Tag Archives: Mayor Rick Osbon

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.





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City Government, July 2022, Meeting Law Violations, Project Pascalis 2022

Toast of the Town: The January 4th ”Social Business Gathering” at Prime Steakhouse

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Project Pascalis is the name for a proposed $100 million plus demolition and redevelopment project targeted for downtown Aiken. The project is being directed by the Aiken Municipal Development Agency (AMDC), which in December 2021 officially announced RPM Development Partners, LLC (agent: Ray Massey) as the project developer. RPM represents the three primary investors and developers:  Raines Company, Lat Purser and Associates, and Ray Massey. 

Toast of the town

Information obtained yesterday regarding an extravagant taxpayer funded dinner featuring shots of premium whiskey reveals that the Mayor of Aiken, the City Manager, the city’s Economic Development Director, and three Aiken Municipal Development Commissioners participated in a “social business gathering” with three members of RPM Development Partners. A separate check was provided to the latter group. Most of the participants also attended a City of Aiken Design Review Board (DRB) workshop just prior to the gathering. 

On July 13, 2022 I emailed (1) Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh with concerns and questions regarding two issues on the “transparency page” of Aiken Municipal Development Commission’s (AMDC) website: 

  1. The existence of copies of AMDC checks within invoice and billing files with routing number and account number not redacted; and 
  2. A January 10th check from the AMDC to the City of Aiken for a $620 bar and dinner bill dated January 4, 2022 from Prime Steakhouse in downtown Aiken. On that bill were seven orders of premium whiskey worth $130, four orders of steaks, one order of short ribs, one order of veal piccatta, and an appetizer of Calamari. 

Within a few days, all files containing copies of compromised AMDC checks were removed from their “transparency page,” and have yet to be returned.

In regard to the Prime Steakhouse bill, one question posed was:

Can you identify the people in the party who dined on fine steaks along with premium whiskey that afternoon?

After two weeks without any further response, on July 25th I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the expense report, the meeting notes, and a listing of all attendants including those on a referenced second check.(2) 

On July 27th Aiken Economic Development Director and FOIA officer Tim O’Briant responded with another copy of the dinner and bar tab and a copy of the AMDC check, with banking information redacted.

Copy of AMDC check and City of Aiken purchasing card statement

In an emailed response, Mr O’Briant explained that the City’s purchasing card was used “because the restaurant does not accept checks as the AMDC intended to pay;” and the city was later reimbursed by its commission. O’Briant also explained the following regarding attendees and meeting notes: 

Those from the City of AIken present were Stuart Bedenbaugh, Rick Osbon and Tim O’Briant. From the AMDC, attendees were Keith Wood, Chris Verenes and David Jameson.

There was no record of discussion and no agreements were made during this business social gathering following a day of stakeholder meetings held by RPM, LLC and Raines, and followed by the AIken DRB meeting earlier in the evening

Neither the City nor the AMDC maintains a record of those attending from RPM or Raines, but by memory it included David Tart, Ray Massey and Brandon Graham. Ticket number two was for their meals and the City of Aiken nor the AMDC maintain a record of the charges paid by RPM/Raines.

David Tart is a managing partner of Raines, Brandon Graham is a project manager for Raines, and Ray Massey is a lead investor and agent for both Project Pascalis developers RPM Development Partners and Aiken Alley Holdings. 

Prior to the Prime Steakhouse dinner and drinks, Stuart Bedenbaugh, Tim O’Briant, David Jameson, Chris Verenes, Ray Massey, and Brandon Graham all reportedly attended the City of Aiken’s Design Review Board Workshop (DRB), but not its monthly public meeting.(3) Mayor Osbon was not listed as an attendee at that important workshop. 

The following two questions posed to Mr O’Briant at 4:30 p.m. today went unanswered: 

If this was not a meeting, why was it paid for with city funds? 

Under what city procurement authorization is this type of party of six allowed? 

___________________

Next:  The “Stakeholders Meetings.” 

