Oak Ridge Today

IIa awarded U.S. Air Force contract in United Kingdom

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Kirk-Stoye

Kirk Stoye manages Information International Associates activities at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall bases in the United Kingdom. (Submitted photo)

Information International Associates has been awarded a contract to help the U.S. Air Force at two major installations in the United Kingdom through September 2020.

Information International Associates, or IIa, will provide base level human resource system management and base enlisted specialty training management services to the U.S. Air Force at the two sites in the UK, a press release said.

This is the fourth consecutive award of this contract to IIa, the press release said. Since 2003, IIa has provided all personnel, supervision, and other resources at Royal Air Force, or RAF, bases Mildenhall and Lakenheath in Suffolk County, UK, about one hour north of London. Kirk Stoye is responsible for activities at both RAF bases.

Kelly Callison, IIa’s senior vice president of operations, manages the UK contract from IIa’s corporate headquarters in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

“Under the leadership of Kirk Stoye, our UK employees have consistently received excellent and superior ratings for their performance,” Callison said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with the USAF for another five years.” [Read more…]

Letter: Appreciates city reps listening to concerns, thankful for ‘Adopt a Shelter Pet Month’

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To the Editor:

While walking my dogs this evening, I took a minute to reflect on how appreciative I am to have representatives in Oak Ridge city government that listened to my concerns and immediately took action to correct some problems that I raised.

Several months ago, I emailed City Council, the Oak Ridge Police Department, and the city manager expressing concern about streetlights being out in Hendrix Creek, speeding cars on Hendrix Drive, and a need for sidewalks so residents can safely enjoy their neighborhood without being hit by a passing car. I was astonished to receive several emails the following day indicating that my concerns were heard and that the issues raised would be addressed.

Mayor Warren Gooch connected me with the Public Works Department who had the bulbs changed and streetlights functioning within a day or two. Councilmen Charlie Hensley and Kelly Callison and Councilwoman Trina Baughn and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Smith responded with concern for the sidewalks and indicated that they were going to look into the issues that were expressed. [Read more…]

Normally not controversial, this proclamation, recognizing the sanctity of human life, was

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, approved a proclamation that recognizes Sunday, January 17, as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Ellen Smith, third from right, cast the only vote against the proclamation, saying it was a controversial political statement. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 7:48 a.m. Jan. 13.

Proclamations by the Oak Ridge City Council are normally not controversial, but one that passed on Monday was. It was perceived by some as a controversial political statement that entered the abortion debate.

The proclamation recognizes Sunday, January 17, as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It says Tennessee residents “aspire to honor the dignity and worth of every person and to defend the sacredness of each human life.” Also, the proclamation says Tennessee residents care for “society’s weakest and most vulnerable, including the infirm, the elderly, and the unborn,” and no person shall be deprived of his life, liberty, or property.

The question of what rights to grant to the unborn or fetuses can be controversial because of the impact they might have on abortion rights. There is also considerable debate about when life begins.

Tim-Stallings

Tim Stallings

Tim Stallings, executive director of Choices Resource Center in Oak Ridge, requested the City Council proclamation, and he did not think it weighed in on the political debate.

“It’s not just about the unborn,” Stallings said. “It’s about people with infirmities, the elderly.”

He said the day started with former President Ronald Reagan and has been recognized by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. Reagan established National Sanctity of Human Life Day on Sunday, January 22, 1984, the 11th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the still-controversial Supreme Court decision that granted women the right to an abortion in 1973.

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is on the third Sunday in January, near the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. [Read more…]

City manager evals: Mostly meets, exceeds expectations; one Council member asks for resignation

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was last updated at 11:25 a.m.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson has mostly met or exceeded expectations while performing his job, and a 2 percent pay raise and one-year contract extension could be considered on Monday, according to evaluations by six City Council members and the chair of an evaluation committee.

But one City Council member, Trina Baughn, said Watson needs improvement in all 30 areas that she rated, and she asked the city manager to consider voluntarily resigning.

“I don’t plan to resign,” Watson said in December. “Hopefully, we can continue to improve upon relationships.”

The city manager was rated in surveys submitted by six of the seven City Council members. The results were reviewed by the City Manager Evaluation Committee, which is chaired by Council member Charlie Hensley. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Budget, Finance Committee meets Dec. 14

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The Oak Ridge Budget and Finance Committee will meet at 2 p.m. Monday, December 14, in the Mayor’s Office in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building at 200 South Tulane Avenue.

The Budget and Finance Committee consists of City Council members Kelly Callison, Charlie Hensley, and Ellen Smith.

Pay cited most often as reason for ORPD turnover, low morale, MTAS report says

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Margaret Norris and Rex Barton of MTAS on Oct. 15, 2015

Margaret Norris, left, and Rex Barton of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee deliver the results of a six-month review of the Oak Ridge Police Department to City Council on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m. Oct. 16.

It probably wasn’t the explanation that many expected, but pay was cited most often as the reason for turnover and low morale in the Oak Ridge Police Department, according to a report released Thursday.

Some have pinned most of the blame for the department’s woes—or perceived woes, depending upon your perspective—on Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi, and they had called for an investigation of the chief earlier this year on several different fronts.

Among those pressing for an investigation was Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn. She and others had raised questions about the chief’s temperament, including whether he has outbursts and is vindictive, and what Baughn suggested is a high turnover rate.

But the City Council instead approved a review of the ORPD that focused on morale, turnover, and administrative policies. In March, Council hired the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee to conduct the six-month review, which was first proposed by Council member Kelly Callison. MTAS presented its findings in a 20-page report presented to the Oak Ridge City Council in a special work session on Thursday.

The report identified a primary culprit familiar to many workers: pay. But as officers have pointed out, they, unlike most other workers, face danger on a daily basis.

