Oak Ridge Today

AMSE: Transfer of federal property usually takes few years, public notice would be given

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AMSE Sign

The American Museum of Science and Energy is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Sara Wise)

 

AMSE over-sized, operationally challenged, spokesperson says

The transfer of federal property such as the American Museum of Science and Energy usually takes a few years, and if a new use were proposed for the AMSE property, adequate public notice would be given, an official said Monday.

There has been no public announcement that the federal government wants to get rid of the 17.12 acres of federal property that includes AMSE.

But the Oak Ridge City Council will consider a resolution tonight (Monday, June 13) that would allow City Manager Mark Watson to negotiate with the U.S. Department of Energy and General Services Administration, as well as the company redeveloping the former Oak Ridge Mall, for the property transfer. The GSA is responsible for disposing of federal property.

RealtyLink, the company redeveloping the 58-acre mall site, has said that any redevelopment of the AMSE property that competes with its project, known as Main Street Oak Ridge, would be devastating to its efforts to provide the city a much-needed, quality, retail-centered mixed-use town center. RealtyLink said it must be able to control the redevelopment of the AMSE property. [Read more…]

Chamber supports AMSE land transfer resolution

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The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on November 15, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:50 a.m. June 14.

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce supports a resolution that would allow the city manager to negotiate with business executives and federal officials to transfer about 17 acres of federal property at the American Museum of Science and Energy to help Main Street Oak Ridge, the project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider the land transfer resolution during a meeting tonight (Monday, June 13). Under that resolution, the 17.12 acres could either be transferred to the city or to RealtyLink, the company redeveloping the mall. The transfer would also include 1.87 acres of city-owned land that are on the north, south, and west sides of the AMSE property.

On Friday, Chamber of Commerce President Parker Hardy said the Chamber supports the land transfer resolution.

“It’s entirely consistent with our overall support for the Main Street Oak Ridge project,” Hardy said. “This has been a long time getting here, and we’re proud to lend our support.” [Read more…]

State housing grant of $500,000 will be used to renovate more than 60 homes

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THDA Check Presentation to Oak Ridge June 8 2016 Slider

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency awarded the City of Oak Ridge a $500,000 grant on Wednesday, June 9, 2016, that will be used to renovate more than 60 single-family homes. Pictured above are THDA Executive Director Ralph M. Perrey, third from left, with other state and Oak Ridge officials. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The $500,000 state housing grant that Oak Ridge received Wednesday will be used to renovate more than 60 homes, officials said.

The HOME Program grant is from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, or THDA. It’s funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered in part by the THDA in Tennessee.

“The HOME dollars will be of good use in making these homes safe, sound, and affordable,” said Ralph M. Perrey, THDA executive director.

The city plans to use the money to renovate 63 owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Manhattan District Overlay zone. Oak Ridge created the zone, which includes so-called “legacy homes,” mostly in the center of the city, to improve the development that is carried out in its oldest neighborhoods, a press release said.

The HOME grant money will allow Oak Ridge to replace electrical wiring systems and wall insulation, and install double-paned windows for the targeted homes, which date back to the World War II era, when the city was involved in the Manhattan Project. The city’s work under the HOME grant will be carried out in conjunction with Make Oak Ridge Energy Efficient, or MORE2, a project that is performing energy retrofits for 229 homes in the designated neighborhoods, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge receives $500,000 housing grant

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Oak Ridge has received a $500,000 state housing grant from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

The city will use the THDA funds to renovate and weatherize 63 owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Manhattan District Overlay zone, a press release said.

The grant award will be presented to the City of Oak Ridge at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 8, at 138 South Purdue Avenue in the Woodland neighborhood.

That property at the corner of South Purdue Avenue and Northwestern Avenue is the site of a recent project that is part of the city’s effort to renovate substandard houses. The City of Oak Ridge bought a blighted home there in April 2014 and demolished it in June 2014. [Read more…]

Council approves budget with no tax increase, more money for schools

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:15 a.m.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a budget on Monday that does not include a property tax rate increase, but it does include more money for schools and it anticipates increases in the trash fee and water and sewer rates.

