County Agrees To Put Up For Sale Two Properties At Courthouse

County commissioners agreed on Tuesday to take steps to dispose of two properties bordering the Courthouse in downtown Watkinsville that will become surplus once the planned administrative building is opened on Watkinsville’s northern edge.

One of those building is familiar to many voters because it houses the Elections and Registration Office at 10 Court Street south of the Courthouse and has been used as an early voting site in the past.

The other, at the corner of North Water Street and South Third Street on the opposite side of the Courthouse, is home to the county’s Operations and Facilities Office.

The Board of Commissioners tentatively agreed to advertise the two properties for sale and instructed County Attorney Daniel Haygood to go forward with plans for the sale.

Architects are still working on the allocation of space for the administrative building, and the county is evaluating responses to its Request For Qualifications of a construction manager for the administrative building project.

The Board of Commissioners is expected to award a contract for a construction manager at its meeting on Oct. 5, according to the bid documents.

The Request For Proposals requires the applicant to submit cost estimates and a construction schedule.

The total budget is set at $12.5 million, including furnishing and professional work, for a building with approximately 40,000 square feet of space, according to the Request For Proposals.

For more on the story, with a link to the video of the Board of Commissioners, pleases click through to Oconee County Observations.