Meeting Summary and Briefs: Montgomery County Board Buildings & Grounds Committee for August 4, 2026

The Montgomery County Board’s Buildings & Grounds Committee met for 37 minutes on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in the County Board Room of the Historic Courthouse in Hillsboro, taking three recorded votes on substantive items and receiving reports on two others without acting. The committee recommended a $5,990 roof repair at the county’s Animal Control Facility and recommended budgeting $6,000 in fiscal year 2027 to outsource downtown mowing — both covered in full in separate stories. It also heard that the county’s 127 N. Main renovation in Hillsboro is projected to run $10,000 to $20,000 over budget, and deferred a decision on a new concrete ramp there because the low proposal had not been submitted in writing; that item is also covered separately.

No members of the public addressed the committee. Six of the seven members listed present — Connie Beck, Keith Hancock, Roy Schieferdecker, Russ Beason, Committee Chair Mark Hughes and Doug Donaldson — with Cody Gudgel absent. Also present were County Board Administrator Mike Plunkett, Animal Control Warden Tricia Papin, Maintenance Director Phil Ernst, Circuit Clerk Daniel Robbins, Chief Probation Officer Banee Ulrici and MCEDC Executive Director Kaitlyn Fath. The meeting adjourned at 9:07 a.m. Minutes were submitted by acting secretary Mike Plunkett, as deputized by County Clerk/Recorder Sandy Leitheiser.

Maintenance Report Lists 69 Items, 51 Work Orders Closed in July

Maintenance Director Phil Ernst reviewed a 69-item report with the committee, including 51 work orders completed during July. He identified HVAC, plumbing and mowing as the areas of concern. The report itself was not reproduced in the minutes, and the minutes record no breakdown of the remaining items, no facility-by-facility detail, and no cost figures associated with any of them. The agenda listed the item as “Maintenance Report Update/Approval,” but no motion was made and no vote was taken. The mowing concern was addressed later in the same meeting, when the committee recommended budgeting $6,000 in FY2027 to hire the work out.

South Porch Lighting Still Awaiting Quotes

The committee’s item on lighting for the south porch of the Historic Courthouse produced a single line in the minutes: the committee is awaiting quotes. No vendors were named, no figures were given, and no timeline was recorded for when quotes are expected. The item has appeared on the committee’s agenda across multiple meetings without producing a cost estimate. At the committee’s July 7 meeting, the lighting discussion was described as waiting on the completion of repairs and painting at the south porch. Tuesday’s minutes do not indicate whether that work is now finished. No motion was made and no vote was taken.

Committee Votes to Pay Bills, With No Amounts Recorded

Near the close of the meeting, the committee voted to pay the bills on a motion by Russ Beason, seconded by Keith Hancock. All members present voted in favor and the motion carried. The minutes record no total, no itemized list, no vendor names and no fund. Readers seeking to know what the committee approved for payment would need to obtain the bill list separately from the county. A motion to adjourn followed, made by Beason and seconded by Roy Schieferdecker, and the meeting ended at 9:07 a.m.