Oak Ridge Today

County mayor to host community meeting for Claxton road project

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The Anderson County Mayor’s Office will host a community meeting on July 7 in Claxton, and the public is invited to attend and hear from state road officials about plans to improve Clinton Highway (US 25W) from Edgemoor Road to the Knox County line.

The community meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on July 7 at the Claxton Community Center, 1150 Edgemoor Road. Officials from the Tennessee Department of Transportation will discuss the project in detail as well as gather input from the public. Representative John Ragan and Senator Randy McNally, as well as Claxton Commissioners Tracy Wandell and Chuck Fritts are scheduled to be in attendance.

The proposed project—intended to reduce fatal and injury motor vehicle crashes while improving safety and access along the corridor—will include resurfacing the existing roadway and reconfiguring lane markings to allow dedicated passing areas, a continuous center turn lane, and wider shoulders, a press release said. The project was initiated after a meeting in April 2016 between Anderson County, TDOT, and local and state law enforcement officials. [Read more…]

Anderson County adopts local zoning regulations for pain clinics

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Terry-Frank-Pain-Clinic-Zoning-Resolution

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank signs the resolution adopted by County Commission that regulates zoning for local pain clinics. (Submitted photo)

 

CLINTON—Following months of work that began in March 2015, two public hearings, and two separate reviews by County Commission, Anderson County has adopted new local zoning regulations for pain clinics in an effort to prevent or reduce prescription drug abuse in the county, a press release said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses now account for more deaths in the U.S. nationally than motor vehicle accidents, with 52 percent of those deaths attributed to prescription medication.

In Tennessee, drug overdose deaths increased 7.7 percent from 2013 to 2014 (1,187 deaths in 2013 to 1,269 deaths in 2014). This is higher than the statistically significant national average change of +6.5 percent, according to the CDC.  The Tennessee drug overdose deaths in 2014 are almost equivalent to two full Tennessee Greyhound bus crashes per month without survivors, the press release said. [Read more…]

Deemed ‘unlikely’ here, but county officials take preventive measures for Ebola virus

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Art Miller and Terry Frank

Art Miller, left, director of the Anderson County Health Department, talks with County Mayor Terry Frank about local preventive measures concerning the Ebola virus. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County government)

 

CLINTON—Anderson County officials are aware of the few cases of the Ebola virus in the United States and are taking early preventive measures in the unlikely event that the virus occurs here, the Anderson County Mayor’s Office said Wednesday.

Preventive measures being taken by local Health Department and emergency officials include conferencing, protocol reviews, and in-service training. This will help ensure that they “know what to do in the unlikely event that a case of the Ebola virus occurs here,” a press release said.

The release said staff members at the Anderson County Health Department recently completed a “table-top exercise” aimed at allowing the employees to plan ahead and be prepared. They used a hypothetical case and followed already-established protocol to deal with the hypothetical case. The procedures involved isolation of the hypothetical Ebola patient upon presentation to the Health Department, protection measures for other Health Department patients and staff members, and immediate communication between the local Health Department, Anderson County Emergency Medical Service, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, and the Health Department’s regional office in Knox County, as well as the Tennessee Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Similar exercises have been conducted in every health department office across Tennessee,” said Art Miller, director of the Anderson County Health Department. [Read more…]

No change in Anderson County property tax rate, officials say

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Anderson County Commission in June 2014

The Anderson County Commission is pictured above during its Monday night meeting. (Photo by Sara Wise)

CLINTON—The property tax rate will remain unchanged in Anderson County in the fiscal year that begins July 1, officials said.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and the Budget Committee had both presented a no-tax-increase budget, and on Monday, the Anderson County Commission set the property tax rate for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

The tax rates for the new fiscal year will stay the same as the rates for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Property owners within the city of Clinton will pay $2.50 per $100 of assessed value on their property, Oak Ridge property owners will see a tax rate of $2.347 per $100, and property owners in Lake City, Oliver Springs, Norris and unincorporated areas of Anderson County will pay $2.529 per $100 of assessed value.

While Anderson County Commission voted to approve the tax rate resolution, the legislative body has not yet approved an operating budget for the new fiscal year, the Anderson County Mayor’s Office said in a press release. [Read more…]

Free prescription discount cards available to Anderson County residents

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CLINTON—In partnership with the National Association of Counties, or NACo, the Anderson County government is offering free prescription discount cards to Anderson County residents, a press release said.

The program “is open to anyone who wants to use it,” said Alex Koroknay-Palicz, NACo membership coordinator. The free prescription discount card program is funded, in part, by Anderson County’s annual NACo membership dues, he said. [Read more…]