Franklin homeless ministry seeks new home
Lowell Monteith is tired of hearing “No.” It seems like everywhere he turns for help, the answer is always the same.
“I do feel like everyone’s against me sometimes and it’s upsetting,” he said. “It’s not like I’m asking the town or the county for money or some kind of discount. I’m just asking that they work with me,” he said.
Monteith, the pastor of The Father’s House Church in Franklin, started a homeless ministry about a year ago but has been struggling to keep the program going because of unexpected expenses. The church and shelter are currently located on Greenhouse Drive back behind Whistle Stop Mall, but the county fire marshal told Monteith improvements needed to be made to the facilities or it would be shut down. To meet fire safety codes, Monteith said he would need to install a $25,000 fire sprinkler system to be in compliance.
Monteith pleaded with the Macon County commissioners for help, but the board told him they couldn’t selectively enforce their fire safety codes. Monteith was unable to raise the funds needed to make the improvements and has been searching for other options.
Monteith went before the Franklin Board of Aldermen last week to make a request to tap on to a town sewer line, but was again turned down. He said the church has purchased 0.8 acres at 940 Lake Emory Drive in Franklin with the intent of using it to operate The Father’s House church and homeless shelter.
The structure on the property — a two-story apartment building — has been vacant for more than a year. The structure is in such bad shape that Monteith said no bank would lend money for a purchase. The property owner has agreed to finance it and Monteith plans to use donated labor to make repairs.
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Franklin architect Tom Ritter has signed on to help with the project. He told the Franklin board that sewer capabilities were needed to make the project feasible.
“The building is in an extreme state of disrepair and we plan to upgrade it,” Ritter said. “To make this project work, there’s no other options other than to tap into the system already there.”
Monteith said they anticipate spending more than $20,000 on repairs and renovations to get the building up to standard and he is working closely with the county building inspectors and fire marshal.
“Code enforcement and the fire marshal don’t have any huge concerns — there’s nothing unattainable — but the main issue now is the septic problem,” Monteith said.
Ritter said there are three existing septic systems on the property — two that were installed legally and one that was done without a proper permit in the past. One of the legal septic systems is located underneath the structure, which makes it impossible to make repairs or upgrades, and the other one has limited capacity. While the septic system can only be permitted to serve five bedrooms, Monteith wants to be able to service more since there are 18 bedrooms in the building. His plan to turn part of the building into a living quarters for him and his family — which he said he will pay for himself — create a 2,000-square-foot sanctuary and have 4,000-square feet for the shelter.
“I want to be able to be there all the time to minister to these people,” Monteith said. “It’s difficult now because if someone shows up at midnight then I have to go leave my family to go out there and get them signed up for the program.”
Ritter presented a letter from Chief Building Inspector Bobby Bishop stating that he visited the property and determined work could be done to bring the structure into code compliance. He also had a letter from engineer Larry Lackey stating that he approved the sewer engineering plans for the project.
Franklin Town Manager Summer Woodard said the only place the ministry could tap on is on a forced main sewer line and the town has a policy against adding taps to a forced main because of the problems it can cause with pressure in the system. With more than $5 million recently invested in upgrading the town’s water and sewer system, she said it was important to protect that investment.
Alderman Billy Mashburn said the town had turned down several people who wanted to tie in to the forced main line and he didn’t want to set a new precedence.
“We would be happy to sit with you and talk about other options, but we can’t allow that to happen,” he said.
Alderman Verlin Curtis agreed. He explained to Monteith that any taps on the forced main would put additional pressure on all the lines downwind from it. He suggested getting easements from the neighbors so Monteith could install a sewer line from the property down to the pump station at the nearby county maintenance garage.
In a follow-up interview, Monteith said he discussed the idea with the county, but tying on at the county pump station is not an option either.
He said the only other option was to pay $250,000 to install a new pump station that would also have the capacity to allow other residents on the road to tap on to the line. Monteith said his next step is to search for some kind of grant the town or county can apply for to expand services in the area. The property is not in the town limits but is part of its ETJ (extraterritorial jurisdiction).
Monteith had hoped to have the new shelter open by December to give people a warm place to stay for the winter months, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen with all the setbacks. What really disappoints him is that just before the town denied his request, it approved a resolution proclaiming Nov. 14-22 as National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
“They made the proclamation and then denied us the capability to provide the service for people to not be homeless,” he said. “I’ve heard several local politicians say they don’t want Franklin to look like Asheville, but The Father’s House isn’t just a shelter — it’s a six-month program to give people the skills they need to make it on their own.”
To donate to The Father’s House, visit www.gofundme.com/thefathershousefra or call Monteith at 828.371.3334.
