CLAYTON — A ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County councilman has been pushing for a year to get the answer to a seemingly simple question: What’s the bare-minimum cost for bringing county headquarters up to code?
Councilman Dennis Hancock, a Republican from Fenton, said he wants a line-item breakdown for how much it will cost for the minimum — installing fire sprinklers over the next three years.
The council has been given estimates, but Hancock wants details.
“We don’t know if these came from actual quotes or if they came from somebody’s imagination,†Hancock said.
County Executive Sam Page has pitched a replacement for the county’s 54-year-old Lawrence K. Roos county headquarters in downtown Clayton. His administration says the building is out of code and has a leaking roof, a failing heating and cooling system, and asbestos in the ceilings, among other problems.
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County officials proposed projects ranging from $175 million for retrofitting Roos to $612 million for a new building, plus some extras. A property tax increase would pay for the projects.
Some councilmembers, including Hancock, panned the proposals as too expensive and out of touch with taxpayers. Discussions between the administration and council effectively ceased last spring.
Hancock has been fighting ever since for details from Page’s office.
Page’s administration says the answers are complicated.
Installing fire sprinklers, plus abating asbestos, will cost $103 million. Addressing the sprinklers and asbestos plus the minimum deferred maintenance will cost $175 million, said Stephanie Leon Streeter, director of transportation and public works.
Stephanie Leon Streeter, left, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County director of transportation & public works, and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County Executive Sam Page answer questions from media on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, during a presentation about the physical state of the Lawrence K. Roos Government Building. Page says repairs like this are too expensive and is proposing the county replace the 50-plus-year-old building faced with its upcoming deadline to comply with a Clayton building code ordinance requiring a sprinkler system he says will be too expensive for its age. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
But those estimates don’t account for problems the county expects to find once it opens up the Roos building.
“There are going to be issues that arise from trying to just put in sprinklers,†she said.
The county has known about the problem since Clayton updated its code in 2016, and the issue has spanned the terms of two county executives. Page’s administration began analyzing it in 2019, then the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 disrupted the plans, officials said. In the summer of 2023, Page pitched the various options before talks with the council broke down.
At a Feb. 3 council hearing, they restarted.
Leon Streeter said then that it was already too late for the county to renovate or install sprinklers by the end of 2027 as required by Clayton fire code. The county would have to move hundreds of workers to leased space elsewhere.
The council needs to act immediately, she said.
Hancock questioned her about doing just sprinklers and asbestos, and chipping away at other maintenance later.
“If we can do this thing a la carte, spread it out over time, it might make sense,†Hancock said. “Have we considered that as an option?â€
The county had, responded Jason Mayfield, an architect for the county’s contractor, WSP Global Inc. But doing the repairs piecemeal isn’t an option.
“We don’t have time to do it and stay in the building,†Mayfield said.
“So if we gave you the money today for sprinklers to make us compliant, you’re telling me in the next two and a half years, we couldn’t get that done?†Hancock asked.
Stephanie Leon Streeter, left, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County director of transportation and public works, and Tim Shea, building systems foreman, lead media through a flooded section of a room containing equipment that powers the entire county campus, including the police department, during a tour on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Clayton. They said the water was from overnight rainfall.
“Yes,†Mayfield said.
“I think we need to be talking to different consultants. I’m sorry. That’s ludicrous,†Hancock responded.
The county has paid WSP nearly $1.7 million for help with planning, according to the transportation and public works department.
Hancock says he won’t move forward without better information.
Leon Streeter said on Monday that she has given the council everything.
“They have all the information they need,†she said.
The public works department declined to provide detailed breakdowns to Hancock because publicizing those numbers puts the county at a disadvantage in negotiating prices if the project were to go out for bid, she said.
And she said she wasn’t sure if she could give the council the information in closed session.
To avoid fines, or even eviction by the city of Clayton, the county has to show “substantial†progress on the fire sprinklers in three years.
Hancock thinks it’s possible and that the county could get enough work done to satisfy the city by the end of 2027.
“This is the pattern that they seem to use,†Hancock said. “Nothing gets done until the last minute, then it’s an emergency.â€
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County Executive Sam Page answers questions from media on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, during a presentation about the physical state of the Lawrence K. Roos Government Building.Â
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of Feb. 23, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
