Mark Watson Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Council approves initial bond resolution for Preschool, Senior Center

Posted at 1:27 pm September 11, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A rendering of the new Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday unanimously approved an initial bond resolution of up to $16.5 million to build a new Oak Ridge Preschool and Oak Ridge Senior Center, and redevelop Scarboro Park.

It’s not the final bond resolution for the projects. The initial bond resolution approved in a 7-0 vote on Monday sets a ceiling amount for the debt issuance. A second resolution, a bond issuance resolution, will be brought to City Council, possibly at the October 8 meeting, for the actual bond issuance amount.

The City of Oak Ridge has opened the bidding period for the two projects, which have a total estimated cost of roughly $16 million. That announcement was made Friday.

But the city doesn’t know yet what the actual bids will be. And it’s not clear how steel tariffs might affect the projects, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge opens bidding for Preschool, Senior Center

Posted at 11:45 pm September 9, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A rendering of the new Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio 4 Design)

A rendering of the new Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)

The City of Oak Ridge has opened the bidding period for two major projects: the new Oak Ridge Preschool with Scarboro Park improvements and the new Oak Ridge Senior Center. Interested parties must submit bids before the deadline early next month. Studio Four Design Inc. of Knoxville is the architectural firm chosen to design both buildings.

The new preschool will be a single-story facility of about 33,000 square feet on Carver Avenue. The build site is inside Scarboro Park, a roughly 10-acre parcel, a press release said. The project includes improvements to the adjacent park area such as lighted basketball/tennis courts, a baseball field, a public pavilion, green space, and a walking trail.

The current senior center is temporarily operating out of the Civic Center’s Recreation Building. The new senior center will be built next door, just to the west of the Recreation Center. The single-story, approximately 11,000 square foot facility will overlook part of A.K. Bissell Park. Plans include a large kitchen, craft and exercise rooms, billiards parlor, lounge, and other common space, the press release said. [Read more…]

Updated: Chief Akagi retiring

Posted at 2:17 pm August 17, 2018
By John Huotari 62 Comments

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Aug. 18.

Oak Ridge Police Chief James T. “Jim” Akagi is retiring in October, officials said Friday.

The retirement announcement was made by the Oak Ridge City Manager’s Office.

Akagi has been police chief since July 1, 2011. His retirement is effective October 20.

Akagi has led 64 sworn members of the Oak Ridge Police Department, managed the acquisition of new equipment for the department, achieved funding for a new radio and police software system, and increased training opportunities for Oak Ridge officers, a press release said. [Read more…]

State grant will help with national park signs, waterfront improvements

Posted at 7:08 pm August 1, 2018
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Pictured above during a state grant announcement at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building for national park signs and waterfront improvements on Tuesday, July 31, 2018, are, from left, Dave Jones, East Tennessee division manager of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development; Amy New, assistant commissioner of community and rural development for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development; Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch; Jody Sliger, community development director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development; and Marc DeRose, president of Explore Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A state grant of more than $50,000 that was announced Tuesday will help create interpretive signs for historic sites in Oak Ridge that are related to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park and improve the waterfront for events such as rowing, cycling, and festivals, officials said.

The $56,250 Tourism Enhancement Grant, part of the third round of grants, was announced Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building. A few Oak Ridge officials attended, and so did representatives of the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

“Through this grant, the City of Oak Ridge, in partnership with Explore Oak Ridge, will receive funds to support projects that improve some of the city’s key tourist attractions,” a press release said.

Marc DeRose, president of Explore Oak Ridge, said there are two parts to the grant. One is to enhance the city’s component of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The grant funding could be used to create interpretive signs at historic places like the Guest House and Chapel on the Hill. The interpretive signs will be accessible and include pictures and content, DeRose said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge police chief placed on leave

Posted at 10:55 pm July 19, 2018
By John Huotari 42 Comments

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…]

Blankenship Field renovations to start after football season

Posted at 6:14 pm July 12, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium are pictured above on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The renovations at Blankenship Field, including the installation of synthetic turf, won’t start until after this year’s football season ends, officials said Thursday.

At one time, there had been hopes that the renovation work would have started this past January and be finished by this June. Then, after an $800,000 contract was approved in June, there had still been the possibility that the work could be complete this summer, on or around the first home football game in August.

But on Thursday, the City of Oak Ridge announced a decision to wait until the Oak Ridge High School football season is complete to begin the renovations.

“The decision was based on the contractor’s estimate that the project could not be completed without impacting the first three home football games,” a city press release said. [Read more…]

McNeilly retiring after 19 years as library director

Posted at 12:55 pm June 20, 2018
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Oak Ridge City Council members Jim Dodson, left, and Kelly Callison, second from left, read a proclamation for Kathy McNeilly, right, during her retirement celebration at Oak Ridge Public Library on Friday, June 15, 2018. Also pictured is Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

Kathy McNeilly is retiring after serving as director of the Oak Ridge Public Library for 19 years—and working for the City of Oak Ridge for more than 47 years.

Friends, family, and City of Oak Ridge staff celebrated McNeilly’s “amazing career” in a ceremony in the library auditorium on Friday, June 15, a city press release said.

McNeilly received a master’s degree in library science from the University of Tennessee. She was hired by the City of Oak Ridge in 1971 as a reference assistant, just a few months after the library’s new location opened its doors in the Oak Ridge Civic Center, the press release said. Since then, she has served as head of the Reference Department, head of Technical Services, and as assistant library director before taking on her role as director nearly 20 years ago.

