The new tag renewal kiosk is located in county parking garage on West Broad Street. - G. Chambers Williams III
Anderson County residents in the Clinton area now have a 24-hour automated kiosk at their service to renew their vehicle license tags, thanks to County Clerk Jeff Cole.
While there has been a similar kiosk in front of the clerk’s office in Oak Ridge for the past five years, this is the first one in the northern part of the county, and Cole believes it will be even more popular than the one in Oak Ridge.
The new kiosk is in the county parking garage across from the courthouse on West Broad Street, where the county clerk and county trustee have drive-up service already for vehicle registration and property tax payment services.
“This new one is where the bank ATM used to be, and it’s already popular with people who work during the day and have a hard time getting to one of our offices during regular working hours,” Cole said.
Anderson County will try again next year to secure grant funding for a stalled water-line extension project off U.S. 25W north of Clinton that would serve 71 homes.
The original effort fell apart in 2020 because of soaring construction costs.
Mitch Loomis, economic and community development director for the East Tennessee Development District, updated the Anderson County Commission during its Monday, Nov. 17 meeting.
He said the county had to return its initial grant after bids came in far higher than expected, but he plans to reapply for new funding on March 27, citing improved construction rates.
The original proposal would have extended water lines to homes on Buchanan Lane, Savage Garden Road, Foust Lane, Collins Gap Road, Justin Road and Hines Creek Road through a federal Community Development Block Grant.
The Rocky Top City Council holds its meetings on the third Thursday of each month at City Hall on North Main Street. - G. Chambers Williams III
The repaving of several Rocky Top streets, including the busy Fourth Avenue link from Main Street to the Interstate 75 bridge, will begin within the next few days, as the work is now in the hands of The Rogers Group, the contractor, the City Council was told Thursday night (Nov. 20).
Mayor Kerry Templin said The Rogers Group will be doing the paving under a $187,773 contract awarded by the council during its meeting on Oct. 16.
Besides Fourth Avenue, the repaving will also include High Street from Fourth to Seventh streets, and parts of Pearl Street and Cobb Hollow Road.
The work mostly will be to smooth over the streets following the city’s recent sewer-rehabilitation project, which involved tearing up pavement to dig out and replace old sewer and some water lines.
The Norris City Council will meet in special session at 7 p.m. Monday (Dec. 1) with the stated goal of naming current Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited to the position of city manager.
Whited, who has been the assistant since early 2023, will replace City Manager Charles “Adam” Ledford, who handed council members a letter of resignation on Sept. 8, effective Jan. 2.
The assistant city manager’s position was created by the council on Ledford’s recommendation in November 2022, just over a month after Ledford took over as city manager.
During its Sept. 8 meeting, the council voted to accept Ledford’s resignation, and in the same motion, to eliminate the assistant’s position as of Jan. 1.
Then during the Nov. 10 regular meeting, the council members voted unanimously to hold the special meeting next Monday to elevate Whited to the job.
Whited, 26, is an Anderson County native who attended Norris Middle School and graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
He told The Courier News last week that he was looking forward to taking over as city manager.
Anderson County’s solid waste and recycling center is on Blockhouse Valley Road. - Ben Pounds
The Anderson County Commission recently voted in support of having companies pay for the cost of the county’s recycling program based on how much packaging they use.
Commissioners did not pass an ordinance to that effect, however, but rather passed a resolution to send a letter to the state of Tennessee in support of the Waste Jobs Act, a proposed piece of legislation including that idea. Law Director James Brooks plans to draft it.
Oak Ridge resident Robin Graham spoke in favor of it to the commission at the Nov. 17 meeting, and the commissioners passed the resolution the same night.
“It would provide the funds at no cost to the taxpayer for recycling,” she said. She estimated the county and city of Oak Ridge could together save more than $5 million.
Commissioner Tim Isbel made the motion to send the letter, and Commissioner Shain Vowell seconded. The resolution passed unanimously.
Anderson County will allow developers and residents to have minimum 20,000 square-foot lots instead of 22,000 square feet on lots that require septic tanks.
“It makes things more friendly to development, because basically if you have an acre of ground and you cut out 22,000 square feet, you’re at a deficit to get a new lot.”
Danny Phillips, Anderson County planning and zoning coordinator told the County Commission at its Nov. 17 meeting.
He added that 22,000 square feet is 0.51 acres, which is an awkward number to use for dividing lots.
He said a septic tank system does not typically require 22,000 square feet.
The commission passed this resolution alongside other zoning changes at its Monday, Nov. 17 meeting.
Another change involved adding regulations on short-term rentals, giving developers who want to have them an application process and requiring a safety checklist.
The full text of these resolutions is available online in the consent agenda for the Nov. 17 meeting at andersontn.org.
Anderson County officials are discussing how to adjust operations to a new era of chatbots and the ability the media has to access what officials say to them.
The discussion came up at the Nov. 17 County Commission meeting, although it did not come to a vote.
Mayor Terry Frank spoke of another county in which the media requested elected officials provide dialogues they’d had with Chat GPT and OpenAI.
She said this information is easily downloadable.
Frank said county Law Director James Brook’s office was working on a memo to prepare commissioners on what to do with artificial intelligence chatbots and how the media can handle that information.
Brooks said at the meeting that county officials should work under the assumption that anything discussed with an artificial intelligence assistant is public record.
He clarified after a question from Commissioner Michael Foster, however, that this applies to all conversations on county-issued devices, but not all conversations on personal ones.
“We just wanted elected officials and the commission to be aware that it may be subject to open records,” Frank said.
“I’m still a dinosaur,” she added, explaining she intends to use artificial intelligence but hasn’t yet.
Anderson County leaders are taking steps to plan the future of the former American Nuclear property on Blockhouse Valley Road and adjoining public land.
Mayor Terry Frank told the Operations Committee on Nov. 10 that the effort will require meetings with stakeholders and likely an assessment of the site and any long-term monitoring needs.
At the Nov. 17 County Commission meeting, commissioners approved two related motions.
The first authorizes the county’s grant coordinator to explore a planning grant to help develop a long-term plan for the area, which includes the Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization site and the historic Poor Farm property.
The land along Blockhouse Valley Road is used by CRESO for research and educational work involving snakes, turtles and other wildlife.
Commissioner Michael Foster made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Phil Yager. It passed unanimously.
The second motion concerns the parcel next to the CRESO and Poor Farm land — the former hazardous-waste property once owned by American Nuclear at 141 Blockhouse Valley Road.
Cleanup of that site, overseen by the state Department of Environment and Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was completed earlier this year. Foster also made this motion, and Commissioner Tim Isbel seconded. It passed unanimously.
Frank said she hopes to see the entire area, including the cleaned-up former American Nuclear property, incorporated into a county park or nature preserve.
The County Commission voted in 2009 to place the CRESO and Poor Farm land under the Anderson County Conservation Board for park use, and the mayor said adding the newly remediated acreage “just makes sense.”
