Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge to begin 75th Anniversary Celebration in September

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

Oak Ridge will begin its 75th Anniversary Celebration in September, a press release said.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren L. Gooch announced Thursday that the city will form a committee to help coordinate and circulate information about the 75th anniversary, the press release said.

The 75th anniversary festivities will begin in September and continue through the end of 2018, the release said.

Among the planned events are a lecture presented by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association on September 15, 2017, titled “The Legacy of Place” by guest speaker Denise Kiernan, author of “The Girls of Atomic City” and “The Last Castle.”

The Oak Ridge Fire Department plans to host “Then and Now,” a 1940s-era Fire Prevention Parade along Oak Ridge Turnpike on October 7, 2017.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex will celebrate the anniversaries of their respective beginnings as well, the press release said. [Read more…]

Library giving out 500 pairs of eclipse glasses on Monday

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Kathy McNeilly, second from right, director of the Oak Ridge Public Library, and library employees presented a pair of solar eclipse glasses to City Manager Mark Watson, center, on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017. Also pictured from left to right are Martha Lux, Teresa Fortney, and Elaine Keener. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

Kathy McNeilly, second from right, director of the Oak Ridge Public Library, and library employees presented a pair of solar eclipse glasses to City Manager Mark Watson, center, on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017. Also pictured from left to right are Martha Lux, Teresa Fortney, and Elaine Keener. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Public Library will give out 500 pairs of eclipse glasses to library patrons on Monday, August 14. The glasses will be given out while supplies last, the library staff said. A valid library card or photo identification must be shown, and there is a limit of one pair of glasses per library account, the library staff said.

The solar eclipse is August 21. Oak Ridge is one of the few cities in the path of totality in Tennessee. It is estimated that the total solar eclipse in Oak Ridge will last 27 to 31 seconds at approximately 2:33 p.m. EDT August 21.

It’s the first solar eclipse over the continental United States since 1979. [Read more…]

EPA picks Oak Ridge to apply for new loan program for new water plant

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The Oak Ridge Water Treatment Plant is pictured on Pine Ridge above the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has invited the City of Oak Ridge to apply for a new federal loan program for the city’s proposed new water plant, a press release said.

The City of Oak Ridge water plant is one of 12 projects in nine states to apply for more than $2 billion in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Loans, the EPA said in a press release Wednesday. The projects were selected from a group of 43 projects that submitted letters of interest to EPA in April 2017.

“Rebuilding America’s infrastructure is a critical pillar of the president’s agenda,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These large-scale projects will improve water quality for 20 million Americans, especially those communities that need it the most—such as rural and urban communities.”

The press release said the City of Oak Ridge will design and construct a new 16 million-gallons-per-day membrane treatment plant and associated equipment to replace the existing decades-old conventional treatment plant, which is currently at capacity and beyond its useful life.

Among the city’s water plant customers are Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex.

“This project will provide sufficient capacity to meet the city’s water needs by continuing the production and delivery of safe potable drinking water to its customers,” the EPA press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge hires new community development director

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Wayne Blasius

Wayne Blasius

 

Oak Ridge has hired a new community development director.

Wayne Blasius was selected to lead the department earlier this month, and he will start in his new position on August 28, a press release said.

Blasius is currently executive director of the nonprofit East Tennessee Community Design Center, the press release said.

“I am extremely pleased to announce that Wayne Blasius will be joining us in the City of Oak Ridge as our new director of community development,” City Manager Mark Watson said in the press release. “Wayne brings to us extensive public and private sector experience. He is particularly knowledgeable about the many changes in housing and public spaces in Knoxville and will bring that experience to Oak Ridge as we continue our own community renaissance and redevelopment.”

Blasius will replace Kathryn Baldwin, Oak Ridge’s current community development director. Baldwin announced in May that she is retiring after 16 years of service with the city, and her last day is July 28. [Read more…]

Council approves contract with TDOT for Rails to Trails project

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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. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $1.5 million contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation that is expected to allow a former railroad to be converted into a greenway.

The so-called Rails to Trails project will convert about 4.85 miles of unused CSX railroad into a pedestrian and bicycle trail.

