More rehabilitation work of the city’s sewer collection pipes is scheduled to continue this week, starting Monday, November 10.
The work is being done by Hurst Excavating and Morgan Contracting under contract with the City of Oak Ridge. It includes rehabilitating sewer collection pipes within city easements in yards and in roadways, a press release said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Senior Center will honor the men and women who have served the United States both past and present with a pancake brunch on Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11. Brunch will begin at 10:30 a.m. and be on a first-come, first-serve basis until the pancakes are gone.
This is a free event for seniors 50 and over, as well as veterans of any age.
For more information about this and other programs at the Oak Ridge Senior Center, like them on Facebook, call them at (865) 425-3999, or visit the website at orrecparks.org.
The deadline for the demolition of a commercial building that once housed The Oak Ridger newspaper on Tyrone Road near Jackson Square expires Thursday, and after a five-month postponement, a city board will reconsider a repair or demolition order for the building that day. Under plans announced in May, the Magic Wok restaurant, which is separate from the building, would remain, as would a small northwestern portion of the building.
The deadline for the demolition of a commercial building that was once home to The Oak Ridger newspaper and other businesses on Tyler and East Tyrone roads expires Thursday, November 13, and a city board could reconsider a repair or demolition order that day.
The partially occupied commercial structure has been declared unfit for human occupation or use because of code violations, the city staff said.
The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals previously tabled the repair or demolition order for five months to allow for partial demolition in preparation for the construction of the remaining building. The demolition deadline expires Thursday, and permit applications are to be submitted to the city by December.
The potential demolition and repair orders to be considered Thursday would not apply to the separate manufactured structure that now houses the popular Magic Wok restaurant. [Read more…]
Clinton City Hall (Photo courtesy City of Clinton)
Information from WYSH Radio
The controversy and conflict regarding the copying of hard drives from computers in the Anderson County Human Resources Department has spilled across the street from the County Courthouse to Clinton City Hall.
As we have reported, County Human Resources Director Cathy Best announced her resignation Monday after almost 10 years on the job and her looming departure, along with that of her second-in-command Kerri Ashley, prompted County Mayor Terry Frank to try to have their hard drives copied. Her request was made after she was informed last month that former building inspector Lisa Crumpley was planning on filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county, alleging that she was fired for cooperating in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe that led to the indictment of her boss, David Crowley, on charges of inspecting buildings without the necessary certifications.
Frank wanted to copy all forensic evidence on the computers used by Best and Ashley, as they may contain information regarding Crumpley’s termination and what became of her personnel file, which went missing days after she was fired. [Read more…]
Tyler Mayes
Information from WYSH Radio
Former Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk Tyler Mayes has been named the acting city recorder in Rocky Top.
Mayes was appointed by the Anderson County Commission to serve the remainder of longtime Clerk Barry Pelizarri’s term following his retirement in 2012, but he did not win the election to retain that seat in August, losing to William Jones.
Mayes will succeed Chris Phillips, who served briefly as Rocky Top city recorder before returning to his former job as the Anderson County budget and accounts director last month. The Rocky Top City Council will vote on whether to confirm him in the job on November 20.
Tina Treece (Photo by BBB-TV)
Information from WYSH Radio
According to our partners at BBB-TV, Oliver Springs City Manager Tina Treece has announced that she is resigning after more than two years on the job.
Treece notified city leaders of her intention to step down on Wednesday, the day after the Tuesday, November 4, election. But BBB said it wasn’t clear if the resignation was because of the election.
Treece has been in her position since early 2012, when she replaced David Bolling, who left the city for a similar job in Maine. Bolling, who is also a former Anderson County commissioner, has since returned to Tennessee as city manager in Kingston.
Human Resources Director Cathy Best is pictured above in the Anderson County Human Resources Department on Wednesday afternoon. With Best’s agreement, the passwords to the department’s computers had been changed, and a few Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies were stationed near the entrance to the HR office as Best and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank sought to resolve a dispute over how to copy two computer hard drives in the office.
CLINTON—After the sheriff intervened, the Anderson County mayor and human resources director remained at a standoff Wednesday afternoon over how to copy the hard drives of two computers in the county’s Human Resources Department.
