The Washington County Commission passed several resolutions and received project updates from the Washington County Health Department and the Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District during its regular February meeting on Wednesday.
Health Department
Director Katie McClellan shared an update about the department’s achievements since July 2025.
“One of the things we have been focusing on is increasing our capacity for services,” she said. “We know Washington County is ever-growing, and we want to see how we can increase our capacity to provide more access to individuals in our county.”
A focus for the department has been increasing the number of patients who use its primary care and family planning services. To do so, they have increased staffing, including a registered nurse, LPN and a medical assistant. A full-time dentist has also joined the department and provided care during more than 600 patient visits from August 2025 to January 2026.
McClellan said the department has also been actively utilizing telehealth services to provide care to patients who lack access to transportation. The use of those services has increased 152% over the previous fiscal year. The department also offers mental health services via a partnership with Frontier Health.
Soil and Water Conservation District
The panel also heard program updates from Houston Ward, district technician, with the Soil and Water Conservation District.
“These programs grant us opportunities to work with landowners to address natural resource concerns, animal health, soil health, water quality and, in some cases, air quality,” Ward said.
He also reported that the district has completed its $6.5 million Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) project that was initiated following the floods brought to the region by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. The primary goal of the EWP is to provide technical and financial assistance to help communities recover from natural disasters that impair a watershed.
“This program allowed us to work with the mayor’s office and the highway department office to armor and protect the roadways of Washington County that were destroyed or removed during Hurricane Helene,” Ward said.
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In other business, the Washington County Commission:
- Approved the expenditure of up to $350,000 for water line projects through the Johnson City Water Department in certain unincorporated areas of the county.
- Approved the increase of IEM’s Helene consulting contract from $950,000 to $1.5 million via a portion of $3.725 million Governor's Response and Recovery Fund grant.
- Approved the renewal of a lease agreement between Washington College Ruritan Club, Inc. and the county for a convenience center to collect garbage and waste disposed of by citizens.
- Approved the appointments of Todd Stone and Stephanie Roark to the Agricultural Extension Committee, with terms ending in February 2028.
Budget Process
Prior to the regular session, the commission gathered for a special called session to discuss budget priorities for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Mayor Joe Grandy explained that this would be the first of several opportunities the full panel will have to weigh in on the budget before it is finalized.
“At this time, you can give the budget committee direction on what you would like to see in the budget this year,” Grandy said.
Officeholders and department heads will be submitting their next fiscal year budgets for review in the coming weeks; they will then have an opportunity to explain their requests to the commission.
The Washington County Budget Committee is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, March 11, at 9 a.m. in the first-floor conference room at the Historic Courthouse.
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The next regular meeting of the Washington County Commission is scheduled for Monday, March 23, at 6 p.m. in Courtroom 7 of the George P. Jaynes Justice Center, located at 108 W. Jackson Blvd. in Jonesborough.
The panel will also meet in a special called session on Wednesday, March 4, at 5 p.m. The location will be announced in the coming days.
The meetings are streamed on the county’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@WashingtonCountyTNGovernment.
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