Tag Archives: David Jameson

City Government, In the Demolition Zone, January 2023

Pascalis Properties on Aiken City Council’s Closed-Door Agenda?

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by Don Moniak

January 7, 2022

Aiken City Council is scheduled to meet in closed-door Executive Session prior to its regular public meeting on Monday, January 9, 2022. A “potential purchase of real property located in downtown Aiken” is the first item on the Executive Session agenda. (1)

Based on the following information, the downtown property in question is believed to be the seven properties owned by the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) that collectively formed the basis for the commission’s second Project Pascalis effort; and which were referenced in the singular tense as “The Property” in the commission’s cancelled Purchase and Sale Agreement with RPM Development Partners, LLC.

1. For the second consecutive Council meeting, a planned, closed-door Executive Session will feature these identical items:

  • “Potential purchase of real property located in downtown Aiken.
  • A proposed contractual arrangement to lease property in downtown Aiken. “(2)

The previous discussion occurred prior to Council’s December 12, 2022, regular public meeting.

2. According to draft meeting minutes, the following attendees reportedly attended the two-hour long session on December 12th:

  • Councilmembers Kay Brohl, Gail Diggs, Ed Girardeau, Andrea Gregory, Lessie Price and Ed Woltz.
  • City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh, City Attorney Gary Smith, City Clark Sara Ridout, Assistant City Manager Mary Tilton, AMDC member David Jameson, Attorney Daniel Plyler, City Economic Development Director Tim O’Briant, AMDC Ex-Officio member and Aiken Corporation CEO Buzz Rich; and Dr. Vahid Majidi and Sharon Marra of the Savannah River National Laboratory.

3. Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon recused himself from the December 12th proceeding: 

“Mayor Osbon recused himself from participating in the executive session discussion because the discussion may involve one of his direct economic competitors.”  (Page 7)

Rick Osbon co-owns and operates Osbon Dry Cleaners on Pendleton Street in downtown Aiken. Their only competitor in the downtown area is Warneke’s Cleaners on Newberry Street. Warneke’s Cleaners is on one of seven properties purchased by the AMDC in November, 2021, to become part of the proposed Project Pascalis demolition and redevelopment zone. The properties are owned by the AMDC, but acquired with a $9.6 million grant from City Council from borrowed taxpayer funds.

4. David Jameson resigned from the AMDC two days later, on December 14th, and began his resignation letter by writing:

“Thank you for allowing me to hear the legal briefing concerning the mechanics of the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) Monday night. My understanding is that the Commission’s ability to function is being held hostage by our bylaws—essentially the quorum issue. With our current membership of three, we can meet but we cannot act.” 

5. During the public comment period for non-agenda items, Historic Aiken Foundation President Linda Johnson offered the following comments and questions:

“Partly because of some past events, Historic Aiken Foundation is especially interested anytime anything comes up about downtown.  So I understand that buying properties is something that you really have to talk about in executive session, but I was wondering is there anything you can share about what property this is, what you’re planning to do with it, and what’s going on with this potential purchase?” (22:30 mark of Meeting)

Aiken City Attorney Gary Smith—who has apparently chosen to stop recusing himself from the Pascalis process since the reported project “cancellation” by the AMDC— responded:

“The properties are located downtown, that’s really all we can tell you at this point. Before city council can do anything with acquiring the property there would have to be a public discussion. There would have to be a notice given to everybody and so you will get that information if that transaction actually goes forward.”

In response to a related followup question (3), Smith further stated:

I think that’d be fair to say the the transaction is such that all of the parties involved aren’t prepared for the public to be aware of what the transaction is. That’s why City Council is not allowed to discuss it at this point, okay, whereas a year ago both parties were there at the table.”

As described in Jameston’s resignation letter, the AMDC is currently not prepared for the public because it lacks a quorum. Since the AMDC technically owns the properties, City Council might believe the commission must be prepared to act on any sale of the properties.

