Greene County’s population has been growing for some time now. That growth is likely to continue, most people believe.

On Wednesday, 45 people, many local officials, attended a workshop to focus on whether Baileyton, Greeneville, Mosheim and Tusculum have the regulations in place to deal with that growth, especially as it relates to water issues.

The “Greene County Growth Readiness Workshop” was hosted by the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance (MNWA), with help from Greeneville’s government and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

It was the first of four planned workshops of its type, to be followed by a public meeting and supplemented by the formation of smaller work groups.

Chris Cooper, a TVA biologist who works regularly with the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance, said the purpose of the workshops was to address water resources and the problems caused by changes to land use, to identify local water problems and their causes and recommend solutions.

He noted that Greene County has 63 streams listed as not meeting state water quality standards in some way.

Currently, he said, that number is “the most in the state.”

He said the Greene County Soil Conservation District is taking “a good, proactive approach” in improving several streams where agricultural uses are causing sediment, animal feces, fertilizer and other contaminants to get into the water.

Cooper said he believes that the workshops will focus more attention on this situation, and that more positive steps like various types of stream-bank remediation can take place as a result.

This topic was not addressed directly in the workshop, except that Cooper noted that it is very difficult to recruit an industry that has to discharge water from its operation, if the only available stream is already impaired.

After the workshop, Cooper told The Greeneville Sun that none of the county’s streams have problems with toxic contamination.

He said many problems related to contamination by bacteria and excess nutrients, and even contamination by sediment, are related to agricultural practices.

But he also said that some of the problems are due to the growth the county is experiencing.

Widely dispersed residential construction, and especially the widespread proliferation of homes where no municipal sewer systems are available, is a contributing factor, Cooper said, especially where septic systems may be failing, thus allowing human waste to get into ground water or streams.

Group Sessions

The participants split into five groups. Each group had a facilitator either from the MNWA or the TVA.

The groups were given a large map of Greene County, and asked to identify areas where they believe growth is likely to occur. They were given dots representing various amounts of population, and asked to put them where they believe growth will occur, and explain why.

They were also asked to identify any incentives or impediments to growth.

Engineer Wayne Robertson with Vaughn & Melton told his group he expects a lot of rapid growth over the next 10 years, a lot of erosion from new construction, and more sediment in water. Industrial growth is also an assumption, he said.

Robertson also said his group believes the state is going to have to do more enforcement of water standards.

More uniformity is needed to make “a level playing field” for developers, who currently face stringent enforcement in some places, in Greeneville for example, but much less elsewhere.

Robertson said his firm is now involved in construction of a five-mile section of four-lane highway near Tazewell that is the first project of its type to be subject to the state’s newest regulations for stormwater runoff.

He said 100 miles of silt fencing is being used during construction of this five-mile stretch.

He said Morristown industries are now being closely monitored regarding stormwater runoff from their parking lots.

Randy Davenport, an engineer with Vaughn & Melton, said his group began by drawing transportation improvements on the map, including the proposed four-laning of the Baileyton Road and the proposed “northern loop” that was requested by all five planning commissions in Greene County.

The loop is to direct traffic from U.S.
Highways 11E and 321 north of Greeneville, starting near the Homestead Restaurant and continuing to somewhere in the vicinity of Greene Valley Developmental Center.

That group believed that the improved Baileyton Road will cause more residential development along its length, Davenport said.

The road and the availability of sewer at Baileyton will most likely result in industrial and commercial growth there.

The “loop road” also has the potential to spur industrial, commercial and residential growth, the team decided.

This group said it is obvious that a great deal of residential development will continue from Tusculum eastward to the Washington County line.

Davenport said his group also believes that the “touchy” issue of extending Greeneville’s sewer service to that area is currently an impediment to development there.