The budget passed in a 6-1 vote in the first of two readings this month. The second and final reading is Monday, June 13.

Council rejected one motion to lower the $2.52 property tax rate by 4.4 cents and another to take away the additional $538,048 requested by Oak Ridge Schools and put it into the capital fund instead.

The budget does not increase the property tax rate for the ninth year in a row. After five-year reappraisals last year, the rate is now set at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value.

As approved on first reading Monday, the budget includes a 3 percent pay adjustment that will move municipal employees along their pay scales, helping to separate those who have worked for the city for a while from those who have just started. The school budget, which was approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education in May, also includes 3 percent salary increases. [Read more…]

City, county could move General Sessions Court to Emory Valley Road

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A few options have been considered, and Anderson County will now study whether to move the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A few options have been considered, and Anderson County will now study whether to move the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road.

Related to that proposal are plans to move the Oak Ridge Senior Center, which is now at the Emory Valley Road building, to the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Also up for a possible move is the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department. That department now occupies part of the Civic Center, where the Senior Center could move, but the department’s administrative offices could move to a vacant building on Badger Road that once housed Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.

The idea is that moving the administrative wing of Recreation and Parks to the Badger Road building could free up space for seniors at the Civic Center, which in turn would help create space at the county-owned building for the General Sessions Court. [Read more…]

Council approves ‘backyard chicken’ ordinance in first of two readings

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Pictured above during an Oak Ridge City Council work session on Tuesday, April 19, 2016, are Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, left, and Kayla Wyatt, an advocate for allowing a small number of hens at Oak Ridge homes. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

In the first of two monthly readings, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved an ordinance that would allow residents to keep up to six female chickens, or hens, at homes in the city, possibly starting this year. No roosters would be allowed, and henhouses would not be allowed in front yards.

Council approved an ordinance that was adopted by Knoxville in 2010 and amended for potential use in Oak Ridge.

The Monday vote was 5-2 in favor of the “backyard chicken” ordinance. Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Council member Rick Chinn cast the two “no” votes.

Chinn had concerns about lot size, among other things, and Gooch had concerns about the city’s image and potential disputes during implementation and enforcement.

Supporters of the current citizen-led initiative, first started with the help of Jennifer Alexander several years ago and picked up by Kayla Wyatt more recently, argued in favor of the hens for reasons of sustainability, teaching children about where food comes from, and being able to produce fresh eggs, among other reasons. [Read more…]

Dick’s Sporting Goods, PetSmart, T.J. Maxx, Ulta to locate at Main Street Oak Ridge

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Main-Street-Oak-Ridge-Sign-Dec-21-2015

Workers from Masstar Signs of Greenville, S.C., install a new shopping center pylon sign at South Illinois Avenue and East Tulsa Road that announces Main Street Oak Ridge, the planned $80 million redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall. Pictured above on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, is Will Biggs of Masstar Signs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:57 p.m.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, PetSmart, T.J. Maxx, and Ulta will have new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge, Mayor Warren Gooch said Tuesday.

Also, Belk and JCPenney are renewing their leases at the 58-acre site, Gooch said during a State of the City speech to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge.

“Negotiations with other major retailers are ongoing,” Gooch said.

The mayor got an update from Neil Wilson of RealtyLink, which took over as master developer in September, on Monday. Wilson told Gooch that RealtyLink has come to terms with both its senior construction lender and the tax increment financing construction lender.

“We are closer to the closing on the sale of the mall property and the start of construction,” Gooch said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge mayor to give ‘State of City’ talk at Lunch with League on Tuesday

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch (Photo by Savanna Schubert)

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch will give his “State of the City” address at the next Lunch with the League on Tuesday, May 3. The talk is scheduled to start at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Gooch was elected to the Oak Ridge City Council in November 2014 and later selected by Council members to serve as mayor.

