TOWN HALL MEETING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13: I will hold my first Town Hall Meeting at Odell Weeks, Room 3. I will be there at 3 P. M. and 6 P. M. to meet with citizens to discuss city issues such as the Capital Project Sales Tax (Penny Tax), City Budget, traffic lights, etc. and other concerns or questions people might have.
SPECIAL NOTE: - This is excellent information I recently received from Sgt. Aaron Dowdy of Aiken Public Safety. “As many of you have seen or read in the news, the car break in rate in the City has been quite high lately. We have had over seventy (70) since June 1st of this year. These types of cases are already difficult to solve since there is usually very little if any evidence left behind at the scene.
The purpose of this notification is not to tell you we have been busier than usual, but to help you make yourself less likely to be a victim of this type of crime. Many of the cars that were broken into were left unlocked with valuables left in plain view. Items that have been stolen have been GPS units, IPODs, purses, wallets, cash, cell phones, checks, book bags, and other miscellaneous items. All of these items could easily be taken inside of your home or place of business without difficulty.
In some of these cases, the victims ATM cards were used draining money from their accounts. In another case, a victim’s personal information was taken making her not only a victim of a car break in, but potentially a victim of future identity fraud.
What we have not seen much of is someone breaking into a car and going through glove compartments, consoles, door pockets, or trunks to locate items that are not visible. This tells us the suspects are looking for the quick and easy steal where items are in plain view.
Simple tips to follow:
> Nothing of value should be left in plain view
> If you really like it, take inside or hide it
> Lock your vehicle when you leave it, no matter where you are and use the alarm if equipped
> If the interior of your car looks “sterile” or boring, maybe that suspect will go somewhere else.
Hopefully you have not been a victim in any of these cases. Good luck and enjoy the rest of the warm weather while it lasts.”
WORK SESSION – There will be a Work Session beginning at 6:30 P.M. At that time Council will meet at Library Park for a check presentation by Aiken County Leadership Class of 2009-2010.
EXECUTIVE SESSION – City Council will meet in Executive Session after the Council Meeting to discuss a Personnel matter.
PRESENTATION OF MUNICIPAL CUP AWARD: In July at the Municipal Association of South Carolina annual conference, the City of Aiken received for the 16th time in 18 years, the Municipal Cup for one of our innovative projects, the redevelopment of Crosland Park.
Bolstered by other successful neighborhood projects on the north side, the City of Aiken took a big picture approach to make life better for the folks in Crosland Park. While there were many different groups in the area working to help the neighborhood, they were not working together. City officials coordinated these efforts by reaching out to local faith-based organizations, volunteer groups and the neighborhood association. Together, they got to work on Crosland Park's rebirth.
The city and several non-profit organizations put up the money necessary to buy and renovate up to 150 homes. Other funds came from a variety of sources, including a Community Development Block Grant, Palmetto Pride, and Safe Routes to Schools. Officials then hired unemployed workers to do the physical labor necessary to restore the houses and make them energy efficient. Other enhancements included new streetlights, sidewalks, and a walking path to the nearby schools. The city is not just doing renovation work, it is empowering residents to keep the area on the right track. With the coalition, the city started life skills classes, a youth leadership program, afterschool programs, a chess club and street parties, among other activities. Residents formed a tight-knit group, proud of their new neighborhood. They feel safer and more stable. Plans are underway to incorporate green space and a community garden in Crosland Park.
What could have been just a simple public safety project became a comprehensive effort to improve the quality of life for the city's north side residents. At tonight's meeting the MASC will present to the Mayor and City the Municipal Cup recognizing our Crosland Park Program.
STATE RECOGNITION OF CITIZENS/LAY VOLUNTEER AWARD: The City of Aiken is blessed with tremendous staff and volunteers who make us an All-American City. At this year's 65th South Carolina Parks Association Conference, one of our community volunteers was recognized for his outstanding leadership. Dr. Joseph Spencer was selected by the South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association as the 2010 Lay Person of the Year in South Carolina. Joe Spencer has served in a number of different capacities as a volunteer both locally and in the state. He is the president of the Aiken Youth Sports Association which operates the Hook a Kid on Golf and Aiken's Croquet Program and past president of the Friends of Hopelands/Rye Patch. He was heavily involved in raising over $200,000 towards the renovation of the Windham Performing Arts stage and during his tenure, developed their first long-range plan for future improvements at both Rye Patch and Hopelands. He was instrumental in developing the Aiken Hook a Kid on Golf and Aiken Croquet programs which were recognized in 2006 as the national site of the year out of the 250 clinics being held across the country. He has been involved in several other events and clubs such as Jaycees, Sertoma, March of Dimes, Palmetto Golf Club, South Carolina Junior Golf Association, Green Boundary Club, Police Athletic League, scout leader for Troop 110, Aiken Swim Association, Aiken Regional Hospital, and has served on several state and national organizations while working at the Savannah River Site.