The group reported on by Greeneville Alderman Sarah Webster said its assumptions were that the Baileyton Road will become a four-lane highway; that “expanded utilities and infrastructure will happen”; as will development at Greeneville’s airport, and that the Fairgrounds Road extension and the “northern loop road” will be built.

‘Highest Potential For Growth’
Davenport’s group also said it appears obvious that “the highest potential for growth” in residential construction is to the south and east of Greeneville, along state Route 107 and especially along the 107 Cutoff, because nearly all of that area has beautiful mountain views and much of it is close to the Nolichucky River, which is also desirable for its scenic beauty and recreation potential.

The Mosheim area also has the potential for continued growth, he said.

This team was told that an influential real estate developer, Mike Ross, who developed Tellico Lake in Middle Tennessee, has purchased a large tract near the Graysburg Hills Golf Club along the Kingsport Highway.
That area has a lot of potential for residential development, because of its proximity to exit 44 at Jearoldstown.

Impediments Listed

Impediments listed were poor, shaley soil flooding along Lick Creek in the northwest and western part of the county.

The Cherokee National Forest was considered “a plus” because of its beauty, but a minus because residential development cannot occur there at this time.

However, several groups seemed to think that residential development in the park may become a possibility in the future.

One group said a major land purchase adjacent to the Cherokee National Forest in Greene, Washington and Unicoi counties will cause that area in the county’s east side to develop rapidly.

Population Predictions

One group felt that only about a 10,000-person increase in population is likely in the next 25 years, but another group thought that the 15,000 worth of population “dots” given to each group was not enough to represent the likely growth during that time.

One group felt that most of the population growth would be concentrated in and around “where people will be working,” but others said growth is much more likely in the eastern and southern parts of the county.

Two groups said Greene County has a population of seasonal workers that will likely grow. One group said there is already a segment of the population that lives in parks and campgrounds, rather than just visiting them.

Southeast Watershed Forum

Dana Ball, a TVA employee who is president of the MNWA, was the session’s host, but much of the meeting was conducted by Jane Fowler, of Knoxville, program coordinator with the Nashville-based Southeast Watershed Forum.

She said the Southeast Watershed Forum is a non-profit organization that works in nine states to enhance local, state and regional watershed initiatives through education, training and dialogue.

Fowler, a former TVA economic development specialist, said she had “a history with Greeneville.”

She recalled that in her TVA role, she once had the privilege of hand-carrying a $500,000 check to Greeneville, with those TVA funds to be used in the renovation of the General Morgan Inn, where Wednesday’s meeting was held.

Fowler commended the organizers of the workshop for bringing together such a diverse group of people with an interest in — and responsibility for — seeing that the right things happen in terms of preparing for growth.

Participants in the workshop included elected and appointed city and county officials, planners, planning commission members, engineers, real estate agents and developers.

Tusculum Mayor John Foster welcomed the group. Foster said his experience as a member of a planning commission taught him that water issues often take precedence over everything else.

He also noted that, in talking to a neighbor, a farmer who lives on Frank Creek (also called College Creek), the neighbor mentioned remembering a time “when there were a lot of fish in the creek,” but now, Foster said, there are almost none.

Greeneville Mayor Darrell Bryan welcomed those attending to Greeneville, and noted the presence of a number of city officials, including Brad Peters, Greeneville’s engineer dealing with stormwater issues, and Doug Carver, an engineer with the Greeneville Water Commission, as well as Town Recorder Jim Warner, Environmentalist Debbie Smith, Building Inspector Jim Snyder, and Fire Marshal Kenneth Lunghofer.

Mayor Bryan also noted that Greene County Mayor-elect Alan Broyles was present, along with Mosheim Mayor Billy Myers and several county commissioners.

Fowler said Ronda Sawyer, the state-contract planner for both Greene County and Greeneville, was in the audience. Fowler said Dan Hawk, state director of local planning, arranged for the Southeast Watershed Forum to train all state planners such as Sawyer in local planning offices statewide.

The next morning-long session will be in October.