The Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Council voted Monday to continue pursuit of a grant worth up to $2 million from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, according to online documents.
The decision to go ahead with a full grant application to DOE was approved without comment as part of the council’s “consent agenda,” during the meeting, a video of which can be found here.
Should the city win funding from DOE’s Community Capacity Building Grant Program, it plans to establish a joint economic development authority with two neighboring counties. The $19-million program was set up by the agency’s 2023 appropriations act to “invest in disadvantaged communities which have been affected by decades of nuclear defense research and environmental cleanup activities,” according to a memo from city staff.
The funding opportunity was discussed at the city council’s Jan. 30 session, according to the memo from Amy Fitzgerald, the city’s information services director. During the work session, Fitzgerald added the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, which focuses on redevelopment of the Oak Ridge nuclear site, is winding down its operations.
The process includes both submission of a concept paper, filed Jan. 25, and a full application.
The concept paper proposes a three-year pilot project to form a new non-profit economic development organization jointly with Roane and Anderson counties, according to the memo. April 30 is the deadline for the full application.
The city of Oak Ridge and the two counties are neighbors of DOE’s 37,000-acre Oak Ridge Site in Eastern Tennessee. The federal property is about 20 miles northwest of Knoxville, Tenn.
