Oak Ridge Today

Cinder, public works director, to retire Sept. 4

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Gary Cinder

Gary Cinder

Gary Cinder, who has been Oak Ridge public works director for 24 years and interim city manager twice, is retiring September 4.

Cinder has been in public service for 33 years. He could go to work in the private sector, possibly as a consultant.

“It’s time to try something new, something different,” Cinder told Oak Ridge City Council members on Tuesday.

Cinder was the lead staff member on locating, designing, and building the Oak Ridge Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane. That building is used by the Oak Ridge Public Works Department, Oak Ridge Electric Department, and the school bus maintenance facility, among others.

Cinder has led a major effort to ensure that Oak Ridge complies with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires the city to repair all sewer system overflows by September 28. That work is mostly complete, and the city is in good shape, Cinder said. [Read more…]

Council to consider budget on Monday, Tuesday

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They postponed a budget vote for one week, and the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday and Tuesday will resume those discussions. So far, the debate has included calls to raise the property tax rate to fund certain programs and other recommendations to keep the rate unchanged—or even lower it.

The budget will be discussed during a non-voting work session at 5 p.m. Monday, June 15, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Training Room. The Council could then vote on it in the first of two readings this month during a 7 p.m. meeting in the Municipal Building Courtroom.

Council will then discuss the budget in a second work session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, in the Multipurpose Room at the Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane. [Read more…]

Construction on ORNL FCU branch on Rutgers could start this month

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ORNL FCU Colin Anderson and Marcy Catron

Colin Anderson, ORNL Federal Credit Union senior vice president and chief financial officer, discusses the new Oak Ridge branch on South Rutgers Avenue during a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday. Also pictured is board chair Marcy Catron.

 

Construction could start this month on an ORNL Federal Credit Union branch on South Rutgers Avenue, and the building could be complete by the end of the year, officials said.

The new branch will at the same site as the original main Oak Ridge branch. The branch will move from its current location next door at the ORNL Federal Credit Union headquarters building, which is also on Rutgers Avenue.

The estimated cost of the 5,000-square-foot branch at 215 South Rutgers Avenue is $4.5 million. Some materials from the original office will be used in the new building.

“This branch represents a multi-million-dollar vote of confidence in Oak Ridge,” said acting chief executive officer Colin Anderson, ORNL FCU senior vice president and chief financial officer. [Read more…]

Guest column: Good things continue to happen in Andersonville

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Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department Fire Truck

Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department Fire Truck

 

By Theresa Scott

The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department recently had a task to complete. Assistant Fire Chief Brian Casto took a crew to Oak Ridge. Upon arrival at the City of Oak Ridge’s main building, Assistant Chief Casto was directed to the Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson’s office. It was time for the papers to be signed. The title needed to be transferred and keys handed over. Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley was there to give further verbal instructions.

While the department heads were inside signing documents and discussing the final technicalities, the crew waited outside. However, without patience, they were found opening doors to compartments, checking out gauges, wiping off the windshield, checking out the view from the driver’s seat of the big yellow fire truck. This big, yellow Quality fire truck is going into full service but in a different zip code. It will still get the same hands-on care that it always had, but now it will be with a new crew out in the country. Perhaps out in the country, but still in the same county. The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department was getting one of the surplus trucks. Most of the crew were laughing and chatting like a bunch of children on Christmas morning.  The excitement was obvious.

Thank you to the City of Oak Ridge for keeping this (as well as the one that was recently transferred to our Medford Volunteer Fire Department) in our county. It is important that we continue to pay it forward amongst ourselves as we may very well need to depend on it sometime in the future. The residents of Andersonville are very fortunate to have such caring volunteers. These men and women put their lives on the line when called to the scene of an automobile accident, a working residential or commercial property fire, or even to the water if there’s been a boating accident. [Read more…]

City proposes one-cent tax rate increase; schools’ request would add seven

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was last updated at 3:18 a.m. June 2.

The budget proposed by the Oak Ridge city staff on Monday includes a one-cent increase in the property tax rate. It would help maintain city services and allow for a 2 percent pay raise for city employees, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson told City Council members.

Meanwhile, the budget proposed by Oak Ridge Schools asks for the equivalent of a seven-cent tax increase. It would help cover a deficit and add money for salaries and staff, including a 3 percent pay raise. That budget has already been approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education.

The two requests total eight cents. They were presented to the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday.

It’s not clear yet if the seven-member City Council will agree to any increases for the city or schools. The Council will consider the budget in the first of two readings on Monday, June 8, and on second and final reading on Monday, June 15. [Read more…]

Council to consider more funding, contract for Blankenship Field parking lot

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Blankenship Field Parking Lot

The lower parking lot at Blankenship Field, which is used for football games and high school graduation.

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider increasing the amount of money to be used for parking lot work at Blankenship Field, and members will also consider awarding a contract for the project during a meeting tonight (Monday, June 1).

The City Council agreed in May 2014 to use $180,000 in traffic camera money for improvements to the lower parking lot at Blankenship Field, which is used for football games and high school graduation.

Council agreed to increase that amount to a maximum of $250,000 in July 2014, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Gary Cinder said in a May 26 memo to City Manager Mark Watson.

But the work could cost $264,791, according to a proposed contract from Rogers Group Inc. of Oak Ridge that the Council will consider tonight. [Read more…]

City, schools to present budgets to Council today

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was updated at 9:23 a.m.

The municipal and school budgets will be presented to the Oak Ridge City Council during a meeting this evening (Monday, June 1).

The municipal budget will be presented by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. The schools budget will be presented by Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. today in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue. See the agenda here.

