Rick Chinn Archives - Oak Ridge Today

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

Posted at 5:12 pm December 18, 2017
By John Huotari 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)

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…]

Accepting state grant for Blankenship Field means it must be open to public

Posted at 12:38 pm November 24, 2017
By John Huotari 1 Comment

An overall view of the proposed renovation of Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium. (File image from April 2015)

Accepting a state grant of $480,000 for Blankenship Field, primarily for synthetic turf, means that the facilities must be open to the public.

But there could be exceptions for previously scheduled events that are coordinated through the Oak Ridge school system.

Keeping the facilities open is part of an operational agreement with Oak Ridge Schools that was amended in a 7-0 vote by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, November 13.

“The important thing is that it’s just not locked up,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson told City Council during that meeting. Residents have to be able to use the property.

Watson said there will be a bathroom available, and the facilities will be open sunrise to sunset. There could be field rentals, Watson said. [Read more…]

Third Annual First Responders Appreciation Day is Saturday

Posted at 2:52 pm October 2, 2017
By Becky Hodge Leave a Comment

Flags are pictured above at the First Responders Appreciation Day in 2016. (Submitted photo)

The First Responders Appreciation Committee of Oak Ridge will present the Third Annual First Responders Appreciation Day on Saturday, October 7, in the parking lot of Swifty’s Atomic Bar and Grill in Oak Ridge. The event begins at 2 p.m., a press release said.

“This year’s event will be much larger than last year!” the press release said. “We will have a waterslide for the kids, free food provided by Sysco Foods, and music. We’ll also have booths featuring DotDotSmile; Handmade Wreaths; Honey Pots; The Mystic Orb jewelry; National Martial Arts; Outta the Attic; Paparazzi Jewelry; Plum Crazy Boutique; and SET Guns and Range.

“Most importantly, we will be honoring all local area first responders to include law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and emergency medical services personnel. We will read a roll call of the fallen police, firefighters, and EMS in 2017 and have a candlelight vigil to honor their memory.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge faith leaders condemn racism, hatred, ask City Council to do the same

Posted at 11:48 am August 16, 2017
By John Huotari 15 Comments

Reacting to the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend, Oak Ridge faith leaders on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, condemned white supremacy, racism, anti-semitism, and other forms of hatred, and they asked the Oak Ridge City Council to adopt a resolution expressing similar sentiments. The statement of condemnation was read by Derrick Hammond, pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Reacting to the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend, Oak Ridge faith leaders on Monday condemned white supremacy, racism, anti-semitism, and other forms of hatred, and they asked the Oak Ridge City Council to adopt a resolution expressing similar sentiments.

The statement of condemnation of hatred and racism was read by Derrick Hammond, pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church, during a Monday evening meeting of the Oak Ridge City Council as 14 other clergy members stood by him in support.

It came two days after a 32-year-old Virginia woman was killed and 19 other people were injured after a car plowed into counter-protesters on the day of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. About two hours after the car crash, two Virginia state troopers who both have East Tennessee ties were killed when their police helicopter crashed and burned; the helicopter had been involved in providing surveillance and information during the day, the Charlottesville Daily Progress reported.

“This past weekend, a 32-year-old young lady by the name of Heather Heyer lost her life, and many others were seriously injured at a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia,” the Oak Ridge faith leaders said in their statement delivered to City Council on Monday. “The white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, and other ‘alt-right’ hate groups were gathered in order to ‘take America back.’

“While the kind of hate, bigotry, and white supremacist ideology that we witnessed in Charlottesville is not new to America, this racist minority movement has been emboldened by what they perceive as support for their un-American world view. Their rhetoric and actions threaten the historic progress our ancestors, from many faiths and ethnic backgrounds, have made toward equality for all. It is now our responsibility and privilege to celebrate the rich diversity of our nation and continue their work. [Read more…]

Council approves budget with no tax rate increase

Posted at 1:54 am June 8, 2017
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 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…]

Housing report recommends more new homes, rental units

Posted at 10:07 am April 20, 2017
By John Huotari 7 Comments

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and its Housing Task Force, which was chaired by Melinda Hillman, right, presented a housing report to the Oak Ridge City Council during a non-voting work session on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and its Housing Task Force, which was chaired by Melinda Hillman, right, present a housing report to the Oak Ridge City Council during a non-voting work session on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. At left is Parker Hardy, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce president. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The competition to provide housing for workers is fierce, and Oak Ridge needs more new homes in the $180,000-$280,000 price range and more rental units in the $900-$1,200 price range, according to a housing report presented to Oak Ridge City Council by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.

