Senior Center Relocation Plans
Current location to close 9/16, will open in new building soon
The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department announced a  temporary closure of the Oak Ridge Senior Center beginning Monday, September 16,  that will allow staff to relocate to the new senior center facility.

Construction of the new center finished on schedule and staff can now occupy the space to complete final preparations. The new Oak Ridge Senior Center is located at 1405 Oak Ridge Turnpike, next door to the center’s current temporary location inside the Civic Center’s Recreation Building.
Crews estimate that the senior center closure will remain in effect through at least Wednesday, September 25.  During this time, no regularly scheduled senior center activities or programs will take place.

A soft opening date for the new building will be announced once the transition is close to being complete. Information on a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony for the new Oak Ridge Senior Center will also be announced soon.
SAVE THE DATE: Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration on October 26
Goals of the Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration:

  • Celebrating the partnership between the community and the police/fire departments

  • Increasing awareness of fire, crime, violence, and drug prevention efforts

  • Generating support for local anti-crime programs and fire prevention initiatives

  • Providing information to help create a more sustainable environment

  • Generating interest in leading a healthier lifestyle

  • Demonstrating fire and crime prevention skills and safety techniques

  • Promoting neighborhood unity
The Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department, in partnership with the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program, are in the planning stages for this year’s Fire & Crime Prevention Celebration.  The date has been set for Saturday, October 26, 2019.

Everyone is invited to participate and support this free event, which combines the police department’s annual National Night Out and the fire department’s Fire Prevention Parade into one big community celebration.

The event will kick off with a parade at 11 a.m. starting at ORFD Fire Station #3 on Tuskegee Drive and ending at A.K. Bissell Park. The celebration in the park is expected to begin around noon following the parade. The event will also feature food, emergency services equipment displays, bounce houses, safety information booths, and police/fire demonstrations.

Line-up for the parade will begin at 10 a.m. For those interested in participating,   click here for information on how to register your fire engine or emergency vehicle .

This event is still in the planning stages, but more information will be released soon. Please  save the date  and watch for additional details over the coming weeks. Questions can be directed to the Oak Ridge Fire Department at (865) 425-3520.
ORPD Welcomes New Officers
New Oak Ridge Police Officers Matthew Maples, Christina Askren, and Kasey Thomas were officially sworn-in on Wednesday, September 4, in the Municipal Building Courtroom.

Family and friends were present to see them receive their badges in the special ceremony. They're now training with veteran officers in preparation for the police academy. We're proud to welcome them to the team!
Contracts Approved for Road Repairs
In case you missed it, three contracts were recently approved by City Council for street resurfacing, pavement patching/repair, and street re-striping/pavement marking replacement.

A preliminary schedule for this work is still being put together, but will depend heavily on weather conditions, material supply, and the contractors’ other projects.
As part of the project, some section(s) of the following streets will be resurfaced:

  • Darwin Lane
  • Delaware Ave
  • Euclid Circle & Place
  • Graceland Road
  • Hendrix Drive
  • Kentucky Ave
  • Laboratory Road
  • Lafayette Drive
  • Manchester Road
  • Nebraska Ave
  • Norris Lane
  • Norwood Lane
  • Paine Lane
  • North & South Purdue Ave
  • Rolling Links Blvd
  • Rutgers Ave
  • Vance Road
  • Vassar Road
Blankenship Field Open for Public Use
Announced in August; Reservations Will be Taken by Oak Ridge Schools' Maintenance & Operations Department
The City of Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department and Oak Ridge Schools announced last month that Blankenship football field and walking track were open for public use.

The field and track are accessible through a gate adjacent to the lower concession stand. Like other public park facilities, public use is permitted from sunup to sundown, except when the field is reserved for special events.

Reservations can be made through the Oak Ridge Schools’ Department of Maintenance and Operations by calling (865) 425-3171 . Information on the department is available on the schools’ website.
Usage rules for the field are posted at the track. These rules have been created to protect the artificial turf field and ensure a long useful life. We ask that everyone respect this significant community investment by following all the usage guidelines. For the protection of the field and its users, the field is also monitored through video surveillance.

