The City of Aiken’s aggressive northward expansion of its sewer and water services has already cost millions of dollars.

by Don Moniak*
September 2024

Aiken County’s first 7-11 Convenience Store and gas station is near completion and expected to open in grand fashion this week. Fans of the company who are traveling on I-20 will enjoy quick and easy access via Exit 22. Aiken-area residents will have easy access driving north on luxurious, five-lane Highway 1 North, aka Columbia Highway.

This 7-11 Store on the north side of Exit 22 was made possible in part by two local government decisions: the expansion of the City of Aiken’s Sewer and Water District in 2020 and, once the new infrastructure was in place, Aiken City Council’s approval of sewer and water services in late 2022.

In December 2020, Aiken County Council gave final approval to an “Ordinance Approving The Request Of The City Of Aiken To Expand Its Service Area Or District For Water And Sanitary Sewer Services To Include Certain Unincorporated Areas Located Generally North Of Interstate 20…As Are More Specifically Shown On The Attached Map.” 

Support for this expansion of the City’s utility services was expressed in a July 10, 2020, letter (Figure 1) to County Administrator Clay Killian, in which City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh wrote, in part: 

“We have received multiple inquiries from various entities over the last 18 months about water and sewer service availability for possible residential and commercial development in this proposed new area.” 

The map of the proposed expansion showed an extension of the boundaries of the City’s water district East Frontage Road to Wire Road, and north of Exits 22 and 19, whereas the previous boundary was Shiloh Church Road (Figure 2).

The Highway 1/Exit 22 Area Expansion

Millions of dollars have already been spent on the City’s northward water and sewer system expansion. The expansion along Highway One, north past Exit 22, was made possible through three recent major infrastructure projects.

— In January 2020, a Sanitary Sewer Extension Project was released for bid; with the winning bid award coming in at $388,091. The project extended the sewer line from the Waffle House south of Exit 22 to Fulmer Road (Figure 3).

— In October 2020, the Parallel Sewer Improvements Project was released for bid. The project provided extensions within the existing district that were necessary for some of the future expansion. In this case, lines were extended to I-20, and further into Verenes Park. The winning bid award was $0.603 million.

— In October, 2021, nine months after the County Council approved an expansion, the City put out a request for bids for 922 feet of utility line extensions along Highway One North (Figure 4). The project was then combined with four other utility extension projects to form a single Water and Sewer Utility Extensions 2022 contract—with four of the five projects involving only expansion around between Exits 18 and 22. (1)

On April 1, 2022, the job was awarded to Corley Construction of Columbia, whose winning bid was $2.036 million.

When combined with I-20, Exit 18-area (2) utility extension projects, the total costs for completed and/or planned and funded infrastructure northward expansion to date is more than $6 million. A safe estimate for the new infrastructure north of I-20 that enabled the 7-11 to open is probably $0.75 to $1.0 million.

These northerly expansion projects have moved forward, without question, at the same time that the City’s existing customers have experienced chronic issues of discolored water and water main breaks and associated boil water advisories—with 36 such latter events in this calendar year alone.

The Beneficiaries

Thus far, the first and only beneficiary of the City’s utilities infrastructure expansion is the owner of the new 7-11 Convenience Store and gas station.(3) More users of this new, expensive sewer and water infrastructure have yet to emerge, but are likely inevitable as the City of Aiken and Aiken County continue to combine forces to assist in advancing development to the north of Exit 22.

One near-future beneficiary will likely include an Aiken-based investment and holding firm called AOD LLC (Agent Ray Massey). Along with West Side Two LLC, AOD purchased a 17.23-acre parcel along Hwy 1, between Fulmer and Shiloh Church Roads, in March 2020 for $600,000–just four months before Mr. Bedenbaugh’s letter to the County. According to the city’s GIS maps and project drawings, the newly installed infrastructure already ties in with the property. (4)

Today, the AOD property (Figure 5) is being listed for sale by Coward and McNeil Real Estate at $400,000 per acre—a vivid illustration of the value added by the establishment of water and sewer services. The realtor’s advertisement describes the 7-11 as a “major development project,” involving a “global brand (that) will drive tremendous traffic numbers directly to both sites.”

Two other probable development sites include a 0.96-acre parcel owned by a Lexington, SC resident that is directly across from the 7-11; and an adjacent 4.2-acre parcel owned by Nex Ventures, a North Augusta company whose businesses include self-storage facilities.

