Carter County Proud updates affiliation process, meet with state officials
Published 9:07 pm Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Carter County Proud has hopes soaring high as members continue to look toward the future.
The clean-up organization held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 26, at Smoke House BBQ in Elizabethton to address the upcoming plans of joining Keep Tennessee Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.
Founder Ed Jordan, who led Tuesday’s meeting, relied on Carter County commissioner Cody McQueen to provide an update on the status of joining Keep Tennessee Beautiful.
McQueen told attendees that he will be making one last push of working together with other organizations across the county, and in the City of Elizabethton, to assist moving forward.
“I’ll be communicating with each of the departments,” McQueen said.
The commissioner added that the group has received the full support of county mayor Leon Humphrey and added that if the last effort of working together with local entities does not amount to much, Carter County Proud will look at actively fundraising to help achieve the goal of joining Keep America Beautiful.
“We would have to raise around $4,000,” he said. “And from the support we’ve received from citizens and local businesses, I feel like we could accomplish that in a week.”
Jordan added the he would like to see the Elizabethton-Carter County Chamber of Commerce potentially take over the efforts of the group, adding that the goal of the current volunteers was to build up the organization to be absorbed, while the founders would help from the outside.
McQueen wasn’t the only commissioner in attendance Tuesday, with Ross Garland of the 5th District and Charles Von Cannon of the 3rd District each showing support for county group.
Tina Robinson, with the state’s Division of Water Resources based out of Johnson City, served as the guest speaker for Tuesday’s meeting, providing an update on creeks across Carter and Johnson counties.
Throughout the presentation, Robinson, along with David Hale of the Division, added that the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) has different grant funding available for farmers to assist with cattle pollution near streams, creeks and rivers. For further information on working with NRCS, individuals can contact the Johnson City Water Resources’ office, over the phone at 854-5400.
At the conclusion of the discussion, Von Cannon asked the division for assisting to help keep children out of creeks within his district, including Sinking Creek, citing health concerns like E. coli.
Von Cannon also provided an update on his recent clean up efforts, showing a pair of syringes he picked up, adding safety precautions need to be taken while working with litter pickup.
In other business, Jordan added that litter signs for the group will be provided in the coming weeks. Jordan also thanked the volunteers that assisted with the recent litter pick up Milligan Highway – the group’s highway designated by the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s “Adopt-A-Highway” program.
For more information on Carter County Proud, visit their Facebook page online.