By Kelly Cornelius
February 1, 2024
Trees in Tree City are no longer safe. They are not safe in our historic and storied Parkways, as evidenced by the recent Williamsburg Street “mistake” at the Farmer’s Market, and they are not even safe in a city park.
Aiken City Manager, Stuart Bedenbaugh, announced Friday that the city would proceed with plans to destroy 68 trees from Smith Hazel Park despite community leaders asking to save the trees and despite the Recreation Commission asking for a pause to rethink the destruction of trees after citizens and community leaders brought it to their attention.
Bedenbaugh was quoted in the Aiken Standard as saying “The city has held several public meetings to discuss the upgrades and tree removal, including a Sept 11th public hearing”.
Except that it doesn’t appear the city ever held a public hearing to vet this particular plan. In fact, according to the city’s Sept 11, 2023 Meeting Agenda packet, there was no agenda item for this and no public hearing. There was a work session held before the city’s regular meeting that same night, with “Smith Hazel Recreation Center Improvements Update” on the agenda, however, there is no opportunity for public input or comment in City work sessions.
A FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request has been submitted for a September 11 public hearing — or any public hearing on the Smith Hazel Park plan. A subsequent FOIA was also submitted for receipt confirmation of public notice for said public hearing on Sept 11 — or for any public hearing where this plan was shown. In addition to the FOIA requests, both Mayor Milner and City Manager Bedenbaugh were emailed requests for evidence of the public hearing that Mr. Bedenbaugh referred to. Neither has responded to date.
As the timeline confirms in The Unlearned Lessons From Williamsburg Now Being Visited Onto Smith Hazel, citizens were not made aware of the number of trees to be cut until a Jan 12, 2024 email sent to Mr. Bill McGhee, despite that the question had been asked numerous times over the past 13 months.
Officials are ignoring community leaders and their own Recreation Commission, with apparently little memory of the heat they took last year after “the wrong plan,” as City Manager Bedenbaugh termed it at the time, destroyed 11 trees at the Farmer’s Market. This debacle, which was an embarrassment for all involved, could have been avoided had the public been allowed to see “the wrong plan” and give input before the plan was executed. Here we are again, less than a year later, the lesson already forgotten.
Below is a reminder of this lesson from a June 12, 2023 City Council meeting, which occurred after the Farmer’s Market trees had been destroyed.
The City should have a proper public hearing regarding this plan so that citizens can have input before these trees are destroyed and gone forever like the “mistake” at the Williamsburg Street Farmer’s Market. The oops-we-did-it-again excuse is not going to fly this time.
What Can You Do?
You can email or call city officials
803-642-7654
City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh sbedenbaugh@cityofaikensc.gov
Mayor Teddy Milner Tmilner@cityofaikensc.gov
Councilman Ed Girardeau egirardeau@cityofaikensc.gov
Councilman Ed Woltz ewoltz@cityofaikensc.gov
Councilwoman Gail Diggs gdiggs@cityofaikensc.gov
Councilwoman Lessie Price lprice@cityofaikensc.gov
Councilwoman Andrea Gregory agregory@cityofaikensc.gov
Councilwoman Kay Brohl kbrohl@cityofaikensc.gov
The City of Aiken recently announced a plan to improve one of Aiken’s gems, the Smith Hazel Park, in a project that would involve destroying 68 trees and bulldozing and grading the landscape of this historic property. This plan was decided upon without a public hearing to lay out the facts of this plan and to receive informed public input for the record. Friends of Aiken Trees is urging a pause on this project so that a public hearing can be held and informed public input given on this plan.
Again, our Council willfully enforced this while ignoring laws that are already in place to protect us against such actions.
Our officials need to be held accountable for their wrong decision-makings and this certainly is very important in this particular instant!
It also brought back a bad taste in my mouth when they approved the LuLu’s project and ignored the deeds and restrictions that were already in place by putting a Carwash on Whiskey Road. Now we are dealing with a traffic nightmare on Whiskey Road daily…..Have you driven up and down Whiskey lately? Yes, a bad decision I would say. Who has benefited by THAT DECISION?
Tell me – how does this happen and such approvals can go forward without following the laws that were already in place at that time?
ACCOUNTABILITY is the important word here – and I have complete faith that the public is now getting more involved and going to Make It Right for Aiken’s future by making our Officials be held accountable in their future decision-makings!
Until South Carolina passes a bill allowing its citizens to recall elected officials, our hands are tied. The officials we elect are bulletproof.
Well, the Court of Public Opinion is powerful and the new Mayor has responded by scheduling a meeting at the Park this Sat at 9:30 am. This is not an official public hearing (yet) but it is a start and it shows that citizens coming together for a common goal and raising awareness of local officials is working! To date 888 letters have been sent in from this link below asking officials to Pause the Project
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pause-the-smith-hazel-park-demolition?source=direct_link&
Aiken city officials — elected, appointed, employed — are bumbling and stumbling out of control at the expense and detriment of citizens and taxpayers. They have not been held to account for many years, and it seems that the prevailing intention of those officials is to continue that dreadful “tradition.”
In this instance, we again see the AIMMM principles at work — Arrogance, Ignorance, Mendacity, Maladroitness and Maleficence. It seems that some parties with whom those officials have contracted are also exhibiting symptoms of those maladies — We’re looking at you, officers and directors of the Aiken Corporation.
I hope and pray EYES ON AIKEN take a stance.
What is the cost of cutting these trees down?
Take that funding and help support the youth and community at large. Such a poor excuse. Where is the arbor study and is there a tree surgeon on staff?
I will get in touch again today. Stewie is a menace to this city. I’ll also contact the SC Arbor Society again since I haven’t heard back from them.
This is just INCOMPREHENSIBLE on all levels. WTF.