In a six-hour meeting Thursday, the Greene County Commission’s budget and finance committee heard presentations from non-profit agencies seeking contributions from the county government.

No action was taken. The committee decided in February not to make any budgetary commitments or cuts until all departmental requests have been presented and discussed.

Typically, the contributions budget is adjusted at the end of the budget-making cycle. The committee is working to have a budget in place before the new fiscal year starts on July 1.

Most of the agencies that made presentations have received contributions from the county government for a number of years.

Some of them, such as Greene County 911, the Greeneville-Greene County Airport Authority, the Greeneville-Greene County Library, and the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center, are semi-governmental in function.

Others, such as the Second Harvest Food Bank in Gray, or the Central Ballet Theatre of Greeneville, have not received contributions in the past, but now are seeking them.

The committee, chaired by County Mayor Alan Broyles, gave each organization 10 minutes to make a presentation, then asked questions of most.

The process had been scheduled to end during the noon hour, but instead continued past 2 p.m.

Second Harvest

Commissioner Hilton Seay perhaps spoke for everyone when he quipped to Ellen Stroud of Second Harvest Food Bank, one of the last to make a presentation, that she would have been well received had she brought samples.

Second Harvest requested $5,000.

Stroud said that Second Harvest collects and warehouses food in Gray, but most of it is distributed by various food pantries, group homes, shelters or other ministries.

She noted that 17 of the ministries that
Second Harvest works with are in Greene County, including Holston United Methodist Home for Children, Mosheim Community Outreach, U-Turn For Christ, Frontier Health, Free Will Baptist Family Ministries,
Greeneville-Greene County Community
Ministries’ Food Bank, and the Boys & Girls Club of Greeneville & Greene County.

She said qualified groups, and in some cases individuals, purchase food for 14 cents per pound.

Stroud also noted that Second Harvest receives support from Landair and also from the Niswonger Foundation, both of which are based in Greene County.

She said Kraft Foods and ConAgra also support Second Harvest. In addition, Takoma Adventist Hospital contributes surplus cooked food, which is frozen and redistributed, she said.

Central Ballet

Blair Berry, president of the Central Ballet Theatre of Greeneville, asked for a $5,000 contribution to be funded from the county’s 7 percent hotel/motel tax. Part of the tax is designated for support of the performing
arts.

Berry said the funds would be used to help present “Deliver Us! The Story of Moses,” to be presented in January 2008.

She said the organization, formed in 2004, presents ballets with wholesome or biblical themes, with local adults and children supplemented by professional dancers, “to allow kids to be inspired by excellence.”

The group also conducts master classes for children in the summer, but participation in classes, which carry a fee, is not a prerequisite for trying out for a ballet.

Park Brumitt, a member, said the group has recently been asked by Marilyn duBrisk to join in Tusculum College’s arts program.

Similar Requests

Many of the agencies asked for funding similar to what they are receiving this year.
Among those were the Tennessee Division of Forestry, which has received $1,500 annually since the 1940s as “a good faith gesture” from the county government, in exchange for state help with forest fires on private land, said William McCrary, area forester.

Other agencies that asked for similar funding are:

• Airport Authority, $32,000;

• Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad,
$5,000;

• Roby Fitzgerald Adult Center, $20,000;

• Retired Senior Volunteer Program, $4,000;
and

• Nolachuckey-Holston Area Mental Health
Center, $23,410 to help provide a sliding fee
scale for low-income patients, and free
screenings at the Greene County Jail.

Requested Increases

Some agencies’ budget requests are for much
more than the amounts they received this
fiscal year. Those agencies, last year’s
amount and next fiscal year’s requests
include:

• Greeneville Parks & Recreation, $30,000 to
$75,000;
• Kinser Park Commission, $20,000 to $30,000;

• Nathanael Greene Museum, $5,000 to $20,000;

Affect Of Loss Of Funding

Commissioner John Cox, who is going through his first -budget making cycle as a member of the committee, often asked presenters what would happen if the county’s funding were to be lost.