“In her time with the library, McNeilly has watched services change from print-based to computer, and she was instrumental in guiding the library through many technological changes,” the press release said. “Most recently, she helmed the library’s inclusion of e-books and streaming video. McNeilly is perhaps most proud, however, of the library’s work with COROH (Center for Oak Ridge Oral History). Under her guidance, the library has been able to collect, bind, and make available online the oral histories of more than 800 Oak Ridgers whose lives and work helped create the Oak Ridge of today.” [Read more…]

Council to consider budget with two-cent tax rate increase

Posted at 3:45 pm June 4, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above in December 2016. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a budget with a proposed two-cent increase in the property tax rate and what would generally be a 2 percent pay increase for employees.

If approved by Council, the tax rate change would be the first increase in years. Oak Ridge Today reported that the budget approved last year was the 10th one in a row without a tax rate increase.

The two-cent increase in the property tax rate, which would raise it to $2.54 per $100 of assessed value, would help fund the bond repayments for the new Oak Ridge Senior Center, Scarboro Park renovation, and Oak Ridge Preschool, and also provide the city some “breathing room,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. The Senior Center, Scarboro Park, and Preschool projects are expected to cost about $13 million total.

Municipal officials said there has been a $750,000 shortfall in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, in revenues from Roane County. That shortfall is attributed to some sales tax exemptions, and it is believed to mostly be from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the major taxpayer in the Roane County portion of the city. The shortfall affected Oak Ridge this year and has been resolved this year, but the city had to use reserves, which affected money that could be used for capital projects in the next fiscal year, fiscal year 2019, which starts July 1, Watson said. [Read more…]

Demolished building once helped protect city, enriched uranium at Y-12

Posted at 2:18 pm June 1, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city. Part of the building, a former secure federal communications center, was still standing among the demolition debris late Wednesday afternoon. This picture was taken looking southeast from near the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. June 2.

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city.

The building at 101 Bus Terminal Road was once connected by radio to a Y-12 building that stored the world’s only supply of enriched uranium-235, according to a 2010 newspaper article published by D. Ray Smith, who cited Bill Sergeant, head of security after World War II.

A small section of the Bus Terminal Road building that still had historic artifacts—two holding cells and a heavy, bulletproof steel door—remained standing, surrounded by demolition debris, on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s not clear why that one section hadn’t been demolished yet, but the 2010 newspaper article by Smith said it had been a secure federal communications center and was built to be safe from attack. That small section of the building, which had no external windows, was reported to have a concrete ceiling that was one foot thick.

The building, which is at the intersection with Oak Ridge Turnpike, is now being completely demolished so a Taco Bell restaurant can be built there. The building had been extensively modified, and it’s not clear how much of it might have been considered historic.

Smith said the Bus Terminal Road building was once connected by radio to Building 9213, which stored uranium-235 for about a year at Y-12. Building 9213 is on the south side of Chestnut Ridge, which is on the south side of Y-12. After it briefly stored uranium, Building 9213 was used for criticality experiments for years, Smith said. It’s also been used to train the National Guard to identify and isolate radioactive sources as part of their training for homeland security. [Read more…]

City, schools to present budgets to City Council on Tuesday

Posted at 10:43 am May 28, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Mark Watson

City and school officials will present their fiscal year 2019 budgets to Oak Ridge City Council in a special meeting on Tuesday.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education budget, which has already been approved by the school board, will be presented by Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers and Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer. The city has typically provided a little less than 30 percent of the school system’s funding.

The proposed municipal budget will be presented by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. [Read more…]

Updated: Council approves Rails to Trails engineering contract

Posted at 12:17 pm May 14, 2018
By John Huotari 1 Comment

The former CSX railway is pictured near Jefferson Middle School in central Oak Ridge on Dec. 30, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The former CSX railway is pictured near Jefferson Middle School in central Oak Ridge on Dec. 30, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. May 15.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday unanimously approved an engineering contract for the Rails to Trails project, which would convert a former CSX railroad into a bicycle and pedestrian pathway.

The consulting contract, worth an estimated $358,317, was awarded to A. Morton Thomas and Associates of Kingsport.

The agreement, approved 7-0, is to provide environmental testing, master planning, design and engineering of the trail, and help with construction bidding, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick told City Manager Mark Watson in a May 4 memo.

There is still much work to be done, including buying the former railroad, and the project might not go out to bid until May 2020, or two years from now, according to a draft timeline presented at the City Council meeting on Monday. And that’s assuming all goes well.

“Design and engineering will provide construction cost estimates and a phasing schedule, along with a basis for negotiating the acquisition of the rail line from CSX Rail,” Hetrick said. “Because the current programmed funding will not cover the entire project cost, the master plan will be used to leverage additional funding for construction from various funding sources, including federal highway and private funds.” [Read more…]

Updated: Council authorizes final design for Preschool, Senior Center

Posted at 11:28 am May 14, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Pre-K School (Image by Studio Four Design via City of Oak Ridge)

Oak Ridge Pre-K School at Scarboro Park (Image by Studio Four Design via City of Oak Ridge)

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. May 15.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday authorized the final designs of the Senior Center and the Preschool and Scarboro Park Renovation. The two projects together could total about $13 million. The Senior Center and Preschool have been on the city’s wish list for a decade or two—or even longer.

Resolutions unanimously approved by City Council on Monday in 7-0 votes authorize Studio Four Design Inc. of Knoxville to proceed to the final construction design of the two projects. One project, the Preschool, would be at Scarboro Park, and the other, the Senior Center, would be at Alvin K. Bissell Park.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson told City Council members in May 9 memos that Studio Four Design, led by Jacene Phillips, has achieved 50 percent design on the two projects and reviewed the proposed designs with city, school, and Senior Advisory Board officials and “achieved consensus on design requirements.”

The more expensive of the two projects, the Oak Ridge Preschool and Scarboro Park Renovation, has a current estimated cost of $9,792,674, or close to $10 million.

The Senior Center could cost about $3 million. [Read more…]