A Macon County woman who served five years in a Colorado prison on a theft charge is seeking $15 million in public funds to develop what she calls “North Carolina’s first all Green Eco-Community.”

The proposed 24-home project, named The Farme at Matlock Creek, is located on a 34-acre site about seven miles north of Franklin in an area known as the Cowee community. The developer, Kelley L. Bradbury, established Cowee Valley Organic Farme Inc. a year ago as a nonprofit to handle the development activities. Bradbury has been unable to purchase the property, even though her Web site creates the impression that the nonprofit actually owns it.

Most area residents were unfamiliar with the project until the Macon County News, a weekly and online publication, published a story about it in early February. The story did not mention Bradbury’s criminal record.

That story, combined with information posted on Bradbury’s Web site, led some skeptical local citizens to form an informal group named Cowee Community Concerned Citizens. After Carolina Journal launched an investigation of the project’s finances, on March 24 the property owner’s listing agent notified CJ that the contract with Bradbury to purchase the site had been terminated.

Questions from neighbors

“We do not believe this project is something that $15 million of taxpayer money should be spent on, particularly when our national debt is soaring,” said Norman Beller, chairman of the citizens group, in mid-March.

Beller also said several members expressed serious concerns about the technical feasibility of the project. For instance, he said Bradbury’s plans call for wind power as a major source of energy for the development. “The wind power map for Macon County shows insufficient wind to even be classified [as a suitable location for wind power],” he said.

On behalf of his group, Beller has written U. S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan, 11th District U. S. Rep. Heath Shuler, State Sen. John Snow, and State Reps. Roger West and Phil Haire for assistance in stopping the project.

Bradbury told CJ her project has support. “We have a lot of support from Capitol Hill. We have a lot of support coming from the community and from the representatives from the community. It is a slow, long, drawn out process,” she said. “The homes are targeted for low-income individuals. It is not low-income housing. The whole purpose of this project is to get people off the welfare system,” she added.

She explained the individuals would have to pay for their homes, but that The Farme would provide residents with jobs at the site. “We are trying to build a community where people actually care about each other,” she said.

“We have eliminated some of the everyday stresses people have — an electric bill, a water bill, day care expenses — things that seem to be burdening the average family,” Bradbury said. The community is designed to be self-sustaining and not depend on outside electric, sewer, or water utility companies.

Bradbury’s Web site describes the project (see image) as a “unique community development plan designed to create a healthy psychological and physiological eco-friendly living environment through the promotion of organic eating and Green built LEEDs certified homes.” LEEDS is an acronym for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system developed by the nonprofit U. S. Green Building Council.

Golden LEAF grant application

Bradbury’s nonprofit does not own the site. On Feb. 17, Bradbury requested $3.3 million from North Carolina’s Golden LEAF Foundation to purchase the 34-acre site for $2.6 million and make other improvements with the remainder of the funds.

The project title used for that grant request was, “The psychological and physiological effects of organic eating and healthy home living.”

The N. C. General Assembly established Golden LEAF to handle tobacco settlement payments and make grants. Grants are considered public funds and grant requests are considered public records.

In her Golden LEAF request, Bradbury stated that she also expected to receive $300,000 from the U. S. Department of Agriculture; $11,007,977 from the U. S. Department of Energy; and $591,000 from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

She also stated that her board of directors committed $591,000 towards the project. According to those numbers, Bradley is asking for 96 percent of the projects budget to come from public funds.

The Energy Department’s public affairs office was unable to provide CJwith confirmation of Bradbury’s grant request.

Criminal record

Beller told CJ that Bradbury’s criminal record also was a great concern to members of his group.

In 1997, Bradbury pleaded guilty in Grand Junction, Colo., to one count of theft, and was sentenced to eight years in prison. According to information contained in a Colorado Court of Appeals decision, Bradbury received a lengthy sentence because she was on bond in connection with other felony charges at the time of her offense. After serving five years, she was released in 2002 and moved to Arizona. She told CJ that she had lived in Macon County for about three years.

During a phone interview conducted March 19, Bradbury was very positive about her project, but denied ever living in Colorado or having a criminal record. In a subsequent phone conversation that same day, Bradbury admitted that she had lied in the previous interview and had served time in prison for criminal activity that involved writing bad checks.

During a third phone interview, Bradbury said CJ’s inquiries about her project had generated a lot of phone calls and indicated she was ending her efforts to develop The Farme. However, on March 22, at scheduled meetings for local public officials and citizens, she indicated she was continuing with the project.