6. Item #4 under new business for Council’s regular January 9th meeting is the “First Reading of an Ordinance Regarding the Membership of the Municipal Development Commission:”

According to the supporting memorandum from City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh:

“Councilmember Girardeau has asked to bring forth an ordinance amending the membership section, which would have three of the nine-member board be City Council members serving as voting ex-officio members. Six members would continue to be citizens of the City of Aiken appointed by Aiken City Council. For Council consideration is an ordinance amending Section 11-2 of the Aiken City Code regarding the membership of the Aiken Municipal Development Commission.”

Placing three ex-officio voting members from City Council onto the AMDC would provide the necessary quorum for the commission to publicly meet, conduct business, and act to sell the property to the City of Aiken. Whether Council plans to dissolve the commission after such an actios—as suggested in AMDC member Doug Slaughter’s resignation letter—or maintain the latest proposed form of the AMDC is unknown.

The January 9th meeting will be City Council’s the eighth closed-door session (4) involving Project Pascalis since June 1, 2022. These were not all legal briefings. For example, on June 13 Council met with the developers—under the pretext of an Open Meetings exemption—to hear from them as a group for the first time, a lack of governmental oversight identified by Ed Woltz on May 9, 2022:

 “I would like to have a meeting with the builders for the project. Council as a whole has not done that. Some people individually have. The Mayor had spoken to them more than once, but as a Council we have not talked to the builder.”

With the exception of the repeal of the Newberry Street privatization ordinance, Aiken City Council has not held a public discussion regarding the Pascalis project or the AMDC properties since May 9, 2022. Even though it is increasingly evident that transfer of the properties from AMDC control to City of Aiken control is being contemplated and perhaps moving forward, Aiken City Council is choosing to continue its policies of secrecy and obfuscation even as it attempts to clean up after its $100 million plus Pascalis project failed; a failure due in part to a penchant for secrecy.

7:10 p.m. on December 12, 2022 when Aiken City Council closed-door meeting ran late.


For followup story, see January 12, 2023, Aiken City Council Stumbles on AMDC

Footnotes:


(1) The Executive Session Announcement:

2) The “proposed contractual arrangement to lease in downtown Aiken” likely involves a lease of City property to the Savannah River National Laboratory—possibly the former Municipal Building at 214 Park Avenue. This is based on the fact that December 12, 2022, Executive Session attendees included Dr. Vahid Majidi and Sharon Marra, who are the Director and Deputy Director of Operations, respectively, at the lab.

This appears to be the latest step towards an even stronger presence of Savannah River Site contractors in downtown Aiken, this time as part of an “Innovation District.” This began with the AECOM plan, which was referenced in Mayor Rick Osbon’s December 20, 2020 letter to Aiken County Council and the Aiken County legislative delegation. In his letter, Osbon included a $20 million request from Plutonium Settlement funds for an “Innovation District that involves the Department of Energy and USC-Aiken:

The Aiken Innovation and Impact District: The AECOM study released in December discussed catalytic investments to establish an innovative district near USC Aiken. This would be an opportunity to foster the clustering of businesses related to advanced manufacturing, software/ information technology and take advantage of synergies in the region. The district would be mixed use in nature, providing access to retail, dining, housing and other amenities, in support of new research and production facilities operated by the private sector/ universities.

The Aiken Innovation and Impact District would include a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, the South Carolina National Guard Dream Port, and USC Aiken. The growth and success of the original partners will create opportunities for new public and private partnerships over time. In a rich, collaborative environment, businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, students and residents alike would be inspired to connect more, engage more and create more. The vision would be to recharge Aikens economy by attracting technologyand innovation-based companies. $20M is needed.

In December 2021, the AMDC and SRNL began discussions on locations with SRNL for a portion of an “Innovation Park.”

In June 2022, disbursement of the plutonium settlement was finalized and included $20 million for “Offsite Infrastructure SRS/National Laboratory” (Innovation District), and $10 million for the National Guard “Dream Port” cybercommand scheduled to be relocated from Columbia and expanded to network with cyber-defense capabilities at Fort Gordon.

Around the same time, a Ground Lease Survey Appraisal was completed for 214 Park Avenue that determined a long-term ground lease value of $2 million for the property. While the appraisal appears to have been commissioned to determine a price for leasing the facility to Newberry Hall after conversion to a conference center, it also could be applied to any other interested party with $20 million in plutonium funds.

