January 13, 1961 - 6:30 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

January 13, 19611 2Fit widthmeMeeting of the Board of Commissioners for the County of JohnstonJanuary 13, 1961The Board of County Commissioners of Johnston County reconvened in specialsession at 6 30 P M, January 13, 1961, at Nelsons on Highway No 301 for thepurpose of proposing and discussing with the members of the General Assembly legis-lation effecting Johnston CountyiThe following members of the Board of County Commissioners were presentH M Johnson, Chairman, J D Bailey, R G Gurley and Frank B HoldingAbsent Floyd C Price, SrThe following members of the General Assembly were presentAdam J Whitley, Member of the Senate, C Blake Thomas, Member of the House,and Roy C Coates, Member of the HouseAbsent NoneAlso present were W H Britt, Auditor, W R Britt, Acting County Attorney,and T J LassiterH M Johnson, Chairman, called the meeting to order and the followingbusiness was transacted1 Commissioner Frank B Holding presented an option executed by Mable B Broad-hurst secured at a nominal consideration of 100 agreeing to convey her propertyon the corner of North Street and Highway No 301, approximately 1i acres in size,to the County at a purchase price of 15,000 for an agricultural building, with theoption expiring May 7, 1961, It was brought out in the discussion that a dwellinghouse and an old filling station are located on this property and that the propertywould prove a desirable location for eventally erecting an Agricultural Building ona long range basis without a bond issue to finance the same, the immediate purposeto provide a Home Demonstration Curb Market and quarters for the Home DemonstrationDepartment2 Commissioner Frank B Holding proposed a postponement in revaluation which,under our present law, is to be done by January 1, 1963 He stated thatthis wouldbe advantageous to the County and urged the representatives to give this their firstconsideration when the General Assembly convenedThe legislators expressed the opinion that they would run into difficultieswith their colleagues in enacting this legislation as well as a group of citizensin the county who thought that revaluation was needed However, the Commissionerspointed out that in the counties in which a revaluation had taken place much dis-satisfaction had occurred without good results, and were in agreement that a post-ponement would be highly desirable3 Chairman H M Johnson brought to the attention of the members of the GeneralAssembly the urgent need for the disposition of surplus funds in the Clerk of theSuperior Courts office and funds due the Clerk of the Superior Courts officefrom Recorders Court eases, etc and asked their help in disbursing the funds on apercentage basis by appropriate legislation After discussion, it was agreed byall that measures should be taken to proceed to disburse said funds with consider-ation being given in avoiding a duplication of the situationChairman H M Johnson appointed W R Britt, Acting County Attorney, to draftappropriate legislation for study by the Board preparatory for presentment to themembers of the General Assembly, which would dispose of the surplus funds, preventa recurrence of the same and clear the docket of the Recorders Court cases4 Reformation of the District Courts was discussed with the general feeling thatthe majority of the people in the county favored a single or rotating court with a ?full time Judge elected by the people, the Solicitor to be either appointed on elected It was the concensus either expressed or implied that appropriate legislationshould be enacted to remedy the situation5 Appropriate legislation for the County dispensing with paying damages for theloss of fowl and livestock inflicted by unknown dogs was referred to W R Britt, Acting County Attorney6 The request of B A Henry, as presented by W G Massey, Clerk, for increasingthe number of jurors from 36 to ?}6 for each week of Superior Court was acted uponby compromising the numer from 36 to 40 and was referred to W R Britt for draft-ing appropriate legislation for enactment7 As there appears to be a conflict in the General Statutes and a local law enact -ed in 1943 determining the tenancy year for Johnston County, W R Britt was direct -ed to draft appropriate legislation for enactment to clarify this date,January 13, 1961 Coat8 Senator Adam J Whitley ventured a thought on the Justice of Peace systemThe concensus of the group was that this system was in need of reform9 Senator Whitley asked for an opinion on widening existing farm paths to assureegress and ingress for owners of property removed from established roadsIn his o anion a person or persons hould be allowed to improve the path fromthe present 1 feet allowed by law to 24 feetThe Commissioners were in accord that it would be desirable but the generalopinion was that it would engender stiff opposition from the property owners throughwhose land the path passed10 C Blake Thomas mentioned increasing the pay of the County Commissioners, stat-ing that the payment to the Board for their services was out of line with paymentsto adjoining Boards of Commissioners, but his idea met with no favorable responsefrom the members of the Board11 Commissioner Frank BHolding moved that Clayton Paint and Wallpaper Company,of Clayton, North Carolina, be paid 8760, representing cost of twenty gallonsof paint and use of three brushes in painting the Johnston County Health BuildingCommissioner R G Gurley seconded the motion, which was carried12 Commissioner J D Bailey moved thatthe D C Electric Company, of Benson,N C be paid 159000, representing balance due for the re- wiring of the ThorntonBuilding as per contractCommissioner R G Gurley seconded the motion, which was carried13 Commissioner Frank B Holding introduced the following resolution and movedthat it be adopted;RESOLUTIONWhereas, it has been brought to the attention of the Board by a group of peopleof Johnston County who are vitally interested in protecting their business invest-ments on Highway No, 301 that the Highway Commission has not given equal prominenceto the Highway sign of No 301 as is given Interstate Highway No 95 at the approachand entrance to U S Highway 301 at Eastover, north of Fayetteville;And whereas, the Board is cognizant of the fact that an agreement was reachedbetween the Highway Commission and a group of citizens interested in Highway 301whereby it was agreed by the Highway Commission that no favoritism would be shownbetween the two aforementioned highways and in good faith the Commission carriedout this agreement at the Dunn and Kenly entrances;Now therefore, be it resolved that to eliminate discrimination and to give thetravelling public a choice, and further to protect the welfare of the citizens ofJohnston County, and particularly those citizens who own or operate business estab-lishments along HighwayNo 301, the Board of County Commissioners of JohnstonCounty join with other interested organizations in urging the State Highway Coimniss -ion to give serious consideration to rectifying this situation by erecting fair andimpartial signs at the 8astover entrance, north of FayettevilleCommissioner R G Gurley seconded the motion, which was carried14 Commissioner J D Bailey moved that Robert C Browning, Consulting Engineer,1918 Hillsboro Street, Raleigh, N C, be paid p2385, representing balance due forfinal inspection of the re- wiring of the Thornton BuildingCommissioner R G Gurley seconded the motion, which was carriedThere being no further business, the meeting adjo nedhairmaCler,Ic -