DOTHAN-HOUSTON COUNTY: Houston County Commissioners D1 Curtis Harvey, D2 Doug Sinquefield, D3 Ricky Herring and D4 Brandon Shoupe voted to sell the Houston County Farm Center back in December 2021 to a Florida investor for $2 million. This issue surfaced without warning or knowledge to local potential investors.
RSN then found where the City of Dothan owned 16% of the some 40 acres of the Houston County Farm Center. This was a problem to the Houston County Commission. Despite their vote to sell the Farm Center, without the approval of the Dothan City Commission, it mattered not how the current sitting Houston County Commissioners voted on the sale.
This sale concerned all of the Dothan Commissioners, to include but not limited to D3 Dothan Commissioner Bradley Bedwell. It is District 3 where the Houston County Farm Center sits, and no one knew the plans of the Florida investor.
So the great minds on the Dothan Commission began working in what I would call one of the smartest and greatest surprise moves held at a Dothan Commission Meeting ever. In a surprise move, D4 Dothan Commissioner John Ferguson motioned to add to the agenda the purchase of the Houston County Farm Center. The motion was quickly seconded by D5 Commissioner Gantt Pierce. The motion passed.
D5 Commissioner Gantt Pierce is a practicing attorney. He then pulled a physical copy of the resolution out for the Dothan Commission to purchase the Houston County Farm Center from the Houston County Commission. Then-Dothan City Attorney Freddie Len White was in shock because he had no part in the preparation of the resolution. However D5 Gantt Pierce is a better lawyer, in my opinion then was Freddie Len White. The move caught everyone off guard. Except some of the commissioners to include D3 Bradley Bedwell. With the move of the commission it made D3 Bedwell feel better about the protection of District 3. The motion passed for the City of Dothan to purchase the Houston County Farm Center. This was March 2022.
The move of D4 Commissioner John Ferguson and D5 Commissioner Gantt Pierce, supported by other Commissioners, was probably the greatest move in the local government that I myself have witnessed. And all done to protect the City of Dothan/Houston County landscape of the prime 40-acre piece of property.
Come November 2022, longtime Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver retired, D2 Houston County Commissioner Doug Sinquefield did not seek re-election, D4 Houston County Commissioner was elected Chairman of Houston County Commission, with James Ivey taking over the position in District 4, and D2 Tracy Adams was elected to fill the vacancy from Doug Sinquefield. Realizing the lack of wisdom of their votes as commissioners in 2021, D1 Curtis Harvey, D3 Commissioner Ricky Herring and now Chairman Brandon Shoupe started re-thinking the sale of the 40-acre Farm Center and what could be done. Plans began about what to do with the property. But the first obstacle was seeking the City of Dothan to cancel their purchase of the Farm Center.
On May 2, 2023, in a 4 to 3 vote, Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba, D4 John Ferguson, D5 Gantt Pierce and D6 David Crutchfield voted to cancel the purchase of the Houston County Farm Center. D1 Commissioner Kevin Dorsey, D2 Commissioner Aristotle Kirkland and D3 Commissioner Bradley Bedwell voted against the purchase cancellation. D3 Commissioner Bradley Bedwell voiced concern with “the county in the driver’s seat, if it’s going to continue to be an eye sore, is it going to be maintained, I haven’t really gotten the answers to those yet… Other than it’s going to be in the county’s hands.”
D5 Dothan Commissioner Gantt Pierce stated “When we work in tandem, we can achieve great things and prospects we might have.”
Houston County began making moves. The Houston County Water Authority was moved to a building on South Oates Street from the building they occupied. Plans were drawn and bids for changes to the Farm Center dome. Bids taken and came in at $4.6 million. A new roof has been installed on the Farm Center dome and the sides removed. Work is underway to make a 39,000 square foot open space for such things as a Farmer’s Market. Other plans are in the works to get rid of other eyesores. Property was purchased on Prevatt Road to move the Houston County Department of Human Resources. The county is mandated by law to also furnish office space for DHR.
But it was the vision of the members of the Dothan Commission, the legal knowledge of D5 Commissioner Gantt Pierce, the experience of Dothan Senior Commissioner D4 John Ferguson, the desire of D3 Commissioner Bradley Bedwell to protect his district and the support of the entire Dothan Commission which saved the Houston County Farm Center.
