The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance's calendar for much of the rest of the year was set at a meeting Tuesday of the group's leaders.
Funds also were allocated for events and projects.
Plans for the year include the annual river trip, tentatively set for Aug. 5, creek cleanups in April, as well as several outreach and educational events in September, which is Watershed Month, and at other times.
The Alliance is made up of individuals and groups with an interest in protecting and improving the quality of water in the Nolichucky River, and its tributaries in Greene County and part of Washington County.
The group agreed to meet on the first Tuesday of each month this year, with most meetings taking place at 3 p.m. in the basement of the Greene County Partnership at 115 Academy St. in downtown Greeneville.
Wilhelmina Williams, the Alliance's elected secretary, noted that the organization has $7,181 in its bank account, and has yet to receive $1,000 appropriated by the Greene County Commission for the current fiscal year.
Williams represents Friends of the Nolichucky River Valley on the Alliance.
President Candy Adams said the county government expects the group to present an invoice before disbursing the funds. Williams said she would do that.
Adams, who is also director of Keep Greene Beautiful, said the Alliance should similarly write a letter to the Tennessee Valley Authority, requesting funding already allocated when the TVA budget was set in October.
TVA has been a supporter of the Alliance, and was instrumental in its creation several years ago.
Adams said the amount of TVA funding is unclear, though TVA will continue to provide some funding, and various types of other support.
Offering Awards
Adams said letters were sent to schools in the county in mid-December, seeking applicants for $150 classroom awards that the Alliance provides each year for environmentally-oriented classroom projects.
The awards are provided to the best project for elementary, middle school and high school classes.
After discussion, the Alliance's leaders, with only three members present, also decided to seek applications from college classes, and offer a $250 award.
Adams said the deadline for applications is Jan. 14. For information, call Adams at the Greene County Partnership (638-4111).
She also said the Alliance will need to allocate $150 so that a non-profit booth can be set up at the annual East Tennessee Regional Environmental Conference, to be held March 10-11 at the Eastman Cabin at the base of Bays Mountain in Kingsport.
Adams also noted that the Alliance needs to renew its corporate charter with the state.
Fred Kaufmann, the treasurer, agreed to do this. Kaufmann represents the Greene County Fishing & Hunting Club.
Canoe Trip Planned
Adams said the Watershed Alliance needs to send $150 to the Cedar Creek Learning Center to pay for the canoe trip on the river that the learning center facilitated last August.
She said a similar amount will be needed for the trip this year. After discussion, Aug. 5, a Friday, was set as the date for next summer's canoe trip.
The Alliance agreed to try to arrange to canoe a different section of the river, since the same section just above the Crockett Lake dam has been seen for the previous two years.
The group decided to begin making arrangements to cover either a section beginning in Washington County above Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park and ending there, or else a somewhat more difficult stretch of the river some distance below the dam, perhaps in the Warrensburg area.
Creek Cleanups
The group also set April 15 and 16 for its annual creek cleanup. Adams said Greeneville Adventist Academy has already requested to again clean up Holley Creek in the vicinity of Greeneville Commons, as the Academy's students did last year.
Adams said the Alliance provides a pizza lunch for the students when they clean up the creek. In recent years, the Adventist youths have cleaned up the banks of a creek on Friday, and another clean-up effort involving numerous groups has taken place on Saturday.
Between now and April, Adams said, the group will need to select which creek in the county to focus upon in the annual clean-up effort.
The cost of the Friday clean-up effort was just under $400 last year, Adams said, and a similar amount is budgeted this year.
The cost of the Saturday effort was $976, she said, but a $1,000 grant was available at that time.
In the past, participants have received T-shirts, pens, and competed for prizes for collecting the most creek litter, finding the most unusual item, and the like.
After discussion, the leaders agreed to earmark similar funding for the April 16 event.
The Watershed Alliance's educational event last March, which featured a group of scientists discussing health problems possibly related to water pollution, was well-attended and well-received.
Adams said a follow-up on that meeting probably needs to be scheduled in 2006, and something else needs to be lined up for "a speaker event" for this March 1. She agreed to try to line up a speaker or speakers.
To Invite Other Groups
The Alliance's leaders agreed to try to schedule a planned May 3 meeting in such a way to allow members of other groups with similar interests to attend.
Groups mentioned included Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, the Greeneville Hiking Club, the Boy Scouts and the Junior Women's Club, but members of other groups also will probably be invited, the leaders said.
Such a meeting would probably begin at 5:30 p.m. at a location to be announced later, Adams said.
The Alliance's leaders agreed to earmark $850 to again help support the three-day conservation camp for local fifth-grade students. Adams said the camp is scheduled for Sept. 7, 8 and 9 at Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park.
Students from Greeneville and Greene County schools and some from other counties attend the event for a day-long field trip, where "presenters" from TVA, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, and several regional organizations and industries staff about a dozen "learning stations" at various locations within the park.
In addition, the Alliance leaders agreed to put $200 into the budget to reimburse the Greene County Partnership for administrative costs, primarily for paper and postage.