__________________

(1) The email read: 

“Mr. Bedenbaugh, 

I have some questions and comments regarding two issues: 

1. I suddenly realized that the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC)  has been published sensitive city financial information online. Specifically, the AMDC has published copies of its checks to various consultants, vendors, utilities, etc that contain the routing number and account number of the checking account. 

1a. Can you explain why this routing and account number information was not redacted? Even with a banking executive on the commission? 

1b. If this information was released via a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA)  before being placed on the AMDC site ( as it appears to have been since no recent payments are posted) did the failure to redact violated any city or state FOIA rules or policies? 

You all really should go back through and redact that account number before somebody goes out and buys some premium whiskey online; which provides a segue to item 2. 

2. Pertaining to the $620 bill from Prime Steakhouse on January 4, 2002, identified as “City of Aiken payment for Prime 011022” on the AMDC “transparency page” of its website: 

Click to access City-of-Aiken-payment-for-Prime011022.pdf

2a. Can you identify the people in the party who dined on fine steaks along with premium whiskey that afternoon? 

2b. Was this considered a meeting under state open meetings law? 

2c.  Was the dinner and drinks related in any way to the structural assessment of the Hotel Aiken also conducted that day by a consultant for RPM Development Parters, LLC, or is that pure coincidence? 

Thank You, 

Don Moniak

Eureka Fire Protection District

Aiken County, SC.” 

Mr. Bedenbaugh responded that day: “I will review.” 

The AMDC transparency page is located at: https://aikenmdc.org/2022/03/29/project-pascalis-public-records/

(2)A FOIA request was submitted on July 25, 2022 for: “1. The expense report that was submitted for the steak and whiskey dinner at Prime Steakhouse on January 4, 2022; as required by City of Aiken statutes and policies governing reimbursement of expenses. 2. The memo for record (or other document) that recorded the discussion and agreements reached at the Steak and Whiskey dinner, and a listing of all attendants at the meeting, including those on the second check cited on the dinner and whiskey tab.” 

(2) From the DRB January 4, 2022 Workshop Meeting Minutes, the following people were listed as present: “City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh, Assistant City Manager Mary Catherine Lawton, Planning Director Marya Moultrie, Planner Mary Tilton, Zoning

Official Mike Dennis,Economic Development Director Tim O’Briant, Erica

Sanders, Ray Massey, Grey Raines, Brandon Graham, Stephen Overcash,

Susan French, David Blake, Mandy Drumming, Mark Chostner, Philip

Merry, David Jameson, Christopher Verenes, Martin Buckley and other

interested parties”

Although the meeting minutes state the workshop began at 5:30 p.m and ended at 6:30. The bar and dinner bill time appears to be 19:55 (7:55 p.m). 

https://edoc.cityofaikensc.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=2735900&dbid=0&repo=City-of-Aiken-LF

City Government, July 2022, Project Pascalis 2022

The Cleaners: How Aiken City Council Got Taken to the Cleaners by the Wyatt Family

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by Don Moniak
Originally published July 21, 2022
Updated April 13, and April 15, 2023

(Update 4/13/23: Mayor Rick Osbon did recuse himself from the proceedings of the sale of the City of Aiken’s Laurens Street Building. Not known at the time was that this recusal was recommended by the State Ethics Commission in response to a request for an information opinion from City Attorney Gary Smith. In the response, found here, the Ethics Commission wrote:

“Here, it is the opinion of Commission staff that the Council Member has an economic interest in the sale of the property because the value of his property would increase by more than fifty (50) dollars if the property is sold….Accordingly, it is staff’s opinion that the Council Member should recuse himself from voting on the sale of the property.”

Summary

In early 2020 the City of Aiken sold property located at 135 Laurens Street SW and 130 Pendleton Street SW to WTC Laurens, LLC,(agent: Thomas Goforth) for $1.3 million. WTC Laurens, LLC is a firm owned by local investor and developer Weldon Wyatt and managed by his son, Attorney Tom Wyatt. In April of 2020, WTC Laurens, LLC sold half of the property for $1.3 million to SRP Credit Union; and in May 2021 sold the remaining parcel to R and O LLC (Agent Rick Osbon) for $500,000. 

