Meeting Summary and Briefs: Montgomery County Board Coordinating Committee for July 30, 2026

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The Montgomery County Board’s Coordinating Committee met for less than an hour on Thursday, July 30, 2026, and produced one recorded substantive vote, one late-breaking energy filing and a set of dockets for the county’s four other standing committees. Board Chairman Doug Donaldson opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and no members of the public spoke.

The committee’s most consequential business came under Other Business, where Donaldson reported learning three days earlier of an Illinois Commerce Commission inquiry into communities interested in hosting nuclear power production and requested that the county’s submission be filed that same day — covered in full in a separate story, along with the resolution Donaldson said he would bring to the full board Aug. 11. Also covered separately: a National Weather Service assessment putting replacement of the county’s Cress Hill Tower at $350,000 to $400,000; the committee’s unanimous recommendation to forever seal executive session minutes from eight closed meetings; a backlog of Planning Commission appointments whose terms expired between 2021 and 2025; and the Finance & Budget Committee docket, including FY2027 budget hearings set for Aug. 18-19. Remaining items are summarized below.

Union Negotiations to Begin in August With Local 1084

Negotiations with Local 1084, representing two bargaining units in the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, will begin in August, according to the union negotiation item on the Development & Personnel Committee’s docket as recorded in the July 30 minutes. The entry is a single line. It does not identify the parent organization Local 1084 is affiliated with, the number of employees in either bargaining unit, the expiration date of the current agreement, or which job classifications are covered. No negotiating dates, proposals or county positions appear in the record. Committee Chairman Chad Ruppert, who has been carrying the item, was absent from the July 30 meeting.

DCEO Misplaced Part of County’s Phase III Grant Application

Donaldson reported learning on the morning of July 30 that DCEO had made a personnel change and misplaced some of Montgomery County’s Phase III application under the DCEO Energy Transition Grant, according to the minutes. County Board Administration furnished the requested missing appendices. The minutes do not expand the acronym DCEO, state the dollar value of the Phase III application, identify which appendices were missing, or say whether the loss affects the county’s timeline for an agreement. The item appears on the Development & Personnel Committee’s docket as one the committee will review.

Animal Control Roof: Washers Instead of a New Roof

Buildings & Grounds Committee Chairman Mark Hughes reported that his committee will discuss replacing washers where leaks are occurring at the Animal Control facility, according to the July 30 minutes. That is a narrower approach than the one recorded at the committee’s July 7, 2026, meeting, when members asked the maintenance director to solicit bids to reroof the building rather than reseal it, after reviewing reseal proposals around $25,000 and a reroof proposal of approximately $29,000. The July 30 minutes do not reference the earlier direction, name a vendor or state a cost for the washer work.

127 N. Main Item Now Describes Concrete Ramps

The Buildings & Grounds Committee will discuss proposals for concrete ramps at 127 N. Main, the county’s Specialty Courts and Probation building, according to the July 30 docket. The description differs from the recommendation the same committee made on July 7, 2026, when it backed a $19,500 low bid from RL Construction to rebuild the building’s ramp and porch in composite decking. The July 30 minutes name no contractor, no figure and no scope, and do not indicate whether the concrete ramp proposals are additional work or a change of approach.

Sheriff Reports No Requests on Intergovernmental Agreement

Sheriff Tyson Holshouser reported there have been no requests for consideration under the Sheriff’s Office intergovernmental agreement item, according to the minutes. The entry is one sentence and identifies no party, jurisdiction or proposed agreement. It is the second consecutive month the item has appeared on the Coordinating Committee’s docket without substance being recorded.

Information Systems: Key Fobs Nearly Done, Phones Waiting on Vendor

Information Systems Director Curt Watkins reported that annex key fob work is nearly finished and that phone system updates are waiting on work from the vendor, according to the minutes. Watkins also reported he has been maintaining back-up batteries, working on the FY2027 budget and interviewing for a new position within his department. The minutes name no vendor, give no costs for the key fob or phone system projects, and do not describe the position being filled. No motion was taken on the report.

Development & Personnel Docket Carries Energy, MCEDC Items

Eleven items appear under the Development & Personnel Committee heading in the July 30 minutes. The committee will meet with Small Biz Grant applicants and make recommendations; review and discuss Animal Control, MCEDC and Pattern Energy items; discuss and make a recommendation on the MCEDC FY2027 budget; discuss and make a recommendation on the Green Diamond oil and chip item; and review and discuss a wind and solar ordinance. On the employee handbook item, the minutes state that Bushue HR will provide any necessary new language. MCEDC is the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation, whose executive director, Kaitlyn Fath, was among those present July 30.

Roads and Bridges Expects Light Agenda

Roads and Bridges Committee Chairman Ethan Murzynski anticipates a light agenda because Engineer Cody Greenwood will be on vacation, according to the July 30 minutes. It is the only item recorded under the committee’s heading, appearing under Other Business. The Roads and Bridges Committee is the only Montgomery County standing committee that meets away from the Historic Courthouse, convening instead at the County Highway Department on Illinois Route 185 in Hillsboro.

Mowing, Porch Lighting Return to Buildings and Grounds

Two recurring Buildings & Grounds items appear again on the July 30 docket: the committee will review and discuss proposals for lighting on the Historic Courthouse south porch, and will review and discuss outsourcing mowing services for FY2027. No proposals, contractors or figures for either item appear in the minutes. Both have been carried on the committee’s agenda across multiple meetings without recorded cost estimates.

Adjournment

Murzynski moved to adjourn and Hughes seconded; all were in favor and the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:26 a.m. The summaries of minutes were submitted by acting secretary Mike Plunkett, the county board administrator, as deputized by County Clerk and Recorder Sandy Leitheiser.