The City of Oak Ridge is recruiting members for four boards. The four boards are Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, Environmental Quality Advisory Board, Trade Licensing Board, and Traffic Safety Advisory Board.
Applications from Oak Ridge residents are being accepted in the Oak Ridge City Clerk’s Office. The submission deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, June 29.
Here is more information about the boards and the vacancies: [Read more…]
Jerry Kuhaida
Former Oak Ridge Mayor Jerry Kuhaida died at home Monday after a hard-fought battle with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to his obituary. He was 74.
Kuhaida was elected to the Oak Ridge City Council twice, serving from 1991-1995 and from 1997-2003. He served one term as mayor.
Kuhaida continued his passion for community and local government development while serving as a consultant in Russia and working with the U.S. Agency for International Development/U.S. State Department, assisting the U.S. Army’s development efforts in Iraq, his obituary said.
Andrew “Jerry†Jerome Kuhaida Jr. was born on September 29, 1942, in Wheeling, West Virginia. He had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology and a doctorate in geography/geology, according to his obituary. He started his lengthy career in environmental restoration and hazardous waste remediation after returning to Oak Ridge in 1980, the obituary said. He served on several local boards and committees, including the Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the Scarboro Community Day Care Center Board. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Clerk’s office is currently accepting applications to fill vacancies on four city boards.
The Anderson County Economic Development Association (ACEDA) and the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau (CVB) have one vacancy each. The Environmental Quality Advisory Board (EQUAB) has three vacancies, one of which is for a high school representative. The Traffic Safety Advisory Board (TSAB) has one vacancy for a high school representative.
The terms of offices are as follows:
| Â City Board | Term of Office |
| ACEDA | Balance of an unexpired term ending on December 31, 2017 |
| CVB | Balance of an unexpired term ending on December 31, 2018 |
| EQAB | Balance of an unexpired term ending on December 31, 2016, and an unexpired term ending on December 31, 2018. The term for the high school representative is a one-year term commencing at the time of appointment |
| TSAB | One-year term commencing at time of appointment |
TDOT Commissioner John Schroer presents a signal optimization grant check to former Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller. (File photo from September 2014 courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
A traffic light timing study is under way, and new plans could be implemented early this year, city officials said in December.
Oak Ridge Today asked about the signal timing project during a December interview with Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs and Jon van Eek, power utilization program supervisor in the Oak Ridge Electric Department. That interview focused on radar-based traffic detectors at six intersections in Oak Ridge.
The City of Oak Ridge announced in September 2014 that it had been awarded a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant for $237,500 for a signal timing optimization project.
Suggs and van Eek said the timing study is under way, and they hope to have new plans implemented after January 1, 2016. The plan is to move the maximum number of cars in all directions and to move the maximum number of vehicles, Suggs said. [Read more…]
The Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the City of Oak Ridge are sponsoring the 30th Annual Arbor Day Observance at 10 a.m. Friday, March 6, at Woodland Elementary School.
This ceremony also marks the 27th year that the City of Oak Ridge has been recognized as a Tree City USA. It will also mark the first year that the city will receive the Tree Line USA designation.
Tree City USA, a National Arbor Day Foundation program, recognizes U.S. towns and cities that develop comprehensive urban forestry programs. Tree Line USA is also a National Arbor Day Foundation program that recognizes utility providers who adopt best practices in utility line arboriculture. At the ceremony, district foresters with the Department of Forestry will present the Tree City award and flag to city representative Mayor Warren Gooch and Steve Kenworthy, chairman of the Environmental Quality Advisory Board. [Read more…]
Mark Watson
By Mark S. Watson, Oak Ridge City Manager
The City of Oak Ridge is one that prides itself on the interest, knowledge, and involvement of its citizens in local government. Oak Ridgers are always willing to add a different perspective, technical information, and just darn good opinions on topics that affect them.
On January 12, 2015, the Oak Ridge City Council will appoint citizen volunteers to fill vacancies on boards and commissions that have occurred due to term expiration and attrition from the board membership.
Applications must be received in the City Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 31.
Over the past years, the City Council has found it sometimes challenging to fill the vacancies of its various boards. People are busy, and getting busier! Some feel that many governmental matters require special knowledge. Others have not thought of providing their talents to shape their community. [Read more…]
To the Editor:
Oak Ridgers are fortunate in having a candidate of the caliber of Ellen Smith willing to once again serve on City Council, where, between 2007 and 2012, we benefited greatly from her wise, intelligent, and highly informed voice.
