After years of crunching numbers, disagreements, site visits, planning, hopes and dreams, the new Franklin High School project got the last local approval needed at the Macon County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
A pair of 3-2 votes by the commissioners approved a financing plan for the now-estimated $134.8-million project that calls for a new school building and stadium complex. Those votes approved a “preliminary resolution in support of a county financing for the new Franklin High School” and a resolution “providing final approval of terms and documents for financing the construction of a new Franklin High School.”
“The Macon County Board of Education and the Macon County School System are beyond thankful for the countless hours of planning that have gone into this process,” Macon County Schools said in a statement on Aug. 14. “We are excited for the future of the Franklin Panthers and the entire Macon County School System.”
Along with the $62 million Needs-Based Public-School Grant Fund that Macon County received in January, this $76.3 million in limited-obligation bonds should pay for the project. According to FHS Project Construction Manager At Risk Carroll Daniel, the Guaranteed Maximum Price of the project is $134,867,674.
The fate of the project funding now rests with the N.C. Local Government Commission, which must approve all municipal bonds in the state. That commission’s next meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 10, starting at 1:30 p.m. in Raleigh.
According to Dan Way, spokesperson for the Office of the State Treasurer, the state received Macon County’s funding application late last week. Finalization of the Sept. 10 Local Government Commission agenda will come later.
If the Local Government Commission approves the financing plan, the limited-obligation bonds will be offered beginning Sept. 11 and close within a couple of weeks. With the money in hand by the end of the month, the plan would be to start formal construction in early November, after the FHS football season ends.
The 265,000-square-foot, four-story building would be constructed on the east part of the current property, mainly where the practice field and Panther Drive are located. The football stadium would be demolished and rebuilt further east, with the press box on level ground with the entrance to the main building. The planned opening would be the first day of class 2026, roughly two years from now.
The current school buildings will be demolished in late 2026 after the new building opens.
The only public commentator during the public hearing was Richard Lightner, who spoke in favor of the project, saying it’s time to build a new FHS.
Shearl said the contracts aren’t finalized and it was concerning they were moving forward without final costs, saying he spoke with subcontractors about this. Henry Irving with Carroll Daniel said some of the 51 subcontracted bid packages had to be rebid as they didn’t have at least three bids as required for public projects. All those rebid subcontract packages got at least one bid and the prices were finalized.
Shearl read a statement explaining his “no” vote. Among his reasons were that it’s a waste to tear down the current FHS buildings, there’s a lack of adequate parking, the current site won’t allow room for future growth and that the project puts the taxpayers at risk for future tax increases because of other county needs.
“I hope and pray that I’m wrong and you’re right,” Shearl concluded.
Higdon said he shared Shearl’s concerns, saying the county would be “tearing down perfectly good buildings,” and said the site would be a congested mess.
The final financing step
According to the Local Government Commission’s 2024 meeting agendas, school capital project bond requests, regardless of size and scope, end up on the consent agenda. The consent agenda typically consists of business items where no board comment is expected and those action items are approved at once.
The financing will be up to $76.3 million in limited-obligation bonds to pay project costs, repayable over 20 years at no more than a 5.5% interest rate. That interest rate is to be determined if the financing plan gets final approval from the state in September, although Davenport Public Finance’s Mitch Brigulio, who has advised Macon County throughout the process, said current rates are around 3.6%, which would mean a total payback right at $100 million. That interest rate would be locked in for 20 years once the bonds go on sale in September.
After the vote, many in the audience, including school board members and Macon County Schools department heads, stood up and applauded.
Highlands School project
To the dismay of the commissioners, Vannoy Construction did not have a final Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Highlands School work as expected due to a leaking diesel tank that requires immediate work.
With assurances that the cost would not be on top of the Guaranteed Maximum Price and instead more of an advance, the commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the $185,500 for deep foundations engineering, sheet piling and structural steel design, plus allowances for a soil and water contamination investigation. Higdon was the lone “nay” vote.
The Highlands School renovations are a multi-area project that will add new classrooms to the middle school wing, create a free-standing canopy/outdoor classroom next to the media center, renovate existing middle school classrooms, labs, offices, the media center and add Pre-K classrooms, plus other utility and site work upgrades.
Kevin Aull, Vannoy project manager said he intended to deliver the full cost of the project (last estimated to be around $8.5 million) but said the discovery of a leaking 10,000-gallon fuel tank made that impossible. Due to the location of the tank (roughly 11 feet underground), removing it would undermine the building’s footing, so workers need to shore up the tank area after removal.
Aull said this work will keep Vannoy, the Construction Manager At Risk, on schedule to complete the work by next summer. Without the commissioners approving the advanced payment, the entire project would be delayed beyond the Fall 2025 projected completion date. Aull told the commissioners he’s confident Vannoy will provide a Guaranteed Maximum Price by the next board meeting.
Macon County Schools Maintenance Director Tracy Tallent told the board the diesel tank is not empty but will shut down the first week of September. Tallent said the project will switch the Highlands School boiler fuel source from diesel to LP gas and those tanks will arrive in September.
Tallent said staff first discovered the leak over the winter, finding 25 inches of water in the tank. Tallent said it was the first time since installation in 1970 that the tank had leaked. Aull said the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality determined the leak was small enough for Vannoy and its subcontractors to take care of.
Shearl said he believes this should have come up before the project was designed, at one point questioning whether the entire project was worth it. Shearl compared Highlands to East Franklin Elementary, which was determined to be beyond renovation and mandates a new school sometime in the future.
Young repeatedly asked if there were local engineers who could work on the project, feeling “like there are people down east who don’t know what the [Highlands] climate is” making decisions on this. Young said Vannoy didn’t hold up their end of the bargain in the plan to present a Guaranteed Maximum Price. But in the end, Shields said they couldn’t ignore the leaking tank and let it become a greater issue.