The Greene County Commission's Budget & Finance Committee spent more than an hour Tuesday morning debating the need to allocate funding to Kinser Park.

Bob Schubel, chairman of the Kinser Park Commission, and Johnny Gregg, Kinser Park manager, addressed the committee with a request for a $30,000 allocation from the county's budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

After discussing operations of the park in detail, particularly the seasonal campsites, the committee delayed action to allow more time for study.

The committee also heard several other funding requests on Tuesday. (Please see accompanying article on Page A-1.)

County Budget Director David Lawing said a $30,000 allocation to Kinser Park would include $10,000 from the hotel-motel tax to be used for capital expenses, and $20,000 from the county's general fund to be used for operational expenses.

Committee member Hilton Seay asked Schubel and Gregg if Kinser Park should be funded by local taxpayers through the county budget or by users of the park through an increase in the fees for seasonal campsites.

Schubel responded by asking how taxpayer funding for Kinser Park is different from school funding from taxpayers who don't have children.

The use of Kinser Park's seasonal campsites has been the center of recent controversy about county funding for the park.

In response to this controversy, a group of seasonal campers has stressed the need for county funding in a letter distributed to several county and Kinser Park officials and received by The Greeneville Sun on Tuesday afternoon.

(Details of the letter will appear in the Thursday edition of The Greeneville Sun.)

The letter was not mentioned in the Budget & Finance Committee meeting.

Committee members reminded Schubel that $30,000 was allocated last year with an agreement that new campsites would be developed, which has not taken place.

Schubel told the committee that the Kinser Park Commission is developing rules and regulations for operation of the campsites before new ones are developed.

He also said the commission has sought estimates on developing new campsites from the National Park Service, Tennessee State Park representatives and operators of private campgrounds.

Another reason for the delay has been debate over whether to develop the new campsites in greenspace near the swimming pool or in a wooded area near the boat dock, which would be more costly for excavation, Schubel said.

"These are all factors that we are looking at," he told the committee.

Committee member Bill Dabbs spoke about the need to increase the yearly fee for seasonal camping from $750.

Dabbs said he recently asked several seasonal campers if they would be willing to pay $1,000 a season, and he said they agreed to such an increase if they could have cable television service at their campsites.

Seay said he had received phone calls from owners of private campgrounds who questioned the need for taxpayer funding for Kinser Park.

"We've got private campgrounds out here operating for a profit," Seay said, noting that one campground charges $150 a month for year-round camping.

Manager Gregg said comparing the non-profit Kinser Park to private campgrounds is like comparing apples to oranges.

Committee member John Cox said non-profit means "break-even."

Seay asked if Kinser Park could offer year-round camping rather than closing its campground in the winter. Schubel replied that the park was built to be a seasonal facility.

He said the original developers of the park did not have the funding to plan for heated bathhouses or deeply buried water lines that would not freeze in the winter.

Budget Director Lawing recommended developing new sites as year-round sites and converting some of the existing seasonal campsites into needed weekend campsites.

Schubel also noted that seasonal campers have donated much labor to make electrical and other upgrades to the park because "We (the Kinser Park Commission) didn't have the funds."

Last year, the county government allocated $20,000 for Kinser Park, as it had in many previous years, with an additional $10,000 earmarked for capital improvements.

Greeneville's government normally matches the county's allocation to Kinser Park.

Cox recommended having the county government setting aside $30,000 for the park, but not releasing it until a comprehensive plan for new campsites is completed and progress begins.

Seay said he was not in favor of placing stipulations on the funds.

Dabbs recommended the allocation and said progress during this year should be strongly considered before next year's allocation is approved.

Greene County Mayor Alan Broyles asked if the $30,000 is approved, can Kinser Park address its concerns and return to the committee with a report on progress.

Schubel responded that the report could be given "in fairly short order."