June 16, 2025 - 6:00 PM - Board of Commissioners Highlights

10 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING JUNE 16 , 2025 - 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 adding 5a Emergency Services – North Side Fire and Rescue – Request to Purchase Land A Approval of Minutes – May 19 , 2025 6 00 pm B Planning and Zoning – Proposed Road Name Change Ordinance Staff presents an Ordinance for the Board’s consideration and adoption for the new service road naming located on the south side of US Hwy 70 from its intersection with Wilsons Mills Road , southeast for approximately 052 mile , the extension of Sadisco Road southeast approximately 25 miles , the extension of Wilsons Mills Road from its intersection with Gordon Road northwest approximately 1 mile , and Wilsons Mills Road Extension on the north side of US Hwy 70 southeast approximately 14 miles , in the unincorporated area of Johnston County C Call for Public Hearing – Johnston County Water and Wastewater System Development Fee Study In accordance with North Carolina General Statutes , Chapter 162A , Article 8 , Johnston County contracted with Willdan Financial Services to perform a Water and Wastewater System Development Fee Study for Fiscal Year 2026 The study is currently available for public review on the Johnston County Public Utilities website Furthermore , in accordance with the NCGS , staff respectfully requests the Board of Commissioners hold a public hearing to discuss this topic on July 21 , 2025 at 10 00 am D Call for Public Hearing – Johnston County Land Development Code Stormwater Management Ordinance Staff has hosted stakeholders meetings and worked with legal staff for proposed revisions to the County’s Stormwater Management Ordinance The proposed revisions are available for review on the Public Utilities website Staff respectfully requests the Board of Commissioners hold a public hearing to discuss proposed modifications to Article VII – Stormwater Management of the “ Johnston County Land Development Code ” on August 4 , 2025 at 10 00 am E Building and Grounds – Contract for Facility Condition Assessment and Computerized Maintenance Management System In March 2025 , one of the Board of Commissioners work session priorities was to develop a facilities asset inventory and management plan In furtherance of this plan , staffPagereviewed various service and platform options Staff recommends Brightly Software , Inc , through Omnia Partners a cooperative group purchasing organization Contract Number R210702 , for facilities management software and solutions The total initial investment for these services is 151,69488 , with additional yearly cloud and managed services subscription expenses Funds are available in the current budget for this acquisition Staff respectfully request approval of acquisition of facilities management software and solutions from Brightly Software , Inc in the amount of 151,69488 , with additional yearly cloud and managed services subscription expenses F Budget Revisions • Health - 30,00000 – To budget grant funds from Community Care of North Carolina for Electronic Health Record System • Jail - 46405 – To move revenues Miscellaneous Revenue into appropriate expenditure line items • Social Services - 60,00000 – To cover Trust Account invoices through the end of fiscal year 2024 2025 • Sheriff - 30,48778 – To move revenues Controlled Substance Tax , Insurance Recovery and Miscellaneous Revenue into appropriate expenditure line items 3 Public Comments The following individuals addressed the Board during Public Comment • Ben Chapman • Crystal Britton – DownHome NC Note Full comments can be viewed in the video from the meeting at the following link https wwwyoutubecom watch v REgcdbEdeWU 4 Brightspeed – Update to the Board – Informational item Steve Brewer with Brightspeed will provide an update to the Board 5 Public Utilities – Water Supply Study Update - Informational item JD Solomon will provide a water supply study update to the Board 5a Emergency Services – North Side Fire and Rescue – Request to Purchase Land – Request approved North Side Fire & Rescue requests an opportunity to address the Board in reference to purchasing land for a future fire station The Parcel Identified as 16K05050Z is near the intersection of Hwy 42 East and Motorcycle Road North Side Fire and Rescue proposes to purchase approximately 22 acres of the indicated parcel and will not be requesting any additional funds from Johnston County to fulfill this purchase Page6 Fiscal Year 2025 - 2026 County Budget Discussion and Adoption The Board adopted the County Manager’s proposed budget with the following revisions • Reduce the county property tax rate to 52 cents per 100 value , a 15 cent reduction • Reduce the countywide fire tax rate to 115 cents per 100 value Also , at the request of the Johnston County Fire Commission , adopt the FY 26 fire funding matrix • Allocate an amount not to exceed 500k for a new behavioral health urgent care • Include a 3 pay adjustment effective July 1 for county employees with the possibility of up to a 2 performance pay increase in October • Allocate 110 million for supplemental current expense and 35 million for capital outlay for Johnston County Public Schools • Allocate 9,290,303 for supplemental current expense and 4,570,504 for capital outlay for Johnston Community College • Allocate 325k for Harbor , Inc • Per the recommendation of the Research Training Zone Board , approve tax rate of 8 cents per 100 value • Per the recommendation of the Moccasin Creek Service District Board , approve tax rate at 25 cents per 100 value • Allocate 100k for the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield site improvement project • Allocate 1395 million to Triangle Land Conservancy for the preservation of farm land and open space • Allocate 100k for Johnston Lee Harnett Community Action • Allocate 100k for a transit - oriented development study TOD 7 Manager Reports and Comments - None 8 Board Reports and CommentsPageVice Chairman Patrick E Harris stated Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation has applied for a grant for the library project in Smithfield Vice Chairman Harris said they have asked the County for a letter of support to support their request Vice Chairman Harris said a letter has been drafted and the Board concurred to send the letter in support of the project Commissioner April Stephens thanked Tax Administrator Jocelyn Andrews and her staff with their help in providing information for the budget and all the work they have done over the past few months Commissioner Michelle Pace Davis said she had the opportunity to attend Isaiah 117 House , Holy Graffiti Night Commissioner Davis stated it was great to see a lot of our DSS employees and community members come together for that project Commissioner Davis also mentioned the upcoming Unified Development Ordinance meetings in June and welcomed the public to attend Commissioner Bill Stovall spoke about several things going on in the General Assembly that unfortunately is not good for local governments Commissioner Stovall said there is an assembly wanting to restrict the authority to local governments to affect zoning decisions which would cause irreparable harm in our ability to manage our budgets and to build and preserve our bond ratings Commissioner Stovall spoke on House Bill 765 and a letter of opposition that was sent out to the legislature Commissioner Stovall also spoke on Senate Bill 205 dealing with the regulation of swimming pools that went from 2 pages to 19 pages and a lot of the objectional provisions of House Bill 765 are now in that swimming pool bill Commissioner Stovall asked staff to prepare a similar letter to the general assembly in opposition Commissioner Ted G Godwin also thanked Tax Administrator Jocelyn Andrews and County Attorney Jennifer Slusser with their assistance with the budget and appeal process Commissioner Godwin mentioned the Finance Department’s training session that was held this morning , and he commended them on their discussions Chairman RS “ Butch ” Lawter , Jr mentioned there are five more opportunities for the public to attend one of the upcoming Unified Development Ordinance meetings and encouraged those to attend and provide their input Chairman Lawter also said the Board has looked at funding formulas for public schools like other counties have done and hopes to develop a formula to present to the school board each year Chairman Lawter said the Board has discussed changing the process of funding non - profits and are looking at a process to contract with them and asked staff to look into transitioning that process Chairman Lawter said he had the opportunity to attend the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners legislative agenda conference and said without a doubt all 100 counties have issues with many bills that are proposed Chairman Lawter mentioned the regionalization meeting held last week with Harnett County , Dunn , Benson and Four Oaks and expects those discussions to continue 9 Closed Session was not requestedPage