That is the question on a lot of people’s minds as the Macon County Board of Commissioners started the purchasing process for the $1.35 million parcel across from the current Franklin High School site earlier this month.
On Monday night, the Macon County School Board indicated a collective hope that the property will be used for some part of the Franklin High School replacement project but have been given no clear indication from the county as to a potential use.
“I will say I was pleasantly surprised that the county decided to buy that property given its proximity to Franklin High School,” school board chair Jim Breedlove said. “But we did not know that purchase was going to happen. We had not discussed it in any of our meetings, and we found out about it the same way a lot of folks did, when it was placed on the commissioners’ agenda.”
Macon County Career and Technical Education Coordinator Colleen Strickland presented a proposal to use the Higdon Property as a “land lab” as part of a new Franklin High School.
Strickland’s vision, “Panther Harvest,” includes a student-run enterprise that would incorporate programs in agriculture, animal sciences, horticulture, marketing and business, among others.
“In 2020-21 we had eight CTE pathways as part of our program and next year we’ll have 20 pathways, so the program is growing quickly,” Strickland said. “As the plans for a new high school began to take shape, I had kind of this broad thought about the Higdon property and how it could be used for CTE. We could put a commercial kitchen in the building for our food science courses and we could develop a land lab where the students could raise animals and care for a hydroponic garden. There are a lot of possibilities.”
Currently CTE students at FHS who are interested in animal sciences and other agriculture-related pathways do their field work at the Macon County Fairgrounds on Georgia Road, which requires off-campus travel. According to Strickland, having a land lab adjacent to a new FHS would create more hands-on learning opportunities and in-depth field work.
Upon questioning from the audience, Strickland said the CTE Land Lab project could be for all Macon County high school students, not just those from Franklin High School.
Strickland added that the property and its potential use would be discussed with the school district’s Business Advisory Council on Wednesday afternoon. Macon County Commissioner Gary Shields, who serves as a school board liaison, asked the board to put together a proposal for a school-related use as soon as possible.
“I have been getting asked what the Higdon Property is going to be used for quite a bit,” Shields said. “We need to have a plan in place, so we know what to tell people.”
Breedlove noted that the school board had no notice that the county was going to buy the property, thus they didn’t have a use designated.
“We don’t have a specific plan for what to do with that property because we didn’t know anything about the purchase until the county commission meeting two weeks ago,” Breedlove said. “Obviously, this CTE idea is something we would love to have for our students, but I’m certain there are other potential uses for that property that other departments at FHS might have in mind as well.”
Breedlove added that the property is under contract, but not yet owned by the county since the sale has not closed.
“I feel like we are getting ahead of ourselves here because we’re being asked to come up with a proposed use for a property that the county doesn’t own yet, and we have no assurance will be used for educational purposes,” Breedlove said.
Macon County Schools attorney John Henning Jr. suggested that the school board draw up a memorandum of understanding with the county regarding the property’s use for educational purposes, even if a specific use has not yet been identified.
“To me, that’s the first step is to get an MOU together that says this piece of land, once owned by the county, will be used for educational purposes as directed by the Macon County Board of Education,” Henning Jr. said. “There needs to be some clarity as to who has the authority to use the property and for what purpose.”
Shields indicated that he was trying to push the school board to develop a proposal for educational use before other agencies/organizations set their sights on the Higdon Property.
“I want Macon County Schools to be first in line when it comes time to present a proposed use for that property,” Shields said. “We need to have a plan together.”
Shields did not say what other agencies, organizations or county departments might be interested in using the Higdon property but insinuated that there are other potential suitors. While Commissioners Chair Paul Higdon has said no decision has been made on the property’s use, other commissioners, including John Shearl and Danny Antoine, have indicated their support for using the property as part of the FHS project. Higdon also noted he has no direct relation or knowledge of the Higdons who own the property.
“Before we commit to any one proposal, we need to know the details of the land and what is possible on that site,” school board member Hilary Wilkes said. “We want to make sure we are getting the most out of that property that we can, if it’s ours to use.”
The board gave consensus for Henning to draft an MOU regarding the Higdon property and its future educational use prior to the board’s budget meeting on May 3. That meeting is slated to begin at 9 a.m. at Macon County Schools Central Office. If approved, that MOU could be up for consideration by the county commissioners at their meeting May 9.
County Manager Derek Roland signed the contract for the purchase of the Higdon property on March 24. A 60-day due diligence period started April 4 when the county paid $10,000 in non-refundable due diligence money and $100,000 in refundable earnest money. If the county agrees to follow through with the purchase after due diligence, there will be a 30-day closing period. The commissioners unanimously voted on April 11 to allocate $1.35 million for the 10+ acres and house at the Wayah Street intersection.