This project is funded in part by a Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) grant administered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Recreation Educational Services (RES) Division with the grant match provided by the Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation.

Please note that construction continues on the project. Visitors are asked to use caution when construction activity is taking place. Please also note that these continuing construction activities may require temporary closure of the park to ensure public safety, but any such closures will be limited in nature.
Puppy Pool Party Draws Large Crowd
The annual Puppy Pool Party marking the end of the summer season at the City's outdoor pool was a huge success!

Hundreds of people and their dogs cooled off in the water. Even better news - all the fun helped a wonderful cause: the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter!

Over $200 in supplies were donated by participants and more than $1000 was raised during the event! Thank you to everyone who stopped by, donated, or helped organize the pool party. The animal shelter is so grateful for the support! And we hope to see even more dogs next year!
Oak Ridge Hosts Energy Communities Alliance Peer Exchange
The City of Oak Ridge was proud to host visitors from across the country as part of the recent Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) Peer Exchange focused on the continued implementation of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The meeting, held on August 14 and 15 in Oak Ridge, had an excellent turnout with many guests from the additional National Historical Park host communities of Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the cities near Hanford, Washington, making the trip to Oak Ridge. Other attendees traveled from Aiken, South Carolina, to learn more about Oak Ridge and the National Park.
Local officials, including Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Roane County Executive Ron Woody, Oak Ridge City Councilmember Chuck Hope, and City Manager Mark Watson welcomed the invitees. National Park Service officials and representatives from tourism bureaus, historical societies, and economic development councils also took part. Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and City Councilmembers Ellen Smith, Kelly Callison, Jim Dodson, and Derrick Hammond attended sessions as well.

Discussion during the two-day event highlighted the Manhattan Project National Historical Park’s assets across all three sites and ways in which each community is working to market and grow the park.

Representatives from Oak Ridge and Roane County shared information on new recreational opportunities and national park signage as well as updates on projects like the Oak Ridge Fire Department’s History Center at the Dr. Thomas Howard Scott Manhattan Project Fire House, the memorabilia wall at the Scarboro Community Center, the newly remodeled K-25 Overlook Visitors’ Center, and the Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion project which recently won a Sister Cities International Award for innovation (more on that below). 

Attendees also learned about the Urban Dynamics Institute (UDI) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a division dedicated to observing, measuring, analyzing, and modeling urban dynamics at the city and global scale.

The ECA is a non-profit, membership organization of local governments adjacent to or impacted by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) activities. ECA’s goals include bringing local government officials together to share information, establish policy positions, and promote community interests to address an increasingly complex set of constituent, environmental, regulatory, and economic development needs.
Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion Project Wins Sister Cities International Award
The City of Oak Ridge won the Sister Cities International 2019 Innovation Award for Arts and Culture. The competition, which is open to over 500 sister city programs nationwide, recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding individuals and community sister city programs that are promoting peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation.

Thanks to energetic fundraising, brainstorming, engineering, and community outreach, the City of Oak Ridge and its partners successfully dedicated the International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion in 2018. The bell is a symbol of peace between the U.S. and Japan, created as part of the City’s 50th anniversary, and serves as a memorial to the events of World War II.
Oak Ridge Welcomes Exchange Students from Sister City in Japan
We had the great pleasure of welcoming students from our sister city of Naka, Japan, to the Municipal Building last month. Lots of pictures were taken and memories made. It's always a great time when they come to see us!

Along with their host students from Oak Ridge Schools, the visiting students met with Mayor Warren Gooch, members of City Council and City staff to learn more about how our government works. Our local students made the trip to Naka in July.

You can read the letter from Naka City Mayor Hikaru Massaki below. Thanks to all who are a part of this wonderful program!
ORPD to Hold Car Seat Checks on Saturday
The Oak Ridge Police Department, in partnership with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, will host a free car seat checkpoint on Saturday, September 14, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Oak Ridge Fire Department Station #2.

Fire Station #2 is located at 609 Oak Ridge Turnpike (near Home Depot). During the event, car seats will be checked for manufacturer recalls and examined for proper installation.

