Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge to celebrate new Manhattan Project Park on Nov. 12

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Oak Ridge will have two community events on November 12 to celebrate the establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. That proposal has been in the works for years to commemorate the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

The legislation authorizing the park was signed into law in December 2014, and it designated sites in Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington as a new three-site national park.

The Oak Ridge City Council has designated the week of November 9-15 as
“The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Week.”

Events have been scheduled at Oak Ridge High School and in Historic Jackson Square on Thursday, November 12, two days after a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. The two Oak Ridge events will celebrate the establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. [Read more…]

Council agenda: Marina bathroom audit, Charter Review Committee, Oak Ridge Corridor

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will hear a report on an audit of the costs and procedures associated with renovating the bathrooms at the Oak Ridge Marina, appoint a seven-member Charter Review Committee, and consider setting up a five-member Oak Ridge Corridor Initiative Committee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will hear a report on an audit of the costs and procedures associated with renovating the bathrooms at the Oak Ridge Marina, appoint a seven-member Charter Review Committee, and consider setting up a five-member Oak Ridge Corridor Initiative Committee.

Questions have occasionally been raised about the cost of renovating the marina bathrooms, and the City Council will hear the results of a financial audit by Coulter and Justus during the meeting tonight (Monday, October 12).

Also tonight, the City Council will appoint the seven members of a Charter Review Committee. The Charter Review Committee is called for in the City Charter. [Read more…]

Council to hear results of ORPD review during special meeting Thursday

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above during a meeting on July 27, 2015. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will hear the results of the six-month review of the Oak Ridge Police Department during a special meeting on Thursday, October 15.

The special work session—work sessions are non-voting meetings—will feature a presentation by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee, which was hired to conduct the review in March. The review was expected to focus on turnover, morale, and administrative policies.

The work session, which was called by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Manager Mark Watson, is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue.

MTAS will present the conclusions of its review of the Oak Ridge Police Department. Also, MTAS will submit their final report of the review to the City Council. [Read more…]

Council doesn’t change Secret City Festival date, leaves it up to new nonprofit board

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City Council Chuck Hope, Warren Gooch, and Ellen Smith on Sept. 14, 2015

Pictured above at the Oak Ridge City Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, when changes to the annual Secret City Festival were made, are Council members Chuck Hope, left, Mayor Warren Gooch, and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Smith. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:36 a.m.

They’ve heard concerns about moving it to the fall, and the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday did not change the date of the annual Secret City Festival. Instead, Council left any potential date change up to a new nonprofit board that could be appointed in October.

It was one of a series of steps meant to make the Secret City Festival less costly for the city and less labor-intensive for the municipal staff, to rethink how it’s organized, and to make it self-sustaining. The festival could be incorporated into a new, expanded Secret City Celebration that could include other events.

A Special Events Advisory Task Force appointed by City Council in February had recommended moving the festival to the fall as part of a celebration that would last at least a week, start in October, and continue through Veterans Day, November 11.

But Council members and a few residents laid out some objections to the proposed date change, including “dicey weather” in the fall; the potentially cold temperatures, especially for nighttime concerts; conflicts with football and other fall events; and concerns over the possibility that the festival could again become saturated with political candidates in election years, now that municipal elections have been moved to November. There were also concerns about whether some organizations that now participate in the June festival, including artists and World War II re-enactors, could take part in the fall. [Read more…]

RealtyLink replaces Crosland Southeast as Main Street developer

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Oak Ridge Mall

The Oak Ridge City Center, which could be redeveloped as a multi-use town center known as Main Street, is pictured above. Also known as the former Oak Ridge Mall, the L-shaped building is at center. The white building at center left is Walmart, and it is not part of the proposed redevelopment. Neither is the white building at center top, the Tinseltown Theater. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:51 p.m.

RealtyLink, a South Carolina real estate development firm, will replace Crosland Southeast as the master developer of the 60-acre Main Street town center project in Oak Ridge, the property owners said Monday.

RealtyLink is based in Greenville, South Carolina.

“RealtyLink first showed interest in the project as early as 2012,” said Steve Arnsdorff, the chief manager for Oak Ridge City Center LLC, the current owners of the property. “We are delighted that they have had continuing interest and are now able to assume the position of the previous developer.”

RealtyLink currently has nearly two million square feet of space in various stages of development including The River Landing, a 16-acre retail project on Winfield Dunn Parkway in Sevierville. In addition to Greenville, South Carolina, RealtyLink has offices in Charleston, South Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [Read more…]

Frustration increases, Council not pleased as Jackson Square work stretches into fall

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Jackson Square Parking Lot Meeting

Oak Ridge municipal staff members and Mayor Warren Gooch met with Jackson Square merchants at Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab and Kitchen on Wednesday, July 29, to discuss the $1 million parking lot renovation, which is not yet finished but could be “substantially complete” by Sept. 15. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

One merchant said he’s lost more than $100,000 in sales. Another said she had to close her business. And a third has posted signs that express frustration with the pace of construction at Jackson Square.

At one time, there was hope that the $1 million parking lot renovation at Jackson Square would be complete by the Lavender Festival in mid-June. But that didn’t happen. Now, the latest construction schedule estimates that it will be “substantially complete” by September 15—in time for Taste of Anderson County—but not finished until the end of October.

Officials have said the primary delay has been with the interactive fountain that will be installed in the center of Jackson Square. It still hasn’t arrived, and officials have said it could take four weeks to install. On Monday, the contractor and her attorney said the fountain could arrive in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.

Even business owners who had an optimistic outlook earlier have lost their patience with the project, which is mostly funded with a state grant. Their primary frustrations: The work has taken much longer than expected, the schedule keeps getting extended, and there have been too many days when, they say, they’ve seen no signs of work. In the meantime, the parking lot in front of their stores was closed for months, and they believe that the construction fencing and orange barrels drove away some potential customers.