The former railroad starts at Elza Gate Park at Melton Lake Drive in east Oak Ridge, runs past the Emory Heights neighborhood and Jefferson Middle School, crosses Emory Valley Road near Hank’s Market, and then continues through the Hendrix Creek neighborhood along Lafayette Drive before ending near South Illinois Avenue, Scarboro Road, and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) approved $1.224 million for the project in October 2016 through the Transportation Alternative Program, or TAP. There is a local 20 percent match of $306,000, which would be provided by the City of Oak Ridge. The combined funding from the TAP award and the local match is $1.53 million.

The overall cost of the Rails to Trails project isn’t clear. The property has not been purchased, and the TAP grant, federal money disbursed here through the Federal Highway Act, does not include purchase, Oak Ridge Community Development Director Kathryn Baldwin told City Council members on Monday.

“This is not the total amount,” Baldwin said. “This does not include purchase.” [Read more…]

Emerald ash borer could kill most ash trees, cost city about $660,000

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Typical ash tree locations, plus color enhancements—Providence Road. (Images by City of Oak Ridge)

Typical ash tree locations, plus color enhancements—Providence Road. (Images by City of Oak Ridge)

 

A pest known as the emerald ash borer could kill most ash trees in Oak Ridge, and the cost to treat or remove the trees that pose a threat to the city’s electric system has been estimated at $662,000, officials said.

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. The adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae (the immature stage) feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients.

The City of Oak Ridge said in May that ash trees in Oak Ridge are dead or dying due to the emerald ash borer. Once compromised by the beetle, the city said then, the trees pose a significant hazard to people, property, and power lines.

“The impact of this pest is extreme,” Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack L. Suggs said in a June 27 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. “We expect virtually 100 percent death of all ash trees in the city, with only trees receiving ongoing chemical treatment surviving. Many of these trees will impact our power lines, in addition to other public facilities such as parks and streets.”

A survey of the city’s electric power lines with help from University of Tennessee forestry interns this summer is evaluating the health of the trees and the probability that they might affect the electric system. The work is only about one-third complete, but officials estimate there could be about 1,000 to 1,200 trees that will need to be either treated or removed because of their potential to affect the city’s electric system, Suggs said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge could set up committee to celebrate its 75th anniversary

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Y-12 Calutron Girls

Women enriching uranium in calutrons at Y-12 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. The 75th anniversary of the city that became Oak Ridge and still includes Y-12 is Sept. 19, 2017. (Photo by Ed Westcott)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider setting up a committee to celebrate the city’s 75th anniversary.

Oak Ridge’s birthday has been recognized on September 19. That’s because the city that is now Oak Ridge was picked for the top-secret Manhattan Project on September 19, 1942, almost 75 years ago. That was the day that General Leslie Groves approved the acquisition of 59,000 acres of land along the Clinch River for what soon became the Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs, before Germany could. Oak Ridge was then 90 square miles of East Tennessee farmland. It was the first site for Manhattan Project facilities.

By the time President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the Manhattan Project on December 28, 1942, work on the East Tennessee site where the first production facilities were to be built was already under way.

Oak Ridge became the home of two uranium enrichment plants (K-25 and Y-12), a liquid thermal diffusion plant (S-50), and a pilot plutonium production reactor (X-10 Graphite Reactor). Groves approved Oak Ridge as the site for the pilot plutonium plant and the uranium enrichment plant in 1942. Manhattan Project engineers had to quickly build a town to accommodate 30,000 workers—as well as build the enormously complex plants. [Read more…]

Applegate named Oak Ridge director of administrative services

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Bruce Applegate

Bruce Applegate

 

Bruce Applegate, who had been interim personnel director, has been named director of administrative services for the City of Oak Ridge, a press release said.

Applegate is a former assistant to the city manager. He had been leading the Personnel Department after the retirement of long-time Personnel Director Penelope Sissom in the summer of 2016, the press release said. Applegate was named interim department director while the city launched its search for a new personnel director.

