Oak Ridge Today

Tammy Dunn appointed Oak Ridge city attorney

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Tammy Dunn

The City of Oak Ridge has appointed Senior Staff Attorney Tammy Dunn as the next city attorney.

Dunn assumes her new position this week, when current City Attorney Kenneth Krushenski retires, a press release said. Dunn, a native Oak Ridger, has been with the city’s Legal Department for more than 20 years, beginning when she was still in law school, the press release said.

“Technically, I worked for the city even earlier than that,” Dunn said in the press release. “I worked at the Oak Ridge Public Library Children’s Room during my break between undergrad and law school.”

She worked as a law clerk in the Legal Department for two years before stepping in as acting staff attorney for six months before officially transitioning to staff attorney, a role she filled for two more years, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Council approves $175,000 settlement with Billy Casper Golf Management

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Centennial Golf Course is pictured above in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council last week approved a $175,000 settlement to resolve a dispute between the city and Billy Casper Golf Management over the termination of the agreement to manage Centennial Golf Course.

The city owns the golf course, which is in east Oak Ridge. The city notified Billy Casper Golf Management in October 2017 that it was going to terminate the management agreement “for cause,” Oak Ridge City Attorney Ken Krushenski said in a memo to Council. But Billy Casper Golf Management contested the termination of the agreement, and the company’s attorney claimed that the city owed more than $520,000 in termination fees, Krushenski said.

The two sides negotiated, and the management company accepted the city’s offer of $175,000 to settle all claims, Krushenski said.

[Read more…]

For members: Chinns part of apartment project on former AMSE site

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

AMSE-Site-Feb-11-2020
The former American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 p.m.

Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and his brother Ryan are minority partners in the project to build apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site.

 
AMSE-Site-Feb-11-2020

The former American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and his brother Ryan are minority partners in the project to build apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site.

Rick Chinn, a developer, said this month that the project will bring much-needed apartments to the city, allowing more people who work in Oak Ridge to live here. The apartments are being built as RealtyLink, a South Carolina developer, plans to build more new stores across South Tulane Avenue at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

Now called Main Street Lofts, the apartment project has included an agreement to reduce property taxes and the transfer of what had been federal property from the U.S. Department of Energy to the city and then to a developer. It will include the demolition of the former AMSE building. It is expected to include seven three-story buildings with 226 apartment units on 10 acres.

Rick Chinn and his father, Richard Chinn, a member of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, have been abstaining from votes related to the apartment project for at least a year.

They have not been required to explain their abstentions, but Oak Ridge Today has asked Rick and Richard Chinn why they have been abstaining.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today

P.O. Box 6064

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Learn about our advanced subscription options here.

Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today!

Drivers prohibited from holding wireless telecommunications device

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Under a new state law that went into effect July 1, drivers in Tennessee are now prohibited from holding a wireless telecommunications device such as a cell phone, personal digital assistant, or computer while operating a vehicle.

To comply with the new law, the Oak Ridge city code has to be changed. The Oak Ridge City Council will consider the code change in the first of two readings during a meeting this evening (Monday, July 8).

The proposed city ordinance mirrors the new state law, the city’s legal staff said in a July 1 memo. Most first and second offenses of the new handheld law will be brought to Oak Ridge City Court. Other offenses will result in state charges, which can result in higher fines than those imposed in municipal courts. Those other offenses include third and higher offenses, as well as violations occurring in construction zones, marked school zones where flashers are operating, and offenses that result in a crash.

[Read more…]

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

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

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…]

Applewood Apartments: Case that once called for $400,000 fine has been dismissed

Posted at
By 4 Comments

The rear of the Applewood Apartments building at 186 Hillside Road is picture above on Saturday, July 1, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The rear of the Applewood Apartments building at 186 Hillside Road is picture above on Saturday, July 1, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:25 p.m.

CLINTON—A court has dismissed a case that once called for a $400,000 fine against the owner of three now-vacant Applewood Apartments buildings on Hillside Road in Oak Ridge.

Charges against the original defendant, former Applewood Apartments manager Tammy Sandlin, have been dismissed, and she is the only properly named defendant in the complaint, Anderson County Circuit Court Judge Don R. Elledge said in a dismissal order filed Wednesday, June 21.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals had issued an opinion on October 15, 2015, that vacated, or voided, the $406,520 judgement against Applewood Apartments owner Joseph J. Levitt Jr. because he had not been effectively added as a defendant in the city’s lawsuit, Elledge said.

At that time, the Court of Appeals remanded the case, or sent it back to, Anderson County Circuit Court in Clinton for further proceedings, “including the filing and serving of an amended complaint or city warrant against Mr. Levitt,” Elledge said in his order to dismiss.

The Court of Appeals decision essentially said that Levitt has to be given a chance to defend himself, Elledge said during a motion hearing in Circuit Court on Friday, June 9. A jury trial had been scheduled for March 9, 2018. The City of Oak Ridge is the plaintiff.

But no amended complaint has been filed by the city since the Court of Appeals decision almost two years ago, and Levitt has never been served with an amended complaint, Elledge said during the June 9 motion hearing. [Read more…]

Last Applewood Apartments tenant moves out Friday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

applewood-apartments-1-oct-7-2016

The last tenant of the Applewood Apartments on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle moved out Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:55 a.m. Oct. 12.

The last tenant of the Applewood Apartments was moving out Friday when Oak Ridge Today stopped by for an update.

Tenants had been told in early August that the apartments would close September 30.