At its last public meeting on June 13, 2022, the AMDC discussed locating the Innovation District downtown. According to the meeting minutes:

“Mr. Jameson stated he is the chairman of the Innovation District Committee. In the last few months the committee has met several times. It was to do research about what an Innovation District could and should look like and to understand how to move forward. He pointed out a request had been made for funds from the Plutonium Settlement to support the Innovation District and $20 million had been allocated for it. He said the committee began the conversations with where should we begin. Where should a building be located? What would make it the most successful? What would be the best location? They talked about the University area and downtown. The conclusion was that downtown Aiken would be the best location for the building. In collaboration with the center at USC-Aiken and the Site, there could be some permanent crew or revolving office crew in the downtown.”

  1. (3) At the 24 minute mark of the meeting, Don Moniak commented: 

“The Freedom of Information Act does say you may release information and you may discuss information in public as well. So what what is the big secret about this particular property, whereas a year ago at this time… there was another piece of property downtown that the city was considering selling. It was the Brinkley building, part of the Old City Hall, and you did meet an executive session to discuss it. But that was on the agenda as well as a Purchase and Sale agreement associated with that. Was it just further was along at that point? Why was that public but this one not public?” 

Gary Smith: “ I think that’d be fair to say the the transaction is such that all of the parties involved aren’t prepared for the public to be aware of what the transaction is. That’s why City Council is not allowed to discuss it at this point, okay, whereas a year ago both parties were there at the table.” 

The parties at the table for the Brinkley building included Smith’s law partner Ray Massey. Smith did not recuse himself from that meeting involving the sale of city property at a financial loss to CTR, LLC, a company represented by, and invested in, by Massey. In the Blake et al vs City of Aiken et al lawsuit, this incident is described as follows:

“The CTR Sale was documented in a fully negotiated Purchase and Sale agreement dated December 21, 2021, initialed on every page by, and signed by, Ray Massey and ready for City signatures. The Ordinance had signature blocks for Rick Osbon as Mayor, Gary Smith as City attorney, and Sara Ridout as City Clerk.”

As noted in The Pascalis Attorneys, members of the law firm of Smith, Massey, Brodie, Guynn, and Mayes were involved in early 2021 with Project Pascalis property acquisition efforts on behalf of Weldon Wyatt’s WTC Investment, LLC; and Ray Massey’s Aiken Alley Holdings, LLC owns property that was involved in both Pascalis efforts.

(4) Aiken City Council has met in closed-door Executive Session to discuss Project Pascalis on the following dates in 2022:

June 13, in a joint session with the AMDC and the Pascalis project developers for two hours.
June 27 for one hour.
July 11 for two hours with Attorney Daniel Plyler to receive legal advice following the filing of the the Blake et al vs City of Aiken et al lawsuit.
October 10 for 1.5 hours to receive legal advice.
October 24 for one hour to receive legal advice.
November 21 for nearly two hours with the AMDC.
December 12 for two hours to discuss “purchase of downtown property” and a lease of property.





“

December 2022, Laws & Bylaws, Project Pascalis 2022

AMDC Resignations

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Chairman Keith Wood and Vice-Chair Chris Verenes Resign

by Don Moniak

December 9, 2022

Keith Wood and Chris Verenes are original members of the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC), having attended every public meeting since May 20, 2020. Wood was elected Chairman in September 2020, and Verenes was the first and only Vice-Chair. Together with AMDC Treasurer J. David Jameson, they formed the commission’s Executive Committee, a three-person panel that, while ill-defined, functioned as a pre-decisional deliberative body addressing commission business. Along with AMDC Executive Director Tim O’Briant, they orchestrated much of the effort to pursue the $100 million plus downtown Aiken demolition and redevelopment plan known as Project Pascalis.

Chairman Wood was one of two people authorized to sign AMDC checks and negotiate with developers; the other being recently removed AMDC Executive Director Tim O’Briant. In July 2021, he authored a key letter to City Council requesting $10 million in funding for AMDC purchases of “Parkway District” properties.

