The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation awarded their first grant check with funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP), in the amount of $7.6M to Greene County to address critical water needs.
The presentation was at the Niswonger Campus at Walters State Community College and was held to discuss the impact of the grant and present the county with the check, which will help with projects like building asset management plans for all drinking water systems, installing automated zone meters to identify and eliminate drinking water loss, replace aging and failing distribution lines to improve service and water loss, and improving reliability and water pressure.
Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison, Representative David Hawk, Senator Steve Southerland, Executive Director of First Tennessee Development District Mike Harrison, and Commissioner of TDEC David Salyers all spoke at the presentation and shared their gratitude and many thanks for the acknowledgement in issues with the drinking water in the state.
The Mayor extended his thanks to Governor Bill Lee, who was not able to attend, for his vision and for placing funds where there was a need. Morrison felt it was an honor to be in the presence of those who made the grant possible and said it’s not every day that the community gets to see a Happy Gilmore size check.
Executive Director Harrison also wanted to acknowledge Governor Lee for his vision and said it was Lee who determined that funds needed to be utilized to address and improve the quality of Tennessee’s water. He made it possible along with Mayor Morrison, and several others who helped with the plan along the way.
Harrison said it doesn’t matter what you have, if you’re trying to grow in Tennessee, you can’t grow anything without clean water. The grant allows for the installation of a 65, 000 linear feet water line, equal to about 12.5 miles. It allows installation of a new 250,000 gallon water tank. He stated the average American household uses 300 gallons of water per day, with the new water tank it would service over 800 households a day.
The presentation concluded with Commissioner Salyers, who was proud Greene County was being awarded the grant. He said it’s a major milestone for the town. Mayor Morrison gifted the commissioner with Greene County’s Challenge Coin Medallion as a thank you for his contribution and assistance in the town receiving a game-changing amount of dollars.
