Oak Ridge Today

Main Street Oak Ridge site plan to be considered Aug. 6

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Oak Ridge Mall

A site plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, the $80 million redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, which is pictured above, will be considered by city officials on Thursday, August 6, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A site plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, the $80 million redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, will be considered by city officials next week.

The site plan was submitted on Monday, June 29. It’s one of several steps that have been recently announced on the eagerly anticipated 60-acre redevelopment. Other steps include pre-demolition activities and bid reviews, and roughly $500,000 worth of pledges from six local employers to help cover public infrastructure costs.

The City of Oak Ridge has also received and is considering a preliminary subdivision plat that details construction plans for East and West Main Street and Wilson Street, which are private roads but could become public streets. [Read more…]

Pay raises, new money for schools in jeopardy

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Anderson County Teachers at County Commission

Roughly three-quarters of those attending the budget deliberations at Anderson County Commission on Monday, July 20, 2015, wore red—”Red for Public Ed.” Teachers thought they could be getting a 2 percent pay raise, but after a special Thursday night meeting to adopt the new tax rate, it’s not clear if that will still happen. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated with a poll at 10 a.m. July 31.

CLINTON—Pay raises for county employees and educators and new money for three school systems, including Oak Ridge’s, are in jeopardy after the Anderson County Commission rejected a property tax rate increase on Thursday.

A 10-cent rate hike had been anticipated in a budget approved by the Anderson County Commission in a 9-5-1 vote on Monday, July 20.

But the Commission failed to adopt the new higher tax rate during a follow-up meeting on Thursday, July 30. Commissioners rejected the higher rate in an 8-5 vote. Nine votes were needed for passage.

The higher tax rate was expected to help fund 2 percent pay raises for Anderson County Schools teachers and staff and county employees. It was also expected to generate another $423,000 in funding for Oak Ridge Schools and $134,000 for Clinton Schools. [Read more…]

Photos: Oak Ridge Velo Classic bike races, bike rodeo

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Oak Ridge Velo Classic Men Pro/I Race 2015

Organizers of the annual Oak Ridge Velo Classic describe the criterium races as being like NASCAR on bikes. Above is the Men Pro/I race on Sunday, July 26, 2015, at Horizon Center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A bicycle racing event in Oak Ridge this past weekend (July 25 and 26) featured three types of races, a Family Wellness Festival, and a Kids Bike Rodeo. It was the URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) Oak Ridge Velo Classic.

There were three types of races that included 13 categories of competitors. Road races and time trials were staged from the parking area of the East Tennessee Technology Park on Saturday, July 25, and the criterium races were held at the Horizon Center on Sunday. This year’s criterium races—which are very much like “NASCAR on bikes”—were designated the state championships by the Tennessee Bicycle Racing Association.

The race promoters expected almost 400 competitors for the two-day event. Riders came from as far away as Florida and Ohio.

The Velo Classic also featured a Family Wellness Festival at the Horizon Center that kicked off with a noncompetitive Family Fun Ride on Sunday morning. The Wellness Festival included a Kids Bike Rodeo. [Read more…]

City Council to consider tax rate on second, final reading on Monday

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council raised the trash pickup fee by $3.50 during a special budget meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, and the Council set aside an extra $260,000 for capital projects such as buildings and schools. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will have a second and final meeting on Monday, August 3, to adopt the new property tax rate of $2.52.

The previous tax rate had been $2.39 per $100 of assessed value, so the new rate is 13 cents higher than the old one.

The new tax-neutral rate provided by Tennessee officials went up because overall property assessments went down in Anderson and Roane counties in the five-year reappraisals completed this year. Since property assessments went down in those two counties, the tax-neutral rate went up in the counties and cities within them, including Clinton, Norris, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top.

Oak Ridge is the only one of those seven governments that, as of now, does not plan to increase its property tax rate beyond the tax-neutral rate. With the help of some last-minute changes, Oak Ridge officials were able to balance the budget in a way that doesn’t require a local increase in the property tax rate. And the budget still proposes 2 percent pay raises for municipal workers and Oak Ridge Schools teachers and staff. [Read more…]

Dryer fire injures none, Briceville fire under investigation

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Sulphur Springs Road Fire

A Sunday morning fire on Sulphur Springs Road in Anderson County injured no one but caused significant damage to the roof and laundry room of a home, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

ANDERSON COUNTY—A Sunday morning fire on Sulphur Springs Road injured no one but caused significant damage to the roof and laundry room of the home.

The house was fully engulfed in flames when Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived on the scene shortly after 10 a.m., and the blaze was extinguished by crews from the Marlow and Medford volunteer fire departments.

Homeowner Buster Phillips told authorities that he had heard a loud pop come from the laundry room. When he went to investigate, Phillips said, he saw a large fire behind the dryer. He and the other occupant of the house made it out safely.

It was apparently the home of Office on Aging Executive Director Cherie Phillips. WYSH reported on Wednesday that Cherie Phillips lost her home to a fire on Sunday morning, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family. [Read more…]

Marczak picked as schools director in Maury County

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

Note: This story was last updated at 10:50 a.m.

Oak Ridge Schools Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak has been selected as director of schools in Maury County.

The Maury County School Board voted unanimously to hire Marczak, the Columbia Daily Herald reported Wednesday night. Marczak was the final candidate of the seven interviewed by the school board over a three-day period. Marczak was interviewed Wednesday.

Nine out of 11 board members chose him as their top candidate, board member Wayne Lindsey told the newspaper, which is based in Columbia, Tennessee, south of Nashville.