Also proposed in the housing report: the development of attractive, convenient mixed use gathering spaces; improving the appearance of existing neighborhoods through aggressive codes enforcement; beautification projects in public spaces to make Oak Ridge more appealing; developing and implementing a consistent “brand” for Oak Ridge that encompasses livability, economic development, and tourism; incentivizing home improvements in the Manhattan District Overlay; and developing public/private partnerships to work on housing.

The report, which was presented to City Council in a non-voting work session on Tuesday, studied where Oak Ridge employees live, based upon the zip codes of 7,372 employees from eight major Oak Ridge employers. It found that 22 percent of Oak Ridge workers live in Oak Ridge. That’s compared to 44 percent who live in Knox County, primarily in Farragut, Hardin Valley, Northshore, Karns, and Cedar Bluff.

Ten percent of the Oak Ridge workers live in Roane County, 6 percent live in Clinton, and less than five percent each live in Loudon, Blount, Morgan, and other counties, the report said.

The housing report only reviewed Oak Ridge as it compares to the five most popular communities where people who work in Oak Ridge choose to live (Farragut, Hardin Valley, Northshore, Karns, and Cedar Bluff).

“Competition for residents is fierce, and Oak Ridge competes with some of the most desirable communities in the region,” the report said. [Read more…]

Scarboro skeptical, wants more discussion, but Council picks park for preschool

Posted at 2:56 pm March 29, 2017
By John Huotari 6 Comments

About 100 people turned out for a community meeting on selecting Scarboro Park for the new Oak Ridge Preschool on Thursday, March 23, 2017. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Residents and former residents of the Scarboro neighborhood are divided over whether to build the Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park. While some support the project, others are skeptical of the city’s motives and have signed a petition opposing the site. One resident asked for more time for discussion, at least a few more meetings, during a special meeting on Monday.

But the City Council voted 5-1 to select Scarboro Park as the site for the new Oak Ridge Preschool. That vote had been postponed during a regular City Council meeting two weeks ago in order to allow city and school officials to meet with Scarboro residents this past Thursday.

Council members and other officials have portrayed the preschool project as an opportunity, a $10 million investment in the community. City officials have said the site is centrally located, the land is flat and city-owned, and its crime statistics are a bit better than those at the first preferred site, Elm Grove Park.

They have pointed out that Scarboro Park is only a half-mile from the nearest fire station, and most of the park—about 85 percent of it—would still be a park. They said the park is large enough that the 40,000-square-foot preschool could be expanded and could include 20 classrooms. The park could still include the recreational amenities—basketball courts, tennis courts, and a youth-size baseball field—although they might be moved within the park, officials said. [Read more…]

Council postpones vote on preschool site until after Scarboro meeting

Posted at 3:42 pm March 14, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new preschool could be located at Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge City Council has postponed a vote on selecting a site for the new Oak Ridge Preschool until after a meeting in Scarboro next week.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education unanimously selected Scarboro Park, off Carver Avenue in central Oak Ridge, as the site for the new preschool in February.

The Council was expected to vote on that site on Monday.

But after hearing from a few people who had questions about the proposed site, Council agreed in a 4-3 vote to defer its site selection until after a March 23 meeting in Scarboro. Council could now vote during a special meeting on March 27.

Besides Scarboro Park, officials had previously looked at two other options. One, Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge, had been identified as the preferred site after a preschool report was published in October 2015. But there has been opposition, including a petition drive, to building the new preschool there. [Read more…]

Letter: Oak Ridge Country Club responds to comments made at Council meeting

Posted at 12:57 am February 10, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Letters Leave a Comment

Editor’s note: This is a letter sent to Oak Ridge City Council by the Oak Ridge Country Club in response to comments made during a City Council meeting in January, when Council considered whether to provide $120,000 for the city-owned Tennessee Centennial Golf Course.