Gooch received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee with high honors, and he has practiced law with the Knoxville firm Kramer Rayson since completing his legal education at the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1977. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge could lose $500K-$700K per year under Hall tax repeal

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The reduction and repeal of the Hall income tax was among the issues discussed during a Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, April 25, 2016. Pictured above from left are Sen. Randy McNally, Rep. John Ragan, and Rep. Kent Calfee. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:30 p.m.

Oak Ridge could lose $500,000-$700,000 per year in revenues if the repeal of the Hall income tax is approved, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said last week.

If Governor Bill Haslam signs a bill that the state legislature passed Friday, the tax, which was enacted in 1929, would be eliminated in the 2022 tax year. Haslam has not said whether he will the sign the bill into law or veto it.

If it becomes law, the bill could cost Oak Ridge about $119,000 in the fiscal year that starts July 1, or about 1.25 cents on the property tax rate, Mayor Warren Gooch said Saturday. The legislation would reduce the Hall income tax on stock and dividend income from 6 percent to 5 percent in the 2016 tax year.

The tax would be reduced by 1 percent per year after that until it is eliminated by 2022.

The Hall income tax generated total revenue of $303.4 million in Tennessee in fiscal year 2014-15, and $105.5 million went to cities and counties, with the rest going to the state.

On Thursday, Watson said the amount dispersed to Oak Ridge varies between about $500,000 to $700,000 per year. State data shows Oak Ridge collected about $708,000 in 2015. [Read more…]

Redflex proposes new handheld laser device that could be used to catch speeders, traffic violators

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A representative of Redflex Traffic Systems gives a brief presentation on a new laser-technology traffic detection system that includes video and can measure the speed of vehicles and the distance between vehicles. Charlie Buckels, southeast U.S. sales manager for Redflex, gave the presentation during an Oak Ridge City Council work session on Tuesday evening, April 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Redflex Traffic Systems, the company that once had unmanned, pole-mounted red-light and speed enforcement cameras in Oak Ridge, has a new handheld system that it says could be used to help make roads safer as the city tries to slow down speeding drivers. But the use of the devices hasn’t been approved yet, and one Oak Ridge City Council member expressed her strong opposition on Tuesday.

The new handheld LIDAR devices include a camera, and they can capture traffic violations on video. They use a laser technology to measure vehicle speeds and distances between vehicles, said Charlie Buckels, southeast U.S. sales manager for Redflex. LIDAR stands for light detection and ranging.

Buckels said the handheld devices could be used for both civil and criminal violations. In some cases, such as for speeding, police officers could use the devices and the evidence they collect to issue civil citations that could be mailed to the registered owners of violating vehicles. In those cases, officers wouldn’t have to stop the violators, Buckels said.

But in other cases—when a car is driving excessively fast or swerving, for example—police officers could pull vehicles over, Buckels said.

City officials said they have been discussing drivers traveling too fast on roadways in the city, including those coming into town on South Illinois Avenue in the morning and trying to get to work on time. Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said three City Council members have asked him to take action to combat speeding, and he’s had concerns himself about traffic on Illinois Avenue. Other roads cited by city officials Tuesday included Oak Ridge Turnpike, Robertsville Road, Melton Lake Drive, and Tennessee Avenue. [Read more…]

City approves water contract extension for Y-12, ORNL, but DOE rates questioned

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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)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9 a.m. March 30.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday approved a one-year, $2.1 million contract extension for water supplied to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, but a few members questioned whether the U.S. Department of Energy is paying a fair rate.

The one-year extension is expected to give the city time to have a qualified third-party engineering firm study the city’s aging water plant on Pine Ridge above Y-12, consider what is needed, and develop options that could help Oak Ridge decide whether to renovate the 70-year-old facility—or build a new one at a new site.

City officials said bringing the existing plant up to code could cost $16 million or more. It was transferred to the city from DOE in 2000, more than 15 years ago. Officials declined to estimate how much it could cost to build a new one, although it’s also said to be in the multi-million-dollar range.

Among the challenges at the water plant now are a leak of 3,000 gallons per day. The city staff is not sure where the leak originates or whether the water that is leaking has already been treated, and so far they haven’t been able to stop the leak. [Read more…]