In addition to her service on Council, Ellen has long been involved in community affairs, and has participated in local government. This, plus her professional background, has made her a strong and consistent advocate for protecting the environmental values of lands and waters of the city and of the Oak Ridge Reservation.
Her activities have also given her a broad understanding of governmental matters additional to the diverse environmental issues and concerns that face Oak Ridge. She is committed to be part of a community leadership that recognizes the challenges we face and makes choices that maximize our assets and opportunities. [Read more…]
Aditya “Doc” Savara
Aditya “Doc” Savara, a member of two city boards, is running for Oak Ridge City Council in the November 4 municipal election.
In a press release, Savara said he has been involved in local politics during the past two years and served on the Traffic Safety Advisory Board and the Environmental Quality Advisory Board. Savara said he has attended and commented during public comment periods at City Council meetings, is knowledgeable about the issues facing the city, and has been vocal about them.
“In 2012-2013, an ordinance came before Oak Ridge City Council regarding whether property owners Jack and Myra Mansfield could build a single home on their property in a neighborhood zoned as R1, for single-family dwellings,” Savara said in the release. “Adjacent homeowners asserted property values would drop if the Mansfields were allowed to build a home on the open space. I pointed out that the neighbors could have bought the open property themselves if they wanted to keep it as open space. I stated that the neighbors didn’t want to buy the cow, but wanted to have the milk for free, and that it was not too late for the neighbors to make the Mansfields a fair offer. [Read more…]
Mark Watson
The first progress report for Oak Ridge’s Climate Action Plan said greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy use in city buildings are down and so is the annual electrical consumption for the average household.
Traffic signals use about 60 percent less electricity because of LED bulbs, and Oak Ridge has finished a home energy retrofit demonstration project that could be used as a model in the city, the report said.
Meanwhile, Oak Ridge has been recognized as a renewable energy leader by the Tennessee Valley Authority and is the first Green Power Community in Tennessee and in part of the Southeast. [Read more…]
Ellen Smith
Ellen Smith, who served on Oak Ridge City Council from 2007 to 2012, has announced that she is a candidate for City Council in the November 4 election.
Smith is a 33-year resident of Oak Ridge who describes herself as “an Oak Ridger by choice.†As newcomers to East Tennessee in 1981, she and her husband Rich Norby looked around the area and then chose to buy in Oak Ridge and make this city their home, a press release said.
Both have made their careers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where Ellen is a research staff scientist in the Environmental Sciences Division and Rich is a corporate fellow in the Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute. Their adult son Karl was born here and attended school at Linden Elementary School, Robertsville Middle School, and Oak Ridge High School.
Smith said she decided to run for City Council this year after many citizens from diverse sectors of the city urged her to do so, the press release said. People tell her they value her knowledge of Oak Ridge, its history, and city government; her thoughtful analysis of issues and proposed solutions; and her responsiveness to citizens who contacted her with concerns, the release said. Smith said she is committed to working for the community and all of its citizens. [Read more…]
TDOT Commissioner John Schroer presents a signal optimization grant check to Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
Grant for signal optimization
The City of Oak Ridge has been awarded a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant for $237,500 for a signal timing optimization project, and TDOT Commissioner John Schroer recently presented the award to Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller in Nashville.
The signal timing optimization grant is funded by the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, or CMAQ, which supports transportation projects that reduce air emissions from on-road sources and non-road sources, as well as projects that reduce traffic congestion, a press release said.
“The city is pleased to receive this grant which will significantly enhance air quality and reduce congested roadways,†Oak Ridge City Engineer Steve Byrd said in the press release.
The signal timing optimization project will target 26 traffic signals on Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge Turnpike, and Lafayette Drive. The program will synchronize these lights in order to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and vehicle idling, and decrease commuter travel time. [Read more…]
Chuck Coutant
Chuck Coutant, a retired Oak Ridge National Laboratory fish biologist and active community leader for more than 40 years, recently received the Vocational Service Award of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge at the club’s noon luncheon meeting at the DoubleTree Hotel.
A native of upstate New York and resident of Oak Ridge since 1970, Coutant was recognized for his leadership in the community in environmental and cultural activities, his excellence as an Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientist, and his influence on national and international environmental policies.
Currently, Coutant is a consultant to power companies for environmental evaluation of cooling systems and is president of Friends of ORNL. [Read more…]