This is the story of how the transaction proceeded, all but one city council member defied good advice from knowledgeable citizens, and Weldon Wyatt managed to turn a half million dollar profit at the city’s expense in just over a year’s time. 

The Finance Building

In December, 2011 the City of Aiken purchased the former First Citizens Bank and Trust property for $735,000. The 0.63 acre property was composed of two parcels, the two story building at 135 Laurens Street and a parking lot with a drive through outbuilding at 130 Pendleton ST, SW.  (see inset) 

The City then spent just over $900,000 on renovations and improvements to the building, which had sat vacant for six years. By the time finance and administration offices were moved into the building in January, 2013, the total investment was more than $1.6 million. Other departments remained at the old municipal building at 214 Park Ave, West. 

In 2017 the city embarked on the controversial “Downtown Renaissance” effort. A proposal to consolidate city offices into one location was in the works, although the specifics were not yet planned. According to a question and answer on the Renaissance, “The hope is to recoup much of the investment in 135 Laurens as possible through its sale to the private sector and to proceed with the original plan voters were briefed on prior to the 2010 vote.” The appraised value of the Finance Building at that time was $1.04 million. (1) 

The Wyatt Offer

Although the “Downtown Renaissance” failed to proceed, the city moved forward with plans to consolidate, and continued to receive offers for the 135 Laurens St. complex. First a plan to expand the municipal building at 214 Park Avenue emerged, but was dismissed due to costs and lack of feasibility.  That was followed by a final plan to purchase and renovate the former Henderson Hotel (most recently a Regions Bank Building) and consolidate into a new City Hall. (2)

In mid October, 2019 WTC Laurens, LLC, a Wyatt family firm, approached the City of Aiken with a $1.2 million offer on the property. At the time the Wyatt family’s WTC Investments, LLC (agent Ray Massey) was seeking final rezoning approval from city council to allow the demolition of the historic Aiken hospital at 828 Richland Ave, E; and convert the surrounding nine acre property to a complex of apartments, 100-room hotel, conference center, and parking garage. This plan was deemed by Tom Wyatt as a “home run for the city.” (3)

This was not the Wyatt’s first offer to buy 135 Laurens St property, and undisclosed offers from other parties had also been made. To prepare for a probable sale, the city had procured J. Marshall Vann of Vann Appraisal Services, Inc. of Augusta, GA in 2019 to conduct a new appraisal of the property. Vann had nearly forty years of real estate experience and been licensed by the State of South Carolina since 1993.  He submitted his appraisal of the property on September 23, 2019, delivering a bottom line “fee simple ‘as is’” $1.3 million appraisal of the property. (4) 

Photos courtesy of Terry Cooper
The building and parking lot in the parcel at 135 Laurens St SW and 130 Pendleton St SW

Vann described the building as “well maintained” and in good condition. His comparison to other sales included the Wells Fargo Building at 111 Laurens Street, which had sold for $750,000 in 2018 to another Wyatt family firm, WTC of Aiken, LLC (agent: Ray Massey). The Wells Fargo property was also divided into two properties and also occupied two-thirds of an acre. That property sold at a considerably lower per square foot value than six other area properties analyzed. 

Discussion and Advice: The First Hearing

Note: Text in bold print below is sourced from meeting minutes.

City Council held its first hearing on the proposed sale at its November 25, 2019 public meeting. City Attorney Gary Smith announced Mayor Rick Osbon was recusing himself from participating in any discussions or votes, because: 

“Mayor Osbon’s family operates the business which is located adjacent to the building that is being considered for sale. He is recusing himself to avoid the appearance of any impropriety that may be involved in the transaction since he owns property adjacent to 135 Laurens Street SW,” 

According to meeting agenda and minutes (5), the key issues included the possible future value of the property, selling below both the appraisal value and investment costs, the lack of additonal bids, and the possibility of paying rent if plans to move into a new, consolidated City Hall were delayed by more than two years. In regard to the prospect of paying future rent, the City Manager’s supporting memorandum read: 

“Until that time or any time earlier when the City is ready to relocate to the Chesterfield Street building, the City will continue to own the building. Should the City not be ready to move into the new building rent would need to be paid beginning February 1, 2022 to WTC Laurens, LLC.” 

