A decision made last month by Platte County Commissioners has local organizations scrambling for a new meeting place.
Commissioners sent notice last month to the organizations and non-profits that use the Platte County Resource Center as meeting space that the building will be unavailable after April. Additionally, quasi-governmental organizations housed at the resource center will be forced to move to other locations. The resource center houses organizations such as the Platte County Economic Development Council, Platte County Visitors Bureau, University of Missouri Extension, Platte County Senior Services and more.
According to a statement from district commissioner Joe Vanover given to the Citizen last month, the possibility of re-purposing the resource center had been in talks for months.
“The county commission and other county officeholders have been working with an architecture firm for several months to assess how we might use the federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act,” Vanover said in the release. “The county wants to use a large part of the funds for capital investments in and physical plant changes to public facilities that respond to COVID-19 and for mitigation measures to prevent COVID-19 in congregate settings within public facilities. Phase One of this project involves gathering and reviewing information, completion of a facilities and operations assessment, presentation of options and recommended projects list with a timeline and initial cost estimates. We hope to have the report from the architect soon.
“One of the tentative proposals from the architect is to move much of the sheriff’s department to the Resource Center. To make this as a viable option, we have notified the tenants of the building and the groups that use it that they should make plans for other space. It is possible some groups will want to use the county commission room on the second floor of the Administration Building. Others may find better facilities for their meetings. A final decision about moving the sheriff’s department has not been made. But because we are moving in that direction, we are taking the preliminary steps to make that possible.”
Resident Sharen Hunt, who herself worked in the resource center as head of the University of Missouri Extension before her retirement, spoke on behalf of several organizations at the Monday, Feb. 6 commission meeting.
“I’m disappointed and pretty angry about how it was done,” Hunt said, calling back to comments made earlier in the meeting about transparency. She was critical of the move that she said took several of the organizations she volunteers with by surprise.
Commissioners said tenants of the building had known for months this move was possible.
Hunt was also critical of the use of federal COVID funds to refit the building that benefited numerous organizations to instead house the sheriff’s office, saying the county was using the federal funds as a windfall, just as they accused the health department of doing earlier in the meeting (see related story).
“I just can’t believe that with money for remodeling and retrofitting there can’t be one room for the general public use,” Hunt said.
Fricker said the commission will put together a list of alternate meeting locations and plans to make its own meeting room at the county administration building open for public meetings. Fricker listed the Platte County Community Centers, schools and churches as alternate meeting sites.
“Our top priority in this county is public safety, and the sheriff’s office is overcrowded and coming apart at the seams,” Fricker said. “The resource center is a perfect location for them.”
While the county does not have the final report from the engineering firm looking into the relocation, Commissioners said it looks likely that the sheriff’s office will move there and free up space in the Platte City buildings for the Platte County Prosecutor to take over part of the sheriff’s current space.