The Habersham County Board of Commissioners has postponed a decision on what to do with the old county courthouse. Commissioners were set to vote on a memorandum of understanding that would have allowed the property to be sold to a local developer for $10. Instead, they voted during their Monday night work session to table the matter.
The MOU is part of a redevelopment plan for downtown Clarkesville pitched to elected officials by developer Lew Oliver. In exchange for essentially giving him the property, Oliver agreed to invest $6.5 million dollars to revitalize the old courthouse building and grounds.
Commissioner Bruce Harkness was the first commissioner to voice strong opposition to the plan.
“I have received many, many taxpayers saying they’re against it because this smacks of exactly what the former commissioners did with the hospital when they basically gave our hospital away,” he tells Now Habersham, referring to the agreement reached between the county and Northeast Georgia Health System in 2018.
Other deals for the old courthouse property have fallen through, adding to the sense of urgency to move forward. The building is decaying and needs a new roof which Habersham County Facilities Manager Mike Bramlett priced at $100,000. Still, the ’60s-style yellow brick building sits on prime real estate and there’s potential value in that for taxpayers Harkness and others say.
“That property is worth $1,240,000,” says former attorney Doug McDonald, citing figures he says he pulled from Oliver’s redevelopment plan. “Why give it to him for $10?”
Commissioners heard from two potential investors – Shad Hill and Jeff Higgins – who expressed interest in obtaining the property. They say they’re interested in possibly turning it into a high-end senior living community for people 55 and up.
Higgins and his wife operate Graceful Care, an assisted living facility and retirement community in Clarkesville.
“It’s a need that’s in this community and it’s still growing. We look at that [the old courthouse] as another place that we could grow that business and keep it with the look of the community.”
Although commissioners pulled the MOU from their regular meeting agenda after tabling it in the work session, some who came to speak on the matter still had their say. Former Habersham County Republican Party Chair Carl Blackburn urged commissioners not to set their sights on a sole developer.
“We don’t need to be picking winners and losers. That’s not what we do,” Blackburn said.
Tabling the measure gives commissioners time to get the property appraised and develop requests for proposals (RFPs). Those requests could require interested developers to outline their goals for the property and would also take into consideration things such as a development’s impact on the tax base and job creation, as well as the length of time it would take to build out the project.
“All of these things that we might possibly want to know to make the best decision about what to do with the property,” says Habersham County Manager Alicia Vaughn.
Pickelball 3, Tennis 2
While county officials are taking more time to consider what to do with the old courthouse, they’re moving ahead with plans for pickelball courts.
Commissioners voted 3-2 Monday night to enter into a contract with a Woodstock-based company to resurface two of the county’s four tennis courts at the Habersham County Recreation Department, transforming them into pickelball courts.
The project will cost county taxpayers $88,738.
It was the last volley lobbed between supporters of the resurfacing project and opponents.
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