Oak Ridge Today

Council considers budget with no tax increase, less money for Chamber, ORCVB

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a budget that does not raise property taxes but could cut funding for the Chamber of Commerce as well as the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It would include contracts with economic development consultants Ray Evans and Steve Jones and a 1 percent cost-of-living pay raise for city employees.

Under the budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, the property tax rate would stay at $2.39 per $100 of assessed value. [Read more…]

Baughn request: Sell golf course, Chamber property; request payments from tax-exempt organizations

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Note: This story was updated at 11:38 p.m.

Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn has proposed that the city sell Centennial Golf Course, and terminate the lease agreement with the Chamber of Commerce and sell the property.

Those proposals would convert city-owned assets into taxable properties, Baughn said.

Baughn has also asked the seven-member Council to consider setting up a team that could negotiate voluntary payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements with tax-exempt organizations that “are most able to afford paying for city services that are currently paid for by the taxpayer.” Those organizations could include Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Utility District, Tech 2020, Roane State Community College, and the University of Tennessee, Baughn said in a May 5 e-mail to Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson and City Clerk Diana Stanley. [Read more…]

Roane Chamber has home, garden show Saturday

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The Roane County Chamber of Commerce is having its 7th annual Home and Garden Show on Saturday at the Expo Center at Roane State Community College’s Harriman campus. The theme this year is “Go Green and Save Money!”

There will be booths and displays from home improvement products and services, gardening displays, gardener and hardware demonstrations, and arts and crafts. [Read more…]

After GAO upholds protests, NNSA to request more info from Y-12, Pantex bidders

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

After one federal agency upheld parts of two bid protests, a second one on Wednesday announced it will request more information from the three teams that submitted bids on a contract to manage and operate two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.

In January, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced it had awarded a contract valued at about $23 billion to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. [Read more…]

Company closes deal on Alexander Inn, plans to use for assisted living center

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Alexander Inn

Plans call for converting the Alexander Inn, formerly known as The Guest House, into an assisted living center.

It’s been in the works for months, and officials announced on Tuesday that a local company has purchased the historic but rundown Alexander Inn.

Family Pride Corp. plans to convert the vacant two-story hotel into an assisted living center.

The sale was announced by the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance, a key player in the project. A press release said the agreement announced Tuesday includes a preservation easement with ETPA that will ensure the building is protected forever. [Read more…]

Alexander, Corker support bill allowing states to collect sales tax on online purchases

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved legislation to allow states to collect sales taxes on items sold online or through catalogs, and senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker on Monday said they supported the bill.

Known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, the legislation passed the Senate in a 69-27 vote. A Tennessee Republican, Alexander was a lead co-sponsor of the 11-page bill.

It still has to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, where antitax forces have vowed to kill it, according to the New York Times. [Read more…]

B&W chief operating officer to retire but remain CEO of joint venture for Y-12/Pantex bid

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The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced Monday that Mary Pat Salomone, senior vice president and chief operating officer, will retire effective June 30 after 31 years with the company.

But Salomone will continue serving as chief executive officer of Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, the B&W-led joint venture competing for the U.S. Department of Energy contract to manage and operate Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. B&W is now the lead management and operating contractor at the two plants.
[Read more…]

UCOR makes second $20,000 donation to Emory Valley Center

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UCOR Donates to Emory Valley Center

Pictured above from left are Gene Caldwell, Jennifer Enderson, Leo Sain, and Dottie Thompson. (Submitted photo)

UCOR, the federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, recently donated a second installment pledge of $20,000 to the Emory Valley Center, a press release said.

In 2010, UCOR pledged to Emory Valley Center fundraising co-chairs Gene Caldwell and Dottie Thompson that it would donate $100,000 during the next five years to help build a new center.

“We believe in the importance of the work done to help so many people at Emory Valley Center,” UCOR President Leo Sain said in the press release. [Read more…]

CNS will offer more details on proposed cost savings at Y-12, Pantex

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The team that won the $22.8 billion contract in January to manage two nuclear weapons facilities in Tennessee and Texas will provide more details on how it proposes to save $3.27 billion during the next decade, a company spokesman said Monday.

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, won the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

But the two losing teams filed protests, and in a decision announced Monday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office upheld parts of the protests. The GAO raised questions about whether the National Nuclear Security Administration, which announced the contract award to CNS on Jan. 8, had properly evaluated the costs savings proposed by bidders. [Read more…]

B&W says it’s pleased with federal decision on Y-12, Pantex contract protests

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Y-12 National Security Complex

The Babcock and Wilcox Co., the lead management and operating contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, said it was pleased with a federal decision Monday upholding protests of a five-year consolidated contract to manage Y-12 and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

One of the two teams that lost a bid to manage two nuclear weapons facilities in Tennessee and Texas said it was pleased by a federal decision announced Monday that upheld protests of the five-year contract, which was awarded in January.

The decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office also recommended that the procurement be re-opened.

The contract is reported to have a total value of $22 billion, and it was awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, a team that includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. [Read more…]

Site work starts at Weigel’s on South Illinois

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Weigel's Construction

Site work has started on a new Weigel’s convenience store that will include 16 gas pumps and could open later this summer or in the early fall on South Illinois Avenue.

Site work has started for a new Weigel’s on South Illinois Avenue.

The convenience store is expected to include 16 gas pumps and could open in the late summer or early fall, said Chris Ooten, Weigel’s real estate director.

The roughly 4,000-square-foot store will be on a 1.5-acre parcel south of TNBank.

Ooten said Weigel’s closed on the property about a month ago and has been working on utilities since then. [Read more…]

Pic: Roane Chamber honors 2013 business award winners

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Roane Chamber Business Awards

The Roane County Chamber of Commerce on Friday presented its annual business awards during a banquet at the Whitestone Country Inn. (Submitted photo)

The Roane County Chamber of Commerce on Friday presented its annual business awards for 2013 before a crowd of community and business leaders attending the Chamber’s 67th Annual Banquet at Whitestone Country Inn.

The awards included:

  • Chamber Ambassador of the Year—Rose Meza, of Harriman Care and Rehab;
  • Business of the Year—Foust Family Fitness, of Kingston;
  • Paul E. Goldberg Young Professional Award—Brantley Rivers, president of Acme Brick and Block;
  • Roane Chamber Woman of the Year—Gail Lyke, of First Bank of Tennessee; and
  • Distinguished Service Award—Paul Cowell, of Whitestone Country Inn.