County manager charts progress on Commissioner goals

County Commissioners are looking back on 2025 with a sense of accomplishment
but know that work remains.

 

At their planning retreat in 2025, County Commissioners laid out goals for the next year. At their evening on Jan. 5, they heard a report on progress toward those goals from County Manager Hester.

Below are those goals and where the County stands.

Goal: Manage rapid growth while protecting farmland, controlling service costs and guiding development through updates to the Unified Development Ordinance and stormwater rules.

Progress: New stormwater rules are written and in place. In short, they require developers to hold more stormwater on their developments, reducing runoff that can flood neighboring properties and taint waterways. A draft of a new Unified Development Ordinance is written, and the Planning Board is making tweaks based on community input. Commissioners expect to adopt it soon. Its rules and guidelines will ensure that development follows the vision of the County’s new comprehensive land-use plan. Among other things, the land-use plan and proposed UDO aim to steer growth to places where water and sewer are in place, sparing rural Johnston from dense development. Separately, the Commissioners hired a consulting firm to determine the cost of providing County services to residential, commercial and industrial development. That same firm will determine the economic impact of those different types of development. That work is nearing completion.

Goal: Ensure reliable water supply and sewer capacity to support growth.

Progress: Expansions of the County’s water treatment plant near Wilson’s Mills and its sewage treatment plant on N.C. 210 will come online this year. The expansions will increase water capacity by 28.6% and double capacity at the sewage plant to 8 million gallons a day. Looking ahead, the County plans to buy more water from Raleigh while working toward a second water plant on the Neuse River. The County has made some progress toward partnerships with its towns, but a countywide water and sewer authority remains elusive.

Goal: Plan, prioritize and manage county buildings and assets by formalizing the Capital Improvement Plan and creating a full asset inventory and management strategy.

Progress: At their retreat last year, Commissioners set informal priorities for the County’s building needs. Atop the list was a new home for the Johnston County Department of Social Services, and at their morning meeting this month, Commissioners hired an architecture firm to design that building. Last year, Commissioners addressed their second priority by purchasing the Mast Law Firm building on the Courthouse to provide more room for the court system. Land in Clayton for a Johnston Community College medical campus was farther down the list, but Commissioners got that deal done too, and the County broke ground on its first park. Next month, Commissioners will hear a proposal for formalizing its building plan. That would include estimated costs and funding options. Also, an inventory of all county facilities is done, and that report, including a maintenance strategy, is coming to Commissioners soon.

Goal: Support school facilities by addressing deferred building maintenance. 

Progress: The Johnston County Public Schools have compiled a list of their maintenance needs. Next up for the school board is a strategic plan for addressing those needs.

Goal: Strengthen county operations by clarifying organizational structure, adding long-range planning capacity, and improving data tracking and transparency.
Progress: An organizational chart is done and available on the homepage of the County’s webpage. Hiring a long-range planner has proven difficult, Hester said, though he hopes tweaking the job description to include project management will help the County meet that goal. A dashboard to provide Commissioners and the public with up-to-date data, including building permits, will be part of a software project due for completion this summer.

Goal: Improve mobility and plan for future needs by staying engaged with regional planning groups and gathering public input on the Community Transportation Plan.

Progress: In North Carolina, counties don’t build roads; that’s a state responsibility. But Johnston continues to champion its road needs through regional planning organizations. And with community input, the County has drafted a transportation plan covering the next 25 years. The N.C. Department of Transportation likes to see such plans when addressing a county’s transportation needs. The plan will include a parks and greenways program that Commissioners approved earlier this month.

Page last updated on:  January 14, 2026