The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 30 voted to appoint Brandon Burskins as the county's public works director effective Jan. 1, 2025. County administrator Jonathan Boo put the recommendation before the board and framed it as a formal end to an interim assignment: "My recommendation is to, starting January 1st of 2025, move him officially into the public works director position and out of the assistant and interim status permanently," Boo said. The motion was seconded and approved with recorded affirmative votes.

The commission also reviewed estimated premiums from the county's insurance plans, described in the meeting as "K Work" (payroll-based coverage) and "K Camp" (property and casualty). Jonathan Boo reported the county's K Work premium for the year just completed had been about $211,783 and the estimate for 2025 is roughly $229,682, "an $18,000 increase, roughly 8.4%," Boo said. He reported K Camp at $498,122 for 2025, down about 3% from the prior year's $513,006.33, and said the combined premiums for both plans rose from about $725,000 to approximately $737,000, a 1.69% increase overall.

Commissioners pressed staff for details before the county pays the 2025 amounts. They asked whether premiums are collected as lump sums or spread over months; Boo said K Camp is paid in a lump sum in February and K Work is paid in a lump sum in January. Commissioners also requested a breakdown of deductibles (storm, law-enforcement, cyber liability and automobile physical damage), the county's experience-modification history (an "experience rating" figure was discussed), and comparisons of what coverage and credits the county currently receives.

Several commissioners and staff discussed whether the county can lower future premiums through targeted training, site surveys or other risk-reduction steps. Staff said they would collect comparisons, deductible details and any credits or site-survey options and return with that information to the commission.

The appointment and the insurance update are administrative steps that affect the county's operations and budget planning; commissioners directed staff to follow up with written comparisons and to clarify payment timing for the 2025 premiums. No additional policy actions or budget transfers were adopted at the Dec. 30 meeting.