The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance, in a meeting on Wednesday, continued its efforts to help the Greene County Fishing & Hunting Club improve a wetlands area.

The Watershed Alliance also took delivery of a $700 display board system that it will use at events such as the upcoming Greene County Fair.

In addition, those present voted to authorize the group’s executive committee to complete paperwork necessary for the Alliance to become a non-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation, with the eventual goal of applying for grants.

Those present also voted not to make the Watershed Alliance a membership organization. Sally Causey, representing Rural Resources, said the Alliance needs to continue as a “network” of agencies, organizations and individuals interested in water quality.

Wilhelmina Williams, who represents the Friends of the Nolichucky River, agreed. Her motion was approved on a voice vote.

Much of the discussion focused on how the Watershed Alliance can help the Fishing & Hunting Club maintain and improve the wetlands area next to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center on Pottertown Road.

Wetlands Area Described

Fred Kaufmann, a member of the club, reported on a walk taken through the 40-acre site last month, as reported in The Greeneville Sun. Kaufmann noted that representatives from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation,
TVA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency were present, and offered several insights.

He said that all present agreed that the property has a lot of potential. But Kaufmann also said the site needs work, especially the dam, which is not now holding enough water from Seven Springs Creek to properly flood the site, as it did previously.

He also noted that James McAfee of the TWRA had stressed that the first priority, before anything else is done, is securing a permanent, legal access to the site.
Currently, the only access is across land owned by someone else, including Wal-Mart.

The current wetlands were created by Greene County as part of the package that was put together to attract the Wal-Mart Distribution Center to the county.

Construction of the distribution center destroyed a small, then-existing wetlands, and the 40-acre site was created to offset or “mitigate” the destruction of the smaller site.
Mark Benko, an officer of the Fishing & Hunting Club, said he had been involved in the 10-year lease that the club now has with Greene County, and had been aware then that the lease did not provide access to the property.

Benko also said that, when Greene County constructed the dam to create the wetlands, it worked very well. “When it was first done, it looked great,” he said.

Since then, however, heavy rainwater runoff from storms has eroded the dam, and this has continued to deteriorate until the dam no longer impounds enough water to support the wetlands as intended.

Benko said that the area was a wetland until about 100 years ago, but was drained to create pasture land, and was in that condition before the mitigation project was created. Since the dam’s failure, the land has begun to revert to pasture, he said.

Benko agreed that permanent, legal access is needed in order for the long-term needs to be addressed, because the property is to be maintained as a wetlands “in perpetuity”; but the club also needs short-term access now, to make needed repairs and improvements, he said.

Right-Of-Way Possibility

Because of this, Benko reported that the club has been able to work out an agreement with a property owner on the “back” side of the site, on Gravel Woods Road.

He said the property owner has agreed to lease the right-of-way to the club, for as long as the club has an agreement to maintain the wetlands. The club has agreed to create a rock driveway from Gravel Woods Road through the owner’s land to the wetlands, “so we’ll have access.”

He said the property owner purchased the land because he likes the idea of being near the wetlands, and is very sympathetic with what the club and the Watershed Alliance seek to do.

Benko said that the club does not “have the kind of budget” needed to build the driveway and the dams.

Help From Wal-Mart?

That is how the Alliance has agreed to try to help.

Eddie Yokley, Greene County Assessor of Property, asked, “Is it possible we might get some assistance from Wal-Mart?”

Yokley pointed out that the distribution center and its site currently belongs to the Industrial Development Board of Greene County, which leases it to Wal-Mart as part of a tax abatement program that still has a year to go.

It was noted during discussion that maintaining the wetlands would seem to be in Wal-Mart’s interest, and also in the interest of the county government, and thus it is logical to approach Wal-Mart about access, and perhaps about financial help in restoring and enhancing the wetlands.

‘Extraordinary’ Bird Site

Alice Loftin, secretary of the Watershed Alliance and a representative of the Greene County Bird Club, said that, from the Bird Club’s perspective, it needs to be noted that the wetlands site, “even as it is now, is extraordinary” in terms of the diversity of bird life that uses it during the year. The site is a stop on a major “flyway” used by many migratory birds each year, she said.

Loftin said improving the site to make it again a true wetlands can only help the wildlife population, and “if we could get Wal-Mart as an active participant, it would be the best of all worlds.”

Benko said that, because Wal-Mart is such a large company, finding the person who can make that decision might take some time, but “If you can get to the right folks, I think they would be receptive.”

Ken Chase, who represents the Boone Watershed Partnership, and TVA, said that three permits (from TDEC, TVA and the Corps of Engineers) need to be in place before anything can be done.

Each of the permits will require a plan, he said, and though the plan needs not be prepared by an engineer or an architect, it will have to answer certain key questions.
Kaufmann said he would try to schedule another walk-through to gather information for such a plan. In the meantime, efforts to obtain better access and perhaps other kinds of help can continue, he said.