November 18, 2024 - 6:00 PM - Board of Commissioners Highlights

10 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING NOVEMBER 18 , 2024 - 6 00 PM Videos of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners meetings may be viewed at the following https wwwyoutubecom jocogovnc 1 Approval Discussion of Agenda - Agenda approved 2 Consent Agenda Items - Consent Agenda approved A Approval of Minutes – October 21 , 2024 – 6 00 pm B 2023 State Appropriations Act Directed Grants Staff submits four grant project ordinances for the 2023 State Appropriations Act directed grants These grants are for Radios for Water Rescue Teams in the amount of 222,750 , Fire Departments and Non - Profits in the amount of 385,000 , the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site in the amount of 700,000 and the Moccasin Creek Service District in the amount of 250,000 All four grants have been accepted budgeted by the Board but recent guidance requires the grants to be accounted for in special revenue funds thus requiring these ordinances C Health Department – AthenaHealth Agreement The Johnston County Public Health Department provides primary care , behavioral health , and mandated public health services to the residents of Johnston County The move to value - based delivery of health care requires more focus on coordination of care across settings and quality data metrics Payment for services is more dependent on outcomes and our agency needs to have a robust system to meet this changing healthcare landscape The Health Department had demonstrations by four electronic health records EHR vendors prior to choosing AthenaHealth and negotiated the best rate for the service with the assistance of our Finance Director and County Attorney Staff requests approval to enter into a contract with AthenaHealth as the EHR service provider for the health department Funding for implementation is in the current budget D Budget Revisions • Finance – 1,592,00400 – To appropriate Opioid Settlement Funds for Fiscal Year 2024 - 25 The budget was included in the budget presentation for the current fiscal year but inadvertently omitted from the formal budget ordinance • LEO Separation – 7,89300 – To appropriate Fund Balance in the LEO Separation Fund to cover additional LEO Retirement expenses • Sheriff – 53,75506 – To move revenues into appropriate expenditure line items Page3 Public Comments The following individuals addressed the Board during Public Comment • Johnston County Health Director , Dr Marilyn Pearson • Kevin & Tonya Saunders Note Full comments can be viewed in the video from the meeting at the following link https wwwyoutubecom watch v potDFLNH6Kc 4 Parks , Greenways & Open Space – Regional Park Engineering Contract Approval Request approved Johnston County Parks and Open Space request approval to enter into a contract with Balfour Beatty Construction , LLC to complete engineering of the Johnston County Regional Park This contract obligates 344,766 and sets the cost of construction of Phase I not to exceed 3,000,000 Phase I will include two 2 basketball courts , four 4 pickleball courts , retention pond including accessible fishing dock , rough grading of site , driveway connections , parking layout and base layer of parking , and all underground utilities Engineering drawings will include rough grading and road alignments Scope of work for rough grading , utilities , and parking will be adjusted in accordance with available budget funds 5 Johnston Soil and Water Conservation District – Farmland Preservation Grant Informational Item Johnston Soil and Water Conservation District prepared a grant application in the spring of this year to the USDAs Regional Conservation Partnership Program RCPP The request was for 12 million for Conservation Easement purchase to protect Johnston County farmlands Johnston County Commissioners supported the grant request by offering a letter of support with a county fund commitment of 600,000 for each of the first three years of the five - year project Conservation District Director , Greg Walker has been informed by the USDA that Johnston Soil and Water Conservation District has received a verbal confirmation of the 12 million grant Mr Walker and staff will be working with the USDA in the coming months to prepare necessary work plans and agreements in order to bring these funds online for Johnston County County fund commitment was a vital part of the success in the grant award The county and federal funds will allow Johnston County to be much more competitive in securing additional State funds for farmland protection County funds will be used to match federal funds to purchase conservation easements as well as assisting with closing related costs 6 Public Utilities – Memorandum of Agreement between Johnston County and the Town of Clayton – Johnston County Long Range Water Supply Program - Request approved County staff worked with Town of Clayton staff to develop a proposed Memorandum of Agreement related to the future Lower Neuse Water Supply Based on current projections , the Town of Clayton anticipates water supply needs equating to approximately 50 of the Lower Neuse Water Supply The proposed agreement indicates that both parties pledge to work together in partnership to achieve the goal of successfully bringing Phase 1 of the Lower Neuse Water Supply online by 2030 Phase 1 will include a 12 MGD water treatment plant , raw water intake and transmission main , quarry development and finished water mains The MOA outlines each party’s commitment to Stage 1 of the project Stage 1 includes • Owner’s Advisor Agreement – Project DevelopmentPageo Project administration o Permitting management o Project delivery plan o Project definition and preliminary engineering raw water model , treatability study , and basis of design report o Preliminary stakeholder communication o Analysis of treatment and transmission capacity as it relates to ownership , operation and initial capital • Installation & Maintenance of USGS Gauge at Richardson Bridge Road • Additional Preliminary Engineering pipeline routing , hydraulic evaluations • Field Evaluations survey , SUE , geotechnical and Environmental Surveys for o Intake Raw Water Pump Station o Water treatment facilities o Raw and finished water pipelines The proposed agreement includes the following provisions • The County shall serve as the lead agency fiscal and contracting agent • Cost sharing shall be proportional to the capacity share currently , 50 each • The County will invoice the Town for their share of the costs as the County incurs project costs • The parties may enter into future agreements Staff recommends approval of the attached MOA , and we respectfully request the Board’s consideration 7 Public Utilities – CJCRWWTF SCADA Improvements - Request approved The County received bids on October 31 , 2024 for the Central Johnston County Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility CJCRWWTF SCADA Improvements project The County received two 2 bids , after completing the re - advertisement process Please refer to the attached summary tabulation of bids Dellinger , Inc of Monroe , NC submitted the lowest responsive bid in the amount of 3,076,53900 Dellinger , Inc is properly licensed and experienced in the type of construction involved and appears to have the financial , labor and equipment resources required to complete the construction within the stipulated contract completion time Staff proposes a revised project budget , as follows Existing Revised Technical Services 378,60000 300,00000 Construction 3,674,00000 3,076,53900 Contingency 367,40000 153,82100 Cost of Revenue Bond Issuance 37,62665 000 Total Project Cost 4,457,62665 3,530,36000 County ARPA Funds 2,421,00000 3,530,36000 Water Sewer Revenue Bonds 2,036,62665 000 Total Project Funds 4,457,62665 3,530,36000 Staff recommends award of the CJCRWWTF SCADA Improvements project to Dellinger , Inc in the amount of 3,076,53900 , approval of the project budget and approval of the capital project ordinance Page8 County Commissioner District 3 Appointment The Board appointed Michael David Rose to fill the vacant seat for Commissioner District 3 9 Manager Reports and Comments County Manager Rick Hester reported on the funds received for the Hurricane Helene donation drive Mr Hester stated the committee recommends sending these funds to Samaritans Purse and the funds would be hand delivered to Boone , North Carolina The Board concurred 10 Board Reports and Comments Commissioner April Stephens said one of the greatest things she received from the interview process was getting constructive feedback from some of the candidates that were interviewed Commissioner Stephens stated Mr James Gathers , Jr made a very good point in saying during Board Comment , the Board members should say something to represent their District every Monday night Commissioner Stephens said he could not have been more right and she was very grateful for his constructive feedback Commissioner Stephens mentioned the passing of the Town of Benson Mayor Medlin Commissioner Stephens also congratulated Public Information Officer , Adam Carroll from graduating from the Johnston Leadership Academy Commissioner Bill Stovall mentioned a Board of Transportation meeting where they formally approved the resolution to name the US Hwy 70 Bus East bridge after former Commissioner Tony Braswell Commissioner Stovall stated there would be a public event sometime in the spring to dedicate the bridge in his name and knows there will be a lot of people looking forward to attending the event Chairman , RS “ Butch ” Lawter , Jr said the