After much discussion, a 3-2 vote resulted in what was termed a “huge, giant leap forward” for the new Franklin High School project as the Macon County Board of Commissioners approved the creation of construction documents during its Sept. 12 meeting.
The vote approved a lump sum of $1,666,565 paid to the county’s architectural firm LS3P to create a scope of work for Phase Two, the new FHS building, and Phase Three, the demolition of the current buildings.
The vote to approve the payment passed 3-2, with Commissioners Gary Shields, Danny Antoine and Josh Young in favor, contingent on public involvement and school board approval. Board Chair Paul Higdon and Commissioner John Shearl voted against it. That vote came after a first vote to pause the project failed by a 2-3 margin, with votes flipped.
The commissioners last authorized a payment to LS3P at the Feb. 9 budget kickoff meeting. That day, the commissioners unanimously approved $1.05 million for LS3P to proceed with the design development of the main campus (Phase Two) and move forward with preparing construction and bid documents for the stadium complex (Phase One).
LS3P’s Paul Boney said the next step is to have an all-day public hearing where the public can drop in, look at the schematics and renderings and offer their thoughts. The plan is to have that public meeting in October. Commissioner Gary Shields proposed Friday, Oct. 20, a teacher workday, but Boney said that exact date would be determined later after meeting with the school board.
Commissioner Josh Young said as someone on the school liaison committee with Shields, he wants to engage the public and present something that people can understand.
“I think a lot of the public is excited, but I think they need to feel for themselves this is for the future as well,” Young said. “I want to make sure that public involvement is heard and it’s applied.”
Boney said the comments would be compiled and responded to.
“Those public comments are very important to us, and we cannot move forward with construction documents until all of those public comments have been incorporated into the documents and responded to,” Boney said.
Commissioner Gary Shields said the people will re-energize the board to continue the project once they see it.
Young asked for the funding to be contingent on school board approval and public comment, which Boney was fine with, saying he would ask the school board for approval anyway. School Board Chair Jim Breedlove said he appreciated the commissioners including his board in the process.
“To me, this is one of the most important things we’ve had going on in the school system since I’ve been on the board, and I’ve been on the board 14 years,” Breedlove said during the meeting.
Regarding the potential $60 million Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, Boney said the application process can’t begin until the state legislature passes the 2023-25 budget. As of press time, the state legislature plans for a state budget vote this week. Boney also said once the state passes its budget, it would take 30-45 days for the state to set up the application process.
“You’re talking possibly three [or] four months before you would know whether you get the grant or not,” Boney said.
In 2022, Macon County Schools came in 11th in the grant application process. The top nine received funding. Applicants can file for the grant every year, then after receiving funding can’t file again for three years.
Shearl asked if approving the next step would mean the county could apply for the $60 million grant.
Boney said the state is tired of school systems getting the grants and not using the funding for years, which should give Macon County a leg up. Other positives would be fixing the numerous ADA issues and consolidation of Union/Bartram Academy into the new building once completed.
Higdon asked about the damage in pausing the project “while we get a handle on this state budget.” Previously, Higdon has pledged to support the project if the county gets the $60 million grant. Earlier this year, the commissioners and school board both unanimously approved a memorandum stating that they would commit to the project if they received the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund grant.
Boney said pausing the project would send a message that Macon County isn’t ready for the grant and hurt their grant application.
Shearl said he didn’t understand spending more money until they found out about the grant. Boney responded that waiting several months would cost Macon County more money due to inflation.
“I’m prepared to delay this thing until we find out what the state says,” Shearl said. “I’m not interested in throwing more money at this thing…I was hopeful we’d have some information from the state on this grant.”
Shearl made the motion to pause any further funding on the FHS project until they receive word on the state grant, which Higdon seconded.
“Well, I’m for pausing myself,” Higdon said. “What we’re looking at here tonight is we’re willing to gamble $1.7 million in getting a $60 million grant. It’s kind of been promised to us [but] there’s no guarantees in government.”
If the payment wasn’t approved, Boney said LS3P would “put their pencils down and wait” after the public comments.
“Short of putting this on a referendum, I think we need to pause,” Shearl said. “And I know you all have worked tirelessly for this. I understand our ADA problems and everything else, but you also have to look, our kids were in school today, were they not.”
Shields, the former FHS principal, said all the time and energy put into the project over the last few years would be for naught if paused.
“In my opinion, if we stop tonight, it’s gone,” Shields said. “We’ve worked very hard, this community has, and [the school board] has…and I’ll still say that education is an investment, not an expense.”
