State of the County address

09 January 2008 — Johnston County Commissioners Chairman Cookie Pope offered the State of the County address Monday morning as the board met for the first time in the New Year.
Her remarks are printed in their entirety:

Good morning. It is a privilege to share the State of the County address with you today.

One year ago, I shared board goals and objectives for calendar year 2007 as follows:

• Continue to be a leader in customer service. While not perfect, we believe our agencies provide excellent customer service. With our commitment to in-house training programs, our service delivery will continue to improve. The citizens of Johnston County deserve it.
• Continue to look for ways to save taxpayers money. We recently received a bond rating upgrade from Standard and Poors for a recent bond sale. The estimated savings to taxpayers is $1.6 million over the life of that particular bond sale.
• Continue to look for opportunities to improve our land use planning ordinances and discuss the recommendations of the growth management committee. At our planning session in February 2007, we established a blue ribbon committee to evaluate and make recommendations and the committee provided those recommendations this past fall. We have held two community meetings for citizen input as relates to land use planning and other related topics. Two more meetings are planned for January 2008. The board has reviewed ETJ extension requests from all the towns and has acted on most of them. We expect to finalize decisions related to the blue ribbon committee report and land use planning in 2008.
• Continue to work closely with the economic development advisory board and staff to assist companies that are currently in Johnston County and encourage them to grow. The board approved several economic development incentive grants during 2007 and we expect more exciting announcements in 2008.
• Continue to support public safety programs in Johnston County This has always been, and will continue to be, one of our main objectives as leaders. The board funded additional positions for Sheriff Bizzell in this year's budget. We also appreciate the work of our emergency services agencies and 9-1-1 communications. There is nothing more important than the safety of our citizens.

Other board actions in the past year that are highlights in my opinion are as follows:

• Ensured a reliable water supply capacity for the future by acquiring an abandoned rock quarry north of Princeton. This quarry will provide a water storage volume of approximately 500 million gallons and approximately 120 acres of surrounding land for a new water treatment plant.
• Partnered with the Town of Four Oaks to create the Central Johnston Industrial Park. The Board approved a conditional commitment of funding in the amount of $1 million to assist with the extension of water and wastewater infrastructure to the first phase of the Park, provided the Johnston County Industrial Development Corporation could secure options to purchase on the various properties. Options have been obtained from several property owners totaling 347 acres.
• Continued to support Johnston County Schools, Johnston Community College and recreation by voting to place referendums on the May 2007 ballot. They were all approved by an overwhelming majority of the voters. The board also approved land purchases for new high schools in the Archer Lodge and Cleveland areas.
• Held two public forums on the importance of keeping Johnston County litter-free.
• Eliminated fire inspection fees for businesses.
• Approved financial policy guidelines so that we can improve our opportunity for future bond rating increases to save taxpayers money.
• Approved bids for the final rural water district in the O'Neals area as well as bids for expansion of our water treatment facility.

Johnston County is a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family. We are proud of our partnerships with the municipalities, chambers of commerce, small and large business owners, Johnston Memorial Hospital, Johnston County Schools, Johnston Community College and so many others. We also salute those that are in or have served in our military. Without their dedicated service, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the many opportunities and freedoms we have today. Thanks to our many volunteers who serve in numerous capacities throughout our County. We greatly support and appreciate our agricultural and horticultural partners. Unfortunately, this drought has created many hardships for them this past year and we will continue to pray that we will have rain this winter. And let us not forget the faith community that does so much to help those in need.

We are strongly committed to doing all we can to partner with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to assist with traffic concerns in our County.

I applaud the cooperation and hard work of my fellow Commissioners in their efforts to make Johnston County a better place to live, work, and play. We are making a difference and I look forward to working with each of you in the upcoming year.

2008 is going to be a wonderful year and we look forward to continuing our commitment to Johnston County citizens in line with our mission statement which reads:

"The mission of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners is to provide leadership and support, and to advocate actions for an effective County Government that seeks to enhance the quality of life for present and future generations of the people of Johnston County."

Thank you.

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State of the County address

Wayne Wilson News Leader 113 N. Wilson St., PO Box 158, Fremont, NC 27830 (919) 242-6301 • Fax (919) 936-2065

Wayne Wilson News Leader
113 N. Wilson St., PO Box 158,
Fremont, NC 27830
(919) 242-6301 •
Fax (919) 936-2065