After considerable discussion Thursday, the Greene County Commission's Budget & Finance Committee voted to recommend appropriating $600 to maintain six proposed local Civil War Trails signs for a year.

With County Mayor Alan Broyles breaking the tie, the budget committee voted 3 to 2 to provide the money from the General Fund undesignated balance on a one-time basis.

Tammy Kinser, tourism director for the Greene County Partnership, said the county's funds would be used to provide half of the maintenance agreement on six signs to be placed at Civil War Trails sites in Greeneville and Greene County.

She said the Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen will also be asked for $600.

Kinser said the six Civil War Trail sites identified by a local committee are:

* near the location of the Tennesseee Historical Commission marker on U.S. 11E commemorating the 1863 Battle of Blue Springs, near present-day Mosheim;

* the site of the death of famed Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan behind what is today the General Morgan Inn;

* the Dickson-Williams Mansion, where Gen. Morgan spent his last night of life before being killed here by Union troops on Sept. 4, 1864;

* the "Old College" at Tusculum College, the 1841 academic building which is now the site of the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library;

* Pottertown Road and the historic Harmon Cemetery, where three of the six Civil War "bridge-burners" are buried; and

* the former Greeneville railroad depot, where historians believe one or two bridge-burners were hanged by Union military forces.

Kinser said each marker will cost $1,100. Local historian Dr. Robert Orr spoke to the County Commission last month about the tourism potential of identifying the Civil War sites here.

But because of a miscommunication on arrangements, Kinser was not called on to speak at that time.

Kinser said each sign will be "funded by the site" or by an organization with a connection to the site. She said she will be "looking for funding" from the Town of Mosheim and Tusculum College.

She said buying the signs and agreeing to provide maintenance will result in membership in the Civil War Trails program, which will provide marketing directed to Civil War enthusiasts through a printed brochure and map, and an Internet site.

She told the committee that the site received 28,000 requests for trail guides in the first quarter of this year in Virginia alone. She said Tennessee has the second largest number of Civil War sites, after Virginia.

Commissioner John Cox, who later voted against the funding, asked if the county's contribution could come out of the portion of the county hotel/motel tax allocated for tourism.

Budget Director David Lawing said that money, roughly $89,000 last year, already goes to the Greene County Partnership. Changing the allocation would require a two-thirds vote of the commission, Lawing said.

Commissioner Hilton Seay, who voted for the funding at the meeting, said the county can surely afford $600 for the first year. He said that, if the signs are effective in bringing in tourism, sales tax revenues will rise and more than make up the cost of the maintenance.

County Mayor Roger Woolsey said he has had occasion to travel with his family to Jonesboro, Ga., near Atlanta, for youth baseball tournaments.

He said that town provided brochures to team parents identifying theatres, restaurants, and Civil War sites. He pointed out that sports tournaments have "a lot of down time" that families try to fill with activities.

Woolsey said he believes this community has "an untapped resource" in Civil War tourism that is worth promoting, as an adjunct to tournaments. Commissioner Phil King agreed.

Cox agreed, and went further. "We give the Battle of Blue Springs little or nothing," Cox said, yet the Civil War re-enactment each October brings attention and visitors to the county.

Cox said the commission needs to consider giving "$3,000 or $4,000" to the battle reenactment committee, so that the money could be used to stage events that could provide more for people to do and see.

Mayor Broyles seemed to agree.

However, Cox said he believes the municipalities also need to contribute. He said he could support $150 toward maintenance if Baileyton, Mosheim and Tusculum also contribute $150.

Commissioner Bill Dabbs agreed.

After discussion, Seay's motion to approve the request was seconded by King but opposed by Cox and Dabbs. Mayor Broyles broke the tie, voting in favor of providing $600 for this year.

The committee also approved resolutions that, if approved by the commission, would provide "surety bonds" required by state law for various elected officials.

The resolutions provide $6,500 bonds for Constables William D. Parton and Wayne Kelton, $6,000 bonds for Road District Commissioners Harold Smith, Charles Hopson and Billy Darnell, and a $10,000 bond for Assessor of Property Ralph Bowers.

Woolsey said the county has traditionally paid for the bonds for constables and others. The bonds were approved unanimously in a single vote.

The committee also approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for a "fast track" state infrastructure grant on behalf of the Old Knoxville Highway Utility District.

If approved, the grant money would be used for a new water line to serve John Deere Power Products Inc.

If it is approved, the $365,400 grant would require a $54,600 "match" from the utility itself. Mayor Broyles pointed out that no county funds would be involved.

The committee also approved an interbudgetary transfer for the Rabies and Animal Control Department, moving $1,050 from the equipment line item into the training line item.

Mayor Broyles said Animal Control Director Eddie Key learned after the budget was submitted that state-mandated training is required for workers who euthanize animals.

Broyles said Key is hopeful that the training costs can be reimbursed by a grant. If that happens, Broyles said, money in the equipment line item can be transferred back to the equipment line item and used to buy a tranquilizer gun, as originally planned.