During the meeting, Dr. Rocky Napier of Aiken asked about the city’s investment to date. City Manager Stuart Mr. Bedenbaugh responded that, between the 2011 purchase and subsequent improvements, the City “has $1,655,678 in the building,” and admitted the city “has put more money in the building than the appraised value.” 

Dr. Napier raised concerns about the lack of specificity in the rental agreement,  recommended the city not rely upon a single bid:

“Dr. Napier stated he would suggest since the Aiken City Council is stressed for funding to meet current obligations,that it put this property out for bid and see what the market will bear rather than taking at least a $100,000 loss on the front end of this agreement without getting any detailed due diligence as it relates to a transaction of this magnitude.” 

Councilperson Kay Brohl, who was newly installed, spoke in favor of the sale after asking a series of questions about the Chesterfield Street building: 

“Councilwoman Brohl stated she felt the proposal to sell the Laurens Street property is good because she feels the City owns too much real estate. She did not feel it is a healthy thing for a city to be in the real estate business, because the property is not on the tax rolls and not bringing in tax revenue for the city. She felt it is better not to have a huge inventory of real estate. She said she just wanted to be sure that we are doing the best for Aiken.” 

Councilman Ed Girardeau also advocated for the sale on the basis of future uncertainty, stating he had “been a real estate appraiser for 35 years” and “was certified to review the appraisal.” However, he offered no insights on the appraisal other than “he did study” it; and proceeded to state: 

“He said in his opinion we have already agreed we are going to buy another building and renovate it. He said theoffer to purchase the Laurens Street building is sort of a ‘bird in hand as to two in the bush.’ The risk we take is if we don’t agree to the sale of the Laurens Street building now, and we go forward who knows what will happen in two years. It may be worth more, or it may be worth less. It may not even be marketable.” 

Councilman Ed Woltz provided the lone council dissent. He raised numerous issues associated with the prospect of future rent, accepting a sole bid, the uncertainties surrounding the proposed consolidation, and the lack of specifics in the purchase contract: 

“He felt we are doing this too quickly. He pointed out that we are not paying rent now, so talking about not being charged rent is a ridiculous comment…. We would be entering into an agreement to sell something and then hope everything else works out well. We don’t know what our rent will be if we get stuck there.” 

The “Two Year Plan:” Weldon Wyatt Makes His Case

The issue was important enough to discuss at a work session before holding the required second hearing and final vote. Council met for a work session prior to its December 9, 2019 meeting.  Mayor Osbon recused himself from the discussions again. 

Attending the work session was Weldon Wyatt. who described a two year plan for his proposed investment. According to the minutes (6)  the “only comment he had” was an assertion of a two year plan for the property: 

“They are looking at something two years out, and they do not know what will happen in two years, but they are willing to take that risk…He said he would not be looking at buying it if he didn’t think they could use it, but they do not know what they would use it for right now. He noted that he had bought the Wells Fargo property for$750,000, and does not have a use for it at this time. He said when looking at something two years out, it is difficult to figure out what you will do with it. He said he could not do anything with it for two years.” 

He further made his case by stating “They have been around Aiken a long time; Council knows what he does and what he has done,” that “it is hard to imagine what the building will be worth in two years. It could be more or less. He said what he was agreeing to pay is something they are putting their faith in Aiken that it will be worth the $1.2 million two years from now.” 

A few councilmembers sounded very deferential to Mr. Wyatt, with Mayor Pro Tem Lessie Price stating “Mr. Wyatt has been very considerate,” and that “Council appreciates the patience of WTC Laurens, LLC.” Council person Kay Brohl stated that “she knows WTC does good work,” while claiming “Council has not had a good track record with property.” 

