Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson is scheduled to present the municipal budget proposed for the next fiscal year during a City Council meeting on Monday.
The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. You can see the agenda here.
The meeting will be in-person, rather than a virtual meeting, but city officials said they will use appropriate social distancing.
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The Oak Ridge City Council will meet electronically this evening (Monday, May 11).
Council members will participate in the virtual meeting, which starts at 7 p.m., through audio and video conferencing. It will be streamed online on the City of Oak Ridge website and broadcast on Comcast Channel 12.
Residents are asked to watch the meeting because the executive order by Tennessee Governor Bill that limits public gatherings in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Oak Ridge Municipal Building will not be open to the public, a press release said.
[Read more…]The Oak Ridge City Council will conduct its regular meeting today (Monday, April 13) as a virtual meeting.
The meeting is being conducted virtually because of the executive orders issued by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch that require state and city residents to stay home unless they are carrying out essential activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The virtual meeting means that City Council members will participate electronically through audio and video conferencing. It will be streamed online on the city’s website and broadcast simultaneously on Comcast Channel 12.
The meeting will start at 7 p.m. Monday, April 13. Residents are asked to watch the meeting through one of the methods provided above, a press release said. The Oak Ridge Municipal Building will not be open to the public.
[Read more…]Note: This story was last updated at 3:43 p.m.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday declared a local emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed to suspend the disconnection of utilities for non-payments for up to 90 days.
The Council also agreed to let the Oak Ridge Electric Department work with ADFAC, a nonprofit organization, to supply $100,000 worth of utility aid to help residential customers. Customers would have to demonstrate that they were either laid off or had their work hours significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The temporary utility policy applies to electricity, water, sewer, and garbage service. The city is not providing the services for free, so bills will continue to accrue even if they’re not being paid. Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs said the city will work with customers to make payments once life returns to normal.
“We expect this is going to be very hard on people,” Suggs told the Oak Ridge City Council during a 90-minute special meeting at noon Monday.
In a Thursday memo, Suggs said the nationwide measures taken so far to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have dramatically affected many people in Oak Ridge.
“Hotel occupancy has plummeted to historically low levels while restaurants and entertainment venues have closed or reduced hours and services,” Suggs said. “As a result, many of these enterprises are struggling to meet their financial obligations. Many employees in these industries have been laid off or had their working hours slashed to levels where they are financially unable to meet their basic financial obligations.”
Complicating the situation: Schools have closed, meaning children are at home, sometimes by themselves, and social service agencies have closed.
Suggs said most utilities in the area have suspended disconnects for non-payment for now.
“This is done in recognition that persons who are confined at home, and especially those with children, require utilities for their continued health and welfare. This is an issue not only for the individual, but also for the community at large. The same thing can be said about the shutdown of commercial or industrial accounts. While the loss of one business is a tragedy, the loss of several accounts is a community disaster.”
[Read more…]The Oak Ridge City Council will have a special meeting at noon Monday to discuss how the city is handling and addressing the new coronavirus, or COVID-19.
The special meeting will be in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.
To help residents watch the meeting, the meeting will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 12 and will be streamed live by the city at www.oakridgetn.gov/councilstreaming.aspx. The meeting will also be audio- and video-recorded and posted on the city’s website as soon as possible after the meeting, a press release said.
“Due to the Centers for Disease Control advisory of limiting gatherings of 10 or more individuals, the city would encourage residents to watch the meeting through one of the methods provided above,” the press release said.
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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.
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The Oak Ridge City Council is interested in a proposed test track and research facility or motorsports park at Horizon Center.
The seven City Council members unanimously expressed interest in the proposed project, which could cost more than $50 million and cover more than 300 acres, during a Monday night meeting. The proposal is still in the early conceptual stage, and Council doesn’t have a specific plan to consider or endorse yet.
There are significant questions about the unusual project, which would be in west Oak Ridge, a few miles northeast of the former K-25 site. They include the questions of whether some potential uses such as a hotel would be allowed by the deed restrictions at the site, whether motorsports would be allowed under the industrial zoning, and whether a recreational vehicle park and outdoor music would be appropriate there.
Oak Ridge City Council member Ellen Smith said there are legal constraints on the property. Certain kinds of uses are allowed, and some, such as homes and hotels, are not, Smith said. She said the U.S. Department of Energy was hoping to foster industrial development on the former federal property.
It’s not clear what position DOE might take on the proposed use, and it’s not clear whether the site would be a test track and research facility for non-spectators, a motorsports park for spectators, or a combination of the two.
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A motorsports park that could cost more than $50 million and cover more than 300 acres has been proposed at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge.
The Oak Ridge City Council is expected to consider a resolution expressing support for and interest in the project on Monday evening. The development of the test track and research facility could be on three lots at Horizon Center: parcels 5, 6, and 7. The project could include about 327 acres total.
If the resolution is approved Monday, it would be sent to the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board. The project could then be reviewed by the IDB, which could consider whether to sell the property. The IDB has contacted Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson’s office to determine City Council’s interest in the project, according to the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
H.E. Bittle III of Hardin Valley Land Partners told Oak Ridge officials in a February 2 letter that the planned motorsports park would have a road course “suitable for FIA (Federation Internationale de L’Automobile) sanctioned events, such as Formula E, Indy Car, IMSA, NASA, and other sanctioning bodies.”
Besides the race course, the motorsports park would have an amphitheater with a mix of permanent and lawn seating for more than 7,000 people, similar to the Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Bittle said.
[Read more…]The Oak Ridge City Council will consider a contract with a veterinarian at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter and potential changes to the property transfer agreement with TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC during a special meeting this evening (Tuesday, August 20).
The veterinary services contract would be with Matt Jinks of Maryville.
TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC is the company helping to lead the redevelopment of the former American Museum of Science and Energy site, and it is affiliated with the company developing Main Street Oak Ridge at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The changes to the property transfer agreement could include extending the first tax revenue condition by one year and requiring a letter of credit for the community-oriented amenities, according to Council’s meeting agenda.
[Read more…]Note: This story was updated at 8:30 p.m.
The Oak Ridge City Council voted 5-0 Monday evening to approve an initial debt resolution worth up to $45 million for the construction of a new water treatment plant and related infrastructure.
The five members voting in favor of the resolution were Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn, and Council members Jim Dodson, Chuck Hope, and Ellen Smith. Council members Kelly Callison and Derrick Hammond were absent.
The water plant would be built near the city’s water intake on the Clinch River in south Oak Ridge. The cost of the new plant, which could produce about 16 million gallons of water per day, is currently estimated at about $42.9 million.
City officials have been discussing the new water plant for several years and have had an engineering firm study the project.
[Read more…]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.
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The city is repairing a large landslide that occurred next to the access road to the Oak Ridge water treatment plant on Pine Ridge above the Y-12 National Security Complex during the rainy month of February.
The landslide occurred on the night of February 23, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters told City Manager Mark Watson in a June 24 memo. The access road is the only access road to the city’s water plant, and it’s critical to being able to operate the water plant, McWaters said. The road allows operations and maintenance workers to get to the water plant and deliver materials, equipment, and chemicals.
Repairs were started immediately after the landslide to minimize the risk of more damage to the area and the potential to lose the only access road to the plant, McWaters said. She said work started in March and should be complete by the end of July.
The water plant provides water to both the City of Oak Ridge and to U.S. Department of Energy sites, including Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The plant is on a ridge at the southern entrance to central Oak Ridge above the main entrance to Y-12 at Bear Creek Road and Scarboro Road.
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