The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department is sponsoring a Memory Magic Scrapbook event, Scrapping on the WILD Side, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Sept. 27 and 28. The event will include vendors, classes, and a large crop area.
Online registration started Aug. 19 and will continue until Sept. 22. Walk-in registration will open on Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. There is limited seating in the crop area and in each class. For a listing of classes check the website listed below. [Read more…]
One-way tickets on the Oak Ridge Transit System will increase from $1.50 to $2 on Nov. 1, and additional stops during a trip will cost an extra $1. (Submitted photo)
One-way tickets on the Oak Ridge Transit System will increase from $1.50 to $2 on Nov. 1, officials said.
Additional stops during a trip will cost an extra $1, and extra stops must be scheduled when reservations are made, a city press release said.
The Oak Ridge Transit System is a fixed-route transportation service for the city, and it is operated by East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, or ETHRA. [Read more…]
Anderson County commissioners have endorsed donating up to 2.05 acres on Emory Valley Road for an Oak Ridge sewer system holding tank.
CLINTON—Despite a few concerns about whether the tank would be an eyesore, Anderson County officials on Monday endorsed a request to give up to 2.05 acres on Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge for a sewer system holding tank.
The tank would be east of the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center, and it would be used to help Oak Ridge stop all sewer system overflows by 2015, as required by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order.
The Anderson County Commission endorsed the land donation in a voice vote Monday night. [Read more…]
Bank of America has agreed to sell this two-story brick building on Main Street in Lake City for $100,000 for a Coal Miners’ Museum and county storage space and satellite offices.
The Lake City Council on Saturday developed a plan for operating and maintaining a coal mining museum, a proposal that will be presented to the Anderson County Commission this evening, a nonprofit organization said this weekend.
The Commission will consider buying the former Bank of America building in Lake City as a home for the Coal Miners’ Museum during a meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday. [Read more…]
The City of Oak Ridge recently released a new and improved geographic information system, or GIS, website. A press release said it functions like Internet map applications such as Google Maps or Bing Maps.
The Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board for 2013-2014 is pictured above. (Submitted photo)
The Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board recently started its 22nd year with new members, the first meeting of the 2013-2014 term, and officer elections.
YAB member Kelsey Warmbrod, an Oak Ridge High School senior serving in her fifth term of office, was elected chairwoman, a press release said. In other elections, fourth-year member Shane Harris was elected vice chair, senior Abby Douglas was elected secretary, and Peter Magill was elected treasurer. [Read more…]
A duplex at this lot at 114-116 Lawton Road was demolished after an October fire, and the property could be turned over to a new Oak Ridge land bank.
A new Oak Ridge land bank could be started with $100,000, one donated lot, and eleven parcels where homes have been demolished or are being demolished.
Oak Ridge officials said the land bank program is a tool that can help the city return vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties to productive use, one of several initiatives to improve local housing.
The Oak Ridge City Council agreed in a 6-1 vote on Monday to set up the Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp., appropriate the funds and staff support required to create and start running the program, and transfer the available city-acquired properties. Council still has to approve the program on second and final reading in September. [Read more…]
Rental properties in the Manhattan District Overlay could be registered and regularly inspected under a proposal unanimously approved in the first of two readings by the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday. The rental properties are pictured in red above. (Image courtesy of Oak Ridge city staff)
The ordinance was already on the books, and on Monday, city officials agreed to expand the area where inspections of rental homes are allowed to include most of the center of the city.
The expanded residential inspection district, which had originally applied to the Highland View Redevelopment Area, could include about 1,700 rental units.
The Oak Ridge City Council unanimously endorsed the expansion during a Monday night meeting. [Read more…]
The electronic sign at Oak Ridge High School is pictured above. (Photos courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
The public debate gained notoriety in December with a dispute over an electronic sign featuring an animated Santa. After months of meetings and hours of discussions, it could be close to being resolved, although the community appears to remain divided.
On Monday night, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 4-3 to approve, in the first of two monthly votes, ordinance changes that would, among other things, prohibit videos or continuously scrolling messages on electronic signs, revisions that would presumably prevent an animated Santa.
The revised ordinance would require messages on the increasingly popular signs to be static and remain displayed for five seconds. The changes, which still have to be approved on second and final reading in September, would also govern signs used for sporting events, set maximum brightness levels, and require the displays to automatically dim through photo cell technology. [Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 6:40 a.m. Aug. 14.
The restaurant has already been punished by the state and lost thousands of dollars because of a five-day suspension of its liquor license after it sold beer to a minor in March, company representatives said.
Adding a municipal penalty would amount to double jeopardy for Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill, said Bobby Prince, the restaurant’s regional manager. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider new regulations for electronic signs, expanding the city’s residential rental inspection district, and creating the first-ever land bank in Tennessee.
Oak Ridge officials could prohibit animated electronic signs, expand the city’s residential rental inspection district to include about 1,700 homes, and officially set up an Oak Ridge Land Bank Corp. during a Monday night meeting.
The Oak Ridge City Council will also consider approving contracts with economic development consultant Ray Evans and state lobbyist Bill Nolan, and terminating the lease on the building that once housed the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic on Badger Road. Now partially empty, the split-level two-story building still houses the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, and city officials said they haven’t decided what to do with it yet.
The Monday night City Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board on Monday will have a hearing for an Oak Ridge restaurant and bar that reportedly sold beer to a minor in March.
The board agreed last month to have the show cause hearing for Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill during a meeting that starts at noon Monday. [Read more…]
