Schools in Oak Ridge, Anderson County, Clinton, and Roane County will be closed again Thursday, January 21, because of the winter weather and hazardous road conditions.
“Please stay warm and if you must travel, please do so safely,” Roane County Schools said.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said county government will also be closed Thursday. [Read more…]
Chris Phillips
Note: This story was updated at 10:52 p.m. Jan. 6.
Chris Phillips announced Wednesday that he is resigning as director of accounts and budgets for Anderson County. Phillips notified Anderson County commissioners of his resignation in a Wednesday morning email.
The email doesn’t give a reason for the resignation or say whether Phillips has accepted another job, and he wasn’t immediately available for comment early Wednesday afternoon.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank was also not immediately available for comment. Update: Both Phillips and Frank have responded to a request for comment, and Oak Ridge Today will post an updated story as soon as possible.
“It has been an honor to serve each of you,” Phillips wrote to commissioners. “While I have been blessed with a tremendous opportunity, this decision comes with some heartache as I dearly love and respect the people I work with and for on a daily basis. Everyone in this courthouse has shown me kindness and has respected this position. I want to particularly thank the folks here in the budget office and in the school finance office. They have supported me, through many ups and downs, and have performed impeccable work for the citizens of Anderson County, you as commissioners, and me personally. [Read more…]
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank signs the resolution adopted by County Commission that regulates zoning for local pain clinics. (Submitted photo)
CLINTON—Following months of work that began in March 2015, two public hearings, and two separate reviews by County Commission, Anderson County has adopted new local zoning regulations for pain clinics in an effort to prevent or reduce prescription drug abuse in the county, a press release said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses now account for more deaths in the U.S. nationally than motor vehicle accidents, with 52 percent of those deaths attributed to prescription medication.
In Tennessee, drug overdose deaths increased 7.7 percent from 2013 to 2014 (1,187 deaths in 2013 to 1,269 deaths in 2014). This is higher than the statistically significant national average change of +6.5 percent, according to the CDC. The Tennessee drug overdose deaths in 2014 are almost equivalent to two full Tennessee Greyhound bus crashes per month without survivors, the press release said. [Read more…]
The seven-year lease on the Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires Dec. 31, 2015, but the Anderson County Commission on Thursday agreed to an 18-month lease to keep the courthouse where it is now. That will give county officials time to consider options for where to locate the courthouse. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 1:50 p.m. Dec. 18.
CLINTON—With no other alternative lined up yet, the Anderson County Commission on Thursday agreed to an 18-month lease for the Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. That will keep the courthouse at its current home until mid-2017, giving county officials time to consider where to locate the General Sessions Court, Division II.
The courthouse is used by police officers in Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top, among other agencies and businesses.
The current seven-year lease expires at the end of the year, and officials have been trying to determine since October whether to keep the courthouse where it is now, find a new location in Oak Ridge, or move the Division II court to Clinton, where Division I is located.
County commissioners approved the 18-month lease at a rate of $5,500 per month during a Thursday evening meeting. The lease, which was approved 12-2, will not include a warehouse building used by the county at the courthouse site on Bus Terminal Road. [Read more…]
Terry Frank
I want the citizens of Anderson County to know as mayor, I have not signed a resolution brought to county commission that requests funding to “offset the financial and environmental burdens” of a proposed expansion of an existing U.S. Department of Energy disposal site, or the creation of a new cell, that for all intents and purposes, would be a twin site.
In my humble and steadfast view, there is no amount of money that could sufficiently offset environmental harm, and I would not put the health, safety, and welfare of the people of Anderson County up for negotiation on a spreadsheet to balance the books of county government.
What I can do, and have for the last three years that I have served as mayor, is closely watch the proposal as it winds its way through a very monitored and specific process. I have participated in community workshops on the subject, held private meetings with leadership and staff of DOE’s Environmental Management Team, have been on site at the current disposal cell, am attentive to all briefings at our regular governmental meetings with DOE and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. [Read more…]
The lease on Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge expires Dec. 31, but officials will ask for a one-year lease extension while courthouse options are considered. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
CLINTON—Several alternative locations have been proposed, including a city-owned building at A.K. Bissell Park and a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road, but for now, the Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge could remain at a privately owned building on Bus Terminal Road.
Once housed at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building, the General Sessions, Division II, courthouse has been on Bus Terminal Road since January 2009.
But the lease expires December 31.
On Monday, November 16, the Anderson County Commission voted 15-0 on a voice vote to ask for a one-year lease extension with no penalty and to work with Oak Ridge to share courthouse costs.
