ROCKY MOUNT 鈥 The Franklin County Board of Supervisors is moving forward with the purchase of the former Mod-U-Kraf building for the purpose of a new career and technical education center for the county.
Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to purchase the former Mod-U-Kraf building for $5 million. The decision comes three months after the board placed an option on the property from Champion Modular Inc.
Gills Creek District representative Lorie Smith moved for a vote to purchase the property. She said supervisors were ready to move forward with the project after years of discussing it.
鈥淭his CTE center has been in the pipeline for over 20 to 25 years and that is just unacceptable for the students of Franklin County and for the businesses,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淔or that reason, we have a tremendous opportunity with the purchase of this property.鈥
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The purchase includes 170,000 square feet of manufacturing space that will be used to house a career and technical education center as well as 30,000 square feet of office space that could be used as a future site for the county鈥檚 public safety department and 911 dispatch center.
Franklin County Administrator Chris Whitlow said the property has the potential to fit the county鈥檚 current and future education needs. He mentioned the success of Patrick & Henry Community College鈥檚 Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology complex in Martinsville as a guide for what they would like to see in a future CTE center.
Franklin County Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Siers agreed with the property鈥檚 potential. He addressed supervisors on Tuesday, stating the building would allow the school to increase class sizes to allow more students to join popular CTE courses as well as add new, requested courses currently not offered such as cosmetology, firefighting, EMT, mechatronics, pharmacy tech or heavy equipment operator.
鈥淐TE is popular everywhere, but it is more popular here than any place else I have been,鈥 Siers said.
Siers also addressed some concerns that had been brought to the attention of supervisors from the Rocky Mount Town Council. Council members sent a letter to the county last month questioning the potential impact of a CTE center being in an industrial park.
Siers said they estimated around six or seven buses would be used to transport students from Franklin County High School to the CTE center. Students would arrive at the high school in the morning before being transported to the CTE center for classes. Students would also be transported back to the high school for dismissal at the end of the day.
To limit multiple bus trips between the high school and the CTE center throughout the day, Siers said some core classes such as math, science, English or social studies could be held at the building to prevent unnecessary transportation.
鈥淭hat is something we are toying with,鈥 Siers said.
Another major concern with the purchase of the Mod-U-Kraf building would be the potential cost of renovating the building. Whitlow said it was too early to have any final cost for turning the building into a CTE center and public safety headquarters, but said it would be cheaper than the proposed $80 million cost of a previous plan to build a new CTE building on property adjacent to the high school.
鈥淚s it $30 million? Is it $40 million? What we can confidently say is it is not $80 million,鈥 Whitlow said of the possible cost of the project.
David Rose with Davenport and Co., which provides financial advice for Franklin County, said the cost of renovating the property could be done strategically by the county without a budgeting impact that would require an increase in taxes on residents.
Rose said the county government is in a good position to borrow money due to its excellent financial standing, including more than $19 million in unassigned funds. That money could be used for the CTE center as well as other county projects, he added.
鈥淲e can do all of this without asking for any additional dollars from the general fund because of the way planning has occurred,鈥 Rose said of the financial steps taken by supervisors over the years. 鈥淲hen I say no additional dollars, that means no impact on, say, real estate tax rate or anything of a comparable nature.鈥
Supervisors took no steps on Tuesday to begin the process of borrowing funds. Rose said he would present board members with plans possibly at the June meeting and could move forward some time later this year, if approved.