Applegate has been selected to fill that position, although Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said he chose to “re-title and re-tool the position” as director of administrative services. That decision came after careful consideration of the future of the position and how it can best serve the needs of all departments, the press release said. The new position will continue to oversee all Human Resources processes and personnel, but will also focus on strategic projects that have major impacts on the city. [Read more…]

Council to consider $75,000 in funding for 2017 Secret City Festival expenses

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The Oak Ridge City Council on Thursday will consider whether to approve up to $75,000 in funding for expenses associated with the 2017 Secret City Festival.

The money would allow Celebrate Oak Ridge, the new nonprofit organization responsible for the festival, to pay expenses for this year’s festival, which started Friday, June 2, and ended Saturday, June 10.

The city has previously provided $50,000 in start-up funding for the new organization. That funding was considered in December.

On June 6, Celebrate Oak Ridge, an organization run by volunteers, requested additional funding from City Manager Mark Watson to “timely meet contractual obligations associated with the festival, including entertainment costs and other vendors fees,” according to a resolution that City Council members will consider Thursday.

“Celebrate Oak Ridge does not have sufficient capital reserves to meet their contractual obligations during the final week of the festival, which would impact this and potentially future events,” the resolution said. [Read more…]

Council approves budget with no tax rate increase

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

 

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a budget with no property tax rate increase on Monday.

If the budget is adopted in a second and final vote next week, it will be the 10th year in a row without a tax rate increase in Oak Ridge.

The Council had been asked to consider a four-cent increase in the property tax rate in order to fund a 2.5 percent pay raise for Oak Ridge Schools teachers and staff. That increase would have pushed the city’s property tax rate to $2.56 per $100 of assessed value. But that request was denied.

Instead, Council voted 4-2 to keep the tax rate at $2.52.

But Council did agree, in another 4-2 vote, to give the schools about $538,000 in additional funding that the city agreed to provide on a recurring basis. That means the city will have to continue to provide that extra money in the funding that it transfers to Oak Ridge Schools each year as part of what is known as maintenance of effort. The city had also given the schools an additional $538,000 last year, but it was on a one-time basis for a digital device initiative that includes convertible laptops for students, among other expenses.

This year, members of the Oak Ridge Board of Education sought to make that $538,000 a recurring part of the school system’s funding, and they wanted to add another $318,000—or about $856,000 total—for the 2.5 percent pay raise for teachers and staff. Council members approved the first part of that request (the recurring $538,000), but not the second (the extra $318,000). [Read more…]

Oak Ridge receives $1.2 million grant for Rails to Trails

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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. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The City of Oak Ridge has received a $1.2 million grant that it can use for the proposed Rails to Trails project.

The executive board of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization approved the grant in October, said Ellen Zavisca, senior transportation planner.

It could be used for project planning and property acquisition for the Rails to Trails project, and possibly to start construction, said Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department director.

Hetrick said the grant was awarded by TPO, but it’s actually a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant. The city is entering into a contract with TDOT for the grant, and the Oak Ridge City Council could consider accepting the grant in July.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson briefly mentioned the $1.2 million grant during a budget presentation to City Council members on Tuesday of this week. The city would administer the $1.2 million grant but would have to follow certain TDOT requirements.

The Rails to Trails project would convert a few miles of former railway that runs through the center of Oak Ridge into a bicycle and pedestrian trail. The railway runs from Melton Lake Drive in east Oak Ridge; past Jefferson Middle School and near the Hank’s Market shopping center in central Oak Ridge; and to the Y-12 National Security Complex. [Read more…]

Proposed city budget would not raise property tax rate

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

 

The budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Tuesday would not increase the property tax rate. Instead, the budget would hold the property tax rate steady at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value.

It could be the 10th year in a row without a tax rate increase. That’s if the Oak Ridge City Council approves the city manager’s proposed budget.

Watson said it’s essentially the same budget as last year, with some capital improvements and funding for an energy savings plan for lighting, heating, and cooling systems in the city and schools.

Fully funding a request from Oak Ridge Schools for 2.5 percent pay raises for teachers and staff would require the equivalent of a four-cent tax rate increase, Watson said during a special City Council meeting on Tuesday. [Read more…]