City officials have been striving to present a budget that does not include a property tax rate increase. But it wasn’t clear as of last week if that would be possible because of a dramatic drop in sales tax revenues from the Roane County portion of the city. [Read more…]

School budget would ask city for $650K, use $1.75M from fund balance

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Oak Ridge Board of Education May 26, 2015

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a budget that would use $1.75 million from the school system’s fund balance and ask the city for about $650,000. The request for more money still has to be considered by the Oak Ridge City Council.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:12 a.m. May 27.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday approved a budget that would use $1.75 million from the school system’s fund balance and ask the city for about $650,000.

Those two actions would help Oak Ridge Schools cover a deficit of roughly $638,000 and meet a total of $1.75 million in other desired expenses, or “additional investment,” including:

  • about $1.1 million for 3 percent pay raises with benefits,
  • $484,000 for step increases based on experience, and
  • approximately $211,000 for staff, including a communications director, four technology-related positions, and a teacher’s assistant for an elementary behavioral class. The four technology-related jobs include an instructional technology coach, an applications administrator, and two technology technicians.

[Read more…]

Guest column: Council member offers summary of events related to ORPD investigation

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

By Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn

Given that there is some confusion over recent events, I offer the following summary about where we are, how we got here, and where we are headed with regards to the Oak Ridge Police Department investigation.

The ORPD has seen a total turnover rate of 45 percent in the last four years, having lost 34 of our 76 employees. Five of those individuals have departed in the last four months. Since February, all Council members have received communications from at least seven former officers, three current officers, and countless citizens expressing concerns about leadership and a potentially hostile work environment. Others have communicated anonymously citing similar concerns and attributing their anonymity to fears of retaliation.

On February 9, during a five-hour televised meeting, and in front of the largest audience any of us had ever seen, City Council formally committed to investigate the root causes behind the turnover, morale, and policy issues in the Police Department.

The resolution that was ultimately approved was brought forward by Council member Kelly Callison who stated that “We think that’s a broad, a very broad term that allows an investigator, an independent investigator to look at the issues that might be present…”  At the end of the meeting, councilmember Chuck Hope stated, “The investigation that we’ve come to an agreement among the seven of us was reached unanimously…there’s enough information that it warrants an investigation…”

During this same meeting, Council committed to ensure that the investigation would allow for the anonymity of all participants and would include both current and past employees. Mr. Callison also suggested that council select Municipal Technical Advisory Service, specifically Rex Barton, to perform the work. Council did not select MTAS at the time, but agreed to hold a special meeting to select an entity to conduct the investigation and define its parameters. Information regarding the other resolutions that Council rejected can be found here. [Read more…]

The numbers: ORPD turnover 2007-2015

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

Turnover in the Oak Ridge Police Department is one of several issues at the heart of a contentious debate over the ORPD and its chief, James T. Akagi.

But since the debate started in late January, there hasn’t been much public discussion of how the turnover rate compares, in either numbers or percentages, to the rate before Akagi started on July 1, 2011.

Information requested by Oak Ridge Today and provided by the Oak Ridge Personnel Department and Personnel Director Penny Sissom sheds some light. That data goes back more than eight years, starting in Calendar Year 2007. That’s roughly 4.5 years before Akagi started and more than 3.5 years since.

Oak Ridge Today analyzed the data by calendar year (January-December) and fiscal year (July 1-June 30). The data shows that ORPD turnover ebbs and flows from year to year, with a high of 19 and a low of one.

Oak Ridge Police Department Turnover (2007-2015)

Here are the numbers by calendar year (CY), from January to December, based on city data: [Read more…]

MTAS seeks more info on ORPD review, could charge city $50 per hour

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The University of Tennessee agency asked to review the Oak Ridge Police Department has questions about the expanded scope of the inquiry—it could now include all current employees and some former employees—and the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at UT could charge the city $50 per hour for its work on the project.

MTAS had initially proposed a free limited review of turnover, morale, and administrative policies in the Oak Ridge Police Department. That review, which would have interviewed a random sample or cross-section of ORPD employees, was approved by the Oak Ridge City Council during a March 27 special meeting.

But the City Council asked to start over after the initial list of employees to be interviewed was sent to the police chief, city manager, and all Police Department employees, raising concerns about the confidentiality and impartiality of the review.

During an April 21 special meeting, City Council agreed 5-2 to start over by asking MTAS to interview all employees and try to interview former employees who have left since Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi started on July 1, 2011. But that meant the city’s contract with MTAS, which had already started the initial review, had to be renegotiated. [Read more…]

ORPD review expanded to include all employees, some former workers

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Oak Ridge Police Department Cars

But MTAS will have to agree to changes

The review of the Oak Ridge Police Department has been expanded to include interviews with all employees. The review could also include interviews with former employees who have left the Police Department since Police Chief Jim Akagi started almost four years ago.

Initial plans had called for a limited review of the Oak Ridge Police Department and interviews of a random sample or cross-section of employees.

But the Oak Ridge City Council expanded the review during a special meeting on Tuesday. That special meeting was called after concerns were raised about the initial list of randomly selected interviewees being sent to the police chief, city manager, and all Police Department employees, which raised questions about the impartiality and confidentiality of the review.

By one estimate, the expanded review could include interviews with more than 100 people. And it’s not clear if the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee will agree to the expanded review, or if they might charge the city.

The City Council agreed to expand the review during a three-hour special meeting on Tuesday that included criticism of MTAS, accusations of collusion between Council members, and an attempt by Council member Trina Baughn to have resident Joe Lee, one of her chief critics, stop taking pictures during a public comment session. [Read more…]