Cattle on the Loose Prompts $40,000 Message Sign Request for 2027

Article Summary: The county engineer and the county’s emergency management director told the Montgomery County Board on Tuesday they plan a fiscal 2027 budget request of $40,000 from Coal Fund 375 for two portable changeable message signs, citing a recent incident in Fillmore in which borrowed state signs arrived slowly and could be used only on state right-of-way.

Portable Message Signs Key Points:

Engineer Cody Greenwood and EMA/EPA/911 Director Dan Hough presented a planned fiscal 2027 request of $40,000 from Fund 375 for two signs.

Greenwood said the signs are effective for construction and emergency events and can be changed remotely.

Hough said state signs requested during the Fillmore cattle event took a long time to arrive and could only be used on state right-of-way.

Board member Jeremy Jones suggested used state signs may be available through iBid; Murzynski said he would pursue it.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — An incident involving cattle running at large near Fillmore has produced a budget request that will land in front of the Montgomery County Board this fall.

Roads & Bridges Committee Chairman Ethan Murzynski reported to the board on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, that County Engineer Cody Greenwood and EMA/EPA/911 Director Dan Hough presented a plan to make a fiscal 2027 budget request of $40,000 from Coal Fund 375 for two portable changeable message signs.

Greenwood said the signs are effective in controlling traffic during construction and emergency events, and that messages can be changed remotely.

Hough said his department requested remote signs from the state during the recent Fillmore cattle event, but they took a long time to arrive and could only be used on state right-of-way.

Hough’s monthly activity log, filed with the meeting’s consent agenda materials, records the response: from June 9 through June 12, Hough, Kayla Fath and Doug White deployed the EMA trailer and a drone to assist Fillmore with lost cattle. In a separate report to the Coordinating Committee, relayed to the board by Chairman Doug Donaldson, Hough said message boards were borrowed from IDOT during the incident.

Murzynski said the signs would also be useful to the Sheriff’s Office.

Board member Jeremy Jones, who works for IDOT, said the state may have used signs available on iBid, the State of Illinois online auction. Murzynski said he would pursue that option.

No motion was taken. The request would be considered during the county’s fiscal 2027 budget process, with department budget hearings scheduled for August.

The minutes name no manufacturer, model, vendor or quotation for the two signs, and do not state what a new unit costs — meaning the $40,000 figure is presented without a supporting estimate on the record.