As you can see from his biography Dr. Spencer has been a great volunteer for the City, always helping to provide opportunities and better facilities for our children and adults. We are very fortunate that Joe lives in Aiken and chooses to spend his retirement volunteering his time for the youth and citizens of our community. While working with staff he always has a "can do attitude" to help in anyway. We thank Dr. Joseph Spencer for being such a great volunteer in our City and tonight we would like to recognize him for all he has done.
RECREATION COMMISSION OPENING: Unfortunately, Derek Martin, my appointee to the Recreation Commission resigned due to work conflicts. I am very grateful for the excellent work he did while a member. If you are interested in being appointed to this commission, please send me an email at
fastwalk1@gforcecable.com and I can explain what the commission does and when it meets.
APPROVAL OF DEED OF DEDICATION OF ROADWAY KNOWN AS PASCALIS PLACE: Gibeon Development Group, LLC would like the City of Aiken to accept the Deed of Dedication for the roadway known as Pascalis Place. This road is located off of Silver Bluff in the Pin Oak Farm development just south of Gem Lakes. The road was completed in 2006 and has been maintained by the developer. Our engineering staff, during their inspection, revealed some minor shoulder work which was recently corrected. The pavement is in good condition and they recommend Council accept the Deed of Dedication for the Pascalis Place roadway.
APPROVAL OF DEED OF DEDICATION FOR THE LIFT STATION AND UTILITIES AT THE RIDGE AT CHUKKER CREEK PHASE I – FPA, Inc. would like the City of Aiken to accept the lift station, sewer lines, force mains, water lines, and their easements at The Ridge at Chukker Creek, Phase I. Our engineering staff reviewed the sewage pump station and utilities for The Ridge at Chukker Creek and has found no deficiencies. The lines were tested and have been approved by DHEC. We therefore recommend City Council accept this Deed of Dedication.
KEY DATES –SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Dr. Harry Shealy will conduct tours of Hitchcock Woods. The group will meet at the Tea Cottage entrance on Dibble Road. [Diagonally across from Rhone Street].
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5 AT 5:00 P. M. IN ROOM 204- we will kick off our zero based budget discussion sessions with a visit by Ed Driggers, City Administrator, from Greer. He will share with you how they conducted their zero based budgeting sessions. Public Works and Engineering Department will start our review process. All of our meetings should last no more than four hours. We will meet on the ‘1st and 3rd Tuesday’ and ‘2nd and 4th Thursday basis, or October 5, 14, 19, and 28th. We will settle our November and December meetings schedule at our October meetings.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2010 STARTING AT 7:00 P.M.: The Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals will sponsor a festival on Newberry Street as part of Celebrate Aiken’s calendar of events with a family fun night focusing on our bright future.
PURCHASING CARD REBATES: A few years ago, the City of Aiken instituted a purchasing card system to reduce paperwork, eliminate the need for Purchase Orders for certain purchases, and to better monitor purchases by City staff. Our cash rebate for FY 2009-2010 totaled $7,800.30. This rebate represents a 35% increase in staff use of these purchasing cards. We continue to study ways to save money where making purchases and better documenting our purchases. Assistant City Manager Richard Pearce will be conducting a supervisors training session in October to discuss our purchasing procedures and opportunities for further savings.
HO WEEKS CENTER SECURITY CAMERAS: Our contractor, Educated Systems of Elgin, SC, has completed the installation and activation of the new camera system at the HO Weeks Center. We are in the process of developing other security measures at Virginia Acres Park including additional exterior cameras and call boxes. Once we have fully assessed this new system, we will install a similar system at the Smith Hazel Center.
SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO REVISE THE CONCEPT PLAN FOR VILLAGE AT WOODSIDE - Kent Baldwin, Vice President of Silver Bluff Development Company, is requesting revisions to the concept plan for signage at the Village at Woodside. They are requesting signage that they neglected to address within the original concept plans. They feel the proposed signage would be appropriate for the Village at Woodside and combines a variety of uses to depict residential, retail, and professional uses. In general, the signs will consist of a combination of brick and wrought iron supports for these composite signs. The size of signs would vary depending on the information communicated by the sign and the location. The requested entrance monument is approximately 46 feet long on each side of the Village Green Boulevard. The sign's primary purpose is to identify the Village at Woodside. In total, the concept plan shows one pair of entrance monument signs, six primary directional signs, six area identification signs, two parking identification signs, and four individual building signs. The number of building and parking area signs will change as the development progresses to its completion.
