The Mosheim Planning Commission heard a presentation Thursday about the Greene County Growth Readiness Report, which was made after a series of workshops last year.

The report was made by Dana Ball, a watershed specialist with the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Also participating were Wilhelmina Williams, president of the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance, and Chris Livesay, its executive director.

Ball said the workshops were developed by TVA to help communities get ready for upcoming storm water regulations.

She said Greeneville is already subject to "Phase II" state and federal storm-water planning rules, though Mosheim is not.

She noted that the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance (MNWA) served as host for the workshops, which were facilitated by the Southeast Watershed Forum, and paid for by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The MNWA itself has received annual funding from TVA for several years.

The "growth readiness" concept was adapted from a program developed by the University of Connecticut, Ball said.

Despite all that, Ball said the workshop recommendations "did not come from TVA, or the Watershed Alliance," but from the participants.

Participation was open to the public, but local elected officials and appointed members of planning commissions were invited, and many did take part in one or more workshops.

Several engineering firms and real estate brokers and developers also took part.

There Were Four Goals

The workshops had four goals, Ball said, and each goal was the focus of a separate meeting. They were: understanding the impact of growth on water resources, how to have growth and water quality too, "deciding what's right for our community," and building consensus for change.

At the last meeting, the group decided that not enough time was available to build consensus. Participants were invited to attend meetings of the MNWA, which is to continue to serve as an information source for water quality improvement.

Ball said not all of the recommendations that came out of the workshops will be relevant for Mosheim, and "some may even make you laugh."

She pointed out that the workshop recommendations "are not binding," but are "things participants would like to see municipalities do" to improve and protect water quality in coming years.

"It's easier to plan than to retrofit," she said.

Population Growth Forecast

Ball said the participants were encouraged to project parts of the county where they see growth occurring.

As a result the group projected a 13,500 increase in Greene County's population by 2025, with much of that growth, according to maps that accompanied the presentation, expected in the eastern end of the county along U.S. Highway 11E, as well as around Baileyton and also in the corridor south of Greeneville served by the 107 Cutoff.

Issues related to growth that the workshops identified as potentially threatening water quality included: erosion from new construction, lack of enforcement of current rules, lack of enforcement (and lack of rules) on non-point-source pollution. A related issue mentioned was difficulty in providing fire protection for growing areas outside of municipalities.

Ball said a large number of streams in Greene County are already identified as "impaired" to some extent, by the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation.

Most of that impairment is due to high coliform bacteria counts (largely from cattle) and high amounts of sedimentation (largely from erosion and construction, but also from non-point sources).

Ball said TVA and the MNWA "would like to start involving planning commissions in training for low-impact development."

Albert Teilhet, Mosheim's state-contract planner, said Mosheim already has some low-impact rules on its books.

For example, he said, Mosheim does not require parking lots to be paved, which reduces runoff, and its development standards generally do not promote runoff.

As a practical matter, Teilhet said, Mosheim has not had a subdivision developed in five years, though it has had "a lot of commercial development" and a great deal of "infill" residential development that has taken up more and more space.

Teilhet said he had reviewed the workshop report, and said "it would be nice to have more technical information" to supplement recommendations, and "more about the cost of using low-impact development."

Ball said the MNWA would be "willing to set up the process."

Livesay said some projects are already in the works that can be copied, and training sessions will be held in the next year.

Concerns About Cancer

Williams said the MNWA has to consider all aspects of water quality, and the water in the Nolichucky River. She said Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Southwest Virginia, taken as a region, "is a hot spot for high rates of cancer."

Williams said she is involved in a project at East Tennessee State University that is studying cancer rates, and although no causes have been proven, "we know some is agriculture-related," and some is related to water quality.

Planning Commission member Tom Carpenter said he thinks the region's air quality is also a probable cause.

It was pointed out that the document being presented deals primarily with a variety of ways to reduce pollution and storm water that gets into streams from non-point sources.

Ball said Paul Hayden, the Greene County soil conservation district conservationist, has obtained grants for a number of large and small projects that will demonstrate ways to reduce "non-point" sources of pollution and runoff.

One project that has already been funded is for Frank Creek and College Creek in Tusculum and the east side of Greeneville, several persons noted.

As that project goes forward, developers and the general public will be able to see practical demonstrations of some ways to develop with low impact on streams, as well as ways to address and improve some existing sources of runoff and sediment.

Teilhet said storm-water regulations that are being considered for the fourth phase may require testing of streams. Mosheim is in the beginning part of phase one, however.

Ball pointed out that the workshop report identifies 22 principles of low-impact development. She urged the planners to read the document and study the 22 subjects it addresses, and said she or the MNWA would be happy to try to arrange a training session on any of them.

On another matter, the Mosheim Planning Commission on Thursday were to have discussed a site plan for a building for the Mosheim Church of God, but Chairman Glenn Jones said church leaders had called and asked for another month before the plans are presented.

Teilhet said the plans changed the direction that a planned building faces, and church leaders wanted to present the plans to church membership before bringing it to the planning commission.