New Kent Board reorganizes for 2025; approves cybersecurity spending, road survey and hall-of-fame charter

The New Kent County Board of Supervisors elected Thomas Evelyn as chair for 2025 and Ron Steers as vice chair, approved several administrative appointments and a revised 2025 meeting schedule, and took final action on capital and program items at its Jan. 13 meeting.

The reorganization vote opened the meeting. The board elected Thomas Evelyn as chair for the 2025 calendar year; the roll call included multiple aye votes and one recorded abstention. Ron Steers was elected vice chair. Rodney A. Hathaway was reappointed clerk of the board and Wanda F. Watkins was reappointed deputy clerk. The board also adopted a revised 2025 meeting schedule that moved several work sessions and one regular meeting to alternative dates, after members discussed conflicts with other commitments.

Why it matters: officer elections set leadership for the year; schedule changes affect deadlines for public hearings and staff timelines. The board also advanced several operational items that will affect county IT resiliency, road improvements, volunteer recognition and bylaw language.

Among final actions, the board approved a purchase and budget transfers totaling $117,135 to acquire a new backup solution (Cohesity) for county IT systems. County staff said the new system is scalable and carries an expected ongoing operational cost that could reach about $40,000 per year at maximum usage; staff said ongoing costs are included in the next fiscal-year budget request.

The board authorized a work order and appropriated $62,840 from Central Virginia Transportation Authority funds to Bowman Consulting for surveying services needed to create a right of way for the private portion of Crumps/Crump’s Mill Road. County staff told the board the road is roughly a mile of gravel serving a little over 40 residents and that VDOT construction funds are available only for construction; all property owners must…