Antoine asked Shearl if he knew that pausing the project would cost Macon County the grant would he still pause it. Shearl didn’t directly answer, but said they were all smart enough to know if they don’t get the $60 million grant, the county can’t move forward with it.
During a back and forth between Shields and Shearl, Young interjected that the county has currently pledged over $2 million toward the project. Young also replied to Shearl’s earlier point and at previous meetings about the current site not being the right one. Young agreed that it’s not the perfect site, but they decided two years ago, before Shearl was on the board, to move forward.
“In a professional atmosphere, you’re well prepared if there’s not a hitch. If you plan a hitch, that’s poor planning and poor judgment,” Young said.
Antoine said he’s not willing to gamble on pausing the project to cost them the grant and believes in doing anything possible to get the $60 million.
“These kids mean a lot to me, they need this high school, it’s got to get done,” Antoine said. “We started it…we might as well go through with it.”
Shearl said he feels like pausing the project won’t cost them the grant since the commissioners previously signed a memorandum saying they would do the project if they receive the $60 million.
Higdon asked hypothetically if the county doesn’t get the grant, do they raise taxes to make up the difference. Shields responded that he would still go forward and work something out. Antoine asked another hypothetical question about the people passing a tax hike referendum to pay for the project. Shearl responded that he would never go against the will of the people.
“These kids are worth fighting for and worth taking a chance on,” Antoine said of a potential “Plan B” if the $60 million grant isn’t received.
Shearl made one last plea to pause, saying he was told growing up that only a fool builds something without an idea of how to pay for it, saying that’s what the Bible teaches us.
After the 2-3 vote against pausing the project, Young made a motion to approve the payment to LS3P, which passed 3-2.
Later in the meeting, Breedlove spoke to the board.
“You have expanded the possibilities of us getting this grant,” Breedlove said. “I think we’re going to be so far ahead of the other applications that’s come into play, that’s going to be a plus on our application.”
Breedlove termed the vote a “huge, giant leap forward” in the project and said it will go beyond graduation rates and can lead to offering additional vocational programs.
Project timeline
The Phase Two and Three timelines have the construction document submission date as Feb. 1, 2024. Bids could be received as early as March 1, 2024, with the project going before the North Carolina Local Government Commission for full funding approval as early as March 7. If approved by the state, construction contracts could be awarded as soon as March 31, with work starting immediately. All the steps after Feb. 1 are contingent on the county commissioners’ approval each step of the way.
The timeline has Phase Two finished by Aug. 1, 2026, the start of the 2026-27 school year. Phase Three, the demolition of the current FHS, would take place right after Phase Two and go until Dec. 31, 2026.
The last estimates presented in June show the project costing just over $100 million, down from the $118.4 million presented in 2022. Out of that, $89.3 million was for Phase Two, and $10.9 million was for Phase One. No new estimates were given on Sept. 12. Boney said there would be a cost estimate to update the numbers after public comment.
According to timelines presented as recently as June, Phase One, the new FHS stadium, would take 14-15 months to complete and could be done in time for the 2025 fall sports season.
Higdon property lease approved
The board voted 4-1, with Shearl against, to approve the formalized lease with Macon County Schools for using the Higdon property at no cost.
County Manager Derek Roland said attorneys for both the commissioners and school board worked on the lease. The school board unanimously approved the lease at its Aug. 21 meeting.
Shearl said it was “a little concerning” the county would be on the hook for the maintenance, as outlined in the lease, and bringing the property up to ADA compliance. Young responded that there’s no intent to modify the Higdon property at this time.
Macon County Attorney Eric Ridenour said there are no current plans for the Higdon property. Roland added this lease gives the school board access to the property, and they can begin assessing how it will best meet their needs.
“As they go through budgeting processes, whether it be this year or years in the future, if the Board of Education goes in and identifies a project on the Higdon property and identifies a cost for that project, it will be treated as any other project to the Board of Commissioners …and then it will be up to this board for funding,” Roland said.
Shearl noted that since the Higdon property house and the main building of FHS were built in the early 50s, why can’t the current FHS building be brought up to ADA compliance while the house possibly could be. Shields said bringing FHS up to ADA compliance is “impossible.”
In April, the commissioners approved purchasing the 13-acre Higdon property for $1.35 million. The sale closed in late June. Also in June, the commissioners approved an interlocal agreement to lease the property to the school system at no cost. That vote was also 4-1, with Shearl against.
After the FHS construction documents vote, the board voted unanimously to issue a request for qualifications for furniture for the FHS project. It will help with planning for the building to know where fixtures will go and eventual inventory and getting real-time budget data, LS3P’s Emily Kite told the board. The vote doesn’t obligate the county to spend any money.