A $20,000 funding request by Jefferson County Sheriff Pete Dougherty to pay for an appraisal of the historic Shepherd’s Mill property was approved by the county commissioners at Thursday’s county commission meeting.

Dougherty said the money will be used for the appraisal of the estate of the late Patrinka Kelch, which includes the historic Shepherd’s Mill property as well as personal items.

Prior to her death in 2015, Kelch had inherited the property from her employer and she tried to sell the property for $1.2 million, real estate agent Nancy McBride told The Journal in March.

After Kelch’s death, no executor of her estate came forward. Dougherty said in such a situation, the property goes to the sheriff’s office.

Thursday morning, Dougherty came before the commissioners acting as the executor of Kelch’s estate.

Nathan Cochran, legal counsel to the county commission, said Kelch’s estate is “convoluted.”

“Some of the people named as beneficiaries of the will are deceased. I asked the judge to look at the will to figure out who gets what. The court instructed us to review the property and see if there’s anything we can sell,” Cochran said.

A foreclosure sale of Kelch’s property-including the historic Shepherd’s Mill, built in 1734-was scheduled for March 15, but the Jefferson County Circuit Court ruled to stay the proposed foreclosure sale.

Cochran said the sale is still stayed, but he said there is another court hearing coming up in June. Cochran recommended the commissioners provide funding to Dougherty for an appraisal of the property, including both real estate and personal items.

“We have been inside the main building numerous times, and there’s quite an eclectic collection in the outbuilding. Some of what’s there may be valuable, but some of it may be junk,” Dougherty said. “I just don’t want an item worth thousands of dollars to go for $5.”

Though he requested $20,000 for the appraisal, Dougherty said he didn’t think the entire amount would be used. He said depending on what the appraised value of the buildings and personal items is, there may be an online auction, live auction or combination of the two.