Douglas County Commissioner Chairman Jim Flory had to ask twice for a motion to adjourn Wednesday’s Commission meeting before a reluctant Mike Gaughan complied.

The tardy motion was a sign of Gaughan’s and Commissioner Nancy Thellman’s reluctance to let the man who has sat with them the last eight years in the commission meeting room step away from his county service. Just minutes earlier, Thellman put those feelings into words.

“It was a pleasure and honor to work with you,” she said. “You were always such wise counsel and a tremendous gentleman.”

Gaughan lightened the mood with his goodbye, threatening to name any future Interstate 70/Farmer’s Turnpike intersection for Flory. He, too, said it was an honor to serve with Flory and expressed his appreciation for the retiring commissioner’s willingness to take on tasks that were not always well publicized but that moved the county forward. His work of a few years ago to revise the county’s pay scale and make it competitive was such an example, Gaughan said.

In the only business on the agenda, the commission authorized county staff to continue to use the current commission signature set for county business until a new commission chairman and new signature set are available.

Flory’s successor, fellow Republican Michelle Derusseau, will be sworn in as 3rd District county commissioner at 9 a.m. Monday at the Douglas County Courthouse. She will attend her first meeting as a commissioner on Jan. 11. At that meeting, she, Gaughan and Thellman will elect the new commission chair and vice chair.