A quarter-million dollars worth of security upgrades to the Oak Ridge Police Department were approved in a 6-1 vote by City Council members this week.
Council approved a $277,000 contract with Richardson Turner Construction Company of Knoxville and agreed to add $20,000 to a professional services agreement with Bankston Architectural Group of Knoxville.
An Oak Ridge board will consider whether to order the demolition of a warehouse on Tuskegee Drive this afternoon.
The city staff has recommended that the building at 400 Tuskegee Drive be declared unfit and either repaired or demolished within 30 days, and that trash and debris be cleaned up with 10 days of the hearing.
Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, right, talks to Andrew Kern, left, of Lenoir City, and Ken Wood, of Tellico Village, during a campaign kickoff ceremony Wednesday.
The state House district that includes Oak Ridge and most of Anderson County could be key to Republican plans to maintain a majority this fall–and possibly even gain a supermajority.
“This is one of those races that is going to make or break that supermajority,” said Holt Whitt, a member of the Republican Caucus field staff in Nashville.
Whitt is helping Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, prepare for the Nov. 6 election, and he attended a Wednesday morning campaign kickoff ceremony for Ragan.
Anderson County commissioners try to resolve a funding standoff with Sheriff Paul White, right, during a Monday night meeting. Also pictured from left are commissioners Johnny Alley, Jerry White, and Rick Meredith.
CLINTON–The sheriff insisted he needs at least 13 jailers to open a new dormitory this summer but the county commission would not raise property taxes again, so a budget standoff remained unresolved after a special meeting Tuesday night.
The Anderson County Budget Committee will wrestle with the budget again during an afternoon meeting next Monday, and the County Commission will hear any new proposals during its regular meeting that evening.
Rogers Group Inc. wants to expand its mining and quarry operations in Oak Ridge, hoping to acquire 56 acres at the University of Tennessee Arboretum on Union Valley Road in exchange for 83 acres in Sweetwater, plus $400,000.
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture-Forest Resources Research and Education Center has already agreed to the exchange, said Mark Stephens, Rogers Group division vice president.
The Oak Ridge Mall is for sale for $10.5 million, and city officials say redeveloping it will likely require the use of new property tax revenues to help pay for public infrastructure improvements.
Voters said “no” the last time they were asked to consider whether to invest public money into a massive redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall.
This time, they might not have a choice.
Potential developers are likely to ask for public money to help pay for infrastructure improvements ranging from rerouted roadways and new traffic lights to building upgrades and property demolition, city officials said Monday.
David Morgan, candidate for Roane County property assessor, will be having an ice cream social from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Gravel Pit Pavilion in Kingston.
There will be free ice cream, and Morgan will be available to discuss issues with the public.
The Gravel Pit is located on West Race Street/Highway 70, across from the Kingston Community Center.
Patrick
Anderson County Commissioner Buzz Patrick was appointed to his seat last year, and now he’s seeking to be elected to the 16-member legislative body in an Aug. 2 special election.
The Commission appointed Patrick to the District 8 seat in March 2011, filling it after former commissioner Myron Iwanski was named Anderson County interim mayor.
Terry Frank, left, a candidate for Anderson County mayor, talks to Oak Ridge resident Mike Henderson during a Saturday grand opening ceremony at her campaign headquarters on Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Advocating free market principles, business owner and mayoral candidate Terry Frank has been knocking on doors in Anderson County for three months, delivering a message of less regulation and lower taxes.
“It’s just time for a strategy change,” Frank said at a Saturday grand opening ceremony at her campaign headquarters on Oak Ridge Turnpike. “Tax-and-spend isn’t working. We can’t tax our way to prosperity.”
The city’s federal lobbying firm could have its annual compensation reduced by about 70 percent under a contract the Oak Ridge City Council will consider Monday.
The Ferguson Group of Washington, D.C., has earned up to $102,000 per year to lobby for Oak Ridge in the nation’s capital.
However, under the proposed contract, The Ferguson Group could earn $30,000 at an hourly rate of $425 per hour. Once the firm reaches the $30,000 cap, the city manager would have to approve extra hours.
The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Advisory Board is asking for public input on facility use policies at Haw Ridge Park during a meeting tonight.
The quarterly “Meet the Board” meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Civic Center Social Room.
Frank
Business owner Terry Frank, who is running for Anderson County mayor this fall, is hosting a grand opening of her campaign headquarters at 11 a.m. Saturday.
There will be refreshments, fellowship, and “good, old-fashioned campaigning,” a press release said.
