The disposition of a municipal ordinance violation that triggered a legal battle between the Warren County Commission and city of Warrenton over building permits was postponed last week. Attorneys for both the city and an employee of the contractor hired by the county agreed last Thursday, Jan. 5, to continue a hearing regarding a citation issued for ignoring a stop work order on the county's new administration building project. The order was posted by Warrenton Building Commissioner Jim Daly on Oct. 15, 2010. City Prosecutor Chris Graville told Municipal Judge Chris McDonough during last week's brief court appearance that he and Kent Munson, who is representing T.S. Banze construction employee Donald Kopmann and the county in a related lawsuit, reached a joint agreement not to proceed with the municipal case until the county commission determines whether or not it will appeal a recent circuit court ruling. On Dec. 30, Franklin County Associate Judge David Tobben ruled that the county is not exempt from paying city building permits. The county had filed a separate lawsuit against the city challenging its permitting requirement five days after work was stopped at the building project. According to commissioners, they have 30 days to appeal Tobben's ruling. The municipal case was continued to Thursday, Feb. 2, at 1:30 p.m. A motion to dismiss the case is still pending. Daly posted a stop work order Oct. 14, 2010, at the new administration building property once work began without the county obtaining the necessary permits. He later issued a summons to Kopmann, who was operating a landscraper and had failed to cease operations. County commissioners previously said they told Kopmann to continue working following the two site visits by Daly that morning. In its lawsuit separate from the municipal violation, the county commission contended that under state law it was not required to obtain and pay for city building permits. City officials, however, disputed the county's interpretation of the law and maintained the county was in violation of city building codes by not obtaining and paying for the building permit Under protest, the county commission paid a total of $27,406 to the city for separate building and stormwater permits. Of that amount, $26,781 was for the building permit. Following Tobben's ruling, those funds will remain with the city. Construction, meanwhile, is ongoing on the county's 36,670-square-foot, two-story administration building. The building is located on a 3-acre site 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 with construction expected to be completed by April.