More than $34 million in requests, not counting the multi-million-dollar construction projects slated to begin this summer, are going to the Macon County Board of Commissioners to parse and decide upon.
The list, with no priorities given, was unanimously approved by the Macon County Board of Education at its April 22 meeting. There are roughly 100 items on the list, some of which don’t have an estimated cost. The list includes multiple Franklin High School requests that would be irrelevant with the planned new school.
Many of the requests are smaller in scale, such as milk coolers, badge scanners, floor scrubbers, lawn mowers and more. Others include big-ticket items, such as six new classrooms at Cartoogechaye.
The school board previously discussed these items in a budget workshop but made no priority list at the time. The Board of Commissioners reviews the requests and determines how much is funded each year.
Upon requests by board members Hilary Wilkes and Diedre Breeden, staff added the Highlands Pre-K/Middle School and Macon Middle School track projects, respectively, just to show the commissioners those are still school board priorities. Wilkes brought up putting a new FHS on the list but believes they are “past it” with the project about to begin.
Regarding the Highlands School project, Wilkes said Vannoy Construction is still determining the Guaranteed Maximum Price, a pre-requisite as Construction Manager At Risk. Wilkes said the current estimate is $5.5 to $5.8 million. No dollar figure was available for the Macon Middle School track project, as contractor LS3P has not finalized a cost. The board approved sending out a request for qualifications for the project earlier in the meeting and hopes to finish it by fall at the latest.
Highlands soccer field update
Wilkes said the year-long Highlands soccer field survey is close to completion. The grass field, constantly bogged by heavy rains that beset the Highlands plateau, plus the mountain slope next to it, is often unusable due to drainage issues. This has caused Highlands’ soccer teams, the school’s biggest sport, to forfeit games. In May 2023, the county approved a proposal from Ronnie Dilbeck of CreekStone Environmental and Geological Services of Franklin. For a year, Dilbeck has taken soil boring samples from the field to make an informed decision on drainage systems and natural grass versus turf.
Next meeting
The next regular Board of Education meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday, May 20 at Nantahala School. The date of the October meeting has been changed from Oct. 28 to Oct. 21 due to a scheduling conflict.