Johnston County
Board
of Commissioners report from July 6 session |
 |
Commissioners present:
Chairman Ted Godwin, Tony Braswell, Jeff Carver,
Patrick Harris,
Butch Lawter, Chad Stewart, and Larry Wood
Absent: none
Board
approves purchase of future
park site in Cleveland Township
Commissioners approved the county's
purchase of 77 acres in Cleveland Township for a
future park. The expenditure of $1.6 million will
come from undesignated reserve funds held by the
county.
The property is located at the intersection of
Matthews and Polenta roads. "This is our first
piece of preservation property," exclaimed Adrian
O'Neal, the county's coordinator of parks,
greenways, and open space who's finishing up his
first year on the job.
"I'd like to see this done throughout the county,"
said Commissioner Chad Stewart.
Mr. O'Neal said the Greater Cleveland Athletic
Association has agreed to manage the property for
use by its long-standing sports program. The
county, meanwhile, will put together a master plan
for future park activities, Mr. O'Neal noted.
He said the county is applying for two grants to
help with the park land's purchase and
development.
County Finance Director Chad McLamb told the Sun
that the county's unassigned reserves as of June
30 should amount to about $95 million after
deduction of current encumbrances and payables.
Commissioners accepted from the county's Board of Education a 2.84-acre parcel beside the Neuse River at NC 42 that Mr. O'Neal said would accommodate a "fabulous" boat launch for canoes and kayaks. The Town of Clayton has agreed to build and maintain the facility at a stop already used by the public for boat launching, he noted. The property was part of a larger tract purchased by the school board years ago for the campus of East Clayton Elementary School.
BOARD ENDORSES "GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACT"
At Mr. O'Neal's request, the board adopted a resolution in support of a proposed "Great American Outdoors Act" working its way through Congress to fund a backlog of maintenance needs at national parks plus grants to state and localities for park development. "This would be a great thing for this county," Mr. O'Neal said. He noted that funding for the proposed legislation would come from federal fees collected from companies doing offshore energy exploration along our coastlines. (The legislation won approval from the U.S. Senate June 17 and was sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence.)
FUNDING APPROVED FOR NEW J-CATS HEADQUARTERS
Commissioners approved an appropriation of $597,800 from undesignated reserves to match a federal grant of $2,391,200 for construction of a new maintenance and office facility for J-CATS, the transportation program operated by Community & Senior Services of Johnston County. Another $571,000 for the $3.5-million project will come from J-CATS reserve funds, noted Neal Davis, the agency's executive director. The pre-engineered metal building will be set up on property presently occupied by J-CATS on Selma's West Noble Street.
ANNUAL REPORT ON CHILDHOOD FATALITIES HERE
Commissioners received a report from Johnston's Child Fatality Prevention Team that listed 25 deaths of youngsters under age 18 in 2019 --- 10 from premature births, seven from illnesses, three from motor-vehicle accidents, two from accidental home fires, one from a "choking hazard," one homicide, and one suicide. Kathleen Lanc, the prevention team's review coordinator, said this is the first year a report has been presented since the team's establishment in 1991. Commissioner Jeff Carver took note of a significant decline in motor-vehicle deaths among teens as a result of recent safe-driving initiatives targeting young drivers.
INTERNET SERVICES CONTRACT WITH GOOGLE OK'd
Following a recommendation from Technology Services Director Jeff Howard, commissioners approved a four-year contract with Google for Internet software, e-mail storage, and security services to replace a previous contract with Microsoft. Mr. Howard told commissioners Google's product costs less yet provides more capabilities, including unlimited file storage "in the cloud," data-loss prevention, and encrypted video conferencing. He said G Suite's applications are comparable to Microsoft Office apps like Word and Excel, and operates compatibly with those Microsoft files. He said the first year's cost of Google's G Suite service is $234,100, the second and third years are free, and the fourth year's cost is $217,200.
50-210 FIRE DEPARTMENT GETS ELEVATED STATUS
Following a public hearing that drew no objections, the board approved a First Responder Franchise for the 50-210 Fire Department that serves the McGee's Crossroads community. Its approval was recommended by the county's EMS Advisory Committee. Other departments in Johnston already hold such franchises.
FEDERAL GRANT SOUGHT FOR SCHOOL-OFFICER RADIOS
The board endorsed Sheriff Steve Bizzell's application for a federal grant of $13,138 to purchase six Harris-brand portable radios to be used by six new deputies to be assigned as middle-school Resource Officers.
McGEE'S CROSSROADS WATER-MAIN CONTRACT OK'd
Sitting as the McGee's Crossroads Water District Board, commissioners awarded a $4,992,500 contract to Hall Contracting Corporation of Charlotte for water-main upgrades along NC 210 from Old Stage Road to the Harnett County line. With costs for technical services, easement acquisition, and contingencies added, the project's total cost is expected to be $5,888,170 with almost $5.6 million of that to be financed over 20 years at 1.82% through a state-run loan program. Although he voted to approve the contract, Commissioner Carver (a banker) questioned the wisdom of a 20-year loan in light of persistent failures of the existing water line since its installation in the late 1990s. He suggested a shorter payback term for such projects in the future, even if that would raise rates paid by county water customers who provide the revenue covering the projects' costs.
PROPERTY-TAX COLLECTION RATE REACHES 99.43%
Despite economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the County of Johnston has collected 99.43% of property taxes due for the past fiscal year as of June 30, reported Tax Administrator Jocelyn Andrews. Furthermore, recent collections of taxes on motor vehicles has shown "a slight increase," she noted. Even so, she pointed out that the 99.43% collection rate for property taxes is a bit short of normal for Johnston County, which has been inching closer to 100% in recent years and ranking near the top for all 100 counties in North Carolina.
APPOINTMENTS TO TWO BOARDS AND A COUNCIL
The board approved the following appointments:
• Alliance Health Board of Directors --- Lee Jackson of Smithfield reappointed.
• Juvenile Crime Prevention Council --- Serreda K. Jenkins of Selma reappointed; Tammi Kornegay of Riverwood and James Purrington of Clayton newly appointed.
• Voluntary Agricultural District Advisory Board --- Ralph Stewart Jr. of Ingrams Township newly appointed.
HEARING AUGUST 3 ON DEVELOPMENT-RULE CHANGES
The board scheduled a public hearing for the evening of Monday, August 3 on proposed changes to the county's Land Development Code recommended by the Johnston County Planning Board and staff. Key amendments would change minimum lot-size requirements for new residences and expand boundaries of Municipal Transition Districts (MTDs) to encourage more residential development closer to Johnston's towns. Anticipating considerable public interest in the proposed changes, commissioners agreed to conduct the August 3 hearing in the auditorium of the Johnston County Agricultural Center. Here are links to three documents highlighting proposed changes to the Land Development Code:
• Lot Size and MTD amendments>
• Residential Table of Use amendments>
• MTD boundary changes>