040114ss Harnett County Board of Commissioners
Minutes of Special Session
April 1,2014
The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Tuesday, April 1,2014,
in the Commissioners Meeting Room, County Administration Building, 102 East Front Street,
Lillington,North Carolina.
Members present: Joe Miller, Chairman
Gary House,Vice Chairman
Jim Burgin, Commissioner
Beatrice B. Hill, Commissioner
Gordon Springle, Commissioner
Staff present: Tommy Burns, Harnett County Manager
Joseph Jeffries,Deputy County Manager
Dwight Snow, County Attorney
Jennifer Slusser, Staff Attorney
Kimberly Honeycutt,Finance Officer
Brian Haney,Public Information Officer
Margaret Regina Wheeler, Clerk to the Board
The following agenda was before commissioners:
1) Fort Bragg Regional Growth Management Strategy,Kate Pearce with
LandDesign
2) Finance Officer's Report and budget review
3) County Manager's Report:
- Regular Meeting Agenda Review
4) Closed session
5) Legislative Luncheon
6) Adjourn
Chairman Miller called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. Commissioner Springle led the pledge
of allegiance and invocation.
Mr. Burns introduced Nicholas Dula as the new Harnett County Economic Development
Director and Brian Haney as the new Harnett County Public Affairs Officer and Executive
Assistant. Barry Blevins introduced Darvin Springfield as the new Transit Services Manager for
HARTS.
April 1, 2014, Special Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
Page 1 of 3
Kate Pearce with LandDesign presented the Fort Bragg Regional Growth Management Strategy
for the 11 counties surrounding the installation. Ms. Pearce noted the project goals are to
promote economic development opportunities, ensure military operability, optimize land use and
smart utility investments,project and enhance natural resources,provide housing choices,
increase multi-modal opportunities,promote and enhance cultural resources and promote a
healthier community. She said the main goal of this effort is to ensure the region remains a place
that provides a prosperous,high quality of life for existing and future generations.
Ms.Pearce said this strategy was built on local data as they collected information from local
jurisdictions then combined the information for a regional policy framework. Ms. Pearce said
they actually built county-level land use plan models for each jurisdiction, and through the grant
that the Fort Bragg Regional Alliance provide,they were able to buy the software to run the
model for each of the county jurisdictions. Staff within the Planning Services Department have
the software installed and will train soon on how to use the tool. Commissioner Springle
believes this tool will be great to show developers what impact they have on what we are doing.
Ms. Pearce said Fort Bragg is expected to continue to grow significantly. Ms. Pearce shared
information specific to Harnett County and the tools available that could help plan forward. She
reported between 2012 and 2040 Harnett County is expected to gain an additional 80,000
citizens which would require 30,000 additional housing units. Harnett County is one of the
fastest growing counties in the state. Ms. Pearce continued to discuss methods and tools
available to help communities learn about the potential impacts and trade-offs of future growth
and development. Ms. Pearce will provide the full report to commissioners as requested.
Ms. Pearce said because LandDesign has done all of this regional work they could produce a
Land Use Plan for Harnett County fairly easily because of all of the regional effort. She said
there could be recommendations for growth management included in an updated Land Use Plan.
Ms. Pearce said what is more important, she believes, is getting us those growth management
tools and discussed the development of a strategic comprehensive plan. Mark Locklear,
Planning Services Director, said this is truly an opportunity where a one year process of
developing a plan could be done in four months because the information is up-to-date and
available to us. Mr. Snow said from a legal perspective; and with the understanding that Harnett
County's Land Use Plan needs updating,he sees this as a golden opportunity if the price is right
given the time element,the data and most of the work having been done already. Ms. Pearce
responded that they revisit this information about every five years and update the full plan
information every ten years. Mr. Jeffries said in the future Planning staff may have to justify
going against their own land use plan as some areas have changed drastically.
April 1, 2014, Special Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
Page 2 of 3
Mr. Burns reported staff has verified that the $2.2 million of QCAB allocation is still available if
the County is interested. Mr. Bums said staff talked with the Local Government Commission
(LGC)regarding the process to draw down that money. He noted borrowing costs associated
with it along with LGC application fee and fees associated with the bond return. Mr. Burns
sought direction from the Board regarding pursuit of these funds as it would be a new debt the
County is incurring. Mr. Burns said this could have an impact on future borrowing. Discussions
continued.
Mr. Bums reviewed the proposed April 7, 2014 regular meeting agenda.
Commissioner Hill moved that the Board go into closed session for the following purposes:
(1) To preserve the attorney-client privilege between the County legal staff and the
commissioners in reference to certain claims and legal actions including the following listed
cases:
a) Jeffries el al vs. County of Harnett et al
b) County of Harnett vs. Leroy Reid
(2)To discuss the location or expansion of businesses or industry in Harnett County. This
motion is made pursuant to NC General Statute Section 143-318.11(a)(3)&(4). Commissioner
Burgin second the motion which passed unanimously.
The Board recessed in closed session to host the 2014 Legislative Luncheon. The Board
reconvened in closed session following the luncheon.
Commissioner Hill moved that the Board come out of closed session. Commissioner Burgin
seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
Commissioner Springle moved to adjourn_..e ::tin.gs,at 2:25 pm. Commissioner Hill seconded
�6;-1'v1iy�. IS
the motion which passed unanimously�;�.;���;���T.ZtiF
W. Brooks atthews, Chairman `\ garet gina I eel is Clerk
APPROVED APRIL 5,2021
April 1, 2014, Special Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
Page 3 of 3