Church votes to sell land

First Baptist Church in Lenoir City voted overwhelmingly Sunday to approve the $1.825 million sale of 35 acres to Loudon County Schools for construction of a new school.

Members of the church voted by paper ballot during services. The vote followed three meetings in which the details of the sale and proposed plans for the property were presented to members and the public.

Senior Pastor John Hunn said 90% of the vote was in favor of the sale.

“We are praying for the schools, our children and our community,” Hunn said.

Church leaders met last week with the family that sold the property to the church earlier this year to answer questions about the timing and purpose of the sale. Members of the family have indicated on social media the church had a long-standing verbal agreement to use the land for expansion of church facilities.

The meeting included Hunn, Chris Wampler, Director of Schools Mike Garren and Loudon County Commissioner Van Shaver. The Harris family was represented by Randy Harris, Michelle Harris Fritz and Chasey Harris Hachman.

The Harris family said discussions regarding the sale of the land went back as far as 1992 and had always been focused on the church’s desire for expansion and entrance/egress on U.S. Highway 11. The family referenced conversations between the church and family members over the ensuing years, but said no one who took part in those discussions was either alive or available to confirm what was discussed.

The family produced documents showing in 2007 the church was granted right of first refusal to buy the land but relinquished that right in 2009 because of lack of funds. The land went back on the market during subsequent years but no formal offers were made until the church contacted the family in early 2022. An agreement was reached with the church to purchase 32 acres for $925,000.

Randy Harris said the family understood the land was to be used for church expansion, but there was no written agreement. He acknowledged the written contract to sell the land contained “no conditions, restrictions or stipulations.”

Hunn said the church purchased the land for expansion but did not have specific plans other than the desire to build a connection to Hwy. 11 and increase parking. After determining later in the year the land was not needed for new facilities but that parking and access to the highway was still a necessity, the church sold five acres to a private party.

Only after the school system approached the church about buying the land, which includes 6.9 acres purchased in a separate transaction, was there any consideration for selling a majority of the property. He said if the church had any plans to sell the Harris land to the schools the five acres would not have been sold for a lower price per acre earlier in the year.

Hunn said the proposed agreement with the school system to allow the church use of an access road and 500 parking spaces supported the long-standing requirements for expansion of the church.

Garren confirmed there had been no discussions between the schools and the church until months after the property had been purchased from the Harris family. Garren also stressed the need for a new high school to meet the increase in students based on current overcrowding in middle and elementary schools.

The land, located inside Lenoir City at 6445 Highway 11E and along Simpson Road, was chosen by the schools after consideration of at least 10 other properties, Jim Hinton, vice president of Cope Architecture, said.

Hinton told the Loudon County Board of Education on Oct. 6 that the land was the best of the available properties based on location, site size, accessibility to public infrastructure and other factors.

The schools must request Loudon County Commission take out a short-term loan for $1.82 million plus the cost of the loan. Commission would then pay off the loan as quickly as possible with money from the rural debt fund. The schools could close on the property by the end of the year.

The schools will also request $500,000 or more for design of the school. The design process, which Garren said could take nine months to a year, will provide the necessary information by the end of 2023 to estimate the cost of the school. Some preliminary estimates suggest the school might cost about $75 million.

Commission will probably begin discussion during 2023 of a tax increase to pay for the school. Assuming commissioners approve the increase, construction of the new school could begin in 2024.