Most of those interviewed by MTAS thought that ORPD salaries are not suitable for retaining good employees, MTAS consultant Rex Barton told Council members Thursday. Whatever raises have been given in the past few years have been outstripped by the rise in the cost of benefits, Barton said.

[Read more…]

Council ends review of spending at Oak Ridge Marina bathrooms

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Oak Ridge Marina Bathrooms

City workers build a block wall, patch the ceiling, and hang drywall for new bathrooms and changing rooms in part of the former New China Palace restaurant at Melton Lake Park in April 2014. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

After hearing from an auditor who said he found no irregularities, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to end a financial review of the $281,000 project to build bathrooms and changing rooms in the structure that once housed the New China Palace Restaurant at the Oak Ridge Marina.

The audit had been requested by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, who said there was an allegation at the last Council meeting that there was some problem.

“When you get in front of a camera and you allege that something bad is going on…” Watson said, then you need to hear from a third party.

Questions have been raised about the building renovation by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, who pointed out that she wasn’t the first to raise concerns, and former City Council member Anne Garcia Garland, among others. Most of the questions and criticisms have focused on the cost. A few different numbers have been reported about what the project was initially expected to cost and what it ended up costing. The 2014 budget showed it had a projected cost of $75,000, Baughn said.

But auditor Adam Allen, a principal of Coulter and Justus, told Council members during a special report on Monday that the renovation cost about $281,000. About half of that was labor, and another 50 percent was materials, Allen said. The audit found no irregularities. [Read more…]

Council to hear results of ORPD review during special meeting Thursday

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above during a meeting on July 27, 2015. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will hear the results of the six-month review of the Oak Ridge Police Department during a special meeting on Thursday, October 15.

The special work session—work sessions are non-voting meetings—will feature a presentation by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee, which was hired to conduct the review in March. The review was expected to focus on turnover, morale, and administrative policies.

The work session, which was called by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Manager Mark Watson, is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue.

MTAS will present the conclusions of its review of the Oak Ridge Police Department. Also, MTAS will submit their final report of the review to the City Council. [Read more…]

Council doesn’t change Secret City Festival date, leaves it up to new nonprofit board

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City Council Chuck Hope, Warren Gooch, and Ellen Smith on Sept. 14, 2015

Pictured above at the Oak Ridge City Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, when changes to the annual Secret City Festival were made, are Council members Chuck Hope, left, Mayor Warren Gooch, and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Smith. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:36 a.m.

They’ve heard concerns about moving it to the fall, and the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday did not change the date of the annual Secret City Festival. Instead, Council left any potential date change up to a new nonprofit board that could be appointed in October.

It was one of a series of steps meant to make the Secret City Festival less costly for the city and less labor-intensive for the municipal staff, to rethink how it’s organized, and to make it self-sustaining. The festival could be incorporated into a new, expanded Secret City Celebration that could include other events.

A Special Events Advisory Task Force appointed by City Council in February had recommended moving the festival to the fall as part of a celebration that would last at least a week, start in October, and continue through Veterans Day, November 11.

But Council members and a few residents laid out some objections to the proposed date change, including “dicey weather” in the fall; the potentially cold temperatures, especially for nighttime concerts; conflicts with football and other fall events; and concerns over the possibility that the festival could again become saturated with political candidates in election years, now that municipal elections have been moved to November. There were also concerns about whether some organizations that now participate in the June festival, including artists and World War II re-enactors, could take part in the fall. [Read more…]

City budget raises trash fee, provides more for city infrastructure

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 28, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council raised the trash pickup fee by $3.50 during a special budget meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, and the Council set aside an extra $260,000 for capital projects such as buildings and schools. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) 

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:05 a.m. July 28.

There will be a $3.50 increase in the monthly trash fee, and more money—$260,000—will be reserved for capital projects such as buildings and schools, while city officials are not expected to change the new property tax rate provided by the state after five-year reappraisals completed this year.

The trash fee will increase from $7 to $10.50 per month. That change is expected to provide another $335,000 per year in revenue.

The new tax rate—state officials call it a tax-neutral rate—is $2.52 per $100 of assessed value. It was approved in the first of two readings by the Oak Ridge City Council during a three-hour special meeting on Monday. The second reading hasn’t been scheduled yet, but the meeting is expected soon. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge may not increase tax rate above reappraisal change

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Oak Ridge City Council 2014

The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above in 2014. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Property tax rates are already expected to go up in local cities and counties because of an unprecedented drop in property assessments.

And additional increases have been approved or are anticipated in budgets that have already passed in Anderson County, Clinton, Oliver Springs, Roane County, and Rocky Top.

Oak Ridge could be the exception. The city could see an increase in the certified tax rate (state officials call it a tax-neutral rate) from $2.39 per $100 of assessed value to $2.52.

So far, no Oak Ridge City Council members have publicly endorsed raising taxes beyond the change in the tax-neutral rate required by the five-year reappraisals completed this year.

Four City Council members, a majority of the seven-member body, said during a budget work session on Tuesday that they will support the $2.52 tax-neutral rate or that it’s important to stay at that rate for now, until they have more information. [Read more…]

Lester to serve as president of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary in 2015-2016

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Tony Lester and Kelly Callison

New Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club President Tony Lester, left, accepts the president’s gavel from outgoing President Kelly Callison. (Photo by ORBRC)

The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club president for the year 2015-2016 is Tony Lester, a press release said.

Lester has been a Rotarian since 1998 and has previously served as Foundation chair for ORBRC.

Having a close family member who has polio inspired Tony to become more involved in Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate the disease.

He has also served on the boards of the Anderson County United Way, WDVX, and the Jubilee Community Arts. [Read more…]