Warrenton Mayor Greg Costello called a recent St. Louis television report about the ongoing lawsuit between the city and the Warren County Commission “one-sided.” Costello commented on the matter during his mayoral report at Tuesday’s board of aldermen meeting. The city and county are in a dispute over construction permits related to the new county administration building. At issue is whether the city can rightfully charge another political subdivision, in this case the county, permit fees. The county commission contends that under state law the county is not required to obtain and pay for city building permits. The lawsuit was scheduled to be heard Wednesday afternoon in Warren County Circuit Court, after The Record went to press. It’s unknown how long it will take for a ruling to be made. Construction, meanwhile, continues on the county’s 36,670-square-foot, two-story building on 3 acres it purchased in 2009 on South Highway 47 and Mockingbird Lane in Warrenton. The new facility will house all non-court related county offices. The overall project is estimated to cost $6.5 million. Construction is slated to be completed in February 2012. The television story, aired by KTVI (Channel 2), included brief interviews with Costello and Warren County Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage. The interviews, filmed a few weeks ago, were part of KTVI’s “You Paid for It” segment where reporter Elliott Davis questions government spending. In the story Davis questions the amount of money being spent on legal fees by both sides. According to the county commissioners, they have spent $20,000 on legal fees so far. The story ends with Davis telling viewers to call Costello at city hall to voice their displeasure. “First of all, the shortness of the interview very much limited the facts that were presented from our side,” Costello said. Monday morning he instructed city staff to give his personal cell phone number to anyone who called city hall. By Tuesday night’s meeting he had fielded nine calls, of which eight supported the city’s stance, he said. “All of us are more than happy to let the court decide where this issue comes out,” Costello said. “We didn’t initiate the lawsuit. I believe, and I think all of you believe, the county should have the same guidelines and the same safety measures built into their project like any other business or residence in the city of Warrenton.” Costello said he was “alarmed” by the incorrect information featured in the story. Davis reported the county paid $30,000 in permit fees and then was charged an additional $30,000 by the city to have the construction plans reviewed. In fact, the county paid a total of $26,406 under protest to the city for separate building and stormwater permits. Of that, $26,761 is the building permit fee. The county was not charged to have the architectural drawings and the site plan reviewed. Costello also said Davis was mistaken in saying that funds collected from a sales tax approved by county voters was paying for the project. However, the county commission disagrees. When reached Wednesday morning, Engelage said the county has been increasing the reserves in the capital sales tax fund to be spent on the new administration building. The ballot language, from when voters approved the half-cent sales tax in 1994, stated revenue generated would be for county facility needs and maintenance. “We’ve been saving it (the money) for years,” Engelage said. “That is where the money is coming from. Where would we be getting it from if we hadn’t been saving it?” The county filed the lawsuit Oct. 20, 2010, after the city posted a stop work order at the job site Oct. 15 and issued a summons to an employee of T.S. Banze Construction after he continued performing grading work that same day. Commissioners said they told the contractor to continue working. The suit requests that the court decide the permit issue and require the city to return the money the county paid under the protest. It also seeks the withdrawal of all municipal ordinance citations issued in connection with the controversy as well as attorney fees and damages for the construction delay. Commissioners have previously stated that since excavation and grading was stopped when the dispute began, the project was delayed at least two weeks behind schedule since the contractor had to leave the job site and remobilize. City officials dispute the county’s interpretation of the law and maintain the county is in violation of city building codes by not obtaining and paying for the construction permits. The city is being represented by city attorney Chris Graville and also has hired the Webster Groves law firm of Cunningham, Vogel and Rost to serve as co-counsel in the suit. The county is being represented by Kent Munson, of The Stolar Partnership. The lawsuit is being heard in front of Franklin County Associate Circuit Judge Dave Tobben. He was appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court in December to replace 12th Judicial Presiding Judge Keith Sutherland who was disqualified to hear the case by the city.