The City is holding several meetings about the State Route 95 improvement project –to discuss the options in TDOT’s recent letter (see my previous post). Here are some details from a message distributed by city staff:
Open Walk-in Review Sessions
Wednesday, July 1, and Thursday, July 2, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the City’s Central Services Complex located at 100 Woodbury Lane in Oak Ridge. There will be no formal presentation of the project design; however, the City Engineer will be available to explain the project’s original design and the proposed changes recently requested by the City.
(I’ve never heard of an “Open Walk Review Session” — I wonder if it might be a typo — but these should be good opportunities for folks to get details on TDOT’s design and possible modifications) Mystery solved.
City Council Work Session
July 6, 2009, at 6:30 p.m., the Oak Ridge City Council will hold a work session on recent developments with reference to the subject improvement project. Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Special Meeting of City Council
July 13, 2009, at 6:00 p.m., in the Courtroom of the Municipal Building at 200 S. Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge.
At this meeting the Council will consider formal action in response to a letter from the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation regarding options available to the City with reference to the subject improvement project.
Phew! This year’s Secret City Festival was a big success but it’s a relief that it’s over, and a relief that we made it through last evening’s marathon City Council meeting.
We had a long agenda and a long meeting. Kudos to John Huotari for quickly spinning out reports on two of the major business items addressed at the meeting:
1. Mayor Beehan and Mayor pro tem Miller were both re-elected to two-year terms. I supported Beehan (he was elected unanimously) but I was one of the three who voted for David Mosby for the pro-tem position, as I saw him as the better choice to provide leadership for the City Council and the City in the absence of the mayor. Several people contacted me over the weekend and on Monday to urge me to support Miller, citing the help she has given them in getting city staff support with issues related to things like animal control and code enforcement, but that type of constituent service (which any Council member can provide) is not what I see as needed in a mayor pro-tem.
2. We delayed action on the proposed lease for the senior center to allow more time for senior services advocates to put together a funding package to allow acquisition of the former Trinity Methodist Church for use as a senior center. I’m very pleased at this result (which came on another 4-3 vote), and I hope that the senior advocates can pull it off. (This deserves its own blog post.)
In some of our other business, Council approved new one-year lobbying contracts — with Bill Nolan Associates to represent the city in Nashville and with Ferguson Group for representation at the federal level. I opposed both. One reason is because I was irritated that Council members had been uninformed about what the lobbyists were doing for the city over the 6-month contract until the 11th hour before this meeting. (OK, 3 pm Monday wasn’t the very last hour before the 7 pm Monday meeting, but there was very little margin…) I hope for better communications in the future. Also, I believe that the benefits we get from the federal lobbyist could be provided at less cost by other mechanisms (such as a combination of “Washington insider” newsletters to provide current information on issues and opportunities, plus grad student interns here in Oak Ridge to do legislative research, “legwork” on grant applications, and drafting of letters and discussion points for officials to use).
Also, we received a letter from TDOT’s Gerald Nicely regarding options for the next phase of the widening of State Route 95. The exciting part is that TDOT says that a redesign changing the “typical section” from a 48-ft depressed grass median to a 12-ft paved median (this is being called “Alternative 2″ — basically, this is the change from a “rural design” to an “urban design” that some of us had been asking for) could be accomplished without delaying the September 2009 bid opening, but the City would have to compensate TDOT for any additional costs of construction. Other alternatives include a total shift of the road alignment away from the current right-of-way (this is being called Alternative 1 and is favored by some Southwood subdivision residents, but it’s impractical, and would result in a long delay in the highway project) or (in what’s being called Alternative 3) making small modifications to the “rural” design to reduce its impact (steeper slopes, modified ditches, and guardrails to reduce encroachment on the neighborhood and avoid some loss of vegetation, and lower speed limit to address noise and safety concerns). I think the new “urban” option is the right direction to go — I’m delighted that TDOT is revisiting its plan and proposing what I think is a “context sensitive” solution for this highway segment. City Council probably will have a work session to discuss the proposal on Monday July 6, followed by a special meeting to act on it on Monday July 13.
Added June 24: I forgot to say that City Council approved on first reading (second reading will be July 20th) an ordinance to change the speed limit from 55 to 45 mph on the stretch of Hwy. 95 that passes the Southwood subdivision. The lower speed limit would apply all the way west to a point 200 ft west of the western entrance to the Rarity Oaks subdivision. Among other things, a lower speed limit should improve safety near the subdivision and reduce noise for residents.
City Council received a report the other day on what Tennesseans (mostly in Oak Ridge and Jefferson City) redeemed their RecycleBank rewards points for in April.