Additionally, Oak Ridge Police will accept walk-ins for car seat checks September 16-20 during Child Passenger Safety Week. Anyone interested in participating can come to ORPD headquarters, located in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building at 200 South Tulane Avenue, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event
Anderson County Solid Waste Management and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) are sponsoring a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection event on Saturday, September 14, 2019.

The collection is scheduled between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the City of Oak Ridge Central Services Complex located at 100 Woodbury Lane (behind the Hobby Lobby shopping center). This is a State sponsored HHW event and is open to all residents of Tennessee.

Household Hazardous Waste is anything generated in the household that has a hazardous property. Examples include household disinfectants, drain cleaners, adhesives, pesticides, old gasoline, and pool chemicals. A material is considered hazardous if it is flammable, corrosive, toxic, or reactive with heat or contact with metals.

Participants are asked NOT TO BRING paint, electronics, alkaline or lead acid batteries, medical waste, explosives, ammunition, or automotive oil.
REMINDER: Glass No Longer Accepted for Recycling at Convenience Center
As a reminder for residents, glass stopped being accepted for recycling at the Waste Connections Convenience Center in Oak Ridge on August 30. Glass should now be placed with regular trash.

Our Public Works Department began alerting residents to the change after receiving a notice from Waste Connections of Tennessee that glass would no longer be accepted. Waste Connections made the change after learning that the processor of recyclables in Knoxville would no longer take glass from recycling suppliers.

You may recall that glass recycling was also suspended from the curbside pickup program in 2017 as part of an effort to maintain a strong recycling program. At that time, Waste Connections representatives cited several reasons for the change including that glass was causing damage to equipment and no longer had a market as a recyclable material.

The Waste Connections Convenience Center is located at 400 Warehouse Road in Oak Ridge. Anyone with additional questions or requests for information can contact Waste Connections of Tennessee at (865) 482-3656 or visit their website.
Lunch & Learn at Oak Ridge Public Library
New Operating Hours for Public Library
A change in operating hours at Oak Ridge Public Library took effect on September 3. The change is on a trial basis and staff welcome feedback from patrons on the new schedule. With these new hours, the library will be able to re-establish full reference services as well as offer dedicated public hours for the Oak Ridge Room.

The main library is now open on the following schedule:

  • Monday - Thurs: 10am – 8pm

  • Friday and Sat: 10am – 6pm

  • Sunday: 2 – 6pm


Please note that the Children's Room will still be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Help Clean the Clinch
The City of Oak Ridge Stormwater Division and its Healthy Waters Program will host a volunteer cleanup event called “Clean the Clinch” along a portion of the Clinch River on Saturday, September 21, 2019, from 9 a.m. until noon. 

The cleanup efforts will take place near Edgemoor Road and Haw Ridge Park. Trash has gathered in the water and along the banks in that area which sees high foot traffic and many wildlife sightings. Participants will begin the cleanup operation at the boat ramp located at 173 Edgemoor Road in Oak Ridge.

Volunteers are needed to make this event possible. The Oak Ridge Fire Department has offered to bring and operate boats that volunteers can ride in to collect trash. Volunteers are also encouraged to bring their own canoe or kayak if possible. 

Additionally, volunteers will be needed on the shore to pick up litter, sort recycling, and remove invasive plant species along the shoreline. There will be opportunities for everyone to be a part of this cleanup effort.
Meet our New AmeriCorps Members
The City of Oak Ridge Stormwater Management Program, in partnership with Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee (CAC), is pleased to announce our fifth year in collaboration with yet another AmeriCorps team for 2019-2020. The Public Works Department is excited to welcome Kaitlyn Klema and Tabitha Duggan!

Throughout their service year, Kaitlyn and Tabitha will partner with community leaders and local organizations to hold water quality events and activities with the goal of improving our local waters and increasing community knowledge of water quality.

