Regional Meetings Begin Next Week

Over the next few weeks TCCA will host a series of 8 regional meetings across the state. These meetings are a great time for discussion, learning and networking.  This year former Senator and former Montgomery County Commissioner Rosalind Kurita will be speaking at the meetings about an important health issue affecting all Tennessee communities.  She was recently appointed by Governor Bill Haslam as a Health Policy Advisor to spearhead an initiative to address the growing obesity problem in our state.  During the meetings, we will also hear presentations about programs and services that can save counties money, enhance economic development and improve communities. And of course, the program always includes a discussion of current and upcoming legislative issues of interest to county government. 

A number of incumbant state legislators and candidates for state office have already indicated that are coming to one or more of these meetings.  The meetings are a good opportunity to share the concerns and thoughts of county officials on the topics impacting our state. The regional meetings all start with a dinner (we begin serving at 6:30 p.m. local time), followed by presentations and discussions.
The dates and locations for the meetings are as follows:

Tuesday Sept. 4th, Jonesborough Visitors Center (Washington County)
Wednesday Sept 5th, Knoxville City County Building (Knox County)
Thursday September 6th, Leslie Town Centre (Putnam County)
Tuesday Sept. 11th, Mountain View Inn, Cleveland Tennessee (Bradley County)
Tuesday Sept 18th Paris Landing State Park (Henry County)
Thursday Sept 20th UT Ag Extension Center, Jackson TN (Madison County)
Tuesday Sept. 25th Catfish House Restaurant, Springfield TN, (Robertson County)
Thursday Sept. 27th Henry Horton State Park (Marshall County)

I hope to see you at one of these events!

Brownfield Workshops

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be hosting brownfield grant writing workshops across the state in August and September. Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. EPA plans to offer millions of dollars in Brownfields Redevelopment Grants for the upcoming year. Brownfields funding is from $200,000 to $1,000,000 to help assess and cleanup properties.

At the workshops there will be a presentation designed to empower communities and stakeholders to work together in a timely manner to assess, safely clean up, and reuse brownfields in a sustainable manner. EPA's Brownfields Program provides financial and technical assistance for brownfields revitalization, including grants for environmental assessments, cleanups, and job training. The workshop will also include a hands-on class exercise on how to write specific sections of a brownfields grant, followed up by discussion on what constitutes a winning grant proposal.

Please RSVP to Paula Larson by August 24, 2012 at Paula.Larson@tn.gov or 615-532-0926 with your name, contact information and the workshop location you’d like to attend. General information about brownfields is at www.epa.gov/brownfields

The workshop schedule is as follows:

Memphis, August 28th
Rhodes College
Paul Barret Jr Library, Room 051
2000 N Parkway
1 PM to 3:30 PM

Jackson, August 29th
Southwest Tennessee Development District Office (SWTDD)
102 East College Street
9 AM to 11:30 AM

Knoxville, September 5th
Chamber of Commerce
Markethouse Room
17 Market Square, #17
9 AM to 11:30 AM

Nashville, September 6th
Nashville Public Main Library
Conference Room 2
615 Church Street
9:30 AM to noon

Grant Assistance Programs through TDEC

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has posted information about grant assistance programs available through that agency.  These grants relate to alternative energy, energy conservation, healthy watersheds, local parks and recreation, trail development, recreation initiatives, recycling equipment, waste tire recycling and clean-up, used old recycling, brownfield assessment and clean-up, historic preservation and more.  There is an on-line document available through the state's website that provides simple summaries of the grants, overviews of the eligible projects and applications and information about deadlines all in one place.  This information can be accessed at: http://www.tn.gov/environment/grants/docs/tdec_grant_program_summary.pdf

Your community may be able to benefit from one of these programs.  I encourage you to take a look at the available opportunities and consider whether your county should pursue one of these grants.

SERDC Workshops

The Southeast Recycling Development Council is holding workshops in Tennessee on August 13th in Oak Ridge at the UT Outreach Center, August 14th in Burns at the Montgomery Bell State Park Conference Center and August 15th in Jackson at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center.  These workshops will bring together members of industry with state and local officials to discuss how recycling can play a role in job creation and economic development in Tennessee while also reducing landfill costs.

Registration for the workshops ends this Friday, August 10th.  To register for a workshop in your area, contact SERDC nat (828) 507-0123.