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Resident urges public input before Houston County buys ABLE Building; suggests rehabilitating historic jail
Summary
A resident asked commissioners to hold public meetings and consider retrofitting the county's historic jail rather than purchasing or further remodeling off‑campus buildings, citing insurance funds and past retrofits.
A resident urged the Houston County Board of Commissioners to hold public input sessions before proceeding with plans to purchase or remodel additional county office space, and suggested renovating the county's adjacent historic jail as an alternative.
Debrae, who identified herself as a resident living north of Eitzen and introduced Janine Hush, said she had followed conversations about moving county offices into the ABLE Building and had not seen public‑input opportunities. She recalled the Meyer furniture building purchase and subsequent retrofit and said, "I've also heard there is talk of buying the ABLE Building for 1,800,000.0. Is there going to be public input before that large purchases made?"
Debrae said a prior county study excluded the historic jail and suggested that money already spent on the Meyer building and potential funds for the ABLE Building could instead be used to retrofit the historic jail. She noted the jail came with about "$700,000 insurance money" and said the jail is "structurally solid" and that rehabilitating it would preserve county history while meeting space needs.
She asked the board to "consider all options and research all options. Keep the public informed of your plans. Have a public meeting and present the needs for County offices. Tell the public what your research found were the pros and cons of each solution. Consider where the county should be 10 years down the road." The board did not take formal action on the request during the meeting.
Commissioners later said they would schedule work sessions and follow up with staff on the ABLE Building needs; a separate finance meeting was scheduled to review the able building needs with staff and consultants.
