Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Council asked to extend, or terminate, red-light camera contract

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Red-light Camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider terminating a five-year contract for traffic enforcement cameras—or extending it for two years.

Note: This story was last updated at 3:25 p.m.

For some people, traffic cameras in Oak Ridge have been an irritant since they were installed, a detriment to visitors and businesses, an undesirable surveillance tool, and an unwelcome outsourcing of a police function.

But for others, the four systems erected on busy roadways in April 2009 have helped slow down traffic, reduced car crashes, and provided extra revenues to the city, including for community safety projects.

On Monday night, the seven members of the Oak Ridge City Council will have to take a side. They have been presented two options: extend the contract with camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz.—or terminate it.

If Council continues the program, the five-year contract with Redflex could be extended for two years, through April 21, 2016. If members end it, they have been asked to consider installing a traffic signal on Oak Ridge Turnpike at Oak Ridge High School. The stoplight could cost between $150,000 to $200,000, and it would have to be approved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. [Read more…]

Crashes, vehicle speeds down near red-light cameras, reports say

Posted at
By 47 Comments

Red-light Camera at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue

The largest crash reduction near red-light cameras occurred near the system at Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue/Lafayette Drive.

There has been an overall decrease in the number of car crashes near red-light camera systems installed at four locations in Oak Ridge five years ago, and vehicle speeds have dropped near two schools, officials said.

Council members had requested information about crash frequency and history as the controversial five-year red-light camera contract, approved in August 2008, comes up for renewal in April. The crash information, as well as data on vehicle speeds, is included in the agenda packet for a Monday night Oak Ridge City Council work session.

The information said the largest crash reduction occurred at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive/New York Avenue. Accidents there fell from 86 to 58, or roughly 33 percent, and injuries fell from 25 to 13, about a 50 percent reduction.

The totals compared the number of crashes from one four-year period starting March 2005 and ending March 2009, and a second period starting April 2009 and ending in November 2013, or a little more than four years. [Read more…]

Blankenship bleacher project could cost $550,000; funding not clear

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday will consider whether to demolish the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field.

Demolition work has started at the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field, which are pictured above in January. Replacing them could cost $375,00 with another $175,000 requested for related projects.

It could cost a total of $550,000 to replace the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field and complete related projects ranging from repairing the Wildcat Crossing stairs on the home side of the field to replacing the retaining wall and removing trees behind the visitor bleachers.

Demolition work on the deteriorated bleachers has already started. The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved that project in January.

It could cost about $375,000 to replace just the bleachers, said Allen Thacker, maintenance and operations supervisor for Oak Ridge Schools. And the seating capacity would be reduced from 3,400 seats to 2,000.

But it’s not clear yet who will pay for the replacements or supply the extra $175,000 for related projects, which also include replacing stairs and sidewalks at the visitor restrooms. [Read more…]

City, school officials endorse resolution of sales tax, high school debt dispute

Posted at
By 12 Comments

Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education

A proposal to resolve a dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt had majority support during a non-voting joint work session of Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education on Friday.

Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m.

It hasn’t been approved yet, but a majority of city and school officials on Friday said they support a proposal that would resolve a long-running dispute over whether to use some sales tax revenues collected in Anderson County to help pay for renovations of Oak Ridge High School.

The dispute has centered on how to use a portion of new sales tax revenues collected in Anderson County outside of Oak Ridge under a May 2006 referendum. School officials had argued they could keep that portion of the revenues, but municipal leaders had said the money should be used to help pay down the debt on the $66 million renovation of the high school.

The amount of money in question is in the range of $250,000 to $300,000 annually, although the total varies from year to year. [Read more…]

City, schools could resolve high school debt, discuss Blankenship bleachers

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Oak Ridge High School

Municipal and school officials could resolve a long-running dispute over sales tax revenues and how they should be used to repay the debt on the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School, pictured above.

Oak Ridge municipal and school officials could resolve a long-running dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt payments, and they will discuss a proposed resolution during a joint work session Friday.

The non-voting work session will include the Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education. Also on the agenda is an update on the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field, which are being demolished. It’s not clear yet how replacement bleachers will be funded.

The meeting starts at noon Friday in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Training Room.

The sales tax dispute has centered on how to spend new revenues collected in Anderson County, but outside Oak Ridge, under a sales tax increase approved by county voters in a May 2006 referendum. School officials had argued they can keep that money, but municipal officials had said the revenues should be used for debt payments on the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School. [Read more…]

New ORPD hardware, software package to allow officers to issue electronic citations

Posted at
By 7 Comments

Oak Ridge Police Department and Spillman Technologies

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi, left, explains a new hardware and software suite that the City Council agreed to buy for the police department on Monday.

Note: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m.

A new roughly $500,000 hardware and software suite purchased for the Oak Ridge Police Department includes an electronic citation system that will allow officers to scan driver’s licenses with handheld units and quickly issue multiple citations.

The new system will save time because it will, among other things, automatically download information from the electronic tickets, including into the court system, officials said.

“It’s a lot quicker, a lot more effective,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said during a January work session with the City Council.