My household hasn’t redeemed any of our RecycleBank rewards points yet, and it looks like we’re in the majority — fewer than 1500 rewards were redeemed in April (some by households that got more than one reward).
It was interesting to see what other people are choosing, as it gave me hints on the most attractive “deals.”
After seeing that Kashi products (free items such as granola, granola bars, and pilaf) are the number one choice (more than one in five of the rewards ordered were from this vendor), I looked into their reward offers and decided that we need to use some of our points to try some of their products.
Ruby Tuesday was the second most popular vendor, with some “buy one, get one free” coupons that appealed to nearly 200 Tennessee households during April. Food City was high on the list of popular vendors with their offer to exchange points for reusable cloth shopping bags.
It was great to see Oak Ridge ice cream destination Razzleberry’s in 5th place with a couple of yummy offers to entice people into their Jackson Square store.
Several other Oak Ridge businesses were popular choices, including Moondollars Cafe in Jackson Square, Firehouse Subs, and Venice Pizza. (Do I see a food theme here?)
ADDED June 10: Several people commented on this item over at Facebook. Tom Beehan said he had used some points for the Epicurean, Kelly Ayers said Moondollars has been getting some redemptions, and Cyndy Bailes says she has redeemed points for Moondollars and Naturally Gourmet. That food theme is going strong.
The suspense has ended — the election results are in. That’s a relief. With the large field and low turnout, I didn’t know what to expect in the results, but I think the city made out OK in the end. My preferred Council candidates won, and I’m particularly pleased that Anne Garcia Garland will be joining the City Council.
I’m intrigued by the numbers — the unofficial results from local news media. Elected to Council were:
Tom Beehan 2,048 votes
David Mosby 1,902
Jane Miller 1,724
Anne Garcia Garland 1,503
Other people receiving votes: Eric Tobler, 1,353; Tony Turner, 1,052; Martin McBride 1,038; Jimmy Bouchard, 976; John Alex Groff, 792; Rick Hasbrouck, 460. Audrey Overbury, who withdrew but remained on the ballot, got 174 votes. There had been a strong current of anti-incumbent sentiment in the community, and non-incumbents actually outpolled incumbents by 7,348 total votes to 5,674 votes for incumbents. However, incumbent Tom Beehan was picked by more than 50% of the voters, and if there was an anti-incumbent vote, it was divided among too many different candidates to be effective.
Elected to the three board of education seats were:
Bob Eby 2,345 votes
Dan DiGregorio 2,227
Jenny Richter 1,793
Others receiving votes for school board of education: John Soldano, 1,765; Brenda Fellner, 1,331; and Brandi Funk (who had withdrawn but remained on the ballot), 186.
Turnout was low at 3,834, and the individual vote counts were much higher in 2005 and 2007. In June 2005 (when turnout was considered disappointingly low at 3,944 voters), Willie Golden was the top vote-getter for City Council with 2819 votes (he got votes from almost 71% of the people who voted), Tom Beehan’s total exceeded his total this year by more than 500 votes, and 5 of the 6 candidates had more votes than this year’s top vote-getter for Council:
Tom Beehan – 2597
Willie Golden – 2819
Martin McBride – 1225
Jane Miller – 2490
David Mosby – 2306
Ellen Smith – 2218
For School Board in June 2005, two candidates (DiGregorio and Richter) exceeded Bob Eby’s total as this year’s top vote-getter:
Dan DiGregorio – 2764
Charlie Hughey – 657
Jenny Richter – 2486
John Smith – 2107
Bill Zulliger – 2006
The June 2007 election had healthy turnout with 6,414 voters, undoubtedly due to the Crestpointe bond referendum. Five of the seven Council candidates (running for 3 seats) ended up with more votes than Tom Beehan had as this year’s top vote-getter:
Fred Childress 2,215
Ella Hawkins Dubose 806
Ray Evans 2,308
Tom Hayes 3,644
Charlie Hensley 3,074
Jerry Marrow 1,080
Ellen Smith 3,177
All three school board candidates in June 2007 (running for two seats) outpolled this year’s top vote-getter, Bob Eby:
Angi Agle 3,910
Keys Fillauer 4,436
Aaron Wells 2,366
I’ve heard from an Oak Ridger who is concerned that his neighbors have been feeding raccoons. As far as I know, there’s no local ordinance or state law against feeding wild animals in Oak Ridge, but I wonder if that’s a direction that the city might need to take in the future. Cities in bear country (such as Gatlinburg) ban feeding of bears, and some cities around the country (particularly in California and the Rocky Mountains) already restrict feeding of other wild animals, such as deer, coyotes, raccoons, foxes and opossums (but they do not ban birdfeeders for wild birds). This is a restriction that people would dislike, but unfortunately there are plenty of excellent reasons not to feed wild animals.