On September 29, 2022, following approval of a motion to cancel downtown Aiken’s Redevelopment Plan One and the Purchase and Sale Agreement for AMDC-owned downtown properties between the AMDC and RPM Development Partners, Wood and Verenes issued statements blaming unnamed city staff for misleading the commission during the Project Pascalis procurement process.

Both Wood and Verenes demanded that the truth be made public as to why the project effectively ceased on June 23, 2022; twelve days before a major lawsuit was filed seeking an injunction of the project. Since the Blake et al vs City of Aiken lawsuit was filed, fourteen lawyers from eight different law firms have represented the various city officials and public bodies named as defendants in the suit. As previously reported in Cancelled, Stopped, On Hold, Terminated, or Ongoing, the abundance of legal counsel has led to confusion over the actual project status.

Today, Wood and Verenes emailed resignation letters (1) to Aiken City Council and City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh. The resignation was confirmed by an unnamed source.

Both commissioners expressed alarm at City Council’s refusal to publicly reveal the reasons for the failure of Project Pascalis, and voiced strong protests against signing a “Joint Defense Agreement” (JDA) that would inhibit “open, frank, and complete information.”

In his resignation letter, Wood also appeared to disagree with the AMDC’s attorney in regard to the JDA drafted prior to a joint, closed-door Executive Session with City Council on November 21, 2022:

“David Morrison, AMDC attorney, working in tandem with Daniel Plyler, City Attorney, prepared and forwarded a Joint Defense Agreement (JDA) for all participants of the meeting to sign prior to our meeting. In our view, the JDA restricts any Commissioner’s ability to disclose information that could be shared with you. Any meeting restricting open, frank, and complete information would be a disservice to City Council, AMDC, and the citizens of Aiken.”

Chris Verenes wrote, in regard to the same issues:

“It is important to note that Mayor Pro Tem Ed Woltz and Councilwoman Lessie Price relayed to me that they were in favor of meeting with no preconditions, restrictions, or legal agreements. The Chairman and I were concerned that the joint defense agreement might limit what we would be allowed to say in a public forum. We determined that we will not agree to any restrictions being placed on us as to what could be disclosed to the public.”

Verenes also referenced a joint email (2) from both he and Chairman Wood, in which they wrote:

“Our recommendation is to have discussions without any predetermined restrictions which may impede the truth. This is based on our belief that the public expects and deserves the highest standard of ethical conduct and transparency from all appointed and elected officials.”

The resignations leave only four AMDC commissioners—David Jameson, Philip Merry, Marty Gillam, and Douglas Slaughter. Since he is in violation of city attendance rules for appointed officials, having missed four of six regular meetings this year, Reverend Slaughter will be automatically removed as a commissioner on January 1, 2023. Even with Slaughter, the AMDC does not have a quorum of members and cannot make decisions or take actions.

The AMDC has not met in a regular public meeting in six months, having cancelled every regularly scheduled meeting since the July 5, 2022 lawsuit. The commission has also refused to allow public inspection of its records, with former Executive Director O’Briant stating in early October that information will be withheld until a judge orders otherwise.

Next: The David Jameson resignation in Chamber President Blames State Law for AMDC Failings.

________________

Footnotes.

(1) Resignation letters of Keith Wood and Chris Verenes.

2. November 21, 2022, email from AMDC Chairman Keith Wood and Vice-Chair Chris Verenes to Aiken City Council .

In the Demolition Zone, Money Trails, November 2022, Project Pascalis 2022

The $9.6 Million AMDC “Land Bank,” One Year Later

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Part 1: The Aiken Standard Chooses a Path. 

by Don Moniak

November 4, 2022

One year ago yesterday, the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) announced its intention to “acquire significant property in the downtown area,” and a planned vote on the proposed purchase during its November 9, 2021 meeting. The announcement came less than three months after Aiken City Council had approved a $10 million municipal bond issuance in support of the AMDC purchasing properties in the “Parkway District,” an arrangement City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh described at the time as a “land bank.” 