The development team

Bradbury and Timothy D. Roberts incorporated Cowee Valley Green Builders in November 2008 as a for-profit organization. Reached by phone, Roberts declined to discuss the project. Voter registration records indicate that he was living in Macon County in 2003.

In February 2009, Bradbury and Roberts bought a home together near the Farme project. Their marital status is not clear. On March 19, Roberts told CJ he was not married. Then Bradbury told CJ they were married, and later Bradbury’s mother Roberta Bradbury of Arizona told CJ her daughter and Roberts were not married. Bradbury has also recently used the names Kelley L. Roberts or Kelley L. Bradbury-Roberts.

Bradbury and Morgan M. Block incorporated Cowee Valley Organic Farms Inc. in February 2009 as a North Carolina nonprofit organization organized for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes. Bradbury said she has submitted documents to the Internal Revenue Service for designation as a 501(c)(3) organization, but has not received an IRS designation letter. That designation allows contributions to be tax-deductible and formalizes the organization’s nonprofit status. Bradbury said Morgan M. Block is her son and a student at the University of Arizona.

In September 2009, Bradbury filed papers substituting the name Farme for Farms in the organization’s name. She also added Roberts to the Board of Directors. In December 2009, she filed papers changing the principal office from her home to 363 Matlock Creek Road, the address of the 34-acre property she hopes to buy.

Premature reservations

According to a local real estate agent, Bradbury has been trying to buy the 34-acre site for more than a year. But Bradbury’s Web site suggests that the nonprofit already owns it. “Cowee Valley Organic Farme, Inc., doing business as The Farme at Matlock Creek, is a North Carolina nonprofit corporation headquartered in Franklin, N.C. We are currently in the start up phase of building North Carolina’s first all ‘Green’ Eco-Community — The Farme at Matlock Creek,” the site states.

Bradbury also told CJ that she has taken reservations beginning in June for visitors to stay at the bed and breakfast situated in the house on the Farme, even though she does not own the house.

The 34-acre tract contains a home, buildings, greenhouses, and other structures that supported an organic farm, operated by the current owner until she became ill a couple of years ago.

The property, owned by Suzann Mosling, is listed for sale by Harry Norman Realtors in Highlands. On March 19, listing agent Pat Allen told CJ the sale was pending and that Bradbury had shown her a copy of a $3.4 million wire transfer that Bradbury had secured towards the project. Allen said that Bradbury told her the $3.4 was in escrow until other grants were received. She said that Bradbury has been trying to buy the property for about a year.

On the 19th, Allen told CJ that she believed the $3.4 million legitimately was set aside for the project, yet she did not know the source of the funds.

Bradbury previously had told CJ that she had not yet received any government grants. CJ’s efforts to discuss the source of the $3.4 million with her were unsuccessful. A man who answered the phone at her house on March 23 said he was the house sitter, that he didn’t know where she was, and that he would not take a message.

On March 24, Allen told CJ that the property owner was terminating the contract with Bradbury and the property remained on the market. She said Bradbury is welcome to purchase the property for the $2.7 million asking price.

Don Carrington is executive editor of Carolina Journal.

Project Budget

The Macon County News reported that “Farme developers have applied for a $15 million grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.” Bradbury told CJ a different story. She said she has applied for grants through several federal agencies, the Golden LEAF Foundation, and planned to seek other funds from the state of North Carolina. She declined to share any of those grant applications. CJ was able to obtain her Golden LEAF grant application. The planned line item expenses submitted to Golden LEAF on Feb. 17 are as follows:

Real Estate Purchase $2,598,000
Civil Engineers $325,000
Farm/Bio-Diesel Equipment $225,000
Misc. Organic Compost/Soil $3,000
2-Grain Silos $40,000
Recycling Center $350,000
Surveyors $75,000
Building 23 Green Homes $5,060,000
Renewable Energy Implementation $261,000
“Green” Community Building $175,000
Tennis Courts/Volleyball Court $80,000
Greywater System $225,000
Grading $475,000
Landscaping $495,000
Executive Salaries – 1st year $98,000
Employee Salaries – 1st year $915,000
Organic Studies $300,000
Organic Bed/Breakfast Upgrades $375,000
Employee Salaries years 2-5 $3,404,793

TOTAL $15,479,977

—Don Carrington