According to various sources:
1. Some of the food that is put out probably gets eaten other animals that we don’t want in our yards and neighborhoods. People who intend to feed raccoons are probably also encouraging coyotes, skunks, or rats.
2. As a general rule, human food is not good for wild animals.
3. Feeding wildlife makes animals dependent on people, which can actually be detrimental to them when they stop seeking their usual food sources are move into human neighborhoods where they may fall prey to dogs, people, and vehicles. (Here’s an online article on the problems that feeding can cause deer and other animals.) Animals that have been fed by people get into the habit of expecting handouts from people and can become aggressive in seeking more of the same. (Here’s a cautionary story about a rogue coyote that had been fed by people.)
4. Raccoons are cute, but unfortunately they are suburban pests that can be a nuisance to homeowners and landscaping (they may even attack pets and small children) and can spread rabies, canine distemper, and other diseases. (For confirmation, check out this article from Birdwatcher’s Digest and the following two fact sheets from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: Canine Distemper fact sheet and Rabies In Raccoons, Bats, & Skunks.)
5. Wild animal populations (for example of raccoons and skunks) may grow unnaturally large because the animals are being fed. This not only increases the likelihood of damage from the animals, but increases the potential for transmission of rabies, distemper and other diseases that spread faster in denser populations.
Bottom line: Feeding wildlife might be fun, but it’s not good for public health — or for getting along with the neighbors. Please don’t feed the animals! (If people stop feeding wild animals voluntarily, then we won’t need to think about an ordinance.)
According to a press release from the City, the 30-day warning period for the City’s first traffic safety camera has ended. This is the camera that monitors southbound traffic on Illinois Avenue at the intersection of Illinois Avenue and Robertsville Road. It monitors red light and speed violations. Violations “caught” by this camera will now lead to $50 tickets.
A second traffic safety camera at the same location that monitors northbound traffic is in a warning period until June 6, 2009.
The two traffic safety cameras that monitor east- and westbound traffic on Oak Ridge Turnpike at LaFayette Drive, including speeding and red light violations and illegal turns, are still in the warning period. The westbound camera is in a warning period until June 8, 2009, and the eastbound camera’s warning period ends June 18, 2009.
In addition to the two intersections with traffic safety cameras, fixed speed systems are being constructed in Oak Ridge school zones on Robertsville Road at Willowbrook School and on Oak Ridge Turnpike at Oak Ridge High School. Both systems will monitor the speed of passing vehicles 24 hours a day, including school zone times. Neither system is operational yet and each will have a separate thirty-day warning period.
As of May 28, 2009, the City had printed 2,322 notices of violations for the locations with traffic safety cameras. These notices will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle committing the violation. Notices received require no action by the recipient during the warning period.
The red-light cameras only detect a violation if a vehicle crosses the stop bar after the traffic signal turns to red — if you are already in the intersection when the light changes from yellow to red, you are not in violation.
I did vote against the camera contract last year, but as a city official I figure I need to do my part to keep people informed and to ensure that the system operates fairly — and I do hope it contributes to public safety!
Citizen Jeff Zink (jeff.zink@comcast.net) polled the City Council candidates on several topics. He got thoughtful answers from five of the candidates (Garland, McBride, Mosby, Tobler, and Turner) and a short reply from a sixth (Miller). He distributed the results this afternoon via e-mail. I received a forwarded copy of his message, which said “Please feel free to forward this e-mail to others in Oak Ridge,” and I am posting the answers here (click here to find them on a separate page) to help get them into the hands of voters.
For me as a Council member who is not up for re-election, this type of election-time discussion of the issues is worthwhile because it causes me to think about topics that are important but have not been on the front burner recently — and the candidates often bring fresh perspectives to the issues.
ADDED a few hours later: Skimming the Qs and As, I found myself wanting to add comments on a few items:
Centennial Golf Course – The golf course financial results are available to everybody (not just public officials, as Eric Tobler’s response implies), embedded in the city budgets and financial reports, which are published and are actually on the city website (click for budgets and financial reports). According to the draft budget for FY 2010 (and as Dave Mosby’s response notes), the golf course is turning a profit this fiscal year on operations (revenues of $1,293,000 versus $1,201,000 in operating costs), but debt service is almost $539,000, so taxpayers are still subsidizing the course at an annual rate of about $447,000. As Tobler’s response implies, golf courses generally don’t pay for themselves. Oak Ridge didn’t expect this course to break even, but hoped to make money from sharing in the gains from selling homes built near the golf course. (That arrangement didn’t work out.) I wish we didn’t own this golf course in the first place, and it would be nice to think that the city could save money by selling it, but I agree with Dave Mosby that we would need to look carefully at any offers — and sell it only if the deal is truly beneficial financially.
