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Clay County annex project put on hold again

Following a weeks-long battle between commissioners and Kansas City, Mo. to continue construction of a county annex building, the $18 million project has once again been put on hold. The pause is taking place to allow new commissioners and staff to get a full review of the project’s contracts and expenses.

The Clay County, Mo. annex project is on hold once again, just weeks after resuming construction following a now-dropped lawsuit with the City of Kansas City, Mo.

Estimated to cost around $18 million, construction is on pause until Clay County’s new commissioners and staff can fully understand contracts and expenses approved by former Western Commissioner Gene Owen and supported by former Eastern Commissioner Luann Ridgeway, neither of which sought re-election.

Newly-elected county commissioners Jon Carpenter and Megan Thompson joined Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte in directing county staff to pause the project during a virtual commission session on Monday.

Before Owen and Ridgeway left office, they moved forward on the annex near North Brighton Avenue and Missouri 152 Highway.

The project encountered trouble after exposed Owen approved millions in expenses on the annex project as the county’s sole designee for construction approval.

“There’s a lot of information that has been kept from not only the commission, some staff may need to know and our citizens need to have a voice in what’s going to be moving forward with this project,” new Eastern Commissioner Megan Thompson said in a report by KMBC 9. “I’m full on board with having county counsel look into this a little bit and putting a temporary hold on this until we can figure out where our footing is at.”

Carpenter and Thompson, along with Nolte, directed new county staff to explore ways to drop any legal challenges to the ongoing state audit of the county in a virtual meeting on Jan. 4, 2021.

The meeting represented the first instantly-archived, livestreamed commission session put on by the county.

The commission also selected former Clay County Sheriff Budget Officer Steve Siercks to serve as a budget consultant for three months, to help the county modify and approve a budget by the end of January.