The AMDC did not identify the properties in its news release, leaving those details to the Aiken Standard by providing the paper with advance copies of meeting agenda materials; most notably the Purchase and Sale agreements.  On the same day as the AMDC announcement, Standard reporter Colin Demarest described the properties to be purchased for $9.5 million as: 

“the languished Hotel Aiken and neighboring motel, businesses on Richland Avenue, the former Playoffs Sports Bar, Warneke Cleaners, Newberry Hall and three shops on Laurens Street.” 

The first story of the $9.6 million AMDC purchase of the Pacalis project properties.

The Standard did identify by name the three existing shops on Laurens Street, and the four businesses operating on Richland Avenue–of which only the Taj Aiken Restaurant remains today. But not until July 2022, in an article examined in “The Project Pascalis Evictees,” did the paper report again on the nine businesses being forced by their local city government to close or relocate.

Demarest did manage to report, deeper within the article:

“The Aiken Chamber of Commerce intervened in May, documents show, and salvaged contracts critical to the redevelopment effort.” 

That single sentence was the first time the Aiken Standard mentioned the involvement of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce. It was also the last time the Chamber’s role was mentioned for more than eight months. The paper has never provided details of the Chamber’s deep involvement in salvaging the land deal in May, 2021 (1); a move that bailed out the first Pascalis project developer Weldon Wyatt. 

Two days after his first story Demarest quoted J. David Jameson, not as an AMDC Commissioner who was instrumental in the furtive May 2021, dealmaking, but as the Chamber of Commerce President. This pattern continued with a December 3, 2021 article announcing the selection of RPM Development Partners, LLC as the AMDC’s “preferred developer” for its $100 million plus demolition and redevelopment effort originally code-named Project Pascalis in March 2021. 

Whether the self-censorship was related to Aiken Standard publisher Rhonda Overbey’s role as a Chamber board member is unknown. As reported in “The Influencer’s Meetings,” Overbey was also one of 113 people on an “influencers” list who were invited to private, invitation-only meetings with the second Pascalis project developer in early January, 2022. 

What is known is the the November 4th announcement was also accompanied by an op-ed by the Standard’s editorial board, titled “Downtown Aiken Entering the Age of Enlightment.” The board was all in for Project Pascalis, before any significant details were known: 

“This is no joke and there isn’t a punchline; we think it’s going to happen. And happen huge. The marketing buzz words seem to be bold action. We like it…It’s time for triumph.” 

This editorial praising the project ran the same day the story broke.

Project Pascalis was not the first major project during which the Aiken Standard’s news coverage appeared distorted by its editorial position. The city’s hospitality tax and Aiken School District bond referendums enjoyed the same journalistic approach. But the Pascalis coverage lowered the bar for minimizing scrutiny of a megaproject involving tens of millions of dollars of public funds.

For example, not until August, 2022, did the Aiken Standard file a Freedom of Information Act request to the City of Aiken for Pascalis related records. And, during a public Zoom meeting in late June, 2022, the lack of investigative zeal was reflected when Standard staffers repeatedly employed the phrase “the City says,” while avoiding the phrase “We asked the City.” 

____________________

FOOTNOTE

(1) As reported in “The AECOM Plan:”

“The first Pascalis project collapsed in early May (2021) when Weldon Wyatt withdrew from the deal. As part of the negotiations to salvage the deal, Mayor Osbon met with Weldon Wyatt and Greenville based developer Andy Cajka, President of Greenville, SC based Southern Hospitality Group. A memorandum from Tim O’Briant to AMDC members Jameson, Chris Verenes, and Chairman Keith Wood described the meeting: 

The Mayor and Weldon met with Andy on Monday, I was out of town, apparently shg hotels will possibly deliver a LOI (letter of intent) regarding the hotel this week. The mayor agreed the meeting went well and Andy was engaged in making a deal that would be privately funded based on the public dollars and incentives driving the project. Mayor indicates he deferred question about Friday negotiations and City’s position on deal points citing my absence and his lack of information on the subject.