According to the Zoning Ordinance, Council has the authority to modify the sign provision to fit the appropriate needs of the residential or business community. The monument signs that are proposed at the entrance off of Silver Bluff Road would be about 162 square feet and 9 feet tall and the Zoning Ordinance allows each sign to be a maximum of 60 square feet with a height of 8 feet. Other signs which are shown as A-F in their submittal package are directional signs which are not allowed by the Zoning Ordinance because they would be in the street right-of-way and include names of businesses, not located on the street where the business is located. Individual business signs are approximately 25 square feet and the Zoning Ordinance sets a limit of 9 square feet for standard limited professional buildings. At the August Planning Commission meeting, the Commission denied this request on a 4-2 vote.
SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO REZONE PROPERTY AT 181 BEAUFORT STREET FROM LIGHT INDUSTRIAL TO GENERAL BUSINESS – Mr. Ketan Patel has requested City Council to rezone property at 181 Beaufort Street NE from Light Industrial LI to General Business GB. The 1.0 acre lot is located at the southwest corner of Beaufort Street and Barnwell Avenue. Their intent is to build a convenience store with fuel pumps which is allowed in the General Business zone. However, once the property is zoned General Business, it could then be used for any use under the General Business zoning. This area is currently a mix of government offices, industrial warehousing, retail, agricultural, residential, and vacant land. A traffic study was required and completed and the study suggests the following mitigation:
1. Off of Beaufort Street they will provide a full in/out access and it should be located at least 175 feet from Barnwell Avenue and 100 feet from the Dollar General access driveway.
2. The proposed development should share, if possible, an access with the existing Dollar General Store.
3. The Beaufort Street access should consist of one entrance lane and two exit lanes with a stop sign control.
4. The Barnwell Avenue access should be a right in/right out and located as far west as possible with one entrance lane and one exit lane also under a stop control.
The Planning Commission, at their August meeting, voted 4-2 in favor of this rezoning.
SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO REVISE THE ANNEXATION OF LACY COSMOTOLOGY SCHOOL - On June 22, 2009, City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to annex five acres of property off University Parkway near Arbor Court as Planned Commercial and Phase I of the Concept Plan for a cosmetology school. One of the conditions for the approval included the condition that within 180 days the owner would submit an amended Concept Plan for approval by the Planning staff.
Mr. Lacy in his attached letter states he did not comply due to financial considerations. He now has the financing arranged and would like to move forward with the project. Attached is the revised plat showing the removal of a portion of the parking lot to the left of the two proposed office buildings. I have included the minutes from last year's City Council meeting, along with information from the Planning Commission. He is asking for City Council's approval to move forward with the original approval. If Council is in agreement we would need to revise Condition No. 9 and give him until March 15, 2011, to provide the necessary information to staff for this property.
SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE REVISING THE AIKEN CITY CODE CONCERNING THE ABATEMENT OF NUISANCES AND DWELLINGS UNFIR FOR HUMAN HABITATION – Several months ago, City Council asked Staff to review its current abatement procedures and determine if the City could broaden its authority concerning a variety of nuisances. Our Staff Attorney Ben Moore has been working with Richard Pearce, Gary Smith, Mike Jordan (Building Official), and Phil Noah (Code Enforcement Inspector), on changes to our ordinances concerning dwelling units unfit for human habitation and nuisances. They feel the current state statutes authorizes municipalities to pass ordinances to address dwelling units unfit for human habitation.
The ordinance before Council tonight would amend our current ordinance to take full advantage of the powers authorized by the state statutes. The two major changes allow the City to abate a broad variety of nuisances based on health, safety or morals of occupants of dwellings within a municipality. The second major change to our current ordinance will allow the Building Official to abate a nuisance immediately if necessary. Currently our ordinance requires a 120 day notice, and the change would allow the Building Official to move more quickly with enforcement.
The current ordinance deals with nuisances such as loud noises and unsafe dwelling units but doesn't give authority to the City to be involved in abatement of stalled construction projects. The current Aiken County nuisance ordinance, however, allows them to use the building permit process to cover some of these issues. Our ordinance models Aiken County's, but also includes additional provisions for suspended construction projects, monitoring fees and provisions for emergency abatement. The proposed ordinance should give the City authority to be involved in the abatement of stalled construction projects and allows us to charge a fee for the on-going monitoring of properties that require frequent inspections.
On August 26th, The South Carolina Policy Council released a media advisory entitled “Reform the Legislature, Shorten the Session, Record Every Vote.” This advisory outlines the latest research by the team of investigative reporters employed by the South Carolina Policy Council. The results are staggering and prove that South Carolina is a state governed and dominated by the legislature.
