The peak of the Franklin High School property will be lowered in the coming weeks as work crews begin removing up to 13 feet of soil.
This was the word given to the school liaison committee at its March 13 meeting. The committee includes two commissioners (Josh Young and Gary Shields), two school board members (Diedre Breeden and Hilary Wilkes), plus County Manager Warren Cabe, Superintendent Josh Lynch (who was absent that day), county project manager Jack Morgan, Macon County School Maintenance Director Tracy Tallent and Macon County Schools Grounds and Facilities Director Todd Gibbs.
This was the first liaison meeting since September with the purpose of keeping both boards appraised of the recent school capital building projects.
The biggest project, the $135 million Franklin High School project, remains on budget and on schedule, Gibbs reported.
According to Tallent, the new retention pond at the former lower parking lot/band practice area is complete, with sod to be added later. Work on a second retention pond on the Frogtown property is starting.
Gibbs said demolition of the stadium is complete, as is the installation of the nearly 1,300 aggregate piers at the bottom of the Frogtown property. Soon, work will start on “scalping” the practice field as 90,000 cubic yards of dirt are being moved. The practice field will be lowered 13 feet in the process, creating a level surface to construct a new 265,000-square-foot high school.
“The earth movers are ready to go, they’re anxious,” Morgan said.
The new FHS is slated to be done by summer 2027, with the stadium finished by spring 2026.
Gibbs and Tallent said there have been issues with the lights from the project shining on neighboring properties and they’re working on putting up a shroud and reflectors. Also, crews have started the installation of storm drains on Phillips Street.
Highlands School
On the $9.5 million Highlands School expansion and renovations constructed by Vannoy Construction, Cabe said there was a boiler line leak under the soccer field, so there was a change order to replace it with an above-ground line. The current line will be left in for now, as it’s up to four feet below the field in spots and there’s not an immediate need to remove it.
Regarding the water seeping into the elevator pit, Cabe said crews are working on options for a permanent fix.
The school board will get a tour of the site before its March 24 meeting at Highlands School. Cabe said they’re going to let the middle school kids sign a construction beam before it’s put into place.
The multi-faceted project will add four new classrooms, renovate two existing classes into Pre-K classes, add three project labs, renovate the medical center, add outdoor classrooms, renovate the middle school wing, deepen the school’s foundations, intercom, data and security additions, bi-directional radio amplifiers and a new middle school wing fire alarm system.
The plan is to have the Highlands School project done by the first day of school in late August 2025.
Highlands soccer field
Gibbs said the recent request for proposals to install a turf field for the Highlands soccer teams ended and they got one respondent, Astroturf, who responded previously. Gibbs hoped more companies would have responded. Gibbs said they reviewed the field, and the engineer was concerned with water coming out of the adjacent creek and flooding the turf field. This could cause the infill (black pellets used to fill in the turf) to wash out.
An estimate of the project will be presented later. Breeden asked if there was a warranty; Gibbs said they did not talk about a warranty and this could be presented at the March 24 school board meeting.
Springs underneath the field and runoff from Satulah Mountain turn the grass field into an unplayable bog after heavy rains. The school board has suggested multiple solutions and investigated the feasibility of many, including digging out “river muck” more than 12 feet below the surface. The hope is a new drainage system, curtailing water coming from Satulah Mountain and a turf field will alleviate most of the issues and create a more usable surface.
Recently, the school board discussed a possible temporary relocation of the school’s soccer field. The point was brought up again in March, which will require more input at a joint school board/commissioners meeting, likely sometime in May.
Nantahala wastewater
The refurbishment of the wastewater treatment system at Nantahala School will take place this summer as scheduling will be done in the next few weeks, Gibbs explained. NEO Corporation from Canton, who previously refurbished the system in the 1980s, still has the schematics and designs. The refurbishment will cost around $80,000, much less than the $650,000 estimated for a full system replacement.
The Nantahala wastewater system has been outdated for several years, with a failure risking the school being closed for an extended period. Originally, the county and school board investigated doing a total septic replacement, which would cost at least $650,000. However, as no bids came in, Gibbs and Tallent focused on a refurbishment and reached out to NEO Corporation. While being an emergency priority for over two years, Tallent explained that the system continues to pass regular inspections.