Fireman’s Association would be sending a check to pay the application fee and agreed there will be a lot of people there to support Tony’s name being on the bridge that he talked so fondly of Commissioner Ted G Godwin stated one of the Board priorities is county employees Commissioner Godwin recognized some of those county employees in the room that have done extraordinary things for the County Commissioner Godwin said he attended the NCACC Legislative Goals meeting last week where they talked about legislative priorities Commissioner Godwin spoke of a Harnett County Senator at the meeting that mentioned the passing of Jerry Medlin and how he would be missed Commissioner Godwin also stated years ago someone was running for County Commissioner and he saw his picture on a big billboard in his military uniform Commissioner Godwin said he supported him from day one and it was Fred Smith running for Commissioner and later ran for Senate and we are going to miss him Vice Chairman Patrick E Harris said we are coming up on Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for Vice Chairman Harris said he is blessed to be here , serving the people of this wonderful county and could not think of a better place to live Vice Chairman Harris wished everyone a blessed holiday Commissioner Fred J Smith , Jr said this would be his last time to make a comment and wanted everyone to know that his heart had an attitude of gratitude Commissioner Smith mentioned being grateful to have moved to Johnston County in 1974 and being a part of and learning what he believes to be the greatest industry in this country and that’s agriculture Commissioner Smith also said how grateful he was to have raised 5 children in Johnston County that he believes have become successful children Commissioner Smith went on to say how grateful he was to have been elected to serve in Johnston CountyPagePage pageNumber5along with many fellow Commissioners Commissioner Smith said he loved what he did but is now looking forward to taking care of his cows Chairman RS “ Butch ” Lawter , Jr said we had many opportunities to celebrate our veterans last week and he was able to attend two events that were well done and thanked the veterans in this County and Board members , Mr Smith , Ms Stephens , Mr Godwin and Tony Braswell Commissioner Ted G Godwin said if you get a chance to read Fred’s book A Little Extra Effort you will get a newfound respect for Fred Smith County Manager Rick Hester told Mr Smith how much he has enjoyed working with him over the years and appreciated the things he had taught him Mr Hester read from the January 6 , 2003 minutes where Mr Smith had made suggestions to the Board before leaving to serve in the Senate Commissioner April Stephens remembered on her first meeting Mr Smith walked in and had a big textbook on NC local government ordinances and she immediately went home and ordered one thinking she was supposed to have one at her first meeting Commissioner Stephens told Mr Smith she was about 1 3 of the way through but promised to have it read by the end of her term and she thanked him for all the inspiration he has given to her Commissioner Bill Stovall said he had the briefest term as Commissioner but had the opportunity to work in state government to see Mr Smith’s career and applauded him for his lengthy public service Commissioner Stovall thanked Mr Smith for what he has done for Johnston County and wished him well in his next endeavors Commissioner Ted G Godwin said he has seen Commissioner Smith twenty plus years , and he has always supported him , and he will be missed Commissioner Godwin said they had butted heads but always come out smiling Vice Chairman Patrick E Harris said it has been an honor to serve with Commissioner Smith and he has brought an interesting perspective to the Board and to the issues that they face Vice Chairman Harris stated he always faced them with facts and figures and would break out a spreadsheet in a heartbeat with a lot of things highlighted Vice Chairman Harris said he appreciated that and has learned a lot and wished him well Chairman RS “ Butch ” Lawter , Jr said it has been an honor to serve with Commissioner Smith and he has learned a lot Chairman Lawter said a couple of things that come to mind are knowing your best quality is directness and it is also your toughest quality Chairman Lawter said the second thing is the art of negotiation and he appreciated Commissioner Smith bringing that to the Board and he has learned a lot through that Chairman Lawter also said Commissioner Smith was a true advocate for the taxpayers of this County Chairman Lawter recognized Commissioner Fred Smith with a plaque 11 Closed Session – NCGS 14331811 a 3 – Attorney - Client Privilege and NCGS 14331811 a 5 – Acquisition of Property No action was taken Page