Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting 11/10/26

At its November 10, 2026 regular meeting, the Harnett County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement update to disburse the county’s remaining approved match for the 2023 GREAT broadband grant to Brightspeed. The project covers more than 4,200 locations; about 53% were reported complete by the end of September, with completion projected by February 2027 and an agreement extension allowing through June 2027. The county’s original contribution was $375,000, and the funds must be spent by the end of December 2026 to avoid returning them to the federal government. Commissioners also approved seeking a Golden LEAF Foundation grant of up to $3.34 million for a shell building and site development at Western Harnett Industrial Park, with a county match of up to $835,000; the matching funds were identified from economic-development reserves and service-charge revenue. The board approved adding state-required permit fees to the county fee schedule effective January 1, 2027: $100 for commercial permits, $25 for residential permits, and $10 for other permits, with the revenue remitted to the state.

The board also approved a Health Department processing-assistant position funded through reclassification savings, with no county cost this fiscal year and an estimated $23,000 cost next fiscal year. Development Services presented four proposed Unified Development Ordinance amendments—including transportation requirements such as traffic impact analyses and sidewalk standards—for a public hearing the following week; no adoption vote was taken on those amendments. Other discussion included Alliance Health services and funding pressures, and a request for staff to investigate plans labeled as a county EMS base station in Anderson Creek. No vendor selection or contract award beyond the Brightspeed agreement update was identified.