Oak Ridge Today

Breakfast with the Legislators is Monday

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The monthly Breakfast with the Legislators is Monday. It’s scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Monday, April 24, 2017, in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center. Pictured above from left during a Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, April 25, 2016, are Sen. Randy McNally, Rep. John Ragan, and Rep. Kent Calfee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The monthly Breakfast with the Legislators is Monday. It’s scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Monday, April 24, in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, which is located at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Breakfast with the Legislators is organized by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. A light continental breakfast is provided at no charge, and the public is encouraged to attend.

Tennessee senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to bring everyone up to date on what’s happening in the state legislature, the Tennessee General Assembly, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge recreation manager named a community hero

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Matt Reedy, left, receives an official ICMA Community Hero certificate and letter from Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, right. From left to right in background are Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn, Council member Jim Dodson, and Council member Kelly Callison. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Matt Reedy, left, receives an official ICMA Community Hero certificate and letter from Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, right. From left to right in background are Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn, Council member Jim Dodson, and Council member Kelly Callison. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Oak Ridge Recreation Manager Matt Reedy has been named a 2017 Community Hero by the International City/County Management Association, or ICMA. Reedy is one of just 10 people chosen from across the country, a press release said.

“The honor is part of an ICMA initiative called ‘Life, Well Run,’ which aims to raise awareness of and appreciation for the value professional managers bring to build ethical, efficient, effective local government, and great communities we’re proud to call home,” a press release said.

Reedy was surprised with the announcement and a presentation of a certificate from ICMA at the regular city council meeting on Monday, April 10, the press release said. Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson spoke about Reedy’s devotion to the city and its people, in particular its youth. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge will celebrate new eighth rowing lane on Friday, April 28

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Rowers are pictured above on the Oak Ridge rowing course in the spring of 2017. The area that needed work to recently add the eighth lane is pictured at center-right along Melton Lake Drive. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Rowers are pictured above on the Oak Ridge rowing course in the spring of 2017. The area that needed work to recently add the eighth lane is pictured at center-right along Melton Lake Drive. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Oak Ridge will celebrate the new eighth rowing lane with a special dedication ceremony on Friday, April 28, the city said in a press release.

The dedication, announced by the City of Oak Ridge, will be at 3 p.m. Friday, April 28. It is expected to include state and local leaders, and it will help kick off one of the biggest rowing weekends of the season, the press release said.

The eighth rowing lane, which is now complete, has been on the city’s wish list for many years. Officials have said that it could help attract even more and larger regattas (rowing races) and help maintain the Oak Ridge course as one of the top-ranked rowing venues in the United States.

Those who attend Friday’s dedication ceremony will gather in Melton Lake Park at the pavilion across from the Oak Ridge Rowing Association and then take a short walk on Melton Lake Greenway to the new overlook for the eighth rowing lane, the press release said. [Read more…]

Council to receive housing study from Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday

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The Oak Ridge City Council will receive a housing study from the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.

The Council is scheduled to receive the study during a non-voting work session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, in the Central Services Complex Multipurpose Room. The Central Services Complex is on Woodbury Lane, off Wilberforce Avenue behind the Kmart shopping center.

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Housing Study will be presented by Melinda Hillman, chair of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Housing Study Committee. [Read more…]

City’s brush pickup starts Monday, April 24

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The citywide brush pickup program will begin Monday, April 24, in Oak Ridge. Tree limbs as well as bagged yard clippings and leaves will be picked up. City collection efforts will follow the accompanying schedule as closely as possible.

Residents have always been very cooperative and we ask for their continued cooperation this year by following a few guidelines, a press release said. [Read more…]

Down payment assistance of $15,000 available for qualified home buyers in Clinton zip code

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This the map of targeted zip codes where $15,000 in down payment assistance is available to qualified home buyers. (Map by Tennessee Housing Development Agency)

This is the map of targeted zip codes where $15,000 in down payment assistance is available to qualified home buyers. (Map by Tennessee Housing Development Agency)

 

A program that kicked off in March offers $15,000 in down payment assistance to certain qualified home buyers in a Clinton area zip code and 54 other zip codes across Tennessee.

The down payment assistance is available through the Hardest Hit Fund Down Payment Assistance program, a federal program administered in the Volunteer State by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, or THDA.

The help is available in Anderson County in the 37716 zip code. That zip code includes an area north and east of Oak Ridge, extending to Clinton and beyond along State Route 61 and north and south of the highway.

To qualify, home buyers must purchase an existing home in one of the 55 targeted zip codes. The purchase requires a THDA Great Choice Home Loan. [Read more…]

UT professor to discuss U.S.-Russian relations on Tuesday

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Michael R. Fitzgerald

Michael R. Fitzgerald

Michael Fitzgerald, professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, will discuss relations between the United States and Russia at Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

Lunch with the League starts at noon Tuesday, April 18, in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Fitzgerald served on the faculty of the University of Missouri before he joined UT in Knoxville in 1978. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees in political science at the University of Oklahoma. After he graduated from the Honors College at Western Michigan University in 1969, he served in the U.S. Army, including a tour of duty in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division, during which he received two Bronze Star Medals for meritorious service, a press release said.

