CLARKESVILLE — About three dozen people attended Monday night's town hall meeting where Habersham County Commissioners fielded questions about the future of the former courthouse.
The building, constructed in 1964, currently serves as the Habersham County Administration Building, housing the county commission office, county manager, county clerk, personnel, finance, information technology, code enforcement, planning and development, business licensing, building permits, GIS mapping, and elections and voter registration.
The aging building, which had a bell tower/elevator addition in 1983 and was remodeled in 1998, is nearing the end of its useful life in some ways, according to a needs assessment by Precision Planning Inc., an architectural and engineering firm contracted by the county for several projects.
A site assessment of the current facility shows 30 feet of grade change from Washington Street to the bottom of the property, deteriorated pavement and sidewalks classified as "beyond repair", accessibility not compliant with code requirements, handicapped parking not within regulations, roof slopes not sufficient to drain, exterior stairs that are deteriorated and falling, brick veneer that has cracked and moved on portions of the building, and no permanent access to the roof and roof equipment as required by code.
Inside, there is significant water damage and resulting mold growth, non-compliant guardrails and handrails on stairs, issues with heating and cooling, lack of balancing dampers to adjust airflow, ductwork that is "extremely rusted", non-ADA compliant plumbing, and numerous mechanical issues.
Residents in the audience had the opportunity to write down questions and have them fielded by commissioners, County Manager Phil Sutton and Paul Hoover of Precision Planning.
One of the questions was the plan to pay for a new facility and how many years it would take to recoup the cost.
Another question is what happens to the current Administration Building should commissioners choose not to renovate it?
"Ultimately, that decision hasn't been made as of yet," said Commission Chairwoman Natalie Crawford.
There was discussion of the 16,000 square feet on the fourth floor of the new courthouse on Llewellyn Street. Commissioners said once the population of the judicial circuit (Habersham, Rabun and Stephens counties) tops 100,000 people from the current 85,000 or so, a third superior court judge must be added and that unfinished space will be used to house that courtroom and the associated offices.
Another question was whether a new administrative facility could be built on 2.7 acres of county property on Stanford Mill Road behind the new courthouse. Hoover said building there would cost $472,500 in site improvements, $500,000 in improvements to Stanford Mill Road, and $5 million for the building, for a total of $5,972,500.
That site is the same size as the downtown property that now houses the Administration Building.
Resident Bill Gresham said ideally the Stanford Mill Road property would be reserved for long-term growth of the county's judicial functions.
Another resident inquired about any additional sites evaluated for a possible administrative facility, including the old Ingles shopping center in Clarkesville.
Commissioners said Ingles will sell the entire piece of property, which is in the Clarkesville city limits, for $700,000, but that because of roof issues and resulting interior water and mold issues it would not be feasible to renovate the existing structures.
There also was discussion about whether Clarkesville officials would be opposed to county administrative offices moving outside the city limits.
City Manager Barbara Kesler, who was in the audience, said personally she doesn't see a large concern from city officials about the county moving its offices from the Square, acknowledging, "It creates an opportunity for this piece of property."
Commissioners said no firm decision has been made yet about how the county will proceed with its administrative offices.
"That's the purpose we've asked you all to come here tonight, because we're to a point where we've got to make this decision," said Commissioner Victor Anderson. "You elected us to make this decision. We want to do it, but we want to do it with your input and with as much education and information as we can get."
County officials said the current Administration Building is situated on a very valuable commercial property that could be sold and placed back on the tax digest.
Commercial real estate agent Wade Rhodes confirmed the current 2.7-acre Administration Building site on the Clarkesville Square is valuable.
"Captain D's paid $550,000 for their half acre in front of Walmart," Rhodes said. "Chick-fil-A paid $625,000 for ... three-quarters of an acre. I dare say this is just as valuable because of the traffic patterns, because of where it's located."
Rhodes said using the $550,000 to $600,000 per 3/4 acre figure, the county could be looking at more than $2 million for the downtown parcel.
"It's certainly more valuable with this building gone," Rhodes said.
Commissioner Sonny James said all cost estimates for a new administrative office building so far are just that, and could go up or down based on the site selected and whether sewer is connected.
Anderson said if commissioners aren't planning to use the existing Administration Building, the first thing he'd like to see is it gone — at least from county inventory.
"The very first thing I'd do if once we decide this is not the location is slap a 'For Sale' sign up and just see what happened," Anderson said. "Of course it would be a little more sophisticated than that."
Asked for a timetable on construction, Hoover said realistically once a site is selected and notice to proceed is given construction of a new building could be completed in 12 months.
"As Commissioner Anderson said, this is the purpose of the town hall tonight is to get as much feedback from the public as we can, to share with you the same information that we have," Crawford said. "We certainly want to hear from you all."
Crawford said a transcript of questions and comments will be compiled and placed on the county website.
No votes were taken during Monday's town hall meeting.