*Editor’s Note

Portions of this story were first reported in A Shrub Grows in Aiken (April 2023) and Aiken Takes on Exit 18 (May 2023)). 

Footnotes

(1) The other three I-20-area expansion projects were:

a. The Hwy 1 Utility Extension Service Alternate Site; located along East Frontage Road.
b. The 12-Inch Water Crossing I-20 Near SC 19; located east of Exit 18 along Frontage Road.
c. The SC 19 Water Line Extension (Figure 7), which is connected to the 12-inch water crossing project, and could directly benefit a planned residential subdivision where the easement was obtained.

(2) As reported in Aiken Takes on Exit 18, the City of Aiken is also proceeding with the $3.5 million Northside Sewer Gravity Lift Station north of I-20 on Gregory Road, and have obtained sewer easements from the lift station to Highway 19.

When the lift station is added to the other I-20 area projects, the total early costs of expansion will almost exceed $6 million.

(3) From: A Shrub Grows in Aiken.

Investigating the ownership of the property led to a geniune, rhetorical rabbit hole that only confirmed the complexity of these developments; and serves as an instructional example. 

The applicant is C4 CStore Holding III, whose agent is the ubiquitious Capital Corporate Service, Inc. The latter’s listed agent is National Data Access Corporation, which in turn has Michelle Pagan of 2 Office Park Court, Suite 103 in Columbia, SC as its agent. Many other similar paths lead to Ms. Pagan, who maintains a rigid level of confidentiality for her customers. 

Although the application lists only Caradase LLC (Agent Catherine Nanarjo) as the property owner, there are four owners of this property listed in the County land database:

AOD Aiken (Agent Ray Massey), Michael McNeil, and Z&B Enterprise (Agent Royal Robbins) are all listed in the County record at 830 Colony Parkway, the business place of Coward & McNeil Real Estate, LLC.  

Cardasa LLC (Agent Catherine Naranjo) is listed at 237 Park Avenue, SW, Suite 215 in the Secretary of State’s database, but at 831 Hayne Avenue in the County land record. The latter address is owned by G-Mar-C Enterprises, LLC of 1008 Old Graniteville Highway, Aiken, SC (Agent George Crawford), whose information in the Secretary of State’s office is up to date. The latter address is owned in trust by two other parties. 

AOD Aiken (Agent Ray Massey) is listed at 210 Colony Parkway, the business place of the law firm of Smith Massey Brodie Guynn and Mayes, in the Secretary of State’s business entities database, but at 830 Colony Parkway in the County land record.  

Z&B Enterprises (Agent Royal Robbins) is listed in the Secretary of State database at 239 Midland Drive, Graniteville, an area zoned RC in the Midland Valley Golf Club subdivision, but at 830 Colony Parkway in the County land record. The Midland Drive property was sold by Frances Michaelis to Krisha Wall in September of 2021. 

Since 2019, the property has had three changes in ownership: 

In March 2019, nine months before County Council extended the City of Aiken’s sewer and water service boundaries, AOD Aiken LLC and Cardasa LLC purchased the property, composed of two parcels, for $329,000. 

On March 22, 2023, AOD LLC sold a one-quarter interest in the the property to Z and B enterprises, LLC for $5. The conveyance was signed by Robin Robbins on behalf of both AOD LLC and Z and B Enterprises. (below). Ray Massey signed the affidavit as the closing attorney. (The county records list Michael McNeil as the seller, but the RMC deed record does not). 

On March 22, 2023, AOD LLC sold another one-quarter interest in the property to Michael S McNeil for $5. The conveyance was signed by Mr. McNeil under AOD LLC. Again, Ray Massey was the closing attorney. 

AOD LLC and Caradasa LLC appear to have retained a collective 1/2 interest. 

(4) In May 2023, Aiken City Council met in Executive Session to discuss the provision of sewer and water service to a major new business at Exit 18. This turned out to be related to “Project Unicorn.”

It should not be assumed that the location actually was Exit 18, and not Exit 22, for the following reason:

In November 2023, City Council met in another Executive Session to discuss the provision of sewer and water service to an industry seeking to locate in Verenes Industrial Park, known as Project Sunny.

However, the proposed location of Project Sunny turned out to be not in Verenes Industrial Park, but along East Frontage Road to the northeast of Verenes.

It is not improbable that the major new business at Exit 18, aka “Project Unicorn,” and widely reputed to be a Buc-cee’s store, was, in fact, being considered at Exit 22. According to city officials, the project is no longer being discussed—but could return.