Gasconade County Commissioners unanimously voted Thursday to place the county seat relocation petition request on the November ballot. It’s a move which, reportedly, will not be challenged by a group of north-county residents who mounted a successful legal challenge in 2006 to keep a previous petition initiative off of the ballot then.

Meeting in Hermann on Aug. 21, Southern District Commissioner Jerry Lairmore made the motion and it received a second from Max Aubuchon, commissioner from the Northern District. Presiding Commissioner Ron Jost also voted in favor of placing the initiative on the ballot.

On Monday afternoon, the blog site hermannmuenster.com quoted a Gasconade County Courthouse Society officer saying the group will not oppose the ballot initiative through a legal challenge.

Proposition A, as approved Thursday with a sample ballot, will read: “Shall the County Seat of Gasconade County be removed from the City of Hermann, Missouri, to the City of Owensville, Missouri.”

Voters will be instructed to vote “yes” if they are in favor of the proposition and “no” if they are opposed to the question. A two-thirds majority approving the proposal would be needed to relocated the county seat to Owensville.

According to Jeff Noedel’s report on the web blog, Glenn Warnebold, treasurer of the Gasconade County Courthouse Society, on Sunday said the group would not present a legal challenge to the initiative approved Thursday by the commission.

Noedel’s reported noted,  “HermannMuenster.com confirmed the group’s decision not to initiate legal action — at this time anyway — with Society secretary Sharon Meyer.”

He continued quoting Meyer as saying, “People have been saying, ‘Let’s just get it (the vote) over with.’ But I still object to it.”

And, adds Noedel’s report, “Meyer considers the construction of the proposition to be ‘legally deficient.’”

He adds, “But while Meyer personally objects to several aspects of the proposition and has concerns about the petition signatures, she indicated today that there would not be a court challenge to the vote, unless her group decides to modify its strategy, or unless new information comes to light.”

Noedel, from Berger, and fellow blogger Holly Bickmeyer, of Swiss, both attended the Aug. 14 town hall meeting in Owensville to report on the presentation by the Courthouse Analysis Committee.

The petition initiative was certified for inclusion on the ballot by the County Clerk’s staff as of Aug. 21. By law it was to be certified and approved by the commission by yesterday (Tuesday).