A day later O’Briant and AMDC Treasurer and Chamber of Commerce President David Jameson had lunch with Weldon Wyatt, his investment and development partner Thomas “Chip” Goforth, and GAC Management Services employee Ryan Bland, who two weeks earlier had still held the position of City of Aiken Planning Director. O’Briant described that meeting as follows: 

David Jameson and I went to lunch with Weldon, Ryan, and Chip. Weldon continues to promote the benefits of 100 percent public funding of the entire project, but now says he doesnt’ intend to participate in the cost or the proceeds—just wants a fee/commission for the project to be successful. This despite bringing in a potential private partner with money to spend just yesterday. He is somewhat cagey and defensive and says he believes I have conveyed messages not representative of the City’s position. Indicates he believes there is some possibility the city council would accept the deal that I rejected Friday. Indicates Lessie (Price) is setting up the Thursday meeting to get everyone in one room to verify my position does not reflect that of leadership.

After that point the known paper trail ends, and the outcome of any meeting set up by Council member Lessie Price is unknown. What is known is:

  • On May 10, 2021, Aiken City Council met in closed door Executive Session for nearly two hours to discuss a range of topics, including “a possible purchase of real estate” and “a possible contractual arrangement with a real estate developer.” The outcome of that meeting was not summarized during the subsequent public session. 
  • On May 14, 2021 the Aiken Chamber of Commerce took assignment of the purchase and sale contract for the Shah’s suite of properties; and then on June 3rd took assignment, of the Anderson (Newberry Hall) contract. In all, the Chamber reimbursed Wyatt’s firms $135,000 of otherwise nonrefundable earnest money managed by City Attorney Gary Smith’s law firm. From that point, the AMDC secretly referred to the properties as “AMDC controlled.” 
  • In August 2021 Aiken City Council approved a $10 million bond issuance in support of AMDC property acquisitions in the “Parkway District,” with the AECOM Plan’s reference to “fragmented property ownership” a key justification in the supporting bond documents. 
  • AMDC Chairman Keith Wood, whose letter to City Council urging the bond passage included citations from the AECOM plan, also wrote in a July 26, 2022 letter to the Historic Aiken Foundation: “The AMDC first pursued the purchase of the property in question and those adjacent to it at the behest of Aiken City Council.” 

There is no record of Aiken City Council asking the AMDC to purchase the Pascalis project properties. Any such request made in closed-door, Executive Session would constitute a serious violation of Open Meetings law, which dictate that no votes are to be taken in Executive Session. 

When questioned about the origin of this unsubstantiated statement, neither Chairman Wood nor Tim O’Briant have offered any reply.”

City Government, Project Pascalis 2022, September 2022

A Vote Without a Decision: A Transcript

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Project Pascalis is Punted Two Weeks Down the Road

by Don Moniak
September 12, 2022

On Friday, September 9, 2022, the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) met for the first time in three months. For more than three hours, the Commission met in a closed door, Executive Session to discuss legal issues pertaining to its beleaguered, $100 million plus demolition and redevelopment effort in downtown Aiken known as Project Pascalis. The notification of a special Executive Session meeting was made on September 8 — at which time the commission also cancelled its scheduled September 13th meeting.  

Public notices on AMDC meetings. Click to view full size

It is uncertain who was in the Executive Session, and the discussion remains confidential. But after leaving “Executive Committee,” five of the six remaining original voting members entered into a public session that lasted less than three minutes. (Three other commissioners have no vote because they are not city residents, and were appointed to the positions in contradiction of City law). 

The brief public session was marked by: 

  • A reference to an Executive Session decision to take action, even though voting during Executive Sessions is illegal; 
  • A puzzling description of the contract with Pascalis project developer RPM Development Services as “purported;’ 
  • An implicit acknowledgement that the AMDC violated South Carolina’s Community Development Law;” and
  • A seconded motion to stop Project Pascalis overruled by a motion to amend, without any vote on the original motion. 

The meeting was taped by a member of the public.

The following transcript is now provided: 

AMDC Chair Keith Wood: Okay so we’ve taken the appropriate action to come out of Executive Committee and we are now in public session of the AMDC Meeting of September the ninth. We have decided to take some action. So I will entertain a motion relative to the action that we discussed.

