Oak Ridge Today

Gooch to discuss positive developments, challenges, community survey

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch will give an update on positive developments and identify challenges during a lunchtime meeting on Tuesday, May 5. Gooch will also discuss the results of a recent community survey and could discuss other issues that affect Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The mayor will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, May 5. The program will start at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The press release said Gooch ran for Oak Ridge City Council in 2014 because he believed in Oak Ridge, had great pride in a city with an unparalleled history of accomplishments, and wanted to be an active part of the city’s future. He was elected in November 2014 and then chosen by fellow City Council member to serve as Oak Ridge mayor. [Read more…]

ORPD review expanded to include all employees, some former workers

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Oak Ridge Police Department Cars

But MTAS will have to agree to changes

The review of the Oak Ridge Police Department has been expanded to include interviews with all employees. The review could also include interviews with former employees who have left the Police Department since Police Chief Jim Akagi started almost four years ago.

Initial plans had called for a limited review of the Oak Ridge Police Department and interviews of a random sample or cross-section of employees.

But the Oak Ridge City Council expanded the review during a special meeting on Tuesday. That special meeting was called after concerns were raised about the initial list of randomly selected interviewees being sent to the police chief, city manager, and all Police Department employees, which raised questions about the impartiality and confidentiality of the review.

By one estimate, the expanded review could include interviews with more than 100 people. And it’s not clear if the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee will agree to the expanded review, or if they might charge the city.

The City Council agreed to expand the review during a three-hour special meeting on Tuesday that included criticism of MTAS, accusations of collusion between Council members, and an attempt by Council member Trina Baughn to have resident Joe Lee, one of her chief critics, stop taking pictures during a public comment session. [Read more…]

State grant of $250K will help build eighth lane at Oak Ridge rowing course

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Oak Ridge Rowing Lane Announcement

Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, announces a $250,000 state grant for an eighth lane at the Oak Ridge rowing course on Sunday. Also pictured from left are Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, Sen. Randy McNally, Anderson County Chamber of Commerce President Rick Meredith, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau President Marc DeRose, Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn, and Oak Ridge Rowing Association President Russell Byrd.

 

A $250,000 state grant announced Sunday will be used to help build an eighth lane at the Oak Ridge rowing course. And that’s expected to significantly increase the economic impact of rowing races, or regattas, officials said.

The eighth lane has been on the city’s wish list for years, and it will allow the Oak Ridge Rowing Association to compete for bigger races and international regattas and provide more on-water capacity, allowing more competitors in events like this weekend’s SIRA Regatta.

According to rough estimates, the eighth lane could cost about $350,000 total, said Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn, the father of two former rowers and a rower himself. That means the City of Oak Ridge might have to contribute up to $100,000 to complete the project.

Tennessee Representative John Ragan, the Oak Ridge Republican who spearheaded the effort to get state funding, said the regional impact of the regattas in Oak Ridge is estimated at $13 million now, but it could increase to $33 million, according to a University of Tennessee study. [Read more…]

Council approves ORHS stoplight contract in 4-3 vote

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Oak Ridge Turnpike Stoplight at Oak Ridge High School

In a 4-3 vote Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council approved a contract to install a traffic signal at the Oak Ridge High School on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:42 a.m. April 15.

The City Council approved a contract to install a stoplight on Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School in a 4-3 vote on Monday.

Public Works Director Gary Cinder said the light will be green most of the time on Oak Ridge Turnpike. But it will turn red when cars are leaving the High School, giving those drivers a green light.

And the traffic signal lights will turn all-red when pedestrians are crossing, Cinder said. [Read more…]

New one-megawatt solar array at Heritage Center can power 133 homes

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Powerhouse Six Solar Array Ribbon-cutting April 9, 2015

Company executives and city and federal officials celebrate a new one-megawatt solar array at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge on Thursday with a ceremonial “plugging in.”

 

A new one-megawatt solar array at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge will provide enough clean energy to power 133 average-size homes per year, officials said.

Company and nonprofit executives joined city and federal officials for a ceremonial “plugging in” of the new Powerhouse Six photovoltaic solar array on Thursday.

The $1.8 million array has 3,268 solar modules, and it will be used to sell electric power to the Tennessee Valley Authority through the Oak Ridge Electric Department.

“We’re going live today,” said Gil Hough, renewable energy manager for RSI, or Restoration Services Inc., the Oak Ridge-based company that developed the array. [Read more…]

Frank, Gooch talk to Anderson County Tea Party on Tuesday

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Warren L. Gooch

Warren L. Gooch

The next monthly meeting of the Anderson County Tea Party will feature Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at Clinton Church of God.

Frank and Gooch will discuss their goals for 2015 and the difficulties they see in reaching them, a press release said. [Read more…]

Council rejects ORPD investigation proposals, approves MTAS review

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Oak Ridge City Council on Feb. 9, 2015

On Friday, March 27, the Oak Ridge City Council agreed to use the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee to conduct a 30-day review of turnover, morale, and administrative policies in the Oak Ridge Police Department. (File photo)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:30 p.m. March 30.

Despite calls for an investigation, the Oak Ridge City Council on Friday approved a proposal from a University of Tennessee agency to review—rather than investigate—the Oak Ridge Police Department, focusing on turnover, morale, and administrative policies.

