Liberty County officials broke ground Tuesday, Oct. 8, on the new Liberty County Northwest Annex, a much-anticipated project set to serve the fast-growing Colony Ridge communities. The ceremony was held at the site on CR 3549, where the $4.677 million, 6,800-square-foot facility will soon stand.
The Northwest Annex will initially house offices for the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Pct. 6 Constable’s Office, and the Permits Department, with plans to eventually include office space for the Liberty County Tax Assessor-Collector. Funded through the American Rescue Plan of 2021, the facility was designed by Burns Architecture and will be constructed by White Construction.
Liberty County Judge Jay Knight, who has been involved with the project since its inception nearly five years ago, spoke at the ceremony about the necessity of the new annex.
“We were getting ready to go ahead and push the button on it when COVID hit. You know what happened there? It stopped everything in its tracks. We finally got past the COVID milestone, as I would call it,” Knight said.
Judge Knight also noted that when the project resumed, inflation created additional obstacles, pushing the project’s cost from its original budget of $3.5 million.
“We are not a very rich county, but we’re a pretty darn good county, a pretty proud county, and there’s a resiliency here that everybody works together,” he added.
The new Northwest Annex sits on two acres of land donated by Colony Ridge developers and is conveniently located next to the Santa Fe Administration and Activities Building and near Cottonwood Elementary School. Once completed, it will be the fourth such annex in Liberty County, joining existing facilities in Cleveland, Liberty, and Dayton.
Kenny Burns of Burns Architecture, who also designed the Liberty County Law Enforcement Center on SH 146 in Liberty, expressed his excitement at being involved in another project that benefits the county.
“We wanted to make something that is very functional and very affordable for the taxpayers. That’s the bottom line,” Burns said.
Sheriff Bobby Rader also shared his gratitude for all the parties involved, specifically mentioning the County Attorney’s Office for their contributions.
“Thank you, everybody who was involved in this. It’s a blessing, and it’s going to help us out a lot,” Rader said.
Seems like Judge Knight is always taking care of his illegal invaders.
It’s beyond my comprehension how Colony Ridge development hasn’t been stopped in the name of public safety. Aside from all the illegals and crime that comes along with them spilling out into the surrounding areas, the local infrastructure will be even more inadequate than it is now.
Colony Ridge still owns hundreds of acres of land that hasn’t been developed, but undoubtedly will be. That hour long wait on to get through Splendora or the south end of Plum Grove road will only get worse. And how can the county be collecting all these new taxes on the thousands of properties out there, but still can’t get the washed out bridge fixed on Plum Grove, and Cleveland ISD still begs for a bond?
What a shit hole development.
Might be our taxes are being raise to build this for Harris not the VP to pander to the Coloney. Hey maybe the VP Harris is in on this.