month (a 4.9% increase) and staff said the increase was budgeted. Motion carried unanimously.

- Nonemergency utility service contracts — council authorized the city manager to sign agreements with Henry S. Branscomb and JSG Corporation for emergency and nonemergency utility work (initial term 1 year; annual caps described by staff). Motion carried unanimously.

- Lagoon/residuals bid, mutual-aid and alerting agreements — council approved a package of related operational resolutions including updating the mutual aid agreement with the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity (Camp Peary/Camp Perry), renewal of the FEMA IPAWS memorandum of agreement and several other operating agreements. All motions carried unanimously.

- Budget amendment (Resolution 25-11) — council appropriated three small grants/donations: a state police training grant ($6,000), a state criminal alien assistance program grant ($7,192) (pass-through to the regional jail) and a donation from volunteer firefighters (amount reported in the packet; appropriated). Motion carried unanimously.

- Ordinance 25-07 — Amendment to the real estate tax exemption language to implement the November constitutional change extending exemptions to certain surviving spouses of service members who died in the line of duty (including language referenced by the General Assembly): council adopted the ordinance. Motion carried unanimously.

- Appointments and administrative resolutions — council adopted recommended appointments and sent a resolution recommending a member for the board of equalization to the court. Motions carried unanimously.

Council procedure and roll calls: most roll calls were recorded as a series of “Aye” responses for Miss Williams, Miss Ramsey, Mayor Ponds, Vice Mayor Dent and Miss Kerns (five voting members appearing in the roll calls shown); clerical and staff votes are not recorded.

Ending: Council had no closed-session business and adjourned at the end of the meeting.