One official said some things could have been done differently to possibly preclude the current debate over the status of holiday lighting on the historic Harrison County Courthouse while another said planners had plenty of notification to work things out.

Harrison County Judge Wayne McWhorter on Tuesday said those involved in this year's Wonderland of Lights Festival have known for at least a couple of months the historic Harrison County Courthouse would be in the middle of a major makeover during the 2006 holiday season.

"They were aware the courthouse was going to be under construction at this time," McWhorter said. "The evolution of that has been that, probably two months ago, we let Connie Ware and Phyllis Bryan know they needed to get with the contractor to work out the details of what needed to be done."