Board Of Commissioners Meeting Recap for November 17, 2025

At their meeting on Nov. 17, Johnston County Commissioners:

• Agreed to borrow $129 million to build a new Clayton High School on the current campus on Fayetteville Street. A plan the school board endorsed in October will keep Clayton High students on campus throughout the build, attending classes in the old building while the new one is under construction. Work will begin next month on a main building with an auditorium, main and auxiliary gyms, administrative offices, a cafeteria and media center, and then a three-story classroom building. The state’s Local Government Commission has told Johnston leaders that the county can afford the borrowing. County Manager Rick Hester told Commissioners he would return soon with a recommendation on how to borrow the money, though he said something akin to a construction loan was possible. His recommendation will be subject to Commissioner and Local Government Commission approval. The school board expects the new school to be ready for students in January 2028. On a related matter, Commissioners adopted a resolution stating their intention to reimburse County coffers for any dollars spent on the Clayton project before the borrowing package is in place.
• Agreed to spend $783,985 to keep 203 acres in farming in perpetuity. The money will help purchase conservation easements on a 108-acre farm near Selma and a 95-acre farm in northern Johnston County. In a conservation easement, a landowner, in exchange for money, agrees to keep his land in farming forever. That means the land must remain a farm even if the owner sells it or passes it to an heir. Johnston’s Soil and Water Conservation District will pair the money from the County with $2.31 million from state and federal sources to purchase the easements. It will pay $1.48 million for the easement on the Selma farm and $1.41 million for the other easement.
• On a related matter, Greg Walker, head of Soil and Water Conservation, introduced Annette Adams, the district’s full-time specialist in conservation easements. She told Commissioners that interest in conservation easements was high.
• Gave Cooperative Extension the OK to study how — or whether — to replace the Johnston County Livestock Arena. The 50-year-old arena, which hosts more than 100 events a year, has served the County well, Extension Director Bryant Spivey told Commissioners. But it’s starting to feel pinched for space, he said, noting that the County’s neighboring landfill and sewage-treatment plant are both expanding. The building also has shortcomings, Spivey said, pointing particularly to a concrete floor with a polished finish. When showing animals, a rough-finish floor is best because it’s safer. Spivey said he has money in his department’s budget for the feasibility study.
• Saluted Johnston County 4-H Target Sports for its performance in recent regional and state competitions. For their part, the 4-H’ers thanked Commissioners for their support of improvements to the program’s shooting range on N.C. 210 near the Johnston County landfill. Those improvements have allowed Target Sports to practice firearms on the range, which had been open only to archery and air guns.

Page last updated on:  November 25, 2025