The Tusculum Board of Mayor and Commissioners voted Monday to make repairs to Ball Road, working with the Greene County Highway Department.

The board also voted to authorize the mayor to pay expenses related to the town's attempt to secure sewer service for Tusculum.

Mayor Robert Foster noted that the town repaired Ball Road near where it crosses the Norfolk Southern railroad last year. At that time, he said the town asked the Tennessee Department of Transportation "to take a hard look" at more long-term repairs.

Foster said TDOT's estimate of costs to repair the road by the bridge came to $681,000, which is more than the town can afford.

"We'll keep patching," he said, though he later also said, "I hate to keep pouring money down a rathole." He said the edge of the pavement had sunk down about six inches below the rest of the surface, for a length of 30 to 40 feet.

The road was built with state industrial infrastructure funds in 1970, Foster said, to facilitate the location of what was then the Ball Zinc factory.

Foster said the main problem is that the base upon which fill material is built apparently is not as wide as it should have been. Engineers say this allows material at the edges to slide down, he said.

Over the years, Foster said, Tusculum has spent more than $100,000 on the bridge approach. "It's about busted the bank for us," he said.

The primary purpose of the road was to serve the local manufacturing plant, now called Jarden.

In addition to traffic to the plant and "10 or 15" residences, the road is used by 50 to 75 trucks carrying garbage to and from the Greeneville-Greene County landfill and transfer station.

Truck traffic continues to cause the fill under the road near the bridge to settle. "It's a serious problem," he said.

Earlier Monday, the Greene County Commission approved letting the county Highway Department work with Tusculum.

On Tuesday, county Highway Department crews made the repair, said county Road Superintendent David Weems.

He said it only took one load of asphalt to seal the cracks and level the road where it had settled, but the fix was only a repair.

Weems said he asked crews to move quickly to keep more rain from getting into the crack and under the road, which would make the problem worse.

State law requires the Tusculum municipality to reimburse the county government for labor and materials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency rate. In the past, Weems has said this arrangement works out well for his department, by providing additional working money that can be used for other purposes. Hiring the county is also cheaper for Tusculum than hiring a paving contractor.

Mayor Foster also asked the board to approve Tusculum's expenses related to recent unsuccessful efforts to secure sewer service from Greeneville.

The mayor said he did not have any bills yet, but some legal expenses were involved, as well as some engineering work specifically related to a grant application that Tusculum was approved for, but ultimately had to turn down.

The mayor noted that a statewide governmental newspaper recently reported that of all the stimulus-related loans and grants that were in the pipeline last year, "only 11 places" across Tennessee actually "stuck with it" and were funded.

"That shows we were in line to get that grant," Foster said, "but it was never put on the agenda to be voted on by Greeneville." As a result, "We walked away from $1.8 million. Granted, the sewer rates would have been high," Foster said, if Tusculum's proposal to Greeneville had gone through.

Approval was granted on a motion by Mark Easterly. Commissioner Alan Corley said that, if the bills come in higher than Foster expects, "We'd like to know."

Mayor Foster reported that Tusculum's new diesel Ford F-150 utility truck has had its bed installed, as well as a new snow plow hitch and electrical work related to the salt spreader done.

The board opened the single bid that came in on a 1994 Ford F-150 truck that Tusculum is selling because the truck has "a bad engine" with an exhaust manifold crack that has caused other problems. The bid was below the $2,000 reserve minumum, and was rejected. Mayor Foster said the town will have to seek bids again on the surplus truck.

Recorder Eva Sams reported that Tusculum got word last week that the Tennessee Department of Transportation has let the bid for 438 new street signs for Tusculum.

The bid was "close to $16,000," Sams said. The signs will be paid for by a grant the town applied for some time ago.

Sams said the signs meet the new state standard for reflectorization and size, and posts are included.

She said Tusculum will be one of the first municipalities in the state to have street and traffic signs that meet the new state standards.