A series of motions by City Council member Trina Baughn, who has pushed hardest for an investigation of the ORPD and its police chief, were rejected. Among other things, Baughn’s proposals would have required all Police Department employees to spend at least 10 minutes with the investigator, regardless of whether they wanted to say anything; sought to interview all former workers who have left since May 2011, when Police Chief Jim Akagi was hired; given those interviewed a chance to participate in a “no confidence” vote against the chief; and look into Akagi’s previous history, including his prior employment with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Council also rejected a motion by Baughn to investigate the allegations included in a grievance filed by a former police officer and claims made in letters by former officers.

The 30-day review that was approved Friday was first proposed as a general concept by Oak Ridge City Council member Kelly Callison during a February meeting, with more detail added since then.

[Read more…]

Big day: Main Street Oak Ridge, Manhattan Project Park on Thursday’s agenda

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Main Street Oak Ridge Presentation

Pictured above during a presentation on Main Street Oak Ridge last week are Crosland Southeast partner James Downs, right; Barry James, Crosland Southeast senior vice president, center; and Houston E. Daugherty, Cannon and Cannon vice president.

 

A vote that could help Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, is on Thursday’s agenda. So is an open house on the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

They are among two of the biggest projects in Oak Ridge in years, and both are considered key parts of an economic renaissance that also includes new business development along Oak Ridge Turnpike and South Illinois Avenue, a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center, the proposed multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the announcement by metal powder manufacturing company CVMR this month that it will move its operations from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

A rezoning has been requested for Main Street Oak Ridge. It will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission during a meeting that starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. The Planning Commission will also consider a planned unit development, or PUD, master plan for the project. [Read more…]

Planning for Manhattan Project Park, National Park Service, DOE to visit Oak Ridge on March 26

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Warren L. Gooch

Warren L. Gooch

It took years to win approval of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park, and now that the park bill has been signed into law, planning is starting.

As part of that process, officials from the National Park Service and U.S. Department of Energy will visit Oak Ridge next week. The visit will include a Thursday morning open house hosted by the City of Oak Ridge. The open house is scheduled from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday, March 26, in the A/B Room at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. It’s open to the public, and reservations are not required.

The team of NPS and DOE officials are visiting Oak Ridge to begin planning for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The planning team is expected to include senior National Park Service representatives from Washington, D.C., the Southeastern Regional Office in Atlanta, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Big South Fork. [Read more…]

Metal powder manufacturing company investing $313 million in Oak Ridge, adding 620 jobs

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Michael Hargett and Kamran Khoza of CVMR USA

CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

 

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

A company that manufactures high-purity metal powders and super alloys is moving its operations to Oak Ridge from Toronto, Canada, and investing $313 million here and creating 620 jobs, officials said Friday.

CVMR, which has operations in 18 countries, will use the former Theragenics building at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge for its headquarters and research and development. The company closed on that building, which is on 21 acres, on Friday, but executives declined to disclose the sale price.

The first employee was hired Thursday, said Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer of CVMR (USA) Incorporated.

The company could expand that 65,000-square-foot building; infrastructure that is already in place allows it to be doubled. The company could put 218 people to work right away in its new headquarters and add 402 high-paying manufacturing jobs later, a state official said.

“I can promise you that this is the start of a wave,” said Randy Boyd, the new commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge to celebrate Arbor Day Friday

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The Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the City of Oak Ridge are sponsoring the 30th Annual Arbor Day Observance at 10 a.m. Friday, March 6, at Woodland Elementary School.

This ceremony also marks the 27th year that the City of Oak Ridge has been recognized as a Tree City USA. It will also mark the first year that the city will receive the Tree Line USA designation.

Tree City USA, a National Arbor Day Foundation program, recognizes U.S. towns and cities that develop comprehensive urban forestry programs. Tree Line USA is also a National Arbor Day Foundation program that recognizes utility providers who adopt best practices in utility line arboriculture. At the ceremony, district foresters with the Department of Forestry will present the Tree City award and flag to city representative Mayor Warren Gooch and Steve Kenworthy, chairman of the Environmental Quality Advisory Board. [Read more…]

Watson has confidence in police chief, no further investigation planned

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was updated at 8:35 p.m. Jan. 31.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Thursday said he has “absolute confidence” in Police Chief Jim Akagi and has no plans to further investigate concerns raised this week by City Council member Trina Baughn.

Baughn raised concerns about the turnover rate in the Oak Ridge Police Department and claims made in a grievance filed by former officer Chris Bayless. In a Sunday email, Baughn said her calculations showed that the police force had lost 30 members in 3.5 years under Akagi, and that equates to 11.7 per year, or an estimated 15 percent turnover rate.

Baughn said some officers who have resigned felt “forced out,” while others who remain are “just counting the days” until they can leave.

“I believe that our turnover issues are not a reflection on the character of the majority of our men and women in blue; rather they are attributable to leadership,” Baughn said in an email to Watson and carbon-copied to Oak Ridge City Council members and reporters.

Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

She said she is ready to help Watson “immediately address these problems and stabilize our police department.”

But city officials questioned Baughn’s numbers and said they don’t think the turnover rate is significantly out of line with what it has been previously. An average of 7.25 employees per year have left in the last four years due to resignations, retirements, or being asked to leave, Watson said Thursday.

“I don’t think it’s a significant change,” he said. [Read more…]