Oak Ridge Today

ORCVB budget cut: No layoffs, focusing on more events, weekend stays

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Secret City Festival Kickoff 2012

The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau is one of three organizations that present the annual Secret City Festival. ORCVB President Katy Brown is pictured above, fifth from right, at the opening ceremonies for the 2012 festival along with other state and local officials.

Its budget has been cut 25 percent, but there will be no layoffs at the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Instead, the four-person staff will focus on attracting more weekend visitors to the Secret City and bringing in more events, possibly including those that generate fees. The organization could “own more events,” ORCVB President Katy Brown said, and rely on more grassroots efforts. That could include using more social media and travel writers.

“It’s going to be a shift,” Brown said Monday after the Oak Ridge City Council approved—in a voice vote with no opposition—a new one-year $300,000 contract for the ORCVB, the city’s main tourism organization. The funding is down from $410,000 last year. [Read more…]

Council considers smaller ORCVB contract

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The Oak Ridge City Council has already agreed to cut funding for the city’s main tourism organization by 25 percent under the budget approved in May.

On Monday, Council members will officially consider a one-year contract for the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau that would set funding at a maximum of $300,000, down from $410,000 last year. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival features ‘something for everyone’

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Homemade Wine Band

The Homemade Wine Band played after the Friday morning opening ceremony at the Secret City Festival.

The annual Secret City Festival started today, and it features Manhattan Project bus tours and history displays, World War II living history activities and demonstrations, arts and crafts and antiques dealers, food vendors and exhibitors, a children’s festival area and youth events, and a car show and concerts.

“Join more than 20,000 visitors and residents to celebrate the end of World War II and the heritage of Oak Ridge from 1945 to the present,” a press release said.

Oak Ridge was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s atomic bombs, and the festival celebrates the city’s heritage.

Festival organizers have provided an overview of some of the many activities and events taking place at this year’s festival:
 [Read more…]

Secret City Festival announces new concert security measures

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

The Secret City Festival will have tighter security at the Friday and Saturday night concerts this year, and visitors could experience a few delays as organizers try to make the shows safer, a press release said.

No backpacks or coolers will be allowed into the concert site, and all bags will be subject to search, the release said.

“In light of recent events, we’re being extra vigilant in our protection of our attendees, staff, and the community during the festival concerts,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said. [Read more…]

Secret City to glow with color at Neon Vibe 5K in September

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Neon Vibe 5K Oak Ridge

A Neon Vibe 5K will be held at A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on Sept. 21. (Photo courtesy Neon Vibe 5K)

The “Atomic City” will “light up the night” this fall when a brand new event, the Neon Vibe 5K, comes to town.

The 5K is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, at A.K. Bissell Park. The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau announced the race this week.

The Neon Vibe 5K is an after-dark, fluorescent glow light fun run that will have participants “glowing crazy with color and dancing all night long,” a press release said. Starting with the 5K, participants will run a traditional, non-competitive 3.1-mile course with four UV black light “glow zone” color stations and upbeat dance music set up throughout the route. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 again a premier sponsor of the Secret City Festival

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B&W Y-12 Secret City Festival Check Presentation

Chuck Spencer, center, B&W Y-12 president and general manager, presents a $25,000 sponsorship check for the Secret City Festival to Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, left, and Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller. (Submitted photo)

B&W Y-12 is returning to the Secret City Festival once again as the premier festival sponsor, a press release said.

“B&W has led the way in Secret City Festival sponsorships both financially and in kind for the past eight years,” the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau said in a Wednesday press release. B&W Y-12 operates the Y-12 National Security Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Chuck Spencer, B&W Y-12 president and general manager, presented a $25,000 festival sponsorship check during a May 28 meeting. [Read more…]

Council approves no-tax-increase budget that could be amended

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday gave initial approval to a budget that does not raise property taxes but could be amended.

Council members Trina Baughn and Chuck Hope proposed amendments that could be considered during a special meeting before second and final reading of the budget on May 28.

The budget presented by City Manager Mark Watson on Monday would give city employees a 1 percent pay raise, cut funding for the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, and change the city’s contract with the Chamber of Commerce. [Read more…]

Council considers budget with no tax increase, less money for Chamber, ORCVB

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a budget that does not raise property taxes but could cut funding for the Chamber of Commerce as well as the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It would include contracts with economic development consultants Ray Evans and Steve Jones and a 1 percent cost-of-living pay raise for city employees.

Under the budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, the property tax rate would stay at $2.39 per $100 of assessed value. [Read more…]

Watson’s budget proposes same tax rate, less funding for Chamber, ORCVB

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Monday would not raise property taxes, but it would slash funding for the Chamber of Commerce, and Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The ORCVB funding could be cut from $410,000 to $300,000, Watson told City Council members during a Monday night work session. The city needs “more heads in beds,” more people staying here and more events, Watson said.

The chamber’s contract with the city is now worth about $260,000. The city could instead use $125,000 for funding of services and projects—sending city officials on recruiting trips, for example—and spend $55,000 on memberships in organizations such as the Roane Alliance and Anderson County Economic Development Association. [Read more…]

Guest column: ORCVB, Chamber funding should be reduced 50-100 percent, festivals outsourced

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Note: This is an edited version of a letter submitted by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn at a March 25 work session.

Mr. Watson and Fellow Council Members:

At our last retreat, I proposed that we each share our specific positions regarding the Economic Diversification Fund. A successful economic development strategy must focus on both retaining and increasing business and residents with a primary goal of establishing a more competitive financial position. For Oak Ridge, that means becoming a more affordable place to live and work. With that in mind, I present my point-by-point response to Mr. Watson’s Eight Point Economic Statement:

1) I support the city manager’s proposal to eliminate this fund and distribute the costs within the general fund if that distribution includes some reduction and/or reallocation of funds to the direct benefit of our taxpayers. Of the $1.4 million we currently spend, I recommend that we attribute half toward a reduction in the property tax rate (the equivalent of 7.7 cents). Such a reduction will benefit every existing and future business and home owner. [Read more…]

Guest column: The beginning of hopeful change in economic development

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By Pat Fain and Leslie Agron

On a cool Monday evening at a recent Oak Ridge City Council work session, City Manager Mark Watson did something else. He offered the city and the Council a creative and achievable road map to changing the decades-old paradigm that is today’s Oak Ridge. He offered new exciting ideas geared to the 21st century and designed to promote both the fiscal health and the allure of the city.

The focus of the room was total, and one could almost hear the gray cells churning to take it all in. It is really fun to be present at the very beginning of hopeful change. The inertia of the city has been challenged, the status quo has been shaken, and the restlessness of the citizenry has been given a positive direction around which to coalesce.

[Read more…]

Secret City Festival applications now available online

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World War II Re-enactment

The Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge includes one of the largest World War II re-enactments in the South.

Preparations for the 11th Annual Secret City Festival are under way, and applications are now available online.

Vendors and exhibitors can visit www.SecretCityFestival.com and download an application to become involved in this year’s event, which will take place June 21-22 at A.K. Bissell Park.

Applications are available for arts and crafts, exhibitors, and food vendors.

[Read more…]