Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: AC Commission needs to stay involved with mall project

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Declining DOE Residency Hurts Anderson County

In 2003, the Anderson County Commission approved a county subsidy for a revitalization project at the Oak Ridge Mall.

Had that project succeeded, it would have generated a substantial increase in county revenue, allowing tax rates to be lowered. A successful mall project would have also helped stabilize the U.S. Department of Energy payroll gap with Knox County. Stabilizing this gap would have generated nearly $100 million more in DOE payroll for the Anderson County economy—in this year alone.

Obviously, the potential economic benefit from a successful mall project is huge.

To give the project the best chance for success, the Commission needs to couple the requested mall subsidy to four key Commission actions: [Read more…]

Letter: Chamber asks city, county officials to endorse mall TIF

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Note: This is a copy of a Nov. 6 letter sent by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce to the Oak Ridge City Council and Anderson County Commission. The Oak Ridge City Council approved the tax increment financing for the Oak Ridge Mall redevelopment in a 6-0 vote on Monday.

Dear members of Council and Commission:

Today, in a full retreat attended by the board of directors of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and numerous Chamber Millennium Partners, our board unanimously adopted a position urging Oak Ridge City Council and Anderson County Commission to unanimously approve tax increment financing (TIF) for redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall property.

This is the most critical near-term economic development project in Oak Ridge and Anderson County. It will undoubtedly impact our economy, our ability to attract additional retail/commercial projects, and our community pride.

Some specifics are: [Read more…]

Guest column: White crosses, Normandy, and honoring veterans

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John Ragan

John Ragan

A few years ago, I traveled to France visiting the American Cemetery in Normandy on a guided tour. Our French guide was an expert on what we were seeing. A native to the region, she was steeped by her family lore in eyewitness accounts to the events of more than a half a century earlier.

That family background had spurred her to become a tour guide just before the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Her excellent knowledge of English and history convinced her employer, despite her youth, to assign her escort duties for American veterans visiting on that momentous occasion.

She spoke in a tone of reverence about the “older gentlemen” she had taken from place to place. Movingly, she recounted how they pointed here or there and commented how different something appeared compared to when they had seen it as young men. [Read more…]

Guest column: Mayor opposes move to house federal inmates at county jail

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Prior to my election as mayor, the history of our county jail expansions and additions was one directly related to increasing inmate population. The year 2011 saw property taxes increased 16.2 cents and monies were allocated to alleviating the overcrowding.

Immediately, the quick construction of a new 128-bed dorm as a lower cost solution of $1.74 million alleviated most of the jail overcrowding problem, leaving only the women’s unit with crowding concerns.

Anderson County citizens were then asked that, while current problems were being addressed, why not make plans to address potential overcrowding for years to come? This new $11 million+ addition of another 212 jail beds would carry us for at least the “next 10 years,” according to then-Interim Mayor Myron Iwanski (Commission meeting 4/18/2011). Not only would the new addition allow us room for growth for the future, we were told, but it would be designed with the latest design efficiencies put in place, therefore enabling a more efficient, cost-effective manner of operating our county jail. In fact, then-Interim Mayor Iwanski said “it’s going to be a whole lot less expensive” and a “much more efficient operation.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Legal battle between county mayor, sheriff must be resolved immediately

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Myron Iwanski

Myron Iwanski

Note: This is a copy of an Oct. 9 e-mail that Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski sent to the other commissioners and county officials. The sheriff’s salary lawsuit against the county mayor was not discussed during the Oct. 21 County Commission meeting, as Iwanski had hoped, but it is scheduled to be considered during a special meeting this evening.

I am very concerned that the legal battle between the mayor and sheriff has not been resolved. This battle will have huge impacts on our budget this year and in future years. I have asked that this item be placed on the agenda for the Operations Committee meeting, and I would like to see it discussed by the full County Commission at its next meeting.

Costs continue to mount in this legal battle. If the large attorney fees are included with the cost for staff time to prepare all the documents and evidence being demanded, I believe this case could end up costing the county hundreds of thousands of dollars.

More importantly, no matter which side prevails in this case, I fully expect we will be told by Tennessee Corrections Institute and/or the federal courts that we must fund the jail. As we wait for this legal case to be resolved, nothing is being done toward bringing in the federal inmates we need to help provide the funds we need to operate the jail in future. This will likely mean that we will be forced into a tax increase next year. This could have been avoided had this case been worked out and we instead focused on getting the revenue we need to operate the jail. [Read more…]

Guest column: Diversity in proximity—an aesthetic approach to urban architecture

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I’m very glad there is positive forward movement on redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall. However, I feel that the current layout proposed will fall far short of the ideal design, one that will best do what Oak Ridge wants it to.

I recently returned from my honeymoon through the Carolinas and Georgia, and along the way it dawned on me precisely what elements are in play regarding our gut “feelings” about downtown shopping, dining, and nightlife architecture—what makes one place more appealing than another. [Read more…]

Letter: Enjoyed National Night Out, let’s advertise Oak Ridge events

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To the Editor:

I had the pleasure of attending the National Night Out event at the Oak Ridge Civic Center park earlier this month.

