It appears Platte City’s annexation plans are about to be rescinded as a result of the Sunshine Lawsuit pending against the city in Platte County Circuit Court. A meeting agenda faxed late Friday for the board confirms aldermen will consider rescinding the ordinances at a meeting Tuesday night.
Several sources are confirming aldermen on Tuesday night are expected to vote to kill the annexation ordinances adopted last month and scheduled for a public vote on the Nov. 7 ballot. Rescinding the ordinances would be an indication the board has decided it would not be in its best interest to fight the Sunshine lawsuit that questioned the legality of a June 7 special meeting and asked the court to pull the questions off the November ballot as a result of that alleged illegal meeting.
Written discovery, such as documents and electronic correspondence related to the development of the June 7 agenda and other relevant communications between city officials was to be completed by 5 p.m. on Friday. Rather than turn over discovery, it appears the city has decided not to fight the lawsuit and will voluntarily pull the proposals off the November ballot.
City officials declined to comment. Bob Shaw, attorney for plaintiff Harold Coons in the Sunshine Lawsuit, also declined comment though indicated he will be in attendance at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Dropping the current proposal would not prevent the city from coming back with another proposal–or perhaps the exact same proposal–at a later time. The current proposal calls for annexing 6,500 acres of property, including 3,100 acres north and east of the current city limits and another area of 3,400 acres south and west of the city.
Look for more on this story in Wednesday’s print edition of The Landmark.