The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance voted Wednesday to ask the Greene County Commission to let the county Highway Department help it construct a road to the county-owned wetlands area adjoining the Wal-Mart Distribution Center.

County Commissioner Tim Armstrong, who is chairman of the Alliance, showed members a resolution he plans to present to the county commission on Monday, asking that the Highway Department be allowed to haul and spread rock for a road across private property to give access to the wetlands.

The Alliance is helping the Greene County Fishing & Hunting Club maintain and enhance the county-owned wetlands area, which covers about 40 acres.

Right now, the only access to the property is across property owned by others. The man-made wetlands were created by the county as a “mitigation” project to compensate for natural wetlands that were destroyed when the Wal-Mart Distribution Center was built. The mitigation project was required by state and federal regulations.

The Alliance has been told that the dams that were designed to maintain a shallow sheet of water over the wetlands have failed to some extent, and are in danger of compete failure if they are not maintained and improved.

Armstrong told the Alliance that the Natural Resources Conservation Service has agreed to provide “geotextile fiber” for the road bed, and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has agreed to pay for crushed stone, if the county can haul and spread it.

The proposed resolution also would authorize County Executive Alan Broyles to enter into a right of way agreement to let the access road pass across land owned by Nick and Lynne York.

Armstrong said he expects the resolution to pass because the county government has a continuing obligation to maintain the wetlands.

To Receive $1,500 Grant

The Alliance board also learned Wednesday that one of its members, Roy Settle of the Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council, had received word that a $1,500 grant he had applied for to reestablish natural vegetation in the wetlands has been approved.

The money will be used to purchase and establish native plants, trees and other vegetation typically found in “upland hardwood wetlands,” which the project seeks to re-create.

In addition, the group received a $1,000 check, a donation from the county government to the organization’s ongoing work.

Fred Kaufmann, who is the Alliance’s treasurer, reported that $2,289 was on hand before receipt of the $1,000 check. The $1,500 grant has yet to be received.

James McAfee, who represents the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency on the Alliance board, said he would contact Terry Horne, a bio-engineer with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, for advice.

Earlier this fall, Horne toured the wetlands and generally agreed with many of the ideas that the Alliance has, working with the Fishing & Hunting Club, to restore and enhance the wetlands, including a series of small log and/or earthen dams.

McAfee said Horne was to develop a formal plan for carrying out the changes.

In general, McAfee said, drainage ditches that were in place before the wetlands was originally flooded need to be filled, and some additional work needs to be done to encourage the stream that flows through the site to overflow its banks.

“The next step is finding somebody to do the work,” McAfee said. He said he would begin making informal inquiries among agencies or individuals who might be willing to provide equipment or material for the work.

Armstrong said approval of the resolution by the county commission will mean that “a whole slew of people involved . . . can now do something.”

Armstrong said the NRCS, TWRA, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, TVA, the Tennessee Division of Forestry and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been involved so far, along with a number of local organizations, and most have agreed to help in some way in the future.

Alice Loftin, who represents the Greeneville Chapter of the Ornithological Society, said that wetlands improvement is obviously going to be the Alliance’s major project for the next year.

Plans call for developing the wetlands and eventually providing facilities and access to make the area usable as an “outdoor classroom.”

Armstrong said he would like to see the project “become a showplace,” illustrating what the Alliance has been able to accomplish with a great deal of cooperation and help from many interested groups and individuals.

Kaufmann also said that he believes the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance, which is now a 401(c) chartered nonprofit corporation, still does not yet have any official stationery, and needs some.

The group asked Kaufmann to work with Candy Adams, who represents Keep Greene Beautiful, to come up with stationery, including a design for a letterhead.