The Athens County Commissioners are planning repairs that will allow the Athens County Courthouse clock tower to chime for the first time in years, but it's not clear yet how soon those repairs will occur.
The bell in the clock tower is over 100 years old and is not safe, commissioner Charlie Adkins said last week.
"We're not supposed to ring it because it could bust; it could come loose on the old bolts," Adkins said. "We just want to get the clock back to working order."
According to the commissioners' agenda for this week, the county officials had planned to meet with Jesse Brown, the sales representative from the Cincinnati-based Verdin Company, at their meeting Wednesday. But Brown was unable to attend the meeting, which will temporarily delay the repair process.
The commissioners first met with Brown at their meeting last week. The total cost of the restoration will cost close to $40,000, Adkins said.
The two parties have not made any formal agreements because they have only met once.
Adkins suggested that once functional, the bell could once again ring at midnight "and all the kids Uptown in the bars, when they hear the bell, they can go home and go study."
The commissioners also heard from Lena Osborne, a representative from Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action, who gave the commissioners an update on the park at New Marshfield.
"The new park looks amazing," Osborne said. "They're installing the playground equipment and the benches today, and the grass is coming in so everything looks nice."
There will also be posts installed around the park. At a commissioner meeting last month, Waterloo Township Parks and Recreation requested the posts be installed to prevent vehicles from driving onto the grass, according to a previous Post report.
