There are literally bats in the belfry at the Historic Courthouse in Halifax and ridding them will be the first step towards getting the clock atop the building working again.

The Halifax Garden Club has offered to pay $1,500 of the $2,500 needed to repair the clock, Commissioner Rives Manning said during Monday’s county board meeting.

But the county must first address the bat issue and clean up the mess they’ve made from their droppings, referred to as guano.

“We have got to get rid of the bats,” Manning said this morning. “Bats were getting into the courtroom.”

Someone is available to fix the clock, which has four faces and chimes, but because of the bat droppings the repairman was told by his doctor not to start the work until the guano is cleaned and the belfry is free of bats. “It’s a health hazard,” Manning said.

County operations is working on the bat issue so the county can take advantage of the offer to get the clock, which has probably been broken the last four or five years, fixed.