photo by: Chris Conde

The Douglas County Courthouse is pictured in September 2018.

The Douglas County Commission will consider a construction proposal to build a 4,700-square foot addition to a facility just north of Lawrence.

The construction plans call for an addition to a building at 1451 North 1823 Road. The plan is proposed by Paul Werner Architects and Compton Holdings LC, a company owned by local developer Doug Compton.

The current building on the property is a facility that was previously used for agricultural research. The plan calls for tearing down the one-story portion of the facility on its west side and then building a two-story addition in its place. The addition will add 956 square feet to the building’s footprint, for a total of 28,000 square feet, according to the site plan.

The plan also calls for the site to be rezoned from a research facility to a “contractor’s shop and storage yard” and “offices,” according to the commission’s agenda. The plans do not elaborate any further as to how the facility will be used after it is rezoned.

In other business, the commissioners will consider purchasing a new truck for the public works department.

Shawnee Mission Ford offered the department a 2020 Ford F-550 cab and chassis truck at the 2019 price of $75,000, according to a memo to the commissioners.

The department allocated funding in its equipment reserve fund to replace its current truck, a 2008 Ford F-550 truck and utility bed, which has 148,000 miles on it. If the purchase is approved, the department plans to sell the used truck.

The commission will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. Full agendas are available online at douglascountyks.org.