The Greene County Commission worked quickly through a short agenda Tuesday evening, approving a local match for a Homeland Security grant and several other budget matters.

The meeting was held on Tuesday because the regular meeting day fell on the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a national holiday.

The commission voted unanimously to authorize funds for the county's match to a federal grant for communications equipment for the 15 volunteer fire departments that serve the county outside Greeneville.

Greeneville Fire Chief Mark Foulks applied for the grant on behalf of all of the recognized fire departments in the county. Greeneville's government is responsible for its portion of the match. (Please see accompanying article.)

According to the resolution, the 80/20 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide $342,714, and the county government will provide the $68,542 match for county VFDs outside Greeneville.

The grant will fund 15 base communication stations for firehalls, 70 mobile radios for vehicles owned by the VFDs, 207 portable radios for firefighters, and 405 pagers.

Commissioner John Cox told the Republican caucus that the upgrade is needed to comply with new "narrow band" radio regulations that go into effect in 2013. The equipment is expected to have a useful life of about 15 years.

The commission also approved a rezoning change, after suspending its rules to allow a vote on the matter, which was not on the printed agenda sent out in advance of the meeting.

County Mayor Alan Broyles explained that the resolution for rezoning, which had been approved by the Greene County Planning Commission on Dec. 9, did not arrive in his office until after the packet including the agenda had been mailed earlier in the day.

Commissioners were mailed the resolution for rezoning separately, and Broyles said a required legal notice about the proposed rezoning was published in The Greeneville Sun.

The request was from George and Kathy Tempest, who asked that property they own fronting on Sipes Lane in downtown Mohawk be rezoned from A-1 general agriculture to B-2, which permits general business uses.

It was stated in the Republican caucus that the Tempests plan to operate an automobile restoration business.

Mayor Broyles said no opposition was voiced when the matter went before the planning commission. No one asked to speak either for or against the rezoning at Tuesday's meeting.

In other action, the commission voted unanimously to set a speed limit of 45 miles per hour on John Graham Road, between Ottway Road and Lonesome Pine trail, a distance of 4.36 miles.

Three other road-related matters were pulled from the agenda, because they had not already been reviewed by the County Commission Road Committee.

Most members of the Road Committee were present for a hastily-called meeting just before the commission meeting.

County Road Superintendent David Weems said the three resolutions deal with roads in River Plantation subdivision that have been built to county standards, which means that the roads were inspected and approved at key construction stages. Weems said the county will have little choice but to accept them.

However, Commissioner Kevin Morrison said county officials need to avoid the appearance of favoritism, so the Road Committee should review the requests at its normal meeting time.

The commission also approved a resolution to enable the county school system to accept and use a $499,100 Distance Learning Telemedicine Grant from Rural Utilities Services.

According to the resolution, the Hawkins County school system is providing $33,000 for their part of the local match, and the TRW manufacturing facility in Rogersville is providing an additional $1,000.

The grant will allow both school systems to implement distance-learning equipment that will allow classes in medical topics taught in other locations to be offered here, with teachers and students interacting electronically.

The resolution was recommended by the Greene County Board of Education and had been approved by the commission's Education Committee.

Without discussion, approval was unanimous.

Also, a resolution dealing with reimbursements to three county departments was approved unanimously, with no discussion.

The resolution allows Greene County/Greeneville Emergency Medical Services to accept a $3,491 reimbursement from an ambulance accident, and lets the county's Hazmat team accept a $942 reimbursement for protective gear that had to be destroyed after use.