All commissioners present:
Chairman Chad Stewart, Tony Braswell, Ted Godwin, Patrick Harris,
Butch Lawter, Fred Smith, and Larry Wood

OVERTIME PAY FOR WEEKEND VACCINATION CLINICS

Following a closed session at the end of Monday's meeting, the board approved overtime pay for workers called to staff county-sponsored COVID-19 vaccination clinics held on weekends. That includes reimbursing Johnston County Public Schools for nurses and Johnston Community College for any of its employees called to assist at weekend clinics.

GOVERNOR HONORS JOHNSTON'S HEALTH DIRECTOR

Commissioner Harris took note of Governor Roy Cooper's recognition last week of Johnston County's Public Health Director Marilyn Pearson as one of 32 African-American leaders and organizations honored during Black History Month for their contributions to health and medicine. The Governor's Office noted that Dr. Pearson is Congressional District 7's representative on the N.C. Medicaid Medical Care Advisory Committee and was named N.C. "Health Director of the Year" in 2015.


DESIGN FOR NEW PUBLIC SAFETY CENTER ADVANCES

Commissioners authorized Moseley Architects to prepare construction documents and move toward soliciting bids for a proposed Public Safety Center next to the county's new Detention Center already under construction off US 70 Business east of Smithfield. County Manager Rick Hester said construction bids should be ready for commissioners to consider by summer. The proposed center would house the Sheriff's Department, Emergency Services, and 9-1-1 Communications.


COUNTY TO SPLIT COST OF SEWERAGE WITH DEVELOPER

With an assurance sought by Commissioner Smith that the developer will post bond ensuring the project's completion, the board approved an agreement to share the cost of a sewerage upgrade requested by Eastfield Associates for its massive commercial and residential project planned for lands east of the interchange of I-95 and US 70 at Selma. Chandra Farmer, the county's director of utilities, recommended the county reimburse the developer half the project's cost --- an estimated $2,302,250 --- since the upgrade was already included in the county's long-range infrastructure plans. The county's share will come from utility fees paid by the towns of Selma and Pine Level and their wastewater customers.

COUNTY JOINS REGIONAL HAZARD-MITIGATION PLAN

The board adopted a resolution adding Johnston to a group of five counties taking part in the Cape Fear Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Sandy Wood, Johnston's emergency management coordinator, said the resolution will make the county eligible for federal disaster-assistance funding that includes grants for hazard-mitigation measures to reduce potential damage from storms. The other participating counties are Chatham, Harnett, Lee, and Moore.


TAX-EXEMPT RE-FINANCING FOR CLEVELAND FIRE DEPT.

The board adopted resolutions clearing the way for refinancing of two tax-exempt loans to the Cleveland Fire Department --- one for $773,635 on the department's Fire Station No. 1 at 9039 Cleveland Road at an interest rate of 1.75% for a term of four years and nine months; the other for $932,707 on a 2017 Pierce Enforcer ladder truck at an interest rate of 2.54% for a term of 10 years and eight months. The loans are coming from First Citizens Bank.


A REPORT FROM THE TRIANGLE LAND CONSERVANCY

The board received an update on Johnston County projects under the care of the six-county Triangle Land Conservancy. Leigh Ann Hammerbacher, TLC's eastern director of conservation and stewardship, said the agency has undertaken about 60 projects in Johnston that have preserved or protected about 4,500 acres from development. That includes the 1,120-acre Brogden Bottomlands acquisition this past year --- the agency's "largest land project ever" --- and two nature preserves: Flower Hill near Nash County and the Williamson Preserve along the Johnston-Wake border. She noted that both preserves are open to the public dawn to dusk year-round --- except when rainy weather makes trails impassable.

TO LEARN MORE, visit the Triangle Land Conservancy's website>