Habersham County Commissioners met Tuesday evening for a special called meeting. After meeting in closed session for more than 25 minutes to discuss personnel and property disposal, the commission reopened the public meeting.
Two decisions were made while in closed session that commissioners voted on in public. The first decision was approving Habersham County Finance Manager Tim Sims to become the interim county manager. Sims was approved by the commission with a vote of 4-1 with Commissioner Jimmy Tench being the dissenting vote.
Sims will assume the duties of interim county manager on December 28, the day after current County Manager Alicia Vaughn resigns her position with the county.
The second decision made was for the disposal and demolition of the old courthouse. Earlier in the public meeting, Clarkesville Mayor Barrie Aycock presented a letter from the Clarkesville City Council requesting the commission to demolish the old courthouse.
That decision met a different fate. Commissioner Dustin Mealor made the motion to approve the demolition of the old courthouse for $190,000. Commission Chairman Ty Akins seconded the motion. However, during the vote, Commissioners Bruce Harkness, Jimmy Tench, and Bruce Palmer dissented resulting in a failed vote to approve the motion.
After the decision was made, Akins stated, “The courthouse stands, still. It’s resilient, if nothing else.”
