Oak Ridge Today

Deputy city manager announced

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Tom Pessemier (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge City Manager Randy Hemann has selected Tom Pessemier as his next deputy city manager.

Pessemier is scheduled to begin Monday, May 6.

He has 16 years of municipal government and finance experience, serving in various roles including city manager, assistant city manager, public works director, community development director, and city engineer, a press release said.

He most recently served three years as city manager and public works director in Independence, Oregon. Before that, he was assistant city manager of Sherwood, Oregon, for six years, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Company could evaluate leaving rail in place at airport

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Image from Oak Ridge City Council agenda packet for Feb. 13, 2023.

The Brentwood company performing preliminary studies for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport could evaluate leaving a short section of railroad in place and building a runway bridge over it.

The short section of railroad has been called a potential “deal-killer” for the airport.

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Railroad could jeopardize airport

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If not removed, this section of railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, would be a “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport because the runway would be built in this area but could not be with the railroad tracks there. This is looking east across the main entrance to Heritage Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, have emerged as a potential “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport.

On Tuesday, Oak Ridge city leaders said a new company in west Oak Ridge might want to use the rail line to ship materials, but the tracks run through and roughly perpendicular to where the airport runway would be. Officials had expected the rail line, which had been “very inactive,” to be transferred.

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Power to TRISO at Horizon could cost $13 million

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This map shows the potential route of 69-kilovolt overhead power lines for the TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge, starting at the substation (SUB) on the south side of Highway 95/58 (lower right), continuing up Novus Drive (center right), crossing onto Horizon Center land, and then running east (to the right) on the back side of Site 6 (open area at upper right).

Building a new substation and electrical lines to supply power to a nuclear fuel company could cost $13 million, Oak Ridge officials said in December.

The nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, needs about 32 to 35 megawatts of electricity at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. That would make the company the city’s biggest electrical customer. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex get most of their power directly from Tennessee Valley Authority.)

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First employee art contest raises $608 for Project Safe, ADFAC

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Back row, left to right, are Brittany Burger, Oak Ridge Police Department (ORPD); Jim Sherrill, Utilities Business Office (UBO); Lt. Matthew Tedford, ORPD; and Andrew Lape, UBO. Middle row, left to right, are Rachelle Clowers, Jamie Fischer, DeDe Wolfe, and Amy Justice, all of UBO. Front row, left to right, are Marlene Bannon, UBO; Kirsten Aslinger, UBO; Annie Cacheiro, ADFAC; and Joey Smith, ADFAC. (Submitted photo)


The City of Oak Ridge had its first employee art contest benefitting Project Safe, a program administered by Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC), this fall, and the winners and donation totals are in, a press release said.

The theme for the inaugural art contest, which ran from October 4 through November 17, 2021, was “City of Oak Ridge Facilities, Services, or People.”

Employees were invited to create artwork within this theme and then the work was placed on display for voting.

Employees could make $1 donations to Project Safe to cast a vote for their favorite pieces. Project Safe helps those in our community who need assistance with utility bills, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Ardo Ba named Oak Ridge electric director

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Ardo Ba

The City of Oak Ridge has named Ardo Ba as its new electric director.

Ba, who previously served as Oak Ridge Electric Department’s electric operations manager, has served as interim electric director since former Director Jack Sugg’s promotion to deputy city ,anager in March. Ba begins this role immediately.

“I’ve been with the Oak Ridge Electric Department since 2009, when I started as an electrical project manager,” Ba said in a press release. “We have a great group of people working together to keep the lights on and life running, and I am ready to move our department forward as its next director.”

Ba was promoted to electric operations manager in 2017. In that role, he directed and managed Electric Department crews, including contract crews. He made sure departmental staff were up to date on training and ensured compliance with all safety-related practices, laws, and regulations, the press release said.

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Suggs promoted to deputy city manager

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Jack Suggs

Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs has been promoted to deputy city manager. He will start his new job Monday, March 8.

In his new position, Suggs will help with several projects, including the new water plant, economic development projects, computer software, and the transfer of the Oak Ridge Airport project, the city said in a press release.

Suggs’ promotion will allow other potential leaders to advance, most immediately in the Oak Ridge Electric Department, the press release said. Ardo Ba, who is currently the department’s electric operations manager, will serve as interim electric director.

“The city is fortunate to have someone with a unique set of engineering, business, and operations knowledge and experience who is able to step up,” Suggs said of Ba. “I am confident that I am leaving the department in capable hands.”

Suggs joined the City of Oak Ridge in 1989 as assistant director of public works after having served in related professional positions in Texas. He began serving as electric director in 1991.

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Oak Ridge Electric Department partners with TVA to donate another $10,000 to ADFAC

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The Oak Ridge Electric Department has partnered with the Tennessee Valley Authority to award another $10,000 to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) to help the local community during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, a press release said.

The funds will be used to help meet the essential needs of the residents of Oak Ridge, including rent, housing, and utilities, the press release said. This donation is in addition to the $10,000 that was donated to ADFAC back in April.