Vice Chair Chris Verenes: Mr Chairman, I make a motion that we stop Project Pascalis, that we declare the purported existing contract null and void, and thirdly we propose to either amend or cancel the redevelopment plan so we can follow South Carolina Community Development Law.” 

Chairman Wood: I second that motion. 

Chairman Wood: Discussion? 

(5 seconds pass). 

Commissioner David Jameson: Mr Chairman, I agree with this motion but based on our counsel’s recommendation and additional due diligence that I feel like is needed I’d like to motion to amend to continue this to the week of September 26th.” 

Commissioner Doug Slaughter: I second that motion.

Chairman Wood: Any discussion? 

For the record we have Philip Merry on the phone, who is a Commissioner. We also have Stuart McVean here. Stuart technically is not a voting member of the Commission, but he has been involved and engaged in this process from Day one. His opinion is extremely valuable to us, which is why he is here but he cannot vote.

So we have a seconded motion, is there any discussion before we take a vote? 

Okay, all in favor of accepting the approval of the amended motion David Jameson laid out please say Aye.

(Only Ayes are heard) 



Chairman Wood: We have a full majority of the quorum that we have here today. That is all the action we will take today. We will set a meeting time the week of September 26to further discuss David’s motion. 

[Meeting Adjourned].

Thus, the AMDC punted their decision to an undefined date that is likely to be announced at the last possible moment. 

August 2022, City Government, Laws & Bylaws, Project Pascalis 2022

The Aiken Planning Commission and Project Pascalis: More Ethical Dilemmas on the Horizon?

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What would happen if the $100 million plus downtown Aiken demolition and reconstruction endeavor known as Project Pascalis were to come up before the Aiken Planning Commission? How many of its members would have to recuse themselves due to conflict of interest, or abstain because any perception of neutrality was compromised by past endorsements of the project? 

On November 9, 2021 the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) passed a resolution “authorizing the acceptance of certain options to purchase real property from the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce in connection with Project Pascalis and other matters related thereto.” 

According to the meeting minutes for that November 9, 2021 meeting, AMDC Executive Director Tim O’Briant described the process leading to that point: 

Mr. O’Briant stated that as we moved through the early process of negotiating with an initial developer who held contracts for the purchase of real estate that we (were) considering the purchase of, negotiations with that group broke down. We had a cost sharing agreement where we were doing pre-development explorations. In exchange for that agreement the developer had granted the Commission the right to maintain those options and contracts on the project to keep the project alive. The developer pulled out so late that it was impossible for the AMDC or Council to act in time to save the contracts by the deadline. The Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce and their Executive Committee stepped in and agreed to hold those options and make available the sum of $135,000 to pay the earnest money on the contract. Today this resolution will repay the Chamber of Commerce for their advance for the options to purchase the property.

The resolution passed unanimously, although two AMDC members, Vice-Chair Chris Verenes and Treasurer J. David Jameson (better known as President of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce) abstained from the vote. According to the minutes:

The motion was approved by the Commission, with Mr. Verenes and Mr. Jameson abstaining from participating in the discussion and voting on the resolution.

Mr. O’Briant was referring to the chain of events that began around May 1, 2021, a literal “May Day” for the AMDC.  On March 17, 2021,  the AMDC announced it had “identified and recruited an “experienced” and “well capitalized” developer. That developer was not revealed at the time, but it was Weldon Wyatt, and he was backing out of the deal less than forty days after signing the cost sharing agreement cited by O’Briant (see Project Pascalis Property Acquisition Timeline below) .

Project Pascalis Property Acquisition Timeline (2)


March 2, 2021: $7.5 million purchase and sale agreement (PSA) signed by WTC Investments, LLC* for “Shah Property” on Laurens St, Richland Ave, and Newberry St. 

March 15, 2021: Aiken Alley Holdings (Agent; Ray Massey) purchases 210 and 200 The Alley for $2.025 million. 