Funds also were allocated for events and projects.
Plans for the year include the annual river trip, tentatively set for Aug. 5, creek cleanups in April, as well as several outreach and educational events in September, which is Watershed Month, and at other times.
The Alliance is made up of individuals and groups with an interest in protecting and improving the quality of water in the Nolichucky River, and its tributaries in Greene County and part of Washington County.
The group agreed to meet on the first Tuesday of each month this year, with most meetings taking place at 3 p.m. in the basement of the Greene County Partnership at 115 Academy St. in downtown Greeneville.
Wilhelmina Williams, the Alliance's elected secretary, noted that the organization has $7,181 in its bank account, and has yet to receive $1,000 appropriated by the Greene County Commission for the current fiscal year.
Williams represents Friends of the Nolichucky River Valley on the Alliance.
President Candy Adams said the county government expects the group to present an invoice before disbursing the funds. Williams said she would do that.
Adams, who is also director of Keep Greene Beautiful, said the Alliance should similarly write a letter to the Tennessee Valley Authority, requesting funding already allocated when the TVA budget was set in October.
TVA has been a supporter of the Alliance, and was instrumental in its creation several years ago.
Adams said the amount of TVA funding is unclear, though TVA will continue to provide some funding, and various types of other support.
Offering Awards
Adams said letters were sent to schools in the county in mid-December, seeking applicants for $150 classroom awards that the Alliance provides each year for environmentally-oriented classroom projects.
The awards are provided to the best project for elementary, middle school and high school classes.
After discussion, the Alliance's leaders, with only three members present, also decided to seek applications from college classes, and offer a $250 award.
Adams said the deadline for applications is Jan. 14. For information, call Adams at the Greene County Partnership (638-4111).
She also said the Alliance will need to allocate $150 so that a non-profit booth can be set up at the annual East Tennessee Regional Environmental Conference, to be held March 10-11 at the Eastman Cabin at the base of Bays Mountain in Kingsport.
Adams also noted that the Alliance needs to renew its corporate charter with the state.
Fred Kaufmann, the treasurer, agreed to do this. Kaufmann represents the Greene County Fishing & Hunting Club.
Canoe Trip Planned
Adams said the Watershed Alliance needs to send $150 to the Cedar Creek Learning Center to pay for the canoe trip on the river that the learning center facilitated last August.
She said a similar amount will be needed for the trip this year. After discussion, Aug. 5, a Friday, was set as the date for next summer's canoe trip.
The Alliance agreed to try to arrange to canoe a different section of the river, since the same section just above the Crockett Lake dam has been seen for the previous two years.
The group decided to begin making arrangements to cover either a section beginning in Washington County above Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park and ending there, or else a somewhat more difficult stretch of the river some distance below the dam, perhaps in the Warrensburg area.
Creek Cleanups
The group also set April 15 and 16 for its annual creek cleanup. Adams said Greeneville Adventist Academy has already requested to again clean up Holley Creek in the vicinity of Greeneville Commons, as the Academy's students did last year.
Adams said the Alliance provides a pizza lunch for the students when they clean up the creek. In recent years, the Adventist youths have cleaned up the banks of a creek on Friday, and another clean-up effort involving numerous groups has taken place on Saturday.
Between now and April, Adams said, the group will need to select which creek in the county to focus upon in the annual clean-up effort.
The cost of the Friday clean-up effort was just under $400 last year, Adams said, and a similar amount is budgeted this year.
The cost of the Saturday effort was $976, she said, but a $1,000 grant was available at that time.
In the past, participants have received T-shirts, pens, and competed for prizes for collecting the most creek litter, finding the most unusual item, and the like.
After discussion, the leaders agreed to earmark similar funding for the April 16 event.
The Watershed Alliance's educational event last March, which featured a group of scientists discussing health problems possibly related to water pollution, was well-attended and well-received.
Adams said a follow-up on that meeting probably needs to be scheduled in 2006, and something else needs to be lined up for "a speaker event" for this March 1. She agreed to try to line up a speaker or speakers.
To Invite Other Groups
The Alliance's leaders agreed to try to schedule a planned May 3 meeting in such a way to allow members of other groups with similar interests to attend.
Groups mentioned included Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, the Greeneville Hiking Club, the Boy Scouts and the Junior Women's Club, but members of other groups also will probably be invited, the leaders said.
Such a meeting would probably begin at 5:30 p.m. at a location to be announced later, Adams said.
The Alliance's leaders agreed to earmark $850 to again help support the three-day conservation camp for local fifth-grade students. Adams said the camp is scheduled for Sept. 7, 8 and 9 at Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park.
Students from Greeneville and Greene County schools and some from other counties attend the event for a day-long field trip, where "presenters" from TVA, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, and several regional organizations and industries staff about a dozen "learning stations" at various locations within the park.
In addition, the Alliance leaders agreed to put $200 into the budget to reimburse the Greene County Partnership for administrative costs, primarily for paper and postage.
For more information and stories, see The Greeneville Sun.
