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Anderson County has fireworks Saturday night

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Fireworks at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on July 4, 2017. (File photo by D. Ray Smith)

There are fireworks in Anderson County for Independence Day this evening.

The fireworks are funded by Anderson County with help from private donations from businesses and residents.

Anderson County commissioners debated last month whether to have the fireworks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also debated how much to spend, with potential amounts ranging between $12,000 and $20,000. The goal was to get to a total of about $20,000.

The fireworks show will start at 9:45 p.m. today (Saturday, July 4) at Anderson County High School. The high school campus will be closed to the public.

Anderson County High School is at 130 Maverick Circle in Clinton, close to Exit 122 on Interstate 75. The Anderson County mayor’s office recommended that anyone watching the fireworks from public areas around Exit 122 use social distancing, which generally means staying six feet away from people who don’t live with you.

There are normally fireworks in cities such as Oak Ridge, but those displays have been canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, in what could be a one-time event, the county is hosting and helping to fund the display.

[Read more…]

AC Commission schedules public hearing on TVA request for landfill at Bull Run

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Anderson County Commission has scheduled a public hearing to discuss a request from the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a 60-acre landfill on the Bull Run Fossil Plant site in Claxton.

The hearing is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Tuesday, February 18, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse at 100 North Main Street in Clinton.

The proposed new landfill is known Site J, and it has been characterized as a three-cell unit capable of holding eight to nine million cubic yards of coal combustion residuals, according to a public hearing notice.

[Read more…]

Commission to discuss county budget, possible 18-cent tax rate increase

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Anderson County Courthouse
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above. (File photo)

The Anderson County Commission will discuss the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, and a possible 18.25-cent increase in the property tax rate on Thursday.

The special meeting is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 27, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

The meeting will focus on the budget proposal, and it will include time for elected and appointed officials, as well as department heads and citizens, to address the Commission with comments and concerns about the proposed budget.

[Read more…]

TDEC to attend county’s Bull Run meeting on June 10

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will attend a June 10 meeting where the planned closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton will be discussed, a county commissioner said.

It will be the June 10 monthly meeting of the Anderson County Commission’s Intergovernmental Committee. The public is encouraged to attend, said Anderson County Commissioner Catherine Denenberg of District 6 in Oak Ridge.

TDEC is the state department that is responsible for monitoring the Tennessee Valley Authority, Denenberg said.

“They will have a Power Point presentation and will be there to answer questions about their involvement with the closing of the Bull Run Fossil plant in Claxton,” Denenberg said.

[Read more…]

For members: With no increase, AC schools budget could have $1.4 million in cuts

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Without a tax rate increase or other new revenues, the Anderson County Schools budget could include more than $1.4 million in cuts, compared to last year, school officials said during an Anderson County Board of Education meeting on Thursday, May 16, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—Without a tax rate increase or other new revenues, the Anderson County Schools budget could include more than $1.4 million in cuts, compared to last year, school officials said Thursday.

The cuts could include reductions in elementary school, middle school, and high school positions, and Central Office, technology, custodial, and maintenance staff; cuts to materials and supplies, and band equipment at the high schools; not finishing the gymnasium at Grand Oaks Elementary School; cutting a full-time nurse, high school coaching supplements, and a school resource officer vehicle; and reductions to transportation safety, special education assistants, and City of Rocky Top field maintenance, among a long list of potential cuts.

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County Commission has special budget meeting Monday

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The Anderson County Commission will have a special budget meeting on Monday afternoon. The meeting is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Monday, May 6, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

During the special meeting, the Anderson County Commission will review the recommendations of the Budget Committee, discuss them, and then send the Commission’s recommendation’s back to the Budget Committee.

[Read more…]

Finance Committee accepts Erb resignation; full Commission to meet Monday

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Natalie Erb
Natalie Erb

Information from WYSH Radio

Meeting in a special-called session on Monday, the Anderson County Finance Committee voted to accept the resignation of Natalie Erb as the county’s finance director, effective May 23.

The Committee also voted to name Robby Holbrook, who is currently deputy finance director in charge of payroll, as the interim finance director upon Erb’s departure.

The third piece of business taken care of on Monday saw the Committee vote to authorize the Human Resources Department to begin the search for a new finance director by modifying the job description to incorporate the duties of the county purchasing agent.

[Read more…]

(For members) Retiring Bull Run, Paradise could save millions, more than $1 billion in ‘lifetime costs’

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The Tennessee Valley Authority's Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The coal-burning Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton and Paradise Fossil Plant Unit 3 in Kentucky are not economical to operate, and retiring them will offer a savings of about $320 million and avoid more than $1 billion in capital costs, the Tennessee Valley Authority said Thursday.

The TVA Board of Directors voted 6-1 to close Paradise Unit 3 and unanimously agreed to close Bull Run during a meeting in Chattanooga on Thursday. Paradise could close by December 2020, and Bull Run is expected to close by December 2023.

The Bull Run and Paradise closures will be the first 1,700 megawatts of coal plant retirements of the 2,600 megawatts that could be retired through 2033 under a 2015 integrated resource plan, TVA President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson told the board.

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Oak Ridge Today
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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

AC Commission meets Tuesday

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Information from WSYH Radio

The Anderson County Commission will meet Tuesday evening at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. Typically held on the third Monday of every month, this month’s meeting was moved back one day because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Among the items on the agenda include possible discussion of the need for a new roof at the county-owned building in Oak Ridge that houses Anderson County General Sessions Court Division II after rain water infiltrated the building and damaged records and equipment.

Other items of discussion will also focus on working with the City of Oak Ridge and Roane County on developing a strategy to move forward with a proposed hazardous material disposal site on the Oak Ridge Reservation. [Read more…]

Reminder: AC Commission has workshop on proposed DOE waste facility

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The Anderson County Commission will hold a workshop today (Monday, January 7), starting at 6 p.m., to discuss the U.S. Department of Energy’s proposed construction and operation of a new hazardous waste disposal facility on the federal reservation in Oak Ridge.

The purpose of the meeting is to allow commissioners, officials, and residents to provide comments before the deadline for public comment on Wednesday January 9, on the proposed Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF). The deadline was pushed back to this month after officials requested more time to look over the information.

David Adler, director of the Quality and Mission Support Division for the DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, will attend Monday’s meeting, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton. [Read more…]

Public notice: Workshop to discuss 205 Main Street, AC senior program

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Anderson County commissioners have been notified that there will be a workshop next week to discuss the 205 Main Street building in Clinton, which had been expected to be used for the Anderson County Senior Center, and to discuss the development of, and ideas about, the county’s senior program.

The workshop has been scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday, October 1, at the current Senior Center location on Edgewood Lane in Clinton.

WYSH: Wandell elected Commission chair, Creasey vice chair

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Anderson County Commissioners are pictured above after being sworn in at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. At center front (third from left) is Tracy Wandell, who was elected chair by the other commissioners, and at right front is Jerry Creasey, who was elected vice chair. (Photo courtesy Shannon Wandell)

Anderson County Commissioners are pictured above after being sworn in at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. At center front (third from left) is Tracy Wandell, who was elected chair by the other commissioners, and at right front is Jerry Creasey, who was elected vice chair. (Photo courtesy Shannon Wandell)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

Newly elected and re-elected Anderson County commissioners were sworn in Tuesday morning at the Courthouse in Clinton.

Following the swearing-in ceremony, commissioners held a brief meeting during which they elected Tracy Wandell to serve as the next chair of the Commission, succeeding Tim Isbel.

Longtime Commissioner Jerry Creasey was elected vice chair. [Read more…]

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