Officials said the ability to issue tickets quicker could produce more revenue for the city and more effective law enforcement. They said it will also eliminate some problems with the current system, such as messy handwriting on paper tickets and the need to duplicate data entry in the police department and then again in the court system. [Read more…]

Second and final state approval granted for Oak Ridge Mall redevelopment

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Mall Concept Plan Featured

The site plan for the redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall shows a multi-use, town center development with retail, office, hotel, and residential properties. (Submitted image)

The two state approvals required for the $13 million tax financing agreement for the proposed redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall have now been granted.

Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson notified mall redevelopment representatives of his approval in a Feb. 5 letter.

Earlier, in January, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development notified project representatives that it had approved the proposed tax increment financing, or TIF, but would not issue a separate letter.

Under Tennessee law, the comptroller and ECD both had to approve the TIF after considering whether its use is in the state’s best interest. The comptroller said it was in the Feb. 5 letter.

ECD approval was granted in a different manner. In a January e-mail, ECD General Counsel Sharon Kolb said the department had received the request for a “best interest” determination for the Oak Ridge Mall on Dec. 19. Since the department did not approve or deny the request within 30 days, it was deemed approved under the Tax Increment Financing Act, Kolb said. [Read more…]

State comptroller approves $13 million agreement for Oak Ridge Mall

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Oak Ridge Mall

The Tennessee Comptroller has approved the use of a $13 million tax financing agreement that could be used for the $85 million redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall. The L-shaped mall is pictured at center above.

The Tennessee Comptroller has approved a $13 million tax financing agreement that could be used for the $85 million redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall.

The approval was announced in a Wednesday letter from Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson to Nashville law firm Bradley, Arant, Boult, and Cummings, which is working with Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina company that wants to redevelop the mostly empty mall.

The 20-year tax increment financing, or TIF, agreement, would use new property tax revenues generated at the 59-acre site to help pay for development costs, possibly including tearing down the existing space between the two remaining anchor stores, JCPenney and Belk, as well as for replacing aging infrastructure and building new roads. [Read more…]

City manager staying in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By 3 Comments

Mark Watson, Tom Beehan, and Ken Krushenski

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson is pictured at center above. Also pictured are Mayor Tom Beehan, left, and City Attorney Ken Krushenski.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson will not be moving to Texas for a job in Pearland, near Houston.

In December, Pearland officials said Watson was one of four finalists who could replace the city’s former manager, Bill Eisen, who retired at the end of December after 12 years.

But Watson—who was in Pearland for interviews, tours, and staff briefings this past weekend—told Oak Ridge City Council members at the beginning of a Monday night work session that he is staying in the Secret City.

He said the Pearland City Council could select a new city manager during a Monday night meeting, and members could pick Clay Pearson of Novi, Mich. Watson said the competition was tough. [Read more…]

New SRO approved at Oak Ridge Schools, could start Monday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge City Council

The Oak Ridge City Council voted 5-1 on Monday to approve a move that allows another school resource officer, or SRO, to be added to Oak Ridge Schools.

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 14.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a move on Monday that will add a second school resource officer in the city’s schools, and the new SRO could start Monday.

The new SRO is Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Michael Swigert. The current SRO is Officer Sherrill Selby.

It’s not as big a step as some officials had proposed during the past few years. There have been various proposals to have a total of three SROs, including one at each of the city’s two middle schools, or even more, perhaps one SRO at each school. The discussions seemed to gain urgency after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, but funding has been an obstacle. [Read more…]

City move could add another police officer to Oak Ridge Schools

Posted at
By 5 Comments

Oak Ridge High School

The number of reported crimes is down at Oak Ridge High School since police officers were given office space there in August, and a move recommended by city administrators could add another school resource officer in the Oak Ridge school system.

The number of reported crimes is down at Oak Ridge High School since police officers were given office space there in August, and a move recommended by city administrators could add another school resource officer in the Oak Ridge school system.

It’s part of a program to improve student safety and use law enforcement to reduce unacceptable student behaviors, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson and Police Chief Jim Akagi said.

Oak Ridge Schools now have one school resource officer, or SRO. There have been discussions about adding more officers, especially since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, but funding has been an obstacle.

On Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council will consider a resolution that would allow the Oak Ridge Police Department to hire an extra police officer, exceeding its authorized personnel staffing levels, in order to assign an existing police officer as an SRO. There have been proposals to add more—in December, City Council member Trina Baughn proposed one at each of the city’s two middle schools—but Watson and Akagi are recommending one additional officer now. [Read more…]

Watson one of four finalists for Texas job; decision possible in late January

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson is one of four finalists for a similar job in one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas, and officials there could hire someone near the end of January, an official said Monday.

Jon Branson, one of two assistant city managers in Pearland, Texas, said the City Council is tentatively scheduled to conduct some final interviews on or around Jan. 25, and officials hope to have a decision shortly afterward.

Pearland’s current city manager, Bill Eisen, is retiring at the end of the month after 12 years. Branson will be the interim city manager starting Jan. 1, and he will serve until the Pearland City Council hires a new city manager. [Read more…]