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ELIZABETHTON â With less than two months left until the new fiscal year begins, the various departments of the Carter County government are making final transfers of funds in this yearâs budget. Besides the normal adjustments made at the end of the year, departments are also making adjustments for the unprecedented impacts on the budget brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Budget Committee of the Carter County Commission heard several requests for budget adjustments during its monthly meeting on Monday night. Several of the adjustment requests came from the Carter County Sheriffâs Department, which saw several impacts in its jail operations as a result of the pandemic.
Donation of 28 acres accepted to add to trail
ELIZABETHTON â By a 21-2 vote, the Carter County Commission voted Thursday to accept a donation of 28 acres of land between Valley Forge and Hampton that could extend the Tweetsie Trail by 4.5 miles and provide connections with the Hampton Springs Watershed Mountain Bicycle Trail and Green Bridge Park in Hampton.
The property being donated is the route by which the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad used to operate a narrow gauge rail line between Valley Forge and Hampton. It extends from Mill Pond in Valley Forge to Railroad Street in the Rittertown Road area of Hampton. The donation also includes a tunnel that is in good shape and a bridge over the Doe River that is unsafe.
ELIZABETHTON â The Carter County Commissionâs Budget Committee began the annual process of developing a county budget for the next fiscal year during its meeting on Monday night.
The process started with the annual review of requests from the various independent and outside agencies that receive donations from the commission.
Several agencies requested increases this year, bringing the total request this year to $1,254,367. That is a $225,026 increase over this yearâs contributions from the commission, which was $1,030,341.
The biggest increase is from the Elizabethton Fire Department. This year, the professional department is submitting the same request that each of the seven volunteer fire departments had made this year. Each department is requesting $65,000. Last year, the county donated $5,000 to the city department, so the requested increase by Elizabethton is for $60,000.
ELIZABETHTON â The popular Tweetsie Trail could possibly have its length extended by 50%, with a connection to a growing mountain bike trail section.
That was the possibility being considered by the Carter County Commissionâs Building and Grounds Committee on Tuesday evening. The committee voted unanimously to recommend to the full County Commission that a donation of approximately 28 acres of land between Valley Forge and Hampton be accepted by the county. The land is on property that formerly was used for the narrow gauge tracks of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad.
The donation has already been studied by the Carter County Parks and Recreation Board. Chairman Ken Gough said the land could be used to extend the Tweetsie Trail from its current end at Hatcher Lane along State Line Road. He said some stretches of highways and streets would be needed for part of the trail extension, but the land could be used to build a trail from the end of Mill Pond R