HORIZONS: The annual City Council retreat begins at Noon, Friday, January 29 at Rye Patch. This is a two day meeting at which Council discusses various subjects presented by City Staff. It is open to the public.
HUD REGIONAL ENERGY CONFERENCE: Jim Chaplin, the South Carolina Director of Housing and Urban Development, a federal agency, has been working with Assistant City Manager Richard Pearce on a regional energy conference. Titled Going Green – It Starts With Me. This free seminar will begin at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, April 22, 2010, in the Municipal Building Conference Center. Scheduled presenters will provide practical, inexpensive methods to significantly reduce homeowners’ and business owners’ utility bills through energy-saving installations and methods. We hope you will plan to attend this important seminar to learn timely, practical tips to conserve energy and save money.
HOPELANDS EARTH DAY CELEBRATION: This annual event is slated from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Friday, April 23, 2010 at Hopelands. We anticipate several interesting displays focused on sustainable practices toward protecting our environment and identifying renewable resources, while encouraging responsible use of our nonrenewable resources.
DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC SIGNAL UPGRADES: Testing of the upgraded traffic signals at our downtown intersections will begin the first week of February. The state’s contractor doing this work has been delayed due to a backorder of some critical equipment. This new system features pedestrian crossing buttons at the crosswalks. Also installed were sensors which can adjust the traffic signal intervals as the flow of traffic increases or decreases in a particular lane. Please note that the SCDOT has indicated to us that the upgrade will mean that only one direction will be “green lighted” at any given time once this system is activated. To help citizens adjust to this upgraded state system, our ADPS will put articles in the newspaper and post officers at intersections to answer motorists’ and pedestrians’ questions
SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE CONVEYING PROPERTY ALONG THE CLOSED LIGON STREET RIGHT OF WAY: Over the years, the City of Aiken has been working to close unopened or paper streets within the city limits. One of those streets is Ligon Avenue Extension which originally extended east of McCormick Street to the Pine Lawn Cemetery and down to Abbeville. This street had never been opened and a couple of years ago, City Council authorized obtaining the ROW so it could be permanently deeded to the adjoining property owners. We have attached two potential ordinances. The first ordinance is to deed the property to Ms. Georgia Benton (who recently purchased the property from the city just to the north of this area) and the Pine Lawn Cemetery. The second ordinance calls for the property to be evenly divided between the two abutting property owners. If Council chooses to divide the property equally among the abutting property owners, we would have Todd Hass revise the plat to show this division. A letter was sent to all the adjoining property owners on December 18, 2009 letting them know that City Council was going to discuss this at their January 11, 2010 meeting and have second and final reading on January 25, 2010. City Council will need to choose which ordinance they would prefer based on comments from property owners and the review of the subject.
SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO REVISE PLANNED RESIDENTIAL CONCEPT PLAN FOR VILLAGE AT WOODSIDE: In the original concept plan for The Village at Woodside it stated that a minimum buffer of 100 feet would front along Silver Bluff Road. The City of Aiken is asking that the plan be revised to allow a water plant to be constructed along Silver Bluff Road at the southern most end of the development. The City would construct a well to serve the southwest portion of the city, specifically Woodside and the surrounding areas. A 50 foot buffer would be placed around the well site as shown on the proposed drawing. The plant will contain a 95 foot diameter water tank buried to approximately one-half its depth, a chemical feed building designed to resemble a brick home, a 5,000 gallon lime feed system with an 8' by 10' attached single story pump building, 3 high service pumps, and 1 deep well. A 50 foot wide buffer will be planted with wax myrtles, ligustrums, and other evergreen trees and shrubs to screen the property from the surrounding area. All the trees in the buffer will be preserved at the site. There will be no public access to the building. The Planning Commission unanimously approved the concept change at their December 15, 2009, meeting.
SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO REZONE HELPING HANDS TO PLANNED INSTITUTIONAL (PI): HELPING HANDS WOULD LIKE TO REZONE THEIR 4.74 ACRE PARCEL FROM LIMITED PROFESSIOINAL TO PLANNED INSTITUTIONAL (PI): In addition they would like Council's approval of the concept plan so they can build a new dormitory at the facility. Helping Hands is a private non-profit agency that provides 24-hour residential care to children ranging in age from new born to 21 years old. Currently 4 existing buildings have 58 beds, and they would like to add another dormitory which would house an additional 32 children. However, the floor area exceeds the 5,000 square foot limit allowed on an LP lot, and in order to construct this building they are requesting this zoning change. When Helping Hands moved to this location in 1988, it was zoned Professional. However, when the Zoning Ordinance was rewritten in 1999 all professional properties were changed to Limited Professional, except for large office areas which were later zoned Office/Institutional. The Professional Institution zone (PI) was established to provide for institutional uses such as Helping Hands. In the Planning Director's memorandum he states that the Helping Hands plan is consistent with all of the criteria set forth for the PI zone. The Planning Commission at their December 15, 2009, meeting voted unanimously to change the zoning of Helping Hands from Limited Professional to Planned Institutional (PI).
REMINDER HORSE TROUGH DEDICATION: The dedication of the old horse watering trough, small animal water, and public water fountain is set for Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at the serpentine wall of Banksia/Aiken County Historical Museum. This event is free and open to the public.
FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ANNEX PROPERTY AT 119 SMALLRIDGE STREET: The owner of the property at 119 Smallridge Street consisting of a .25 acre lot and a single family home would like to annex to the city under the RS-10 zoning. The property is contiguous to the City of Aiken on two sides and is near our Fire Station No. 2. Several properties in this area have annexed in the past decade. The owners of this property are seeking city services in the future. The Planning Commission at their January 12, 2010, meeting unanimously approved this annexation.
FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO REZONE PROPERTY AND TO APPROVE A CONCEPT PLAN FOR THE SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH ON DUPONT DRIVE: The Second Baptist Church owns a 40 acre tract of which 16.71 acres behind Aiken High School is zoned RS-8 Residential Single Family. Last month City Council approved a plan to construct a Senior Citizen Apartment building along with an Adult Care Facility in this area. In order to accommodate these units the property needs to be rezoned from RS-8 to Planned Residential. Under the Planned Residential zone City Council can require whatever details they would like and in turn allows the developer to have a higher number of dwelling units. The apartment building will have a maximum of 50 units for seniors and a 3,600 square foot adult day care facility. The two developments are consistent with our Planned Residential zone, and the City will be constructing a regional detention pond in this area not only for this property but for the property to the north and east of this area. A traffic study is not needed because of the current level of service on Dupont Drive and the amount of traffic to be generated by this development.
APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION TO PURCHASE LAND FOR NEW WATER TREATMENT FACILITY OFF OF SILVER BLUFF ROAD: In 2008 City Council met with some adjoining residents in Woodside concerning our proposed new water treatment plant behind the city's Public Safety Station No. 4. After discussing this facility with them, it was decided to find a different location for this treatment facility. We looked at two parcels, one south of the Public Safety Substation and the other on the southernmost corner of the Woodside Village development along Silver Bluff Road. The first site contains approximately five acres and was appraised at $779,000. The site is larger than we need and contains two trailers and a home which would need to be removed. Because of the cost and unwillingness of the owner to subdivide the property, the City contacted the Woodside Silver Bluff Development Company, to purchase approximately 1.7 acres at an appraised value of $185,000. The site is already cleared and a portion of this would be sold back at the same cost per square foot at a later date for a detention pond by the developer for future development in The Village. Due to a heavy demand and pressure drops, especially in the morning for residents in Woodside and other surrounding subdivisions, a site is vitally needed for this new well. The site would consist of a new treatment facility capable of pumping over 1 million gallons of additional water into our current system. Additionally, a water tank would be built on the site and would be completely buried except for the top dome of the tank. A 50 foot buffer with evergreens would be placed around the entire site and the treatment facility would consist of a building designed to look like a brick residence with a tall hip roof to help screen the lime tank. From this new facility a new 12 inch water line would be placed in the permanent easement that is on the southern portion of the Woodside Village area. A second 1 million gallon well would be located behind the Public Safety Station in the fenced area.
AGENDA FOR JAN 25, 2010 CITY COUNCIL MEETING: http://www.cityofaikensc.gov/WebLink8/DocView.aspx?id=116814.
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