Portions of the eastern area of Hawkins County around Mt. Carmel and Church Hill are considered part of the Kingsport urban area for stormwater management purposes. Accordingly, the State of Tennessee required the County to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to manage stormwater. Yes, we must manage rain water and snow melt once it is on the ground. The NOI was submitted and the County was issued a permit by the State. Conditions of that permit require that we take measures to manage the flow of stormwater, prevent waterway pollution, prevent illicit discharges into waterways, issue permits for construction sites, and minimize silt from migrating off the sites, as well as other measures including citizen involvement.

CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT: Citizen input and/or help is invited. You may call the stormwater manager, Vince Pisher, at 423-416-0808 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Vince will meet you at the County office or your site. You may want information about the program or to lodge a complaint. Our area of jurisdiction is limited to the designated urbanized area but we can pass information to TDEC.

Receiving and Considering Public Comments on Stormwater Projects: Stormwater plans/projects within the urbanized area are reviewed and approved by the Hawkins County Planning Commission. The Planning Commission meets the fourth Thursday of each month in the Conference Room of the E-911 building. Prior to stormwater plans being considered, the agenda will provide time for public comments. Contact the Stormwater Manager (423-416-0808) prior to the meeting to determine if such plans are on the agenda, or just show up and you will be given the opportunity to comment if such plans are being considered. Written comments may be forwarded to the County Mayor's Office ATTN: Stormwater Manager or by e-mail to " This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " for consideration. These must be received no later than the Monday before the meeting to be considered.

PLEASE REPORT ILLEGAL DUMPING: Citizens are encouraged to help by reporting illicit discharges. Illicit discharges are liquids other than rain water or snow melt getting in/or on the ground unless specifically exempted. Examples of illicit discharges are straight line septic, gray water (bathtub or washing machine drainage), or used oil/anti-freeze. Examples of exempt discharges are things like individual residential car washing, air conditioning condensate, swimming pool cleaning, or crawl space sump pump discharges. If you think it is wrong, report it and we will check. Anonymous reports are investigated.

PERMIT REQUIREMENTS: A Stormwater Permit from TDEC is required for any land disturbance, other than agriculture, of an acre or more or when less than an acre is part of a larger common plan of development that would disturb an acre or more. If the land disturbance is in the urbanized area of the County, a second permit is required to be obtained from the County. The permit(s) are to be obtained before land disturbance begins.

URBANIZED AREA: The urbanized area was specified by the State and will likely be changed when the 2010 census is completed. The area consists of a fairly high residential density outside but within approximately one mile of the corporate limits of Mt. Carmel and Church Hill. All of the areas are north of US Highway 11-W. The eastern area is bound by Kingsport and the North Fork of the Holston River and Mt. Carmel and Church Hill are on the west. The urbanized area includes Click Town, Ramey Town, Ross Campground, Hickory Hills, Lloyd’s Chapel, and Carters Valley Road down to the solid waste convenience center. Also included are the New Canton area and the unincorporated areas north of Church Hill’s boundary in the Volunteer High School area.

If you live in or near these areas, call and we will tell you whether or not your property is in the urbanized area.

E-Coli Monitoring:

Portions of Smith and Alexander Creeks have been identified by TDEC as having excessive levels of the e-coli bacteria. (view a video of E-Coli from Discovery .com This is dated from the 2010 Spinach infection outbreak) The TDEC has identified that the excessive levels are caused by agricultural activity and MS4 activity. The MS4 activity refers to being caused by human activity in the urbanized area, and in the case of e-coli is primarily associated with septic systems. We, therefore, are charged to monitor these streams to determine the likely sources of septic problems. This monitoring has begun with the portion of Smith Creek along Lloyd's Chapel Road between Cold Comfort Road and Miller Wood Road. Initially, visual assessments are taking place and we will follow up with chemical analysis of samples taken from the creek. We plan to do the same to Alexander Creek next summer. The public is asked to let us know if septic problems are suspected. Hurd Creek has also been identified as having excessive levels of e-coli but the contributing factor is identified as agriculture activity over which the stormwater program does not have jurisdiction. Therefore, monitoring of Hurd Creek will be done by the state.