From a Contributor

(Editor’s Notes; Click here for a better verion of the full contributor’s document of the before and of Farmer’s Market changes. A transcript of the pertinent portions of the June 12th Aiken City Council meeting is below the photos. Photos taken the day after the project started can be seen here).

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Transcript from archived You Tube video of June 12, 2023 Aiken City Council Meeting. Go to 18:36

City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh: On May 30th work began on the Farmer’s Market project. What should have been the start of a joyous occasion was just the opposite. Eight eight trees were removed, which was very distressing to many residents and non-residents and I share that distress along with some indignation towards the situation. This should not have happened. Healthy trees cannot be repaired or replaced as one would a motor vehicle or piece of playground equipment. 

While we cannot ensure that future city projects can save every tree the review process for our projects must conform to the same process as a private developer. As a staff we can do better and we’ll do better thank you so much for indulging me for a moment Mr Mayor. 

Mayor Osbon: “ Thank you Stuart. I think many people probably felt the stress over that. I know council members did and you know we work hard with our Aiken streetscapes, we work hard with Aiken Land Conservancy for our trees. If its anything as a city we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard and we ask our our residents too so we certainly will be taking action. We can’t restore a full-grown tree I know.

But by the same token when some someone does that individually we ask them I think it’s a three tree to a one tree a grand tree that’s taken and we certainly intend to hold ourselves to the same if not higher standard than we would someone else who did that. So to the citizens I want to Echo the apology that this happened and we’re certainly looking at making sure that there’s steps in place that something like this does not happen again.” 


At the 1:38:57 mark of the video the issue came up again. It is best to watch the whole exchange, as the following is a very condensed version by necessity.

Aiken Resident Valerie Wrobel; Regarding the trees who cut them who is somebody fired for this, did somebody get fined.? Who allowed it and hast person been fired, disciplined, and fined?

City Manager Stuart Bedenbaught; We’re still assessing, but the answer to your question at this moment is it was cut down by a contractor….It is not the contractor they followed the plans that the city gave them that should not have been given to them. The old set of plans were a set of plans that should not have been given to the contractor.

There were also discussions at the 1:20:27 and 1:33:30 marks of the video.

The concept plan from 2020 did show some significant tree removal and replacement with what looks like twisted crepe myrtles.

However, that was a concept, not a concept design or final. Cranston Engineering of Augusta conducted conceptual design and final design of the project at a cost of just over $90,000. The concept and final designs have been requested.