Jerry Bird, director of 911, said that agency has obsolete radios and plans to replace them.

Without county funding, Bird said, the purchases would have to come from the agency’s general fund or from borrowing money.

Greeneville-Greene County Library Director Madge Walker said some library employees are making less than the new minimum wage.

The library receives $82,000 from the county, but is seeking $86,000. Without the increase, Walker said, some part-time employees probably would have to be cut.

Susan Arwood, regional library director, said the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center in Greeneville needs local funding to continue receiving the state and federal money it needs. The center does “whatever we can to get persons back into competitive employment,” usually after an injury.

Michelle Keffer, manager of the Greeneville TRC, said about 350 people, including at-risk students, receive training and other help annually. Arwood said about 50 people go back to regular employment each year as a result. She said the program brings about $2 million into the county’s economy annually.

The center received $30,500 from the Greene County government last year, and is seeking a $2,000 increase. Arwood said that $2,000 from Greene County will turn into $13,000 with a federal match, and without it, “we would have to cut a position.”

Volunteer Fire Departments

Bob May, chief of the Greene County
Association of Volunteer Fire Departments, represented that group.
For several years now, the county government has paid the liability and workers’ compensation insurance for 14 local VFDs and 70 fire trucks. May expressed his appreciation on behalf of the group.

May said the insurance is expected to cost $89,000 this year, which he said is “money we never see.”
May said that if the county were to stop paying for insurance for the association, “probably — worst case” several smaller departments would have to close their doors.

That would result in higher fire insurance
premiums for homeowners, he said.

May said the existence of volunteer
departments, plus their levels of training
and the kinds of equipment they use, has a
direct bearing on insurance rates.

He said the Town of Mosheim Volunteer Fire
Department is not insured under this program,
because the town covers them, but the
Tusculum VFD and the United VFD based in
Baileyton are insured uner the program. He
noted that Tusculum and United VFDs insure
their own fire halls, however, and both of those departments respond to fires outside
the municipal limits of Tusculum and
Baileyton.

In response to a question, May said that the
county government’s help with insurance frees the VFDs to use all money they raise in their communities on equipment, which improves service.

FTHRA

Dale Fair, executive director of the First Tennessee Human Resource Agency (FTHRA), said that agency is headquartered in Johnson City but provides many services in Greene County.
Steve Ferrell, director of the agency’s transportation component, said N.E.T. Trans provides van transportation in Greene County each week.

Ferrell said the agency is requesting $17,343 from Greene County, up from $15,000 this year, and pointed out that $12,000 of the total is spent on van transportation.
He said Mosheim and Tusculum provide some money to the agency but Greeneville has never done so.

Fair, who just completed four years as mayor of Carter County, said Greeneville Mayor Darrell Bryan attended the agency’s last meeting, and funds have been requested from Greeneville.

Kinser Park Commission

A delegation led by Dr. George Scott, chairman, made a presentation on behalf of the Kinser Park Commission.

Scott urged the county commission to “go along” with the Greeneville Light & Power System proposed program “Operation Roundup,” because Kinser Park stands to benefit greatly from it, he said.

Through “Operation Roundup,” GL&PS customer bills would be rounded to the next dollar, unless a customer decides to opt out of the program.

The extra revenue from rounding up the bills would benefit the Greeneville Parks & Recreation Department and be used for lighting of recreational facilities.

Fay Byrd, a Kinser Park Commission member, said Kinser Park has gotten along with the same contribution from the countygovernment for several years, but this year voted to increase its request to the county by $10,000, to $30,000.

Byrd noted that the park’s audit cost 79 percent more this year, and its insurance went up 130 percent, and its electricity cost increased 18 percent.

Kinser Park has 23 buildings, most of which are now more than 30 years old, he noted. In the mowing season, which starts next week, a total of 25 acres must be mowed weekly.

Dr. Scott said it is “worth an awful lot” to see how many people, most of them Greene Countians, use the park regularly for “good, cheap entertainment” and recreation.