“I hate to go, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity,” Marczak said in a telephone interview on Thursday morning. “This has been my home for two years, and I’ve loved it.”
[Read more…]

New tax revenues plus cuts will fund pay raises in Anderson schools

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Rachel Minardo at Anderson County Commission

Rachel Minardo, president of the Anderson County Education Association, had advocated for a 4 percent pay raise for county school teachers and staff. Above, she talks to the 16-member Anderson County Commission in Clinton on Monday, July 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—New tax revenues of about $700,000 plus about $100,000 in cuts will allow Anderson County Schools to fund 2 percent pay raises for teachers and staff, the county budget director said Wednesday.

The Anderson County Commission approved a 10-cent increase in the property tax rate on Monday, July 20, and eight cents of that was for schools. Anderson County Schools will get about $700,000 from the tax rate increase, but at last week’s meeting, school officials said they still had to come up with another $100,000 or so to fund the 2 percent raises.

Chris Phillips, Anderson County accounts and budget director, said the school system was able to do that in a revised budget submitted to the county government on Wednesday. [Read more…]

Clinton alumni propose multi-sport facility

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Clinton High School Multi-sports Complex

A group of Clinton Senior High School alumni have proposed a better facility for current and future student athletes. Pictured above is a proposed 12,000-square-foot modern sports facility. It would include universal access for all student athletes, with enough room for multiple teams to practice at the same time. (Image courtesy CSHS Legacy)

 

Alumni from Clinton High School have proposed a better facility for current and future student athletes. They have plans for a 12,000-square-foot multi-sport complex that could be used as a practice facility for several sports and host volleyball matches and wrestling meets.

The facility would include a weight training area, and artificial surface practice field for football, band, cheerleaders, and dance teams. A second story would have office space for coaches and a film room, according to plans posted on the website CSHS Legacy.

WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that the Anderson County Board of Education has given officials at Clinton High School the go-ahead to start exploring the possibility of constructing the new multi-sport facility at no cost to taxpayers.

WYSH said the proposed project would also renovate the existing, but aging, football field house. A second and separate part of the proposed project would also renovate the Don Lockard Gymnasium. [Read more…]

July 4 victim says driver hit two vehicles, stopped twice, continued backing—then ‘floored it’

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Michael Eldridge Testimony

Victim Michael Eldridge testifies in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:27 p.m.

One of the victims in the July 4 parking lot crash in Oak Ridge said the driver charged with homicide and aggravated assault hit a Thunderbird, stopped, slowly continued backing, hit a van, stopped, and then slowly continued backing—and then he “floored it.”

“Then, he came toward us,” victim Michael Eldridge testified during a bond hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The bond hearing was for Lee Cromwell, the 65-year-old driver accused of causing the fatal crash. Cromwell has been charged with homicide and aggravated assault, among other charges.

The crash killed James Robinson, 37, of Knoxville, who was watching fireworks with his wife and two daughters, and it injured 11 other people.  [Read more…]

Bond reduced for Cromwell, driver in fatal parking lot crash

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Derek Setzer and Lee Cromwell

Lee Cromwell, 65, of Oak Ridge, right, is escorted through Anderson County General Sessions Court on Tuesday by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Derek Setzer. Cromwell has been charged with homicide and aggravated assault, among other charges, after a fatal parking lot crash after July 4 fireworks in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m. July 30.

Bond was reduced to $100,000 on Tuesday for an Oak Ridge man accused of killing one person and injuring 11 people in a parking lot crash after July 4 fireworks.

There were concerns about whether Lee Cromwell, 65, considers himself a “sovereign citizen” and denies governmental authority, and Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller reported that Cromwell was somewhat defiant at his arraignment.

Still, Miller lowered bond for Cromwell from about $205,500 to $100,000, more than cutting it in half.

Cromwell was released Tuesday evening. He is prohibited from contacting the victims. [Read more…]

Despite lobbying, Manhattan Project park HQ proposed in Denver

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K-25 Building Aerial View

Now demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, pictured above, was once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Located in west Oak Ridge, the site could become part of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. There is a separate effort to preserve the site’s history; that work could be incorporated into the new park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:10 p.m. July 29.

Local officials had proposed locating it in Oak Ridge, but federal officials have proposed locating the headquarters for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Denver.

The new park, which is still in the planning stages, would include three sites: Oak Ridge; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

A National Park Service release on Tuesday said there would be a site manager for each location who will coordinate with local U.S. Department of Energy staff, Tribes, community members, and area partners. The site managers will report to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park’s superintendent, who will be located at an NPS central office that has been proposed in Denver. [Read more…]

City budget raises trash fee, provides more for city infrastructure

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 28, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council raised the trash pickup fee by $3.50 during a special budget meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, and the Council set aside an extra $260,000 for capital projects such as buildings and schools. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) 

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:05 a.m. July 28.

There will be a $3.50 increase in the monthly trash fee, and more money—$260,000—will be reserved for capital projects such as buildings and schools, while city officials are not expected to change the new property tax rate provided by the state after five-year reappraisals completed this year.

The trash fee will increase from $7 to $10.50 per month. That change is expected to provide another $335,000 per year in revenue.

The new tax rate—state officials call it a tax-neutral rate—is $2.52 per $100 of assessed value. It was approved in the first of two readings by the Oak Ridge City Council during a three-hour special meeting on Monday. The second reading hasn’t been scheduled yet, but the meeting is expected soon. [Read more…]