March 23, 2021: Aiken Municipal Development Association (AMDC) and GAC, LLC (Agent Weldon Wyatt) sign cost-sharing agreement with options for AMDC to buy properties obtained by GAC, LLC and its affiliates (WTC Investments)

April 4, 2021:  Smith, Massey, Brodie, Guynn, and Mayes, LLC (Agent Gary Smith III) send $6800 Invoice for property acquisition work to WTC Investments*

April 15, 2021: $2.0 million PSA signed by WTC Investments* for “Anderson Property”

May 1-10, 2021: GAC, LLC withdraws from cost-sharing agreement. AMDC, Aiken Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) and WTC Investments, LLC* negotiate “assignment” of Shah and Anderson properties to the Chamber allowing WTC Investments to recover $135,000 in nonrefundable earnest money held by Smith, Massey et al. 

May 12, 2021: The Chamber Aiken takes assignment of “Shah Property” from WTC Investments, LLC (Agent Ray Massey). 

June 3, 2021: The Chamber  takes assignment of “Anderson Property” from WTC Investments, LLC

June 3, 2021: Email from WTC Investments to Mary Guynn and Ray Massey requesting release of $35,000 Earnest Money for “Anderson Property.” 

June 7, 2021: Aiken Alley Holdings, LLC purchases 121 Newberry St, SW for $675,000. 

August 23, 2021: Aiken City Council authorizes $10 million in general obligation bonds for AMDC to purchase unspecified properties in the city’s Parkway District. 

October 27, 2021: RPM Development Partners, LLC (Agent Ray Massey) registers with SC Secretary of State. 

November 9, 2021: AMDC “accepts assignment” of Shah and Anderson properties from the Chamber for $9.5 million. 

December 3, 2021: AMDC signs PSA for Shah and Anderson properties with RPM Development Partners for unspecified sum, pending demolition approvals and a final development agreement. 

May 16, 2021: AMDC reports it will sell properties at a discount as a “one time incentive.” 

*WTC Investments, LLC dissolved on January 4, 2021 and re-registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State on May 11, 2021. Ray Massey was agent for both entities. 

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In order to preserve the option to purchase the seven properties in the proposed Project Pascalis demolition zone, the AMDC and the Aiken Chamber of Commerce struck a deal with Wyatt’s WTC Investments, LLC that allowed Wyatt to recover $135,000 in earnest money deposited with the law firm of Smith, Massey, Brodie, Guynn, and Maynes. 

As Tim O’Briant described, the Chamber essentially advanced the AMDC $9.5 million, also known as taking “assignment” of the properties, while the AMDC hustled the Aiken City Council for its own  $9.5 million to buy the properties. The council obliged in August, 2021 with a $10 million general obligations bond issuance prepared by the law firm of Pope-Flynn. The AMDC finalized the deal on November 9, 2021 by purchasing the properties. 

The Aiken Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee is currently composed of  Norman Dunagan, Jason Rabun, Charlie Hartz, Joe Lewis, Van Smith, Ryan Reynolds, and J. David Jameson.  Both Rabun and Reynolds also serve on the Planning Commission: 

  • Planning Commission Chair Ryan Reynolds is the “Immediate Past-Chair” of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee. Reynolds was the Chamber’s Executive Committee Chair during the Wyatt-AMDC-Chamber of Commerce deal. 
  • Planning Commission Vice-Chair Jason Rabun is the “Chair-Elect & Membership Services” officer for the Aiken Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee. Rabun was a newly elected Chamber Board member in 2021. 

Jason Rabun also submitted a brief comment during the second of two April 20, 2021 Project Pascalis public meetings. (3) While not identifying his affiliations, he wrote: 

“I am very much in support of this project.” 

GIven the deep involvement of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce and Chamber President Jameson’s abstention from a key vote involving the Project, are Planning Commission members Rabun and Reynolds also obliged to recuse or abstain if any Project Pascalis issues come before their purview? 

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(1) AMDC Meeting Minutes for November 9, 2021:
https://edoc.cityofaikensc.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=2685557&dbid=0&repo=City-of-Aiken-LF

(2) PropertyacquisitionView documents

(3) Jason Rabun comments in April 20, 2021 Zoom meeting

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