Butch Patterson, executive director of Greeneville Parks & Recreation, presented a major increase in that agency’s request, $75,000, compared to $30,000 this year and $20,000 the year before. Patterson did not mention the increase until he finished answering questions, though commissioners were aware of it from their packets.

Patterson said the system’s largest park, Hardin Park, is now 30 years old and maintenance is costly. He said the city recreation league now has 90 youth teams, and the majority of its players are from outside Greeneville.

Most of the questions dealt with ballfields. Commissioner Bill Dabbs asked what the department’s priorities are in Wesley Heights, and was told that board member Don Hamilton would like to see a pavilion built there.

Dabbs said he had not heard about a pavilion, but believes that there is a need for more and better basketball courts, and improvements to the tennis courts.

Keep Greene Beautiful

Jennifer Reynolds, director of Keep Greene Beautiful, again requested $4,500. She said the organization visited 4,600 students, and held events that involved 750 volunteers last year, including 10 “litter free” events where pickup is stressed.

Commissioner Cox asked Reynolds if her group had ever been approached about volunteer help in dealing with the county’s debris ordinance, perhaps when property owners cannot do the needed cleanup themselves for some reason.

Reynolds said she had not been approached about volunteers. But she said Keep Greene Beautiful gets “a lot of help from U-Turn for Christ.”

Boys & Girls Club

Scott Bullington, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, said that organization helped 100 children in its first year, and 1,881 youngsters in 2006.

He said the club has 515 members, of which 310 live outside Greeneville, a great many of them in the Mosheim area, where the club sends a van daily.

Bullington was seeking $15,000 from the county, up from $10,000 this year. He said the club helps teach children “health and life skills,” and has been recognized as having one of the best such programs in the state.

Nathanael Greene Museum

Earl Fletcher, director, and the Rev. Dr. Dan Donaldson, board president, represented the Nathanael Greene Museum.
Fletcher said the museum is “the only complete museum in Greene County,” and is dedicated to “preserving the rich heritage” here.

He said the museum has 10 galleries, plus exhibits in hallways.
Fletcher said 2,951 people signed the guest register last year, and of those, 60 percent were county residents. He said many do not sign the register, so he has begun actively counting, and thinks this year’s total will triple last year’s.

Child Advocacy Center

Deana Hicks, executive director, presented a $5,000 request from the Child Advocacy Center, up from this year’s $2,000.
Hicks said such centers are state-mandated to coordinate team investigations into severe child abuse.

“The goal is to keep the child the focus of the investigation,” and to direct services to the child, and to non-offender family members.

Hicks said she was asking for the increase because, although the center serves four counties, 145 of the 398 cases seen between July 1 and Feb. 28 came from Greene County. The center is in Mosheim.

“Greene County has more reports of sexual abuse than any Northeast Tennessee county,” Hicks said, but did not offer any explanation for this.

Commissioner Hilton Seay asked Hicks how many accusations of abuse turn out to be false. She said that, on average, about 20 percent of such allegations are found to be “bogus.”
Hicks said filing a false report can lead to fines and criminal charges.

Watershed Alliance

Dana Ball, with the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance (MNWA), asked the county government to continue its $1,000 contribution.

She said the organization increases awareness about water- quality issues by doing stream cleanups, helping with fifth-grade conservation camp, and hosting Earth Day and Kids Fishing Day events at the Dillard property on Viking Mountain.

The MNWA works behind the scenes with a lot of other state and federal agencies, and hosted the recent growth readiness seminars that are “still in the works,” she said.

Volunteer Center

Mary Fitzpatrick, director of The Volunteer Center, presented a request for $5,000, the same as this year.

She said the center’s mission is to bring people and resources together to meet community needs.

In response to a question, Fitzpatrick said the center does not receive funding from city of Greeneville. County Budget Director David Lawing then said that the current year’s county appropriation assumed that Greeneville “would give the same amount.”

Our appropriation was based on a city match,” Lawing said.

Fitzpatrick then said, “I did not hear that,” and added, “now we really need the $5,000 to match funds from the state.”