The Habersham County Commission and Clarkesville City Council have agreed to proceed with plans to demolish the old county courthouse.
County commissioners Monday night signed off on an intergovernmental agreement authorizing the demolition. Clarkesville City Council members approved the IGA Friday during a planning retreat. The Habersham County Development Authority is expected to sign off on the agreement at its next meeting.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Development Authority and Clarkesville will loan the county up to a combined $500,000 for demolition. Each will contribute up to $250,000 for the project at a 3% annual interest rate.
Make it more marketable
According to the IGA, “A recent appraisal of the property has determined that the property is as valuable with the removal of the old courthouse as it would be if the old courthouse remained.” County and city officials contend the property would be more marketable without the building “and the issues associated therewith.”
The county agreed to pay for all required environmental studies with proceeds from the loan.
The IGA will be active for five years, from September 1, 2023, through August 31, 2028.
While Clarkesville has promised to help with the financing, the county will oversee the property’s demolition and redevelopment.
Once demolition is complete, the Development Authority will issue a request for proposal (RFP), marketing the property for redevelopment purposes that are in line with the vision of the city, county, and development authority. The selected developer will have to enter into an agreement with all three parties.
The county will use the proceeds from the sale of the property to repay Clarkesville and the Development Authority the outstanding balance on the loan.
Habersham County Development Authority Executive Director Charlie Fiveash says the Authority has approved the loan amount “in principle,” but has not yet approved the IGA. Development Authority members are expected to do that at their next meeting on September 14.
MORE: Commissioner Tench, Palmer vote against moving ahead with courthouse demolition
Moving forward
Once the Developmet Authority approves the IGA, the county intends to move forward with the demolition. According to Habersham County Commission Chair Ty Akins, all parties are ready to move forward as soon as possible to begin the redevelopment of the property.
Commissioners voted 3-2 to move forward with the project. Commissioners Bruce Palmer and Jimmy Tench voted against the IGA.
Palmer wants the county to apply for a grant to offset the cost of demolishing the building, but County Manager Alicia Vaughn says that would delay the project by 8 to 10 months.
Commissioner Tench wants to keep the old courthouse because of its history. He wants to use it for office space for the county public works department and storage for the elections office.
Vaughn tells Now Habersham that the county will not be seeking the grant for demolition.
“We will not pursue the CDBG redevelopment grant to pay for the demolition of the courthouse, but we will continue to pursue other opportunities to apply for these grant funds,” she says. “We could potentially work with the City of Clarkesville to apply for a grant to help pay for infrastructure costs for the redevelopment project.”
According to Vaughn, the county has begun to move forward with the first phase of the demolition project, “We must first perform a phase one environmental study. We have identified a vendor for this service and are working to get a contract approved as soon as possible.”
Once the environmental study is completed, the county can then move forward with putting the project out for bid.
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Commissioners Tench, Palmer vote against moving ahead with courthouse demolition