“Relations between the United States and the Russian Federation steadily have declined over the past two decades,” Fitzgerald said in the press release. “Tensions between the world’s most prominent nuclear powers have risen to levels unseen since the worst days of the Cold War. A survey of the causes and contours of the deteriorating current impasse in U.S.-Russian relations leads to the conclusion that we are well into a second Cold War fraught with all the uncertainty and danger that defined the first. Effectively dealing with Putin’s geopolitical strategy to, once again, make Russia internationally relevant requires realistic thinking about Russian history, culture, and politics.” [Read more…]

City board rejects request for more time for repairs at Applewood

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An Oak Ridge board has rejected a request for more time, or even a waiver, for making exterior repairs at the 13 now-empty Applewood Apartment building on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle. The request came from property Joe Levitt, right, a Knoxville attorney. At left is Oak Ridge Code Enforcement Inspector Lisa Crumpley. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge board has rejected a request for more time, or even a waiver, for making exterior repairs at the 13 now-vacant Applewood Apartment building on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle. The request came from property Joe Levitt, right, a Knoxville attorney. At left is Oak Ridge Code Enforcement Inspector Lisa Crumpley. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:10 a.m.

An Oak Ridge board has rejected a request for more time, or even a waiver, for making exterior repairs at the 13 now-vacant Applewood Apartments buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals rejected the request from Applewood Apartments owner Joe Levitt in a 5-1 vote on Thursday.

Levitt had asked for a waiver or one-year extension for time to paint or stain the exteriors of the apartment buildings.

The condition of the exteriors had been cited in code violation notices issued by Oak Ridge Code Enforcement Inspector Lisa Crumpley on February 6. She said the exteriors of the apartment buildings need to be stained or painted. The siding on the buildings is chipping and fading, and it is disrepair in places, Crumpley said.

She also said trash and debris are accumulating at the apartments.

Levitt said the debris at the apartments is being addressed bi-weekly. [Read more…]

Community meeting to discuss new preschool in Scarboro on April 20

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The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new Oak Ridge Preschool is expected to be located at Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

There will be a community meeting in Scarboro on Thursday, April 20, to discuss the plan to build the new Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park.

There was some opposition from Scarboro residents and former residents, as well as requests for more discussion before a vote, during a special Oak Ridge City Council meeting on March 27. But the City Council voted 5-1 during that meeting to select Scarboro Park for the preschool.

City officials said they want to continue to discuss the project with the community.

The April 20 meeting is like a public forum, and it is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Scarboro Community Center. It’s part of the ongoing dialogue with the community, a city press release said.

A previous community meeting was held at the same venue on March 23 to discuss the site selection for the preschool. [Read more…]

City alleges code violations at Applewood; Levitt asks for waiver or extension

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The last tenant of the Applewood Apartments on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle moved out Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge inspector has alleged code violations at Applewood Apartments, and owner Joe Levitt has asked for a waiver or one-year extension for time to paint or stain the exteriors.

Besides the alleged exterior violations, the city also alleged code violations due to the accumulation of trash and debris at the 13 buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle.

In his responses, Levitt said the debris is being addressed bi-weekly.

While Levitt wants a waiver or one-year extension on the exteriors, the city staff has requested an order for compliance within 60 days.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals will hear Levitt’s appeal at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Room 104. [Read more…]

City Council agrees to give $30K per year for five years to General Sessions Court

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The Oak Ridge City Council agreed on Monday, April 10, 2017, to contribute $30,000 per year for five years to continue operating Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. The interior of the current courthouse on Bus Terminal Road is pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council agreed on Monday to contribute $30,000 per year for five years to continue operating Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

The money will be used for court operations and capital costs for Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.

Council approved the funding in a 6-0 vote, with Council member Hans Vogel absent.

The city and the Oak Ridge City Council have supporting having the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge since it started in 1993, according to City Manager Mark Watson.

“We believe that it is important to have that here,” Watson said. “It does save us a little bit of time.” [Read more…]

Senior Advisory Board recommends Senior Center west of Civic Center

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This site option was unanimously recommended for a new Oak Ridge Senior Center by the Senior Advisory Board on Monday, April 10, 2017. (Image courtesy Studio Four Design/City of Oak Ridge)

This site option was unanimously recommended for a new Oak Ridge Senior Center by the Senior Advisory Board on Monday, April 10, 2017. (Image courtesy Studio Four Design/City of Oak Ridge)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:20 p.m.

The Oak Ridge Senior Advisory Board has recommended that the new senior center be built on the west side of the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The board unanimously recommended the site on a voice vote during a special meeting on Monday morning.

The site was one of two options presented to the board during Monday’s meeting. The board had been presented four options earlier, but one of those had been ruled out and two others had been combined.

The proposed site west of the Civic Center could have a building of about 15,000 square feet. It could include a kitchen and administrative space; game and exercise rooms; a large multi-purpose room for activities such as dancing, bingo, and card games; and billiard/pool and media rooms. Dancing is the most preferred activity, according to surveys, said Pat Gengozian, chair of the Senior Advisory Board, or SAB.

The site could be considered by the Oak Ridge City Council in May. The site is just west of the indoor pool and south of the parking lot on the west side of the Civic Center. [Read more…]