Habersham approves $50,000 gymnastics equipment sale and temporary Reign Elite home after facility damage

Habersham County commissioners voted 4-1 on Feb. 17, 2025, to approve two connected agreements for the county gymnastics program after roof and water damage left its regular facility untenantable: a $50,000 sale of viable equipment and a temporary sublease arrangement with Reign Elite. The facility agreement called for the county to pay Reign Elite $500 a month for team use of its facilities through June 30, 2025.

The decisions put a short-term answer in place for two immediate problems—where participants could train and what to do with equipment that remained usable—without documenting a permanent new home for the county program. For families and the county’s parks and recreation operations, the practical stakes were continuity of training during the closure and the handling of public program assets after the building damage.

Commissioners first heard that the damaged facility could not be occupied and that negotiators had developed terms for both the equipment transaction and a sublease. That discussion led to the paired votes the same day. The approved Reign Elite arrangement was described as effective immediately, while its payment terms began Feb. 1 and ran only through June 30, underscoring that it was designed as a bridge during the disruption rather than a stated long-term relocation.

County commissioners were the decision-makers, approving each motion by a 4-1 margin. County negotiators presented the equipment and facility-use terms after the damage was reported, while Reign Elite was the private facility identified to host the team temporarily. The minutes describe the county’s payment obligation and a personal guaranty among the stated conditions, but they do not record separate public arguments from the dissenting commissioner, Reign Elite or gymnastics families.

What commissioners completed was approval of the two agreements, not a documented account of every later step. The $50,000 equipment action concerned equipment described as viable, and the temporary Reign Elite terms capped the county’s monthly payment at $500 through June 30, 2025. The minutes do not establish whether the agreements were later amended or fully carried out, whether the county facility was repaired, or whether training at Reign Elite continued after the stated end date.

The next public indication of the program’s direction would be a county commission record or parks and recreation update addressing the damaged facility’s repair status and any follow-up location agreement. Still undecided in the documented account is whether the county building again became usable, whether the Reign Elite arrangement was extended beyond June 30, 2025, and what longer-term plan, if any, commissioners adopted for the program and its equipment.