Lavonia Moves to Take Over County Cannery

The Franklin County Food Processing Center will be open for public use and instruction in safe food processing techniques from June 10 to August 8.

Located on Highway 77  across from the former Lavonia Elementary School, the cannery, as it is commonly known, will be open from 7:30am to 12:00 noon every Monday and Thursday.

Funded by the Franklin County School System, the center is operated by the school system’s agricultural education staff.

Patrons are able to prepare and pack homegrown fruit, vegetables and meats, while agriculture teachers handle the processing.

But now the City of Lavonia is considering taking over the cannery from the Franklin County School System.

At their regular city council meeting last week, city manager Gary Fesperman said he and mayor Ralph Owens have been in talks with School Superintendent Dr. Ruth O’Dell about obtaining title to the building.

Calling it an historical asset to the town, Fesperman said the cannery has deteriorated over the years and with the tight budget cuts facing the school system, the city would be better able to run it.

“We have had the Department of Community Affairs come up and go through and give us a structural analysis on the building,” Fesperman said. “And we do have some serious issues with the roof and other exterior components of the structure. If they are not soon corrected, the building could go into a state of deterioration that would be awfully hard to bring back.”

 Fesperman said he and Owens have asked the school system to turn over the deed to the building and the property to the city. He said the city would apply for grants and other funding to renovate the cannery.  

Fesperman and Owens made a presentation recently to the Board of Education regarding their plan for taking over operations, with the FFA and teachers continuing to run the cannery during the summer months as always.

“We are working on an intergovernmental agreement to allow them to continue to operate the cannery, but they would have responsibility of maintaining the cannery equipment,” Fesperman explained. “The the City would come up with some other uses for that building.”

Other uses Fesperman said could include moving the food bank there and using the two classrooms in the building for library summer programs.

Fesperman said he is working with Justin Old at the Franklin County School System J on an intergovernmental agreement.  That agreement, he said, will be presented to the city council at a future meeting.