OAK RIDGE town council
May 6 / MEETING HIGHLIGHTS as reported by CHRIS BURRITT Mayor Ann Schneider called the monthly meeting in Town Hall to order, with Mayor Pro Tem Jim Kinneman and council members George McClellan, Doug Nodine and Martha Pittman present. The meeting was livestreamed on the town’s YouTube channel, which is linked to its website and Facebook page. The invocation was offered by Sebastian King, who served as campaign manager for Rep. Jon Hardister (R-District 59) and a policy advisor in the state legislature. Ethan Hartman, a member of Scouts BSA Troop 600 in Oak Ridge, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PROCLAMATION Boy Scout award. Schneider read a proclamation honoring Stewart Chipman, an Eagle Scout and member of Troop 600. For his Eagle Scout project, Chipman collaborated with the Oak Ridge Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to design and construct a flag collection and retirement center
at Oak Ridge Town Park. The project won the 2020 Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award for the Old North State Council’s eight-county service area.
5 0: Approve “Heritage Farm Park” as the new name for the Whitaker property on Linville Road
5 0: Contract with accounting firm Dixon Hughes Goodman to audit
PUBLIC SAFETY
giving the state legislature authority over local zoning and land use planning
Sheriff’s Office. Lt. Nathan Trish reported deputies responded to 56 calls in Oak Ridge in April, including an auto theft and three larcenies. Trish advised residents to be wary of rising thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles, especially ones left parked for extended periods of time. Thieves sell the converters for scrap, he said.
Oak Ridge Fire Department. Chief Ken Gibson said firefighters responded to 49 calls in April, mostly related to emergency medical situations. The burning of yard debris by homeowners also resulted in several brush fires, Gibson said. He urged
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5 0: Reappoint Jason Streck to the Planning and Zoning Board and appoint Pat Fiorentino as a full member of the board
the town’s finances for the current fiscal year
EXCEPTIONAL CARE
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Mayor Ann Schneider, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Kinneman and council members George McClellan, Doug Nodine and Martha Pittman voted on the following issues during the May 6 council meeting.
Later, the mayor recognized other members of Troop 600 in attendance.
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Dr. David Lorczak
WHAT they voted on, and HOW they voted:
5 0: Adopt a resolution urging state legislators to vote against two bills 5 0: Conduct a study to determine the feasibility of installing water tanks and hydrants for fighting fires
homeowners not to dump burning embers from fire pits into the woods.
Loud vehicle mufflers. McClellan said some homeowners in Oak Ridge’s historic district and on Peeples Road have complained of vehicles with loud mufflers “going all hours of the night.” Trish recommended that people who are disturbed by the noise write down a vehicle description and license number. Reporting the information to the sheriff’s office will help identify vehicles repeatedly creating noise, which may lead to citations or conversations between deputies and drivers, he said. Trish said people can also call 911. He cautioned, though, that the vehicle may be gone before deputies arrive. If deputies arrive in time to find the vehicle, he added, “a single call isn’t necessarily going to result in having a blue light turned on.” Schneider said it’s often difficult for people to write down the tag numbers of passing vehicles, especially ones going fast. “There are a good number of these loud-muffler guys who are also speeding,” she said. “You can always pull
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them over for speeding.” Later in the meeting, Miles Foy and Myra Blackburn, who live on N.C. 150 near Oak Ridge Military Academy, and Maj. Robert Forde, the academy’s admissions director, said they’re disturbed by loud mufflers as early as 6:30 a.m. Some motorists are speeding, according to Blackburn. Foy and Forde urged the town to ask the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to extend the length of the 25-mph zone on N.C. 150 in front of the academy to encompass athletic fields at the eastern end of the school’s campus. Reducing the speed limit for a greater distance would help “make traffic calmer and quieter,” Foy said, adding he believes the volume of traffic has increased over the past year. Schneider said town staff plans to contact NCDOT about extending the reduced-speed zone.
MANAGER’S REPORT 5 0 to reappoint Jason Streck
to the Planning and Zoning Board and appoint Pat Fiorentino, who currently
