2026-10-12 - City Council

Summary

Built from the city's post-meeting Notice of Proceedings, which lists actions taken only (not agendas, discussion, vote counts or public comment). Council agenda packets and minutes were not found online. No recording was transcribed.

• Convened 7:00 p.m. with Mayor Warren Gooch presiding. Present: Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dodson, Derrick Hammond, Charlie Hensley, Chuck Hope and Ellen Smith. Sean Gleason was absent. Randy Hemann, Tammy Rackard and Mary Beth Hickman attended. Adjourned 8:58 p.m.
• Proclamations: recognition of the Lieutenant Governor and of a retired Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office manager, Oak Ridge Associated Universities Day (2026-10-15), Fire Prevention Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A youth poet laureate candidate was recognized and later designated for a one-year term.
• Elections and appointments: three members of the Disability Advisory Board (unexpired terms ending 2027 and 2028), two members of the Senior Advisory Board, and student representatives to the Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the Traffic Safety Advisory Board.
• Consent agenda approved: minutes of the 2026-09-14 regular and 2026-09-28 special meetings; sidewalk replacement on West Outer Drive and Highland Avenue and tree removal contracts (Public Transportation and Street Work); extension of the Police Response Enhancement Grant and a bulletproof vest grant application (Police Technology and Grants); plant maintenance facility design (Water Treatment Plant and Water System Work); wireless access points (City Technology Contracts).
• First reading: the FY2027 budget appropriations amendment, with hearing and second reading set for 2026-11-09 (FY2027 Budget Appropriations Amendment). The notice also lists the department-supervision and stormwater ordinances under first reading, although they were adopted on second reading at this meeting.
• Final adoption on second reading, effective 2026-10-22: City Administrative Reorganization and Stormwater Ordinance and Enforcement Plan.
• Resolutions approved: a change of the city's deferred compensation provider; outdoor pool renovations (Outdoor Swimming Pool Renovation); police technology contracts (Police Technology and Grants); Conference Center mechanical design (Parks and Recreation Master Plan and Facilities); retroactive emergency waterline contracts on South Illinois Avenue (Water Treatment Plant and Water System Work); substation engineering, Substation 1000 grading and a line-equipment purchase (Substation and Electric System Work); fuel purchases for FY2027 (estimated $750,000); the amended stormwater enforcement response plan; a Federal Building study (Federal Building Study); and an amendment of the Bluffs Apartments PILOT recommendation extending the construction period to three years (IDB Payment in Lieu of Tax Agreements).

Issues

• IDB Payment in Lieu of Tax Agreements
• Substation and Electric System Work
• Water Treatment Plant and Water System Work
• Outdoor Swimming Pool Renovation
• Parks and Recreation Master Plan and Facilities
• City Administrative Reorganization
• Stormwater Ordinance and Enforcement Plan
• FY2027 Budget Appropriations Amendment
• City Technology Contracts
• Police Technology and Grants
• Public Transportation and Street Work
• Groves Park Commons Subdivision
• Federal Building Study

Agenda

Council agendas are not posted online; see the Notice of Proceedings in Sources.

Sources

• Notice of Proceedings: https://www.oakridgetn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4956
• Council livestream page: https://www.oakridgetn.gov/308/Livestream (Vimeo event https://vimeo.com/event/4843536)

Video

Council meetings are livestreamed on Vimeo; the city's YouTube channel has no council meetings after 2024. Recording availability for this meeting was not verified.