They will continue the efforts of previous AmeriCorps teams by supporting successful partnerships and initiatives, including working with after school programs and the Girl Scouts, managing the Adopt-A-Stream program, and helping to teach watershed lessons at Oak Ridge City schools. Additionally, they will assist the Engineering Division with permanently mapping the City’s stormwater infrastructure. They will be instrumental in helping address environmental concerns in order to reach the permit requirements mandated by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the EPA as a new Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program.
Kaitlyn Klema moved to Tennessee from a small town on the Connecticut River in New Hampshire. She attended the University at Smith College in Western Massachusetts where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geoscience, with a minor in Japanese. Before moving to Tennessee, she taught a semester of chemistry at her high school, and she taught English for two years in Japan. Kaitlyn enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, hiking and looking at rocks, and gardening. This is her first time in Tennessee, so she is excited to get to know the City of Oak Ridge and explore all of the opportunities East Tennessee has to offer. In her first year with AmeriCorps, Kaitlyn is looking forward to serving with the Oak Ridge Stormwater Team and learning more about GIS, rain gardens, stream surveying, environmental education, and all things stormwater. 

Tabitha Duggan moved to Knoxville from Winder, Georgia, after graduating from Georgia College and State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health and a certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). While at school, Tabitha could often be found in her hammock at the Oconee River Greenway, studying at Dunkin' Donuts, or going to the movies with friends for $5 Tuesdays. Before graduating, Tabitha completed two internships, one with the Covington – Newton County GIS Department and the other with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS). This will be her first year with AmeriCorps and her first time living out of state. Tabitha is excited to get to know the Knoxville area and to connect the knowledge she has gained from her previous roles as a student and intern with her new position as part of the City of Oak Ridge Stormwater Team. 

CAC AmeriCorps has been a program with the Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee since 1994. CAC AmeriCorps works with many partners in the region, including other municipal stormwater programs and environmental organizations. The primary goal of this program is to provide environmental conservation services through hands-on field work, and education in many different areas, which include water quality, recycling, and other sustainability efforts. 
ORFD Captains Earn Fire Officer Designation
Congratulations to Captain Courtney McCarter and Captain Ray Burney who both recently received their Fire Officer (FO) designation through the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

There are less than 500 firefighters WORLDWIDE who have earned this designation. We're also happy to report that Oak Ridge has the most designated Fire Officers (11 total) in the State of Tennessee.

Great job to these captains on their professional achievement! We're so proud of them and our entire ORFD team who work each day to keep our community safe.
Capt. Courtney McCarter
Capt. Ray Burney
NOW HIRING: Find a Job with the City
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Looking for a new job? The City of Oak Ridge is accepting applications for the following positions:

  • 911 Dispatcher
  • Administrative Associate
  • Police Investigator
  • Local History Specialist (Library)
  • Firefighter Engineer/EMT
  • School Crossing Guard
  • Electric Lineman
REMINDER: Take Our ADA Survey Online
The City of Oak Ridge is requesting feedback from the community as part of the Public Works Department’s ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Transition Plan. The survey asks for information about experiences accessing City facilities, parks, or programs and is available now.

The transition plan will provide the City with a set of guidelines for how to improve facilities, sidewalks, parking lots, and parks as well as signalize intersections. It will also include an annual budget for these improvements and prioritize which areas should be addressed first.
Final ORNL Summer Sessions Concert of 2019
Molly Tuttle & Alex Leach Band Scheduled for 9/14
ORNL Federal Credit Union’s free summer music series, the Summer Sessions, will hold its last concert of the year this Saturday, September 14! All concerts are held outdoors at the pavilion in Bissell Park from 6-9pm and are free to the public. Bring your lawn chairs and your friends!
Register for Memory Magic Scrapbook Event
The City of Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department is sponsoring the 14th Annual Memory Magic Scrapbook event at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on September 20 and 21. Registration is underway.

Memory Magic is a traditional-style, low-tech event. Friday and Saturday include vendors, a crop area, classes, and a masseuse. Walk-in registration will be taken only the weekend of the event, beginning at 8 a.m. each morning.

The crop area will be open to registered participants only. Cropping will begin at 8 a.m. each morning and close at 10 p.m. both evenings. The cost to crop is $20 per day.

Vendors will open for business by 9 a.m. each morning. Vendors include home party businesses, scrapbook stores, and general craft stores from all over the region. The vendor area is open to the general public for shopping from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is open to paid participants only after 6 p.m.