County advances courthouse annex plan

Young County Commissioners approved the hiring of an architect to sketch plans to build out the old Graham Leader printing building as offices for county employees. The Commissioners voted 3-1 at their May 22 meeting to move ahead with the project to give the county more office and storage space for its expanding staff. The County had traded a plot of land beside the Young County Courthouse to the Graham Community Foundation for the Graham Leader building at 417 Second St. and an adjacent house at 403 Second St. County Judge Win Graham abstained from voting and Precinct 3 Commissioner Stacey Rogers opposed the motion to hire the architect.

The County paid $118,000 for the house, which will eventually be torn down to make way for a county parking lot, Judge Graham said. The County arranged the trade instead of purchasing the building outright because it was too expensive, he said.

Mr. Rogers opposed the transaction, saying he preferred for the County to keep the land and build a new office building on it. He proposed using the County’s share of tax revenue from the Young County Wind Project and the Plug Power hydrogen plant to construct a new building on the courthouse square rather than retrofitting the print shop.

“It’s more accessible to the public, more presentable to the public, than a 33-year-old metal building,” he said. “I just think they’re throwing good money away on a project that’s not really needed at the time. It could have been paid for without additional taxpayer money.”