Johnston County -- In 2007, county leaders supported borrowing for new school buildings, helped pave the way for an industrial park and took steps to expand Johnston's water supply.

County Commissioners' Chairman Cookie Pope gave her annual State of the County address Monday morning. Water, schools and land-use planning were highlights.

In May, voters agreed to borrow a total of $112.7 million for public school buildings, new construction at Johnston Community College and recreation projects. The money represents the county’s focus on education, Pope said.

“The board also approved land purchases for new high schools in the Archer Lodge and Cleveland areas,” she said. Construction of the school in Archer Lodge is scheduled to start this summer, and it will open in 2010. Construction of the Cleveland school is scheduled to start next year. It will open in 2011.

Last fall, the county set aside $1 million to extend water and sewer lines to the future Central Johnston Industrial Park near Four Oaks. The park is expected to cover almost 350 acres and bring thousands of jobs to the county in the next decade. The Keith Corp., a Charlotte-based real estate-development firm, will develop the project.

County leaders have also supported businesses through tax breaks, Pope said. More businesses will likely get such incentives this year, she said.

As for water, the county awarded contracts to build a water system in O’Neals Township. Also, leaders announced last month the purchase of abandoned rock quarries near 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,” Pope said.

Johnston residents use about 13 million gallons of water a day, and that number is expected to jump to 30 million gallons a day by 2040, according to the county manager’s office. The two quarries will provide an additional 24 million gallons a day. The new water-intake station will be in the Bentonville community.

This year, the county hopes to make some land-use planning decisions, Pope said. Leaders created the Blue Ribbon Committee last year to make recommendations about land use. One of that group’s recommendations was to create a comprehensive land-use plan.

Pope said the county wants to deal with heavy traffic as Johnston continues to grow. “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,” she said.

After the address from Pope, commissioners heard a financial audit completed by North Carolina-based accounting firm Thompson, Price, Scott, Adams and Co. Overall, the county is in good financial health, said Alan Thompson, an accountant with the firm.

“The county’s major funds are in good financial condition,” he said. The county saw a jump of about $6.5 million in General Fund revenue from June 2006 to June 2007.

On June 30, 2007, the end of the fiscal year, the county had almost $54.4 million in the General Fund, Thompson said. At that time in 2006, the county had about $47.8 million in the fund.