The hard drives could contain personnel records related to building inspector Lisa Crumpley, who was terminated on October 9 and has threatened to sue the county. Her personnel file has been reported missing.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said she wants to preserve records related to Crumpley’s wrongful termination claim, as instructed by Knoxville law firm Kramer Rayson LLP, which represents Crumpley.
On Tuesday, the day after Human Resources Director Cathy Best announced her resignation, Frank proposed sending the hard drives used by Best and Human Resources Generalist Kerri Ashley, who has also resigned, to a Knoxville company to have copies made.
Terry Frank
But Best objected, Frank said, and the mayor had a technician from Computer Systems Plus come to the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Wednesday morning to make copies on-site. The county consultant had started disassembling the computers when Sheriff Paul White showed up, and the technician quit working because he believed he could be arrested if he continued, the mayor said.
Best said she does not object to copying the hard drives, but she wants to ensure that the proper procedure is followed. She said her department’s hard drives could contain health information that is not public, conversations with attorneys during the past 10 years, and information that might relate to an investigation by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department of Crumpley’s missing personnel file.
“I have a right and a duty to maintain the security of these files,” Best said. [Read more…]
The television show “Let’s Talk Frank” is returning to the local airwaves, host Lee Frank said.
The show will air live every Thursday on Comcast Channel 12 from 7 to 8 p.m., and it will feature state and local guests, commentary, and news. The show will also accept calls from the viewing audience, a press release said.
Founded in 2002, the conservative-oriented local show aired for seven years on BBB Comcast Channel 12 in Anderson and Roane Counties. [Read more…]
Three of the four candidates elected to the Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday are pictured above during a September forum. Warren Gooch, second from left, was the top vote-getter, finishing ahead of Rick Chinn, second from right, and Kelly Callison, right. Incumbent Anne Garcia Garland, center, was not re-elected. Candidate Gary Love is also pictured.
Note: This story was updated at 1:28 a.m. Nov. 5.
Three newcomers and a former member were elected to the Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday. The winners were Warren Gooch, Rick Chinn, Kelly Callison, and Ellen Smith.
There were four seats available, and two incumbents—Anne Garcia Garland and David Mosby—were unseated. Two other incumbents—Mayor Tom Beehan and Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller—did not seek re-election, meaning a majority of the seven-member body will be new.
“It’s clearly a transitional election,” said Gooch, a lawyer and the top vote-getter. [Read more…]
Warren L. Gooch
Oak Ridge City Council candidates Warren Gooch, Rick Chinn, Kelly Callison, and Ellen Smith lead in early and absentee ballots, according to early Anderson County and Roane County election results posted at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The Anderson County Election Commission and Roane County Election Commission have not yet posted precinct results from Election Day voting, so the leaders could change.
Gooch has 2,206 votes, which is several hundred ahead of Rick Chinn, who has 1,975.
Callison has 1,860, and Smith, a former City Council member, has 1,649. [Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 10:02 a.m.
County’s part of agreement does not change
The Oak Ridge City Council has agreed to add another 10 years to the agreement that will be used to help redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall, and during its regular meeting in October, the Anderson County Commission concurred with the change.
There were no objections, and the Commission’s concurrence with the city’s 10-year extension of the tax increment financing, or TIF, passed 15-0. The city’s portion of the TIF has been extended from 20 years to 30, and the county’s remains unchanged at 20.
The city’s TIF extension had also been approved by the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, and the County Commission concurred with that change as well.
Ray Evans, retail consultant for the City of Oak Ridge, told commissioners that Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina firm that has proposed the redevelopment, could close on the property at the end of the year. Demolition could start in the first quarter of 2015, and retailers could have space in the redeveloped 59-acre site by mid-2016, Evans said.
“We think we’re very close to getting across the finish line,” Evans said. [Read more…]
Cathy Best
After almost a decade on the job, Cathy Best, Anderson County human resources and risk management director, is resigning to take a similar position in the private sector.
Best announced her resignation to the Human Resources Advisory Committee, Chair Rodney Archer, and County Mayor Terry Frank in a Monday letter. Her resignation is effective November 21.
Best said it was a difficult decision because working for Anderson County government for the past 9.5 years has been a positive experience and one for which she is grateful. [Read more…]
