CHARLES TOWN — The Jefferson County Commission had its regular meeting Thursday evening, where it heard from Charles Town Now and other concerned citizens about preserving the courthouse and other historic buildings it plans to vacate.

Charles Town Now, an organization dedicated to developing the downtown area, spoke during citizens comments about being denied an agenda request to talk about the redevelopment plan it’s been working on for the buildings.

Following the Jefferson County Commission’s announcement that it would be purchasing two of the old America Public University System buildings in Ranson and refurbishing them into a new government and judicial complex, one of the lingering questions has been what will happen to the historic buildings currently being used. This question has yet to be discussed, leaving some people concerned, especially some of the leaders of Charles Town Now. This organization has spent several years preserving and enhancing the downtown area, bringing in tourists and connecting businesses to help the city thrive.

During citizens comments, Liz Cook, business development coordinator with Charles Town Now, shared that the organization sat down to talk with Commission President Pasha Majdi and Commissioner Steve Stolipher about the buildings and left excited at being included in the discussion. However, she was disappointed that the request to talk about the buildings that evening was denied, because the county wanted to finalize the deal before continuing.

Cook explained that as someone who works with investors and economic development regularly, things can take a long time to move forward. That is why she believes it’s important to start now.

“Economic development takes time,” Cook said. “Thoughtful, deliberate economic development requires even more time. It is imperative that the process to redevelop the county buildings starts now and starts with a redevelopment plan. Charles Town Now has done the hard work of finding an experienced consultant to assess these properties and produce a plan. This plan will provide us with information that will assist us in making this block not only an asset to the city of Charles Town but the county, as well.”

Micheal George, current member of the Charles Town City Council, also came to share his concern over the historic buildings. He shared that the city itself has reached out several times concerning the buildings. The city knows that finding investors and rehabbing the buildings would be difficult.

“I’m afraid we are losing valuable time, and we should have started formulating a plan months ago,” George said. “As you know, government moves slowly; they always do but deliberately. Regardless of if you move now or in the near future or not even, those buildings will need to be invested in and rehabbed or developed.”

George shared that the city and Charles Town Now are open to collaborating and still home to work together with the county. He encouraged the commission to consider putting them on the next agenda.

After coming out of executive session at the end of the meeting, the commission voted to host a workshop during the next evening meeting to give the public the opportunity to discuss the future of the Washington Street properties. Due to a holiday next month, the workshop will take place on July 17.

“I think this is a really good move to enhance transparency on this whole operation and make sure that the community knows that we care about them and want them involved,” Commissioner Jack Hefestay said.

Stolipher added that it was important that it takes place during an evening meeting, ensuring more people can participate. Majdi mentioned having ongoing discussions on the informal level and said this was the next step to get input from the public. All commissioners voted unanimously to plan the workshop.