“These funds have been able to assist more than 160 households in Oak Ridge since March, with much needed assistance paying for utilities and rent,” said Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs. “We are very grateful for this opportunity and hope it reduces the potential for things like utility termination and eviction.”

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge police chief placed on leave

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Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:35 a.m.

Oak Ridge Police Chief James T. Akagi has been placed on administrative leave, and Deputy Chief Robin Smith has taken over daily operations for now, City Manager Mark Watson said Thursday.

Akagi is on leave until Watson can meet with him after returning from a trip to China, the city manager said.

Three anonymous letters were sent in June and July to Watson, Oak Ridge City Council members, other law enforcement officials, and local media outlets. The letters have been reviewed and have been a catalyst for concern, Watson said Thursday.

The letters are not signed, but they said they are from Oak Ridge Police Department employees. One letter said it represented an “overwhelming majority” of ORPD members. Among other things, the letters raised concerns about harassment, a hostile work environment, hostility, retaliation, policy decisions, and turnover. The letters ask for Akagi’s removal or termination, and an investigation by the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission or some other “independent and unbiased agency.” They said conditions have not improved since the 2015 review by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee and have gotten worse instead. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge ranked No. 4 in nation for ‘green power’ sales rate

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Oak Ridge Electric Department worker on a utility pole. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Oak Ridge Electric Department worker on a utility pole. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Electric Department has ranked number four in the nation on a list of Top 10 utility “green power” programs, officials said.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, granted the award to the Oak Ridge Electric Department in recognition of its leadership in voluntary renewable energy programs, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Electric Department was ranked number four on the NREL list for Top Green Power Sales Rate in 2017, achieving a sales rate of 7.09 percent.

“The City of Oak Ridge Electric Department has made great strides in promoting renewable energy solutions, and CORED customers are active participants in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Green Power Switch (GPS) and Green Power Switch Southeastern RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) programs,” the press release said. “These programs allow residential and commercial customers to support the environment through the purchase renewable energy. Both programs are Green-e Energy certified.” [Read more…]

City provides information on what power poles on Pine Ridge could look like

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H-frame or H tower transmission towers are pictured at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex off Scarboro Road on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

H-frame or H tower transmission towers are pictured at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex off Scarboro Road on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m.

The City of Oak Ridge this week provided information on what the power poles on Pine Ridge could look like.

The logging work to install the power line poles, or transmission towers, on top of Pine Ridge has been temporarily delayed for 45 days after Oak Ridge City Council members raised concerns in November and December.

One of the concerns for City Council members has been the potential visual impact the power poles could have on top of Pine Ridge. That prominent ridge in south Oak Ridge separates Y-12 from the center of the city.

So far, the National Nuclear Security Administration and its Uranium Processing Facility Project Office haven’t provided a visual representation of what the transmission towers could look like on top of the ridge.

On Tuesday, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson and Electric Director Jack Suggs provided some visual comparisons to City Council members during a non-voting work session. Watson said a light pole at the city baseball field is about 80 feet. That’s close to the same size as the roughly 79-foot-high power poles expected on Pine Ridge. [Read more…]

NNSA grants 45-day discussion for Pine Ridge logging, Y-12 power lines

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Dale Christenson, Uranium Processing Facility federal project director, standing at right, talks to Oak Ridge City Council during a non-voting work session in the Jefferson Middle School Library on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. In the background are city staff members and members of the public. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Dale Christenson, Uranium Processing Facility federal project director, standing at right, talks to Oak Ridge City Council during a non-voting work session in the Jefferson Middle School Library on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. In the background are city staff members and members of the public. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The National Nuclear Security Administration has granted a 45-day discussion period for a project to build a new electrical substation at the Y-12 National Security Complex that could include logging work on top of Pine Ridge.

Oak Ridge officials had requested a 30-day delay of the logging work. City officials have raised concerns about that part of the project because they said they didn’t know about it until a week or two before logging operations were scheduled to start, there has been no public input, and cutting down trees and replacing them with transmission towers on top of the ridge would affect the view in that part of the city, including from two residential neighborhoods, Scarboro and Groves Park Commons. Pine Ridge is between Y-12 and the center of the city.

Oak Ridge officials have also said they don’t know what other options were considered, besides installing the high-voltage power lines on top of Pine Ridge.

The 161-kilovolt power lines will provide electricity to a new electrical substation that will service all of Y-12, but it is being built as a subproject of the Uranium Processing Facility. It would be near UPF on the west side of Y-12. UPF is the largest federal construction project in Tennessee since World War II, and it is expected to be completed by 2025 at a cost of no more than $6.5 billion.

Oak Ridge officials have emphasized that they support the project, but they don’t think the city has been treated as an equal partner on the electrical substation and power line portion of the project.

In a press release Tuesday, the City of Oak Ridge said the electrical substation project would involve clear-cutting 2.1 miles of mature trees along the top of Pine Ridge. The NNSA has delayed that project for 45 days, although some logging activity will still occur during that time. [Read more…]