On Monday, property owner Joe Levitt said he decided in the last 90-120 days to shut down the 13 apartment buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle and board them up. He said it was his understanding that the last tenant was moving out this past Friday.

Levitt said he is 85 and has had health problems, and he’s trying to clean up his estate. Most of his estate will probably go to the University of Tennessee and nonprofit organizations, Levitt said.

“I’ve outlived all the people I need to take care of,” he said. [Read more…]

Council approves backyard chickens, growlers (tap beer to go)

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Mark-Watson-and-Kayla-Wyatt-April-19-2016

Pictured above during an Oak Ridge City Council work session on Tuesday, April 19, 2016, are Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, left, and Kayla Wyatt, an advocate for allowing a small number of hens at Oak Ridge homes. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An earlier effort to allow backyard chickens in Oak Ridge failed. This one succeeded.

On Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council approved backyard chickens in the second and final vote.

The ordinance change allows up to six female chickens, or hens, at homes in the city, possibly by August 1. Roosters will not be allowed.

Council approved a few amendments to the proposed ordinance on Monday, agreeing to not allow the slaughter of any chickens, as opposed to just hens, and lowering the building permit for a henhouse and fenced enclosure from $50 to $25.

The amended ordinance passed 5-1, with Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch casting the lone “no” vote. Council approved an earlier version of the ordinance in a 5-2 vote in May. City Council member Rick Chinn, who was absent from this week’s meeting, joined Gooch in voting against the ordinance in May. [Read more…]

Council to consider backyard chickens, growlers (tap beer to go)

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider an ordinance change that would allow backyard chickens—hens, but not roosters—and another that would allow growlers, tap beer to go. That’s a growing field in the craft beer industry, the city staff said.

The City Council approved the backyard chicken ordinance in a 5-2 vote in May. That was the first of two readings, or votes. The vote on Monday, July 11, will be the second and final reading.

If approved by Council, residents would be allowed to keep up to six female chickens, or hens, at homes in the city, possibly by August 1. Annual permits and henhouses would be required. No roosters would be allowed, and henhouses would not be allowed in front yards, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said in a memo to City Council members.

The Oak Ridge ordinance is based on an amended version of an ordinance that Knoxville adopted in 2010. [Read more…]

Photos: Charlie Daniels Band, Grand Funk Railroad; changes possible at Secret City Festival

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Charlie Daniels Band at Secret City Festival June 10 2016

The Charlie Daniels Band played at the 14th annual Secret City Festival at Alvin K. Bissell Park on Friday, June 10, 2016. Pictured above is Charlie Daniels. (Photo by Angela Richardson-Newman)

 

The Charlie Daniels Band and Grand Funk Railroad both played at the Secret City Festival last weekend. Here are two photos from the concerts by Angela Richardson-Newman.

The Charlie Daniels Band played Friday, June 10, and Grand Funk Railroad performed Saturday, June 11. Both concerts were well-attended, and both received good reviews.

It was the 14th annual Secret City Festival. Besides concerts, the festival included music, food, vendors, a car show, a World War II re-enactment, U.S. Department of Energy bus tours, history and science exhibits, arts and crafts, and children’s entertainment and activities.

It’s not entirely clear if the festival will continue next year in the same form or at the same time of year as this year’s festival and previous festivals. This year had been considered a transition year as a new inaugural board of directors was appointed for a new nonprofit celebration. That board is expected to be responsible for the time, location, and length of the festival, as well as sponsorships and funding. [Read more…]

ORPD review expanded to include all employees, some former workers

Posted at
By 18 Comments

Oak Ridge Police Department Cars

But MTAS will have to agree to changes

The review of the Oak Ridge Police Department has been expanded to include interviews with all employees. The review could also include interviews with former employees who have left the Police Department since Police Chief Jim Akagi started almost four years ago.

Initial plans had called for a limited review of the Oak Ridge Police Department and interviews of a random sample or cross-section of employees.

But the Oak Ridge City Council expanded the review during a special meeting on Tuesday. That special meeting was called after concerns were raised about the initial list of randomly selected interviewees being sent to the police chief, city manager, and all Police Department employees, which raised questions about the impartiality and confidentiality of the review.

By one estimate, the expanded review could include interviews with more than 100 people. And it’s not clear if the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee will agree to the expanded review, or if they might charge the city.

The City Council agreed to expand the review during a three-hour special meeting on Tuesday that included criticism of MTAS, accusations of collusion between Council members, and an attempt by Council member Trina Baughn to have resident Joe Lee, one of her chief critics, stop taking pictures during a public comment session. [Read more…]

Baughn asks for investigation of police chief; Hensley seeks reprimand of Baughn

Posted at
By 15 Comments

Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Charlie Hensley

Charlie Hensley

Note: This story was updated at 7:08 p.m.

On one hand is Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn. She’s called for an investigation of the police chief.

On the other is City Council member Charlie Hensley. He wants the seven-member Council to reprimand Baughn.

It’s not clear which side, if either, will prevail during the Monday night meeting of the Oak Ridge City Council.

The two Council members, who have a strained relationship, have dueling resolutions that could be considered on Monday. Either one would require a second from another Council member to be discussed and four votes to be approved.

Both resolutions follow more than one week of accusations and allegations that have roiled and divided the community. They have focused, in particular, on the management of the Oak Ridge Police Department by Chief Jim Akagi and raised questions about the turnover rate and whether it is high. Some of the most blistering criticisms have come from former Oak Ridge Police Chief David Beams, who said he still visits the city. [Read more…]