Email shows Oak Ridge quietly transferred Pine Ridge to Industrial Development Board

By Bob Fowler, Anderson County editor

Knoxville News Sentinel, September 30, 2001

Rather than put a 71-acre tract of Pine Ridge up for sale by sealed, competitive bids, an Oak Ridge city official recommended that the land be transferred to the city's Industrial Development Board.

After City Council approved that transfer, the IDB voted in October 1999 to sell the land to Dr. Nat Revis for $2,250 an acre, or less than its appraised price of $2,500 an acre, board meeting minutes show. Revis had proposed to buy the land for $2,000 an acre, those minutes indicate.

"He (Revis) has indicated to me too much public exposure to his plan would be detrimental to his project's survival," wrote Tim Ward, the city's codes enforcement officer/business development facilitator, in an e-mail sent in April 1999 to then-City Manager Robert "Bo" McDaniel.

"Most staff members involved in this review don't trust Dr. Revis," Ward's e-mailed message to McDaniel said. "This may be a direct result of his lack of development skills and past performance in this area."

The history of that tract of land and how Revis was able to buy it without a competitive bid or public review has come under scrutiny in the wake of a public uproar over what has been done to Pine Ridge.

The ridge, which is alongside Illinois Avenue at the most frequently used entrance to Oak Ridge from Knoxville, has been clear-cut and is being graded and reduced by as much as 70 feet in elevation to make room for what Revis has described as a number of high-tech warehouses.

Many residents complain that the project has resulted in an eyesore that's visible for miles around.

It's prompted one resident, environmental consultant Bill Schramm, to launch a petition drive to have the city either buy the land back from Revis or seize the property by exercising its power of eminent domain. Schramm wants the property to be used as a public park.

Ward on Monday denied that his e-mail was an attempt to keep the Pine Ridge property from being offered for competitive bid.

"There's no bid-rigging suggested here," he said. He did say that once the property was transferred to the IDB, it could be sold without competitive bids.

"It was not my intention to keep it (the property) out of anybody else's hands," he said.

Ward said he proposed that the land be transferred to the IDB because that board "could move pretty quickly" on industrial projects and had been involved "from the beginning" in the development of the adjoining Union Valley Industrial Park.

"I had no intention of circumventing the way we do business here," Ward said. "It was my intention to develop this piece of property that was just sitting there."

Ward said his e-mailed statement about a lack of trust in Revis by city staff wasn't a reflection of his opinion.

"It was a statement I was making that people in this government system had developed an opinion of not believing or trusting his development abilities," he said.

Schramm contends the transfer of the 71 acres to the IDB, along with an earlier transfer of an adjoining 30-acre tract that was subsequently sold to Revis, were ways of avoiding having other bidders as well as public input on the transactions.

"Those two things are byproducts of the process that was followed," Schramm said.

McDaniel expressed concern about the way the land was conveyed in a July 1999 memo to City Council.

"I raised my concerns that such a process inappropriately disregards the due process and equal opportunity intent of the state law and the charter provisions for the disposal of public property," his memo said.

"I suggested that the process be modified to have a window of opportunity where other citizens could have equal opportunity to purchase land owned by the city," the memo continued. "Dr. Revis said such would be a change in the practice, to which he voiced his objection."

Schramm, meanwhile, is continuing to obtain signatures for his petition asking that the city either buy back Pine Ridge or seize it by using its power of eminent domain.

He said he will be in the club room at the Oak Ridge Civic Center from 1 to 5 p.m. today. Those with questions about his petition drive may call him at 220-0829 or send e-mail to orvista@bellsouth.net.

Bob Fowler may be reached at 865-481-3625 or bfowler@knoxnews.infi.net.

Copyright 2001, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.