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

BUDGET REQUESTS HEARD FROM COMMUNITY COLLEGE,
BEAVER PROGRAM, DRAINAGE DISTRICT, AND OTHERS

The board's public hearing on County Manager Rick Hester's proposed budget for 2021-22 brought forth appeals for increased funding for Johnston Community College, the state's beaver-management program, and a Smithfield-based agency that assists domestic-violence offenders, plus one-time grants for the Moccasin Creek drainage district and a proposed military veterans memorial at Benson.

Commissioners will consider those requests and others, including funding for Johnson's public schools, when it begins budget deliberations at a special session set for 6 p.m. Monday (June 14) at the Courthouse. The board's goal is to wrap up its work and adopt the upcoming year's budget at a meeting June 21.

JCCollege President David Johnson told commissioners Monday the school needs funding beyond Mr. Hester's recommended amounts, especially for capital improvements headed by classroom renovations. Coming up short of JCC's request for $4,853,910 for operations and $2,091,176 for capital outlay "puts us further and further behind in our primary objective to serve our students," Dr. Johnson said. The county manager's proposal calls for $4,545,000 for JCC's operations and $454,756 for capital projects in 2021-22.

Dr. Johnston noted that the school's request for an increase in operating funds does not include pay raises for JCC staff, Meanwhile, he added, the capital-improvement request is what's needed even after the school commits all of its county fund balance of $1,636,000 for pressing projects.

Biologist Chris Willis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked the board to add $5,000 to its long-standing commitment of $6,000 annually for the state's Beaver Management Assistance Program or else Johnston's farmers will have to be charged the full cost of beaver-removal efforts that's considerably more than the $25 fee they now pay.

Mr. Willis said the program completed 23 jobs and made 150 visits to farms in Johnston County during the past year.

Greg Walker, director of the Johnston County Soil and Water Conservation District, asked the board for $25,000 to help fund a $50,000 feasibility study of work that needs to be done to address increasing erosion along Moccasin Creek in the Selma-Pine Level area.

Noting that the creek's drainage problems were first addressed in the 1960s, Mr. Walker said stepped-up maintenance needs to be done within the next several years or else the stream "will revert back to a shallow swamp channel" resulting in flood damage to farmland as well as residential properties. "The banks are eroding pretty badly," he told commissioners.

The Moccasin Creek drainage district encompasses 22.4 miles of the stream and its "laterals," Mr. Walker noted. Property owners within the district currently pay an extra property tax of 1.5 cents per $100 valuation to cover yearly maintenance.

Dot Ehlers, executive director of the ReEntry Family Service Center, requested an increase in county aid from $5,000 this past year to $15,000 in the year ahead to employ a half-time case manager. She said ReEntry is understaffed in serving an average of 60 clients every week.

George Murphy, commander of American Legion Post 109 in Benson, asked the board for a $75,000 grant to help pay for a $125,000 "veterans park" in the southwest corner of Benson's Singing Grove. He said about $30,000 has been raised from donors so far.

When asked if the Town of Benson would contribute to the project, Mr. Murphy said the town would take care of site preparation, build sidewalks, and assume maintenance responsibilities.


NCAE LEADER'S RESOLUTION NIXED OVER VOUCHERS

April Lee, president of the Johnston County Chapter of the N.C. Association of Educators, asked commissioners to adopt a resolution urging the N.C. General Assembly to increase funding for the state's public schools and freeze funding for private-school vouchers. A couple of board members expressed disdain for the freeze on vouchers. "Isn't it successful?" Commissioner Godwin asked. Ms. Lee said measures of success at private schools are "very subjective" since they're not held to the same state standards required of public schools. "Are you against school choice?" asked Commissioner Wood. "No," Ms. Lee replied. The board took no action on her request for the resolution.


CLAYTON HIGH ATHLETIC PROJECT ENDORSED

Commissioners approved the re-budgeting of 2018 budget-issue funds from an HVAC project at West Clayton Elementary School to a joint project with the Town of Clayton to install synthetic turf on athletic fields at Clayton High School. Todd Sutton, chairman of Johnston's Board of Education, explained that the West Clayton project will be done instead with federal coronavirus-relief funding that's designated for air-filtration and ventilation projects inside school buildings.


CARES ACT MONEY BUYS, EQUIPS NEW AMBULANCE

Commissioners approved spending $230,014 coming to the county from the federal CARES Act to purchase an ambulance, a "power load" stretcher, and uniforms for the county's Emergency Services Department. (CARES is an acronym for "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security" legislation enacted by Congress last year in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.)


ARCHER LODGE TO GET TAX-EXEMPT LOAN FOR TANKER

The board approved a tax-exempt loan from KS Bank in an amount up to $200,000 to help the Archer Lodge Fire Department purchase a 2021 Kenworth tanker truck. KS was low bidder for the loan with an interest rate of 1.57% over seven years.


APPOINTMENTS MADE TO VARIOUS BOARDS

Commissioners approved the following appointments:
• Johnston County Jury Commission --- Thomas L. Turnage reappointed.
• Public Library Board of Trustees --- Megan Shaner reappointed; Jeff Jennings newly appointed (he's a previous board chairman).
• Nursing Home/Adult Care Home Community Advisory Board --- James Coleman, Beverly Hawkins, and Constance Moreno reappointed.
• Voluntary Agricultural District Advisory Board --- Don Holloman and Cookie Pope reappointed.
• Pi-Le Fire Protection District Commission --- Jackie Wood reappointed.
• Juvenile Crime Prevention Council --- Nakunda Everett, Lama Sinno, Tony Nazal, and Douglas Wayne Sorrell reappointed; Jackie Holloman Lee and James L. Spencer Jr. newly appointed.
• Johnston Community College Board of Trustees --- Lynn H. Ragsdale reappointed.


BUSINESS REZONING WITH PERMIT IN CLEVELAND

Hearing no opposition, the board approved General Business zoning with a special-use permit to allow Profile Construction Inc. to repair an abandoned building at 8817 Cleveland Road for re-use as an office and warehouse.


NEW MAP & PLAT REVIEW OFFICERS NAMED

The board appointed Stephanie Richter to the position of Chief Johnston County Map and Plat Review Officer and Carolyn Allen as a second Map and Plat Review Officer "due to changes in staff" in the county's Planning Department.


CONSULTANT CHOSEN FOR COUNTY OFFICE STUDY

Acting on a recommendation from a committee made up of Commissioners Harris, Lawter, and Smith, the board chose Moseley Architects of Raleigh to undertake a study of County Government office buildings to identify preferred options for relocating the cramped Department of Social Services as well as several administrative offices inside the Courthouse once the new Detention Center and adjoining Public Safety Center are built beside US 70 Business east of Smithfield. That will remove most of the jail along with the Sheriff's, 9-1-1, and Emergency Services departments out of the Courthouse and free up space for an expansion of judicial offices and courtrooms there. Moseley is the firm previously employed to design the new Detention and Public Safety centers.


ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY PROCLAIMED

The board adopted a resolution proclaiming June 15 as "Elder Abuse Awareness Day" in Johnston County. Requested by the county's Department of Social Services, the resolution urges Johnstonians to "watch for signs of physical abuse, withdrawal, depression, anxiety, fear, and living without necessities such as food, heat, air, and medicine" among the county's 21,000 residents 65 and older "and make it known to proper institutions."