“Why can’t they finish this?” asked Jonathan Goldstein of The String Workshop.

“We’ve been nice long enough,” said Dean Russell, owner of Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery.

“I think our frustration is how many days we’ve seen nothing happening as our customer base declines,” said Steve Seivers, who has a law practice in the square, the city’s original town center.

On Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council joined the chorus of frustration. [Read more…]

City budget raises trash fee, provides more for city infrastructure

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 28, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council raised the trash pickup fee by $3.50 during a special budget meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, and the Council set aside an extra $260,000 for capital projects such as buildings and schools. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) 

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:05 a.m. July 28.

There will be a $3.50 increase in the monthly trash fee, and more money—$260,000—will be reserved for capital projects such as buildings and schools, while city officials are not expected to change the new property tax rate provided by the state after five-year reappraisals completed this year.

The trash fee will increase from $7 to $10.50 per month. That change is expected to provide another $335,000 per year in revenue.

The new tax rate—state officials call it a tax-neutral rate—is $2.52 per $100 of assessed value. It was approved in the first of two readings by the Oak Ridge City Council during a three-hour special meeting on Monday. The second reading hasn’t been scheduled yet, but the meeting is expected soon. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge may not increase tax rate above reappraisal change

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Oak Ridge City Council 2014

The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above in 2014. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Property tax rates are already expected to go up in local cities and counties because of an unprecedented drop in property assessments.

And additional increases have been approved or are anticipated in budgets that have already passed in Anderson County, Clinton, Oliver Springs, Roane County, and Rocky Top.

Oak Ridge could be the exception. The city could see an increase in the certified tax rate (state officials call it a tax-neutral rate) from $2.39 per $100 of assessed value to $2.52.

So far, no Oak Ridge City Council members have publicly endorsed raising taxes beyond the change in the tax-neutral rate required by the five-year reappraisals completed this year.

Four City Council members, a majority of the seven-member body, said during a budget work session on Tuesday that they will support the $2.52 tax-neutral rate or that it’s important to stay at that rate for now, until they have more information. [Read more…]

Three dozen baseball teams play in Knoxville, Oak Ridge at NABF World Series

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Marcus Caldwell and Warren Gooch at 2015 NABF World Series

Coach Marcus Caldwell, left, and Mayor Warren Gooch at the NABF World Series in Oak Ridge on Thursday, July 16, 2015. Caldwell is assistant head coach for Oak Ridge High School baseball. (Photo courtesy Greta Ownby) 

 

Three dozen baseball teams played at fields in Knoxville and Oak Ridge this weekend in the 2015 NABF World Series.

The NABF is the National Amateur Baseball Federation.

The tournament play included Junior Division (16U, or 16 and younger) and High School Division (17U, or 17 and younger).

The baseball tournament was from Thursday, July 16, to Sunday, July 19, and it included teams from the United States and Canada. [Read more…]

NABF World Series baseball tournament starts in Oak Ridge

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NABF World Series Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, center, throws out the opening pitch at the NABF World Series baseball tournament in Oak Ridge on Thursday, July 16, 2015. (Photo by Greta Ownby)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:19 a.m. July 17.

The NABF World Series baseball tournament started in Oak Ridge on Thursday. Oak Ridge is one of the communities in the area hosting games between teams from the United States and Canada.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch tossed the first pitch to open the series in Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge baseball fields are being used from Thursday, July 16, through Sunday, July 19, for the NABF World Series baseball games. Knoxville is also hosting games.

The Oak Ridge High School Summer Team plays in Oak Ridge at 12:30 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. [Read more…]

Guest column: All AC communities decreased in assessed value, which is unprecedented

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Note: This is a copy of a letter from Leonard A. Abbatiello, Anderson County/Oak Ridge Equalization Board representative, to Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Council regarding the 2015 Board of Equalization results.

Dear Honorable Mayor Gooch and Members of City Council:

I currently serve as the Oak Ridge representative on the Anderson County Board of Equalization.

The Anderson County Board of Equalization has completed its task of appraisal hearings for 2015. Attached is our report which has been sent to the Tennessee State Appraisal Office. It is the first year ever when there has been a decrease in the total appraisal base, Anderson County’s first in history.

This is also the lightest Board workload in recent history. This year, we evaluated 208 cases totaling $125,886,000 of appraised value, reducing their total to $95,781,000. Commercial appeals are now dominating Anderson County appeals, with the requests for changes in commercial exceeding residential values by 5.6 times. Some commercial cases are expected to also appeal to the state for additional relief. [Read more…]

Co-workers, firefighters react in minutes to save a life

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Linda Bridges and Michael Beehan

Linda Bridges has a hug for co-worker Michael Beehan, who started CPR when she experienced cardiac arrest. (Submitted photo)

 

Linda Bridges has returned to her desk at MS Technology Inc. after a four-month absence.

To Kurt Oschman, MSTI president and chief executive officer, that is a miracle resulting from the training and collaboration of her co-workers and the first responders from the Oak Ridge Fire Department who saved her life.

The story of Bridges’ miracle began Feb. 25, when she collapsed at her desk. Co-workers quickly called 911, and two co-workers began assessing her vital signs. At one point, she had stopped breathing and had no pulse.

“With excellent collaboration on decisions about appropriate first aid for Linda’s condition, Michael Beehan began administering CPR, with Karen Hamilton providing on-the-ground assistance,” Oschman wrote in the company’s recent newsletter. The two determined that Bridges needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and then Hamilton continued to check Bridges’ vital signs as Beehan provided CPR. [Read more…]