This was a wonderful event for Oak Ridge and surrounding communities. There were many booths with important information regarding home and neighborhood safety, with education regarding drug addiction and meth labs.The Oak Ridge firemen and police officers had such interesting activities for children including a ride in the fire truck bucket! There was free food provided by Pizza Inn, Baskin Robins, Chick-fil-a, Coca Cola, and more! There were many exciting activities for children including bucket rides in the City of Oak Ridge truck, fire trucks to tour, and bounce houses. What a delightful experience for my grandchildren! [Read more…]

Guest column: October marks Crime Prevention Month

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Crime Prevention Logo

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department joined with the Anderson County Board of Commissioners in proclaiming October as Crime Prevention Month for 2013. Sheriff Paul White has challenged the entire community to make crime prevention a priority and wishes to thank law enforcement officers throughout Anderson County along with the many people who have taken personal responsibility for their neighborhoods as well as community organizations that work for the common good.

In 1984, the National Crime Prevention Council, the nation’s center of excellence for preventing crime, designated October as Crime Prevention Month. The month-long commemoration reflects the adage that prevention pays off. NCPC strongly believes that citizen involvement in crime prevention can and has played a vital role in helping many communities stay safe.

Crime Prevention Month recognizes successful crime prevention efforts on the local, state, and national levels to generate interest and enthusiasm for prevention efforts to continue to grow even stronger and become more widespread. [Read more…]

Guest column: Selling Oak Ridge to the DOE workforce

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Change in DOE Payroll Chart

by David Stanley

Our city urgently needs to market Oak Ridge to the local U.S. Department of Energy workforce. That workforce brings a billion dollar payroll into East Tennessee each year. Unfortunately, the Oak Ridge economy sees very little of this money.

Over the last two decades, the erosion of DOE residency has cost the City of Oak Ridge a great deal of payroll. The problem looks even worse when one considers the concurrent payroll increase of our city’s competition. For example, over those two decades the gap between the annual Oak Ridge and Knox County DOE payrolls grew by $130 million dollars. That’s just the growth in the gap. The total gap in DOE payroll between Oak Ridge and Knox County is now approximately $270 million dollars per year.

No wonder Turkey Creek and so many new housing developments have gone over there. That’s where the DOE payroll went! [Read more…]

Letter: Fritts seeks re-election as Anderson County Commission chairman

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Chuck Fritts

Chuck Fritts

Note: This is a copy of a letter sent by Anderson County Commission Chairman Chuck Fritts to other commissioners this summer, before the August meeting. The Commission is scheduled to elect a chairman and vice chairman on Monday, Sept. 16.

Fellow Commissioners,

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost another full year since I’ve been serving as your chairman. It’s been a very busy year with a lot of tough issues that (have come) before us. I truly believe that we “all” have done an excellent job and have served the citizens of Anderson County extremely well.

It’s been an honor to serve as your chairman this past year. I have worked hard and put in a lot of time to not only improve myself, but also to try to improve the efficiency and flow of our meetings. We have finally made improvements to Room 312, which will improve the quality of our meetings, not only for our citizens who are actually attending our meeting, but for our citizens at home watching on Channel 95. Also, by finally putting a TV in the hallway, citizens who make an effort to attend our meeting can still see what is taking place even if they can’t find a place inside our meeting room. [Read more…]

Letter: McKamey seeks Anderson County Commission chairmanship

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Robert McKamey

Robert McKamey

Note: This is a copy of a letter sent by Anderson County Commissioner Robert McKamey to other commissioners this summer. The Commission is scheduled to elect a chairman and vice chairman on Monday, Sept. 16.

Dear Fellow Commissioners:

It is with much pride and excitement that I announce my candidacy for County Commission chair. I have not made this decision in haste, and I have consulted at length with many of my friends, family, and constituents before I chose to run for this important position.

I feel my experience, unique qualifications, proven leadership skills, and relentless dedication to the citizens we serve will make me an excellent candidate for the chairmanship. [Read more…]

Guest column: Oak Ridge Schools explain funding issues, maintenance of effort test

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In the spirit of collaboration, the Oak Ridge Schools would like to share pertinent information in regard to the current maintenance of effort (MOE) issue that faces our community. Tennessee law requires that local governments fund local school systems by at least the same amount each year.

In August, Oak Ridge Schools were notified by the State Department of Education, Office of Local Finance, about the failure to pass the MOE test. Failure to correct this problem by Oct. 1 will result in a loss of Basic Education Program (BEP) funding at a rate of $1.87 million per month.

The only possible resolution to satisfy state law is an increase in local funding from the city general fund in the amount of $250,000. This budget amendment would need to be approved in two readings by City Council, and two readings by the Board of Education.

Numerous meetings have occurred between city and schools staff. In addition, the “high school debt/potential failure of MOE” item has been an ongoing discussion for the past two years. To date, no meetings have been scheduled by the City Council to make the necessary budget amendments. [Read more…]