During the Roane County Commission meeting Monday night, The Preserve—which is located in the city of Oak Ridge but falls within the Roane County section across the Clinch River—was mentioned again. New development is scheduled in the future to add more than 200 additional homes in that area.

With that in mind, county commissioners expressed concern that the roadway known as Hamilton Road, which connects to Lawnville Road, will see a significant increase in traffic, potentially posing safety issues for motorists who already travel that road daily. Road Superintendent Dennis Ferguson, who attended the meeting, stated that the road committee is examining all aspects of widening Hamilton Road, which is very narrow and narrows to almost one lane at one point. He noted that work would need to be completed if The Preserve expands its boundaries to the west side of the area.

County Executive Wade Creswell gave his report to the commission during last night’s meeting. He was thrilled to announce that auditors from the Comptroller’s Office of the Treasury met with him, Mr. Jenkins from Roane County Schools, Mr. Ferguson the Road Superintendent, and their staff to report that the county’s FY2025 audit was clean, with no audit findings in the respective departments.

Additionally, he offered congratulations to Roane County Assessor of Property Molly Hartup on being awarded the 2025 Assessor of the Year in the state of Tennessee by the Tennessee Association of Assessing Officers. Creswell noted that Molly’s team did an outstanding job leading the county through an incredibly challenging reappraisal process in the face of tremendous adversity.