Traffic cameras – Not only should signage be erected to “inform” motorists that they are about to come upon a street camera, but notification signs are required by law. As several of the candidates pointed out, signs are in place at some of the camera locations. However, I’ve been concerned that the signage might not be sufficient — in particular, I believe that when a camera site monitors both red-light compliance and speed, it’s not enough for the sign to mention only the red-light cam. I asked staff to look into sign adequacy at a recent meeting, and I haven’t yet gotten a definitive answer.
Added June 2, 2009: City staff says that the signs are going to be replaced with signs that specify “Red Light and Speed Photo Enforcement” or “Speed Limit Photo Enforcement.”
TDOT has supplied notes on a recent meeting between the agency and Southwood subdivision homes, held in State Senator Ken Yager’s Harriman office on May 15.
TDOT recorded the following “Home owners concerns and requests regarding alternatives/design changes“, but I have not yet seen TDOT’s analysis:
Health, noise and safety- Proposed road will not leave much room between houses and traffic lanes. The shifting of lanes towards houses will generate more noise and long exposure to it will affect health.
Existing tree lines in front of houses will be cut to build the roadway and slopes. Removal of this natural barrier will open the possibility of vehicles running over the slopes and landing on the backyard of houses. Guardrail does not provide good protection. A noise wall or any other kind of wall between roadway and houses will be an appropriate safety device. Buying houses close to the roadway is another alternative.
Roadway cross section, median ditch- Plan shows a median ditch from old Sweet Gum entrance to Southwood entrance but there is no ditch in front of Sweet Gum subdivision. Begin ditch form Southwood entrance to save property and trees. A flush median in this area can be an alternative. Would like an urban typical adjacent to the subdivision.
Roadway alignment- All ROW for building the road is taken from homeowner’s side whereas empty Federal land (DOE property) is available on the other side. TDOT can work with the Feds to secure property on the north side.
Communication gap- The subdivisions were built after the acquisition of ROW by TDOT. The developer Mr. J.W. Gibson did not pass the information about imminent road construction to them. The City of Oak Ridge on the other hand issued permits to build houses. The owners requested an electronic copy of the final deed between Mr. Gibson and TDOT.
Delaying the project- The project took several years to reach this stage. It can be delayed further for the changes they are requesting now.
Consideration should be given to any change that would lessen the project impact on the subdivision. Example: speed limit in the vicinity of the subdivision.
ADDED May 27th: Some people have asked about TDOT’s requirements for evaluating the impacts of highway projects. Here’s a link to their guidance on the subject: Tennessee Environmental Procedures Manual, Chapter 5
With early voting under way, it’s high time for me to share my recommendations for City Council. I support the re-election of David Mosby and Tom Beehan, and I strongly recommend electing the newcomer Anne Garcia Garland.
Although I don’t always like their opinions, both Mosby and Beehan are knowledgeable, hard-working (not always in the public view), and thoughtful — I believe they both have the best interests of Oak Ridge citizens at heart. In my opinion, they have earned re-election.
Anne Garcia Garland is a smart and thoughtful woman whose diverse personal experiences, 20+ years of residence in Oak Ridge, and past involvement in and awareness of City affairs will stand her in good stead as a City leader. She will bring needed perspectives to Council as a proud cemesto homeowner (she lives in an “A” house on Outer Drive), an experienced small business owner, and someone who has worked as an accountant — and as a retiree, she has the time to devote to public service. Furthermore, I’m gratified by her personal commitment to greening Oak Ridge. Anne and her husband have installed a photovoltaic solar generator on home and will soon be in the position of selling back electricity to the city’s utility grid as Oak Ridge’s first participants in the TVA Generation Partners program. Also, they have made land on Warehouse Road available for a community garden project.
As for the other candidates, take your pick (or just vote for those you like). I have some preferences among the others, but I see potential merit in all of them — and I can imagine working productively with all of them as fellow Council members. The two voter forums I attended were informative — Angi Agle’s “live blog” of the recent League of Women Voters forum on her blog is a good resource.
Early voting for the June 2 City election started on Wednesday and continues through Thursday, May 28, 2009. Hours are 10 am to 6 pm weekdays (except Memorial Day, May 25) and from 9 am to 12 noon today (Saturday, May 16) at the Larry Dickens Office Building (aka Emory Valley Center or Daniel Arthur Center) on Emory Valley Road.
