Harnett County commissioners approve grants, lease, personnel changes and 2026 schedule

The Harnett County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 17 approved a package of routine business including grant acceptances, a land lease at the county airport, personnel changes and the county’s 2026 meeting calendar.

Desiree Patrick, who presented the meeting recap, said the board approved minutes from Nov. 3 and then moved through a series of consent and action items. The board approved General Services’ request to enter contract negotiations with Edifice LLC and approved Facilities’ request to add a TechOne painter position.

Parks and Recreation won board approval to accept Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) and Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grants to fund Phase 1 construction at the Nales Creek Park master plan adopted in 2024. The board also approved library staffing and grant requests: the Harnett County Public Library may convert two part‑time library assistant positions into one full‑time assistant, Irwin Public Library may apply for and accept if awarded a $20,000 Accessible Small and Rural Communities ADA grant, and the county’s library system was approved to apply for a Library Strengthening Connections grant of $25,800 to expand its Chromebook lending program by 75 kits.

The board approved a land lease with Harnett Air LLC for a 26,571‑square‑foot parcel at Harnett Regional Jetport and approved a resolution directing the expenditure of opioid settlement funds. Legal department proposals to rename departments were approved: 'Human Resources and Risk Management' will be shortened to 'Human Resources' and the legal office will be styled 'Legal and Risk Management.'

Administratively, commissioners approved updates to the Board’s rules of procedure to add a regular meeting on the second Tuesday of each month at 9 a.m. and adopted the 2026 meeting schedule. The board adopted the uniform schedules, standards and rules required under North Carolina law and issued the 2026 schedule of values for the county’s reappraisal process. Budget amendments and tax rebates, refunds and releases were approved, and the board authorized the chairman to sign contract amendments that exceed the county manager’s signature threshold.

On zoning, the board held public hearings and approved three proposed zoning changes (plans 2509‑001, 2509‑0002 and 2510‑0001), with two, zero and three public speakers respectively during those hearings. The board also accepted a successful RFP bid from TechOps Specialty Vehicles for a library outreach vehicle (bookmobile).

The board entered closed session to discuss real property. The full meeting recording is available at the county’s website; the next work session is Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. and the next board meeting is Dec. 1.

Note: all approvals described above were presented in the meeting recap; specific vote tallies were not recorded in the recap.