The need to deal with aging equipment and aging county records was a major focus of Wednesday's meeting of the Greene County Budget & Finance Committee.

The committee met on Wednesday morning at the Courthouse Annex to consider two resolutions, the first of which was to budget $10,000 from the Solid Waste Fund's unassigned funds for equipment and machinery parts.

Solid Waste Director Hubert Metcalf explained that this need is due to "expensive breakdown in equipment."

This fiscal year alone, Metcalf said, he has had to deal with multiple cylinder problems and has had to replace a radiator in one of the trucks.

"We've had just an abnormal year," he said.

In response to a question from Mayor Alan Broyles, Metcalf told the committee that Solid Waste's newest truck is a 2006 front-loader with about 100,000 miles, while the oldest is a 1993 model with about 378,000 miles.

"I commend Hubert and the Solid Waste mechanics for keeping the trucks running down there," Broyles said.

As a cost-saving measure, the county is currently working to replace worn-out front-loading trucks with compactors, Mayor Broyles reminded the committee.

At that point, Metcalf said the trucks are beyond repair and generally worth only the cost of the metal. It would only take one major breakdown, such as the loss of an engine, to deplete his "equipment and machinery parts" line item, he added.

"As old as our trucks are getting, that's something we need to be watching real close," Commissioner Hilton Seay said.

The cost of a front-loading truck is about $250,000, while the cost of a compactor is $22,000, Broyles reported.

Currently, the Solid Waste fund balance is about $137,000 and should maintain at least $100,000 for yearly operations, Director of Finance Mary Shelton told the committee.

A motion by Commissioner Phil King, seconded by Commissioner M.C. Rollins, approved a recommendation to move the $10,000 for equipment and machinery parts from the line item for unassigned Solid Waste Funds.

The recommendation will be submitted to the Greene County Commission at the commission's next meeting.

Unfortunately, trucks are not the only county property experiencing the negative effects of age.

Register of Deeds Joy Rader reported to the committee that many of the books cataloging Greene County's deeds are aging to the point that the entries are barely legible.

Because the deeds are still considered everyday, vital public information, Rader's office has been working to scan the books and maintain digital copies.

On some of the books, however, the condition of the entries is beyond the office's capabilities, she said.

"We're trying to preserve the history of Greene County," Rader said.

Business Information Systems (BIS), of Piney Flats, has made a special discounted offer for scanning the books and increasing legibility into a digital image, Rader said.

While the Register of Deeds office has previously paid $375 per book, BIS is offering $150 per book.

There are 58 books from around 1966 that are the most in need of this service because they are in a difficult-to-read format of white text on a black background, Rader said.

When Mayor Broyles questioned if the matter could wait until the next fiscal year in order to be properly budgeted, Rader cautioned that the price may not be guaranteed for six months.

BIS later confirmed that the company could not guarantee the price for that long.

"I hate to not see us do this, if we could get it at this price and, later on, maybe can't," Commissioner Rollins said. "We all know it needs to be done."

The committee told Rader that they would like to see the matter appear before them in the form of a resolution before taking any action.

Meanwhile, Mayor Broyles has the authority to handle most interbudgetary transfers. Rader said she intends to use her $800 for traveling expenses toward the project.

The Register actually appeared before the committee on an unrelated matter concerning a recent audit of her office, in which she was mandated to provide each employee his or her own cash drawer.

Rader said that her budget does not allow for this expense and requested $567 from unassigned funds in the General Fund for the purchase of three cash drawers.

A motion by Commissioner Seay to recommend the expenditure was seconded by Commissioner King and received unanimous approval.

A request by the Greene County Partnership's tourism director, Tammy Kinser, did not receive the committee's sponsorship.

Kinser requested in mid-December that Greene County and the Town of Greeneville each pay $527 out of designated recreation funds from the Hotel/Motel Tax for four signs on Interstate 81 at exits 23 and 36 directing drivers to the "Greeneville Historic District."

"I guess what concerns me a little is, she's already got the invoice for this," Mayor Broyles said. "It's already been done."

Broyles indicated that the purchase invoice was dated Nov. 1, while the first e-mail request he received from Kinser was dated Dec. 15.

Kinser was not in attendance at the meeting on Wednesday.

"We can't do business this way," Commissioner Seay said. "We can't take invoices from back when."

"Yeah, I'll go along with that," Commissioner King agreed. "I don't care what amount it is. We can't have that."

While the committee expressed their appreciation for Kinser and the Partnership, they chose not to sponsor the request since the purchase appeared to have already been made.

Mayor Broyles also presented a resolution needing individual sponsorship from commissioners, but not necessarily from the committee itself, he said.

The resolution reflected a recent resolution by Rutherford County's Commission urging the state to make manufacturing, distributing and/or selling synthetic drugs a felony offense, rather than a misdemeanor.

Rutherford's commission requested that Greene County join them in their request to the state, Broyles said.

He added that Sheriff Steve Burns told him that he would also support such a change in the law.

Commissioner Rollins announced that he would sponsor the bill, with Commissioner Seay offering to serve as co-sponsor.

In other business, the committee reviewed interbudgetary transfers Mayor Broyles has recently approved.