Oak Ridge Today

City to consider giving $30,000 per year to General Sessions Court

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Anderson-County-General-Sessions-Court-Interior-Oak-Ridge-Nov-19-2015

The 18-month lease on the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires in June, and Anderson County commissioners are taking steps to move the court to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. The interior of the courthouse on Bus Terminal Road is pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider approving $30,000 in funding per year for five years for the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge.

The money would be used for court operations and capital costs. Council will consider the funding during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, April 10, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

Anderson County commissioners have cited the expected Oak Ridge contribution in their discussions of keeping the court in Oak Ridge and moving it from a private building on Bus Terminal Road to a county-owed building on Emory Valley Road.

The City of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge City Council have supported having the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge since its start on February 1, 1993, City Manager Mark Watson said in an April 4 memo to Council members. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge receives $2 million wastewater loan

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The City of Oak Ridge has received a $2 million state wastewater loan, officials said Friday.

The loan is for the city’s Infiltration and Inflow Correction project. It will be used to rehabilitate approximately 30,000 linear feet of sewer line, a state press release said. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $1,860,000 loan with an interest rate of 1.89 percent and $140,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid, Tennessee officials said.

The loan was announced Friday by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau. They said that three communities have been approved to receive more than $9.3 million in low-interest loans for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements.

“The State Revolving Fund Loan Program helps citizens enjoy a better quality of life by assisting communities with current and future infrastructure needs for improved environmental health,” Haslam said.

Tennessee’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $1.7 billion in low-interest loans since its inception in 1987, the press release said. Tennessee’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $296.2 million in low-interest loans since its inception in 1996. [Read more…]

Senior Advisory Board to vote on location for new Senior Center at Civic Center

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This Option 1 for locating the new Oak Ridge Senior Center at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

This is Option 1 for locating the new Oak Ridge Senior Center at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The Senior Center would be the building with the pink-highlighted border to the right of the Community Center. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Senior Advisory Board will vote on one of four options for locating the new Oak Ridge Senior Center at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The board will vote during a special meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, April 10, in the Club Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

The options were presented to the board by Studio 4 Design at the regular monthly Senior Advisory Board meeting on Monday, April 3. All four proposals have the new senior center facility located on the Civic Center property. Monday’s meeting will focus on recommendation of one of the options for the new center.

The current options take many factors into consideration, including parking availability, ease of access and possible drop-off locations, prominence of location relative to Oak Ridge Turnpike, potential construction complications, green space preservation, and optimization of aesthetic views, a City of Oak Ridge press release said. [Read more…]

Road closure on Lafayette on Saturday for traffic signal repairs

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The City of Oak Ridge will temporarily close Lafayette Drive to northbound traffic at Emory Valley Road from approximately 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 1. Traffic will be detoured onto Emory Valley Road.

The closure is necessary to begin repairs on the traffic signal at that intersection, a press release said. The metal upright and mast arm that supports signal heads for northbound Lafayette Drive traffic was damaged during a car crash on January 13.

The repair will require the removal, inspection, and replacement of the metal upright and mast arm, the press release said. The complete repair will take between six and 18 weeks, depending on the degree of damage to the structural foundation of the pole. [Read more…]

Community Wellness Fair hosted by city, schools on Wednesday, April 5

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The City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee and Oak Ridge Schools Coordinated School Health are teaming up to host a Community Wellness Fair on Wednesday, April 5, in the Oak Ridge Civic Center. Admission is free and everyone is invited, a press release said.

The fair is set to begin at noon and will run until 5 p.m. A variety of health screenings will be offered. Topics to be covered include: [Read more…]

Fireworks suspected, reward offered in wildfire in west Oak Ridge on Saturday

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The U.S. Department of Energy is offering a reward for a wildfire on federal property on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017, west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive. Fireworks are suspected as the cause. (Photo courtesy DOE/City of Oak Ridge)

The U.S. Department of Energy is offering a reward for a wildfire on federal property on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017, west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive. Fireworks are suspected as the cause. (Photo courtesy DOE/City of Oak Ridge)

 

The City of Oak Ridge is offering a $500 reward for information that helps resolve what happened in a wildfire on federal property in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, a press release said. Fireworks are suspected as the cause of the fire.

The brush fire was reported on U.S. Department of Energy land at about 12:27 p.m. Saturday, March 25, west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive. It was below, or to the south of, a water tower near Whippoorwill Drive. There are homes just to the north of the water tower, and there are homes east of Wisconsin Avenue.

When firefighters arrived Saturday afternoon, they could not locate a fire, but there was smoke in the area, DOE said in a press release Tuesday.

“While the engine was looking for the fire, a hiker came down the trail and reported the fire was located several hundred yards off the road in the woods,” the press release said. “Engine 1 crew began hiking toward the reported location and was able to find the fire. At that time, the fire was approximately five acres and growing.”

The Oak Ridge Fire Department immediately requested assistance from the Tennessee Division of Forestry to respond with bulldozers to cut fire lines around the fire. The battalion chief also requested representatives from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Division of Forestry, since the fire was burning on U.S. Department of Energy property. [Read more…]

City household trash pickup starts Monday

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The citywide household trash pick-up program will begin Monday, March 27. Household rubbish, old appliances, and minor remodeling materials will be picked up. City collection efforts will follow the accompanying schedule as closely as possible.

