The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will hear a report on an audit of the costs and procedures associated with renovating the bathrooms at the Oak Ridge Marina, appoint a seven-member Charter Review Committee, and consider setting up a five-member Oak Ridge Corridor Initiative Committee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will hear a report on an audit of the costs and procedures associated with renovating the bathrooms at the Oak Ridge Marina, appoint a seven-member Charter Review Committee, and consider setting up a five-member Oak Ridge Corridor Initiative Committee.
Questions have occasionally been raised about the cost of renovating the marina bathrooms, and the City Council will hear the results of a financial audit by Coulter and Justus during the meeting tonight (Monday, October 12).
Also tonight, the City Council will appoint the seven members of a Charter Review Committee. The Charter Review Committee is called for in the City Charter.
“Every eight years beginning in July 2007, the city council shall appoint a Charter Review Committee,” the Charter says in a section titled “Periodic charter review.”
“The duty of the Committee shall be to review the Charter to ensure consistency with state law,” the Charter says.
The committee is to have seven members appointed by the City Council, and the city manager and city attorney will serve as non-voting ex officio members. The Committee is expected to submit its proposed amendments to the City Council not later than 10 months from the date of official appointment. Then, the City Council will consider the recommendations and submit amendments that the Council deems appropriate to a voter referendum.
Here are the proposed committee members, as nominated by Council members:
- Trina Baughn—Lin Phillips
- Kelly Callison—Martha Wallus
- Rick Chinn Jr.—Aaron Wells
- Warren L. Gooch—Chip Dooley
- L. Charles Hensley—Matt Bailey
- Charles J. Hope Jr.—Phil Yager
- Ellen D. Smith—Jessica Hill
Also Monday, members could establish the five-member committee that would study the economic, regional, and marketable benefits of U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander’s proposal to rename the four-lane highway from Oak Ridge to McGhee Tyson Airport as the Oak Ridge Corridor. It’s now known as Pellissippi Parkway. Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch has recommended that Council member Rick Chinn chair that committee. The group would be expected to report its findings to Council before May 31, 2016. The other four members could be appointed by Council in November or “as soon as practical.”
In proposing the Oak Ridge Corridor, Alexander is seeking a signature identity for the region similar to Silicon Valley in California and the Research Triangle in North Carolina, Gooch said.
See the City Council agenda here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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