Dear Council Members:

On behalf of the membership and Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Country Club (ORCC), I would like to take this opportunity to express our displeasure in councilman Rick Chinn stemming from a statement made during a recent City Council meeting, which subsequently made it to public media outlets. During that meeting Mr. Chinn, in defense of his vote against allocating funds to Centennial Golf Course, stated that, “there is another private golf course in Oak Ridge that is also struggling.” Due to the fact that ORCC is the only private golf course in Oak Ridge, one can conclude that he was referring to our club. I would like to take a moment to address that completely unfounded and inappropriate comment.

Oak Ridge Country Club was founded in 1947 and will celebrate its 70th year in existence this year. ORCC is not funded by the City of Oak Ridge. We currently have 275 golf members and over 440 members total that maintain the financial stability of our club, without city or state assistance. Our club is not remotely a fair comparison to Centennial when it comes to taxpayer dollars spent in the city of Oak Ridge.

Of that membership of 275 golf members, a good percentage are individuals and families that come from outside the city of Oak Ridge (Powell, West Knoxville, Hardin Valley, and Kingston, to name a few), thus bringing dollars into our city’s economy. Our club annually hosts events for Tennessee Golf Association, Tennessee PGA and Knoxville Chapter PGA. All of these events bring players from all over the state of Tennessee into our community, to our hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. [Read more…]

Council approves $120,000 for city-owned golf course

Posted at 12:36 pm January 12, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Centennial Golf Course is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge City Council agreed in a 5-2 vote on Monday to provide $120,000 to continue operating the Tennessee Centennial Golf Course, which the city owns in east Oak Ridge off Edgemoor Road.

The request this year was smaller than it was in 2015, when Council approved a $325,000 transfer, but the golf course is still short of money needed to operate, despite all marketing efforts, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson told City Council members in a memo before Monday’s meeting.

Most of the $120,000 in funding—or $70,024 of it—will be used for accounts payable. The rest will be used for cash flow and salaries, Watson said.

“The slow winter season now requires funding to pay necessary costs and salaries through the winter quarter (January-March 2017),” Watson said. [Read more…]

City Council to consider $120,000 for golf course

Posted at 1:21 pm January 5, 2017
By John Huotari 15 Comments

The Tennessee Centennial Golf Course is pictured above in east Oak Ridge on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider approving $120,000 to continue operating the Tennessee Centennial Golf Course in east Oak Ridge off Edgemoor Road.

The request comes about one year after Council approved, in a 6-1 vote, a $325,000 transfer for operations at the golf course. About $225,000 of that transfer, a cash infusion, was for outstanding accounts payable, including for expenses that included clothing in the pro shop, a management fee, fertilizer, and irrigation costs. Another $100,000 was operational funding for the winter, including maintenance of the greens.

The request is smaller this year, but the golf course is still short of money needed to operate, despite all marketing efforts, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said in a Wednesday memo to City Council members.

“The slow winter season now requires funding to pay necessary costs and salaries through the winter quarter (January-March 2017),” Watson said.

Most of the $120,000 in funding—or $70,024 of it—would be used for accounts payable. The rest would be used for cash flow and salaries, Watson said. [Read more…]

Council unanimously approves AMSE land transfer

Posted at 8:33 pm December 13, 2016
By John Huotari 2 Comments

The American Museum of Science and Energy property is pictured above in central Oak Ridge. The wide road running vertically at center-right through the aerial photo is South Tulane Avenue. Main Street Oak Ridge is being built on the right side of South Tulane Avenue at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The road running horizontally at bottom is South Illinois Avenue. AMSE is the brown-roofed building at top-center.

Note: This story was last updated at 11 p.m.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the transfer of the American Museum of Science and Energy property. The roughly 17.42 acres will be transferred from the U.S. Department of Energy to the City of Oak Ridge. It could then be transferred in two phases to a company set up by the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge.

Under the agreement, the AMSE missions will be relocated within about one year to 18,000 square feet of space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at Main Street Oak Ridge. That space, once finished, will be provided by TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC, a Main Street Oak Ridge company, to the city at no cost for 15 years.

The city will, in turn, sublease the former Sears space to DOE at no charge for 15 years, and it can be used for the public outreach and education missions now conducted at AMSE—as well as for a temporary visitor center for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. That visitor center is now housed at AMSE.
[Read more…]