Residents have always been very cooperative and we ask for their continued cooperation this year by following a few guidelines:

  • Residents should place all materials near, but not beyond, the curb. Keep materials off sidewalks and out of parking areas and gutters.
  • There is a limit of one truckload of material per residence. A truckload is defined as one pickup truck or approximately 3′ high x 4′ wide x 8′ long, approximately 100 cubic feet maximum.
  • Crews will not pick up hazardous items, paint, tires, or piles of rubbish that are mixed with brush or limbs. Compressors must be removed from refrigerators and air conditioners before collection by crews.
  • All materials must be in place no later than 7:30 a.m. on the scheduled pick-up day. Any materials put out after 7:30 a.m. on the scheduled day may not be picked up.

[Read more…]

Reminder: Community meeting Thursday to discuss site for new preschool

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The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new preschool could be located at Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. The Oak Ridge Board of Education selected the site on Monday, Feb. 27, but after hearing from a few residents in March, the Oak Ridge City Council delayed a vote in order to allow a community meeting at the Scarboro Community Center on Thursday, March 23. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

This is a reminder: There is a community meeting on Thursday to discuss the new site for the Oak Ridge Preschool.

Oak Ridge City Council delayed the vote on a new preschool location at its regular meeting on Monday, March 13. Council members wanted to allow time for more community discussion and input. They delayed the vote on the preschool site after hearing from a few residents who had questions about using Scarboro Park.

As part of the effort to allow more community input, a public meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Scarboro Community Center.

The City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools have been working to choose a site for the new preschool for about two years, a press release said. The preschool would relocate from the School Administration Building on New York Avenue. Members of a committee formed to recommend possible sites looked at city-owned properties and many factors that would affect future students, their families, and the community as a whole, the press release said.

Two locations were ultimately identified as possible sites for the new preschool: Scarboro Park and Elm Grove Park. [Read more…]

Learn more about Oak Ridge, bike with a park ranger on Saturday

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Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

 

You can join a park ranger for a bike ride down Melton Lake Greenway on Saturday.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, will present a free program on Saturday, March 25, at 10 a.m. The program will begin at Elza Gate Park, former entry point to the Secret City, and continue down Melton Lake Greenway. Rangers will stop several times along the bike ride to point out the rich history that is found within the Oak Ridge area, a press release said.

Elza Gate Park is located at 101 Oak Ridge Turnpike in east Oak Ridge. If you need directions, maps are available at the National Park desk in the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, or you can call (865) 576-6767. [Read more…]

Two international events proposed for 75th anniversary of DOE, Oak Ridge

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ORHPA Logo

The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association has proposed that the U.S. Department of Energy and the City of Oak Ridge host two international events during their 75th anniversary.

The events are: (a) an exhibit on the international scientific progress made during the seven decades since World War II and (b) a remembrance of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with special invitations going to representatives of the 25 countries that suffered the highest casualties during the war, a press release said.

Both the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear complex and the City of Oak Ridge were born in the turbulent year following the Pearl Harbor attack (1942) as part of President Roosevelt’s massive—and super-secret—effort to build the first atomic bomb, the press release said.

“Including these two events in this year’s anniversary would showcase DOE’s important contributions to mankind and enhance international understanding and cooperation,” said Martin McBride, who heads the ORHPA committee on the proposal. “It would also honor all who fell during World War II.” [Read more…]

Steve Jenkins, former finance director and deputy city manager, dies after battling cancer

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Steve Jenkins, former Oak Ridge finance director and deputy city manager, died Tuesday after battling cancer, according to his obituary. He was 67.

Jenkins grew up in Middlesboro, Kentucky, where he became a life-long University of Kentucky basketball fan. “He enjoyed nothing more than watching and attending UK games with his children and grandsons,” his obituary said.

Jenkins graduated from Clinton High School (1967) and the University of Tennessee (1971).

After beginning his career in finance at Carson Newman College, he moved his family to Oak Ridge, where he began a 26-year career at the City of Oak Ridge as finance director and deputy city manager.

After retiring from the city in 2012, Jenkins took a finance position at ETHRA in Knoxville, making many new friends who very caringly supported him through his illness, the obituary said. [Read more…]

Community meeting next Thursday to discuss site selection for new preschool

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The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge officials will have a community meeting in Scarboro on Thursday, March 23, 2017, to discuss building the Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge City Council chose to delay the vote on a new preschool location at its regular meeting on Monday in order to allow time for more community discussion and input.

Now, a public meeting to discuss the preschool site has been set for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 23, at the Scarboro Community Center.

“The City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools have been working to choose a site for the new preschool for approximately two years,” a press release said. “The preschool would relocate from the School Administration Building on New York Avenue. Members of a committee formed to recommend possible sites looked at city-owned properties and a multitude of factors that would impact future students, their families, and the community as a whole. Two locations were ultimately identified as possibilities: Scarboro Park and Elm Grove Park.”

Scarboro Park is across Carver Avenue from the Scarboro Community Center, which was also considered as an option at one time. The Scarboro Community Center was removed from further consideration due to the challenges of converting the center for active school uses, the press release said. Residents living near Elm Grove Park, a site on East Tennessee Avenue that once housed a school, came out in support of preserving the park. Much of the feedback received about the Scarboro Park site has been very positive and welcoming of the new preschool, the press release said. [Read more…]