Osage County commissioners on Friday voted unanimously to file a lawsuit against Eldon C. Stutsman, Inc., Hills, Iowa, and David Landau.

According to Osage County Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin, the action seeks to recover "any and all damages that occurred as a result of the incident at the Pentecostal Bridge on County Road 611 in Westphalia on Aug. 17, 2020."

Stutsman is the company that owned the rig which wrecked the bridge. Landau was the driver causing the accident.

Commissioners have grown increasingly frustrated with the pace and volume of communication coming from Case Linden, P.C., of Kansas City, the law firm representing Stutsman and the company's insurance carrier. To date, every transmission of information has come as a result of a direct request. Many of those requests are still unanswered. A face-to-face meeting with Attorney Kevin Case and a team of consultants on May 6 promised imminent action on removing the collapsed structure from the Maries River. A narrow window of opportunity opened on June 15. It provided a few weeks in which work could take place without troubling protected species like the Niangua Darter and the Indiana Bat. However, as that date has passed, no further information has been forthcoming.

The flashpoint was an advertisement for bids from salvage companies. Law requires it to run for two weeks. Case's consultants had a draft for that ad on May 6, but refused to hand it over, waiting for some "final details."

Commissioners were anxious to get it published before the end of May. Now, even the June 15 opportunity date has passed and the bidding process for salvaging the wreck has gone nowhere. Consultants have the specifications for publication but won't reveal them.

Attorney Chris Rackers and Osage County Prosecutor Amanda Grellner have offered opinions that Case Linden is not interested in fast action but what they can gain by slow-walking this process is unclear. Commissioners don't know what kind of advantage comes from angering Osage County and its citizens. Rackers and Grellner have not been anxious to litigate. Both prefer an amicable, sensible settlement. However, indefinitely leaving the wreck in the water and postponing the construction of a replacement bridge is not acceptable. Nor do commissioners consider it amicable.

In May, Grellner told commissioners they would have to do something to "start moving these people along. These guys are dragging their feet." Since then, Rackers has concurred.

"We've got to have specs," said Osage County Eastern District Commissioner John Trenshaw.

"I think they're just stalling," said Osage County Western Commissioner Larry Kliethermes, who has been of that opinion for months. "Where are those ads prepared for the paper? I don't trust this at all."