“That year buys us time to look at all the options,” said County Commissioner Myron Iwanski, who represents District 8, which includes Emory Valley, Woodland, and Hendrix Creek. [Read more…]
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, at a brief press conference with Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, center, and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The federal budget expected to be complete by mid-December should have record funding, and the money could help Oak Ridge in areas ranging from mercury and Cold War cleanup to scientific research and the proposed Uranium Processing Facility, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander said Friday.
The Oak Ridge area now receives about $3 billion per year in federal funding, and the level will be increased although he doesn’t have a number yet, said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.
Alexander held a brief press conference at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday.
He said the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which provided $1.4 billion to Oak Ridge National Laboratory this year, will have a record level of funding. [Read more…]
Terry Frank
The Anderson County Operations Committee on Monday will consider proposals from County Mayor Terry Frank to sit with County Commission and participate in meetings.
Frank has said she wants to serve as chair of the County Commission, and she’s asked to be considered as a candidate in September 2016. In an October 14 letter, Frank also asked commissioners to sit with them during meetings.
If she were commission chair, Frank said, she would have to surrender her veto power. She would have a non-voting position, but she would be able to cast a vote to break a tie. See previous story here.
The Anderson County Operations Committee meeting starts at 6 p.m. Monday, November 9, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. [Read more…]
Terry Frank
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank wants to serve as chair of the County Commission, and she’s asked to be considered as a candidate in September 2016.
In an October 14 letter, Frank also asked commissioners to sit with them during meetings.
The proposals could be considered by the Anderson County Commission on Monday.
If she were commission chair, Frank said, she would have to surrender her veto power. She would have a non-voting position, but she would be able to cast a vote to break a tie.
“While this may seem a shocking proposal at first, I think we can look back over the history of Anderson County and see that the county mayor as chairman—or county executive or judge as the position used to be called—was an effective structure,” Frank said. [Read more…]
First elected in August, Judge Roger Miller, left, is pictured in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge before a bond hearing this summer. (2015 file photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
CLINTON—Anderson County officials could ask for a one-year extension of the lease on the General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge. The current lease expires at the end of the year, on December 31.
The county has an option to renew the lease for five years from January 1, 2016, through the end of 2021, but it’s not clear if officials want to do that. There are questions about whether they want to keep a courthouse in Oak Ridge, particularly if the City of Oak Ridge is not providing financial support. But if Division II court does stay in Oak Ridge, there is a question about whether it should remain at the current location at the former Oak Ridge Utility District building on Bus Terminal Road.
Officials have limited time, about 80 days, to weigh the alternatives before the lease expires, and there are holidays in the meantime, said Anderson County Commissioner Mark Alderson, who made a motion to seek a one-year lease extension during an Operations Committee meeting on Monday. The committee unanimously approved that proposal on a voice vote. [Read more…]
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above. (File photo)
Information from WYSH Radio
The Anderson County Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. today (Monday, September 21) in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.
Prior to this evening’s meeting, the Commission will issue a proclamation saluting Anderson County Community Action Commission for its 50 years of service to the county.
Once the meeting begins, one of the more interesting items on the agenda will be consideration of an Operations Committee recommendation that a writ of mandamus be sought from a judge to force Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank to sign a motion that has been approved twice by the Commission to open an access road to the East Wolf Valley convenience center in Claxton to alleviate traffic congestion.
Frank will address what she calls the county’s non-compliance with state laws regarding vehicles for elected officials and will revisit the issue of whether the Commission has the authority to directly hire and supervise employees. [Read more…]
Anderson, Carter, Sumner, and Unicoi counties align with 15 established communities
NASHVILLE—Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Kevin Triplett announced last week that Anderson, Carter, Sumner, and Unicoi counties have been added to Retire Tennessee, the state’s retiree recruitment marketing program. That brings the total number of active Retire Tennessee counties to 19, a press release said.
“It’s great to officially add four new counties to this important state program,” Triplett said. “Tennessee has much to offer people making retirement decisions based on quality of life and cost of living. Our state has the lowest cost of living in the Southeast and second lowest in the nation, no state income tax, and low property tax. Add to that, the state’s breathtaking scenic beauty and unparalleled hospitality, and it’s only natural Tennessee would rank high among the population relocating after retirement.”
The four counties join Cumberland, Franklin, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hardin, Jefferson, Loudon, Maury, Putnam, Rhea, Roane, Robertson, Sullivan, Warren, and White counties as Retire Tennessee counties. Now in its ninth year, Retire Tennessee inspired more than 10,000 inquiries from potential retirees last year. Tennessee is one of only four states with retiree recruitment as a formal program and continues to gain momentum as a potential retirement destination for more than 78 million baby boomers. [Read more…]
