Macon County commissioners revisited their decision to buy a property known as Higdon House in Franklin at their meeting this month as community members questioned the $1.35 million purchase. The commissioners executed a contract to buy the estate in late March, but several said at the April meeting that they did not know the intended use of the property.
During the four-hour meeting, Macon County resident Hazel Norris was the first community member to take the podium. She called on elected officials to answer questions, and she called some of the ideas about the property use “fake news.”
“You commissioners need to start addressing some of these things,” Norris said. She recommended that the commissioners answer questions directly on a Facebook page or another medium.
Macon County realtor Matt Jackson also expressed frustration at the lack of transparency about a plan for the purchase which was made in closed session.
“It did seem really odd to me and directionless to not have a full plan laid out for a property that’s been on the market for 10 to 11 years,” Jackson said. “If it has been on the market that long and it’s ever been of interest, I would expect us to have some kind of plan for that property.”
Closed session minutes obtained by BPR show commissioners discussed the possibility of purchasing the Higdon property and the county’s possible offer at the February meeting. The February closed session minutes included some redactions, and it is unclear if they relate to the purchase. The redactions are items that are not yet resolved, County Attorney Eric Ridenhour explained. January closed session minutes do show any mention of the property.
The list price for the property was $1.395 million, according to County Manager Derek Roland. Minutes from the March closed session show commissioners authorized a $1 million offer. The county eventually contracted for $1.35 million, Roland told BPR in an email.
At the May meeting, Jackson also asked about the $10,000 in due diligence funds committed by the commissioners. Jackson said in his experience as a realtor due diligence was not a common practice before the pandemic, and he did not think it should have been offered in this situation.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘What are they doing, offering this much for a house that has been on the market over a decade?’...that seller is shrewd,” Jackson said. “I’ve been told y’all are related. She is a shrewd person.”
Chairman Paul Higdon responded that he was not related to the seller.
“You need to get your facts straight, Matt,” Higdon said. “Quit reading Facebook.”
The seller, property trustee Brigitte Higdon, did not respond to requests from BPR.
Commissioner Josh Young said the commissioners were not concerned with the specific use when they signed the contract.
“For 11-acres, I don’t care to go on record. If it’s a ballfield, if it’s future tennis, swimming, gymnastics for the school...I want to see it used in coordination with Macon County School or Ag[riculture]...or welding or shop, I really don’t care. I think that kind of property with that proximity we will never have a chance to buy that again,” Young said.
Young called the purchase “backwards” because of governmental procedures. "You can’t go out and design and phase out this plan for a property that you don’t have, so you kind of have to put the property under contract," he said.
From estate to education programs
Late last year, Commissioner Danny Antoine posted a video to YouTube where he talked about the possibility of acquiring the property to use as a microschool run by Kavod Family – part of a nonprofit venture Antoine and his family run.
“It’s been a lifelong goal of ours to really establish a microschool, because seeing the needs that are in the community education-wise and as much as we have been approached to open a school – we have decided that we definitely want to do that, that’s my wife and I,” Antoine said. He currently runs a martial arts academy and fitness center in Franklin.
Despite his statement in the video, which was taken down shortly after the April meeting, Antoine denied the origin of the microschool idea at the May meeting.
“The whole idea of the microschool only came because of guys like Bob Scott and The Franklin Press have brought that up. That doesn’t make any sense,” Antoine said at the meeting. “Unfortunately, they have made my life pretty rough by making those kinds of silly allegations, but if you understand fake news that’s what happens unfortunately.”
Antoine has since said publicly that Kavod Family is no longer interested in the property.
At the May meeting, Commissioner Gary Shields said he wants the property to be used for career and technical education program as part of the Franklin High School Expansion project. CTE program staff Colleen Strickland and Josh Brooks gave a presentation to commissioners about the 20 options within the program at the school.
They also expanded on the idea of creating an agricultural learning lab called “Panther Harvest.”
Commissioners have until the end of the due diligence process in June to decide whether or not to complete the sale of the property.
The regular meeting minutes for April are not yet available on the county website. Ridenhour said the April closed session minutes are not yet prepared.