No record of any challenge or questions regarding Mr. Wyatt’s offer were recorded. 

The City Sells Its Finance Building 

On Sunday, January 12, 2020, The Wyatt family abruptly, and without a stated reason, exited its contract with Aiken County to purchase the old hospital, and the Wyatt’s “home run” proposal to reinvigorate the West entrance to the historic district ended. 

The next day Aiken City Council proceeded with its second hearing to sell 135 Laurens Street to a family that had the day before cancelled a major project that had consumed hundreds of hours of county and city time. The meeting minutes provide no indication of knowledge or concern for this development. 

The January 13th meeting was dominated by an annexation and apartment complex proposal on Owens Street off Daugherty Road. Another hearing with high interest involved the million dollar subsidy to the Steeplechase Foundation to purchase a new property. By the time the Finance Building reading arrived, only two citizens rose to speak. 

The sale price was now at $1.3 million, matching the appraisal value. The same key issues raised during the first hearing lingered into this second reading. Mayor Osbon again recused himself from the discussion and vote. 

Dr. Rocky Napier reappeared and repeated his numerous concerns and questions. The answer to his first question, was WTC Laurens, LLC registered with the state of South Carolina, was a sure sign that City Council was underprepared to handle all the sale issues. The answer from City Attorney Gary Smith was uninspiring: 

“Mr. Gary Smith, City Attorney, stated he could not answer that question at this time. Before any transaction is made with him,the closing attorney would confirm their existence before closing takes place.” 

(Update, 4/15/22: WTC Laurens, LLC incorporation date is shown as March 9, 2020 on the SC Secretary of State’s website, so it was not yet registered with the State of SC. The closing attorney for the sale was Mary O. Guynn, Mr. Smith’s law partner).

Napier went on for another eight minutes with questions and concerns, most of which the city could not fully answer. Among the issues was the presence of a concept plan for future use of the property. WTC’s representative stated there was no concept plan yet, this was “just a year end investment opportunity.” 

Adding to Dr. Napier’s concerns was Dr. Taylor Garnett, a long time downtown landlord and investor. According to the meeting minutes, he touched on every key issue: 

“Mr. Garnett said he did not feel that it was done in a very business-like manner. It should have been presented to the public and advertised for sale. He said he did not like taking the first buyer coming down the pipe. He said he did not think there was a solid plan for the Chesterfield Street building….there should not be a big rush to sell the Laurens Street building and worry about rent, late payment clauses, upkeep and maintenance, etc. It needs to be presented to the public. There could be a buyer out there who would pay more than$1.3 million for it. He said he understands the city has between$1.7 and $1.8 million in the Laurens Street building. If we take $1.2 million, we leave $500,000 on the table. He said he felt we need to back up. It needs to be done in a business-like manner.” (7)

Once again, Ed Woltz offered the only objections from Council, stating he “was opposed to the sale because it is a bad time and not in the best interest of the City.”

Councilperson Brohl admitted to a lesson learned, “that everything we do should go out for bids,” and then offered a motion to approve and voted with the 5-1 majority to approve the sale. 

According to county records the sale to the Wyatts was finalized on March 26, 2020. Five days later Weldon Wyatt’s “two year plan” for the property ended.  (Updated 4/15/23 to change “less than one month later to “Five days later” and March 9, 2020 to March 26, 2020)

Acccording to Aiken County records, on April 1st, 2020, WTC Laurens, LLC sold 135 Laurens St., SW to SRP Credit Union for $1.3 million, but retained the parking lot at 130 Pendleton St, SW.  (Update 4/15/23: The closing attorney for the sale was City Attorney Law Partner Mary Guynn).

The unexpected sale to SRP Credit Union also cost the city at least $15,000 in moving costs when the finance department and city manager’s office temporarily relocated back to 214 Park Avenue, West in June of 2020. SRP Credit Union opened its new branch on November 20, 2020. 

Dr. Napier’s and Dr. Garnett’s assessment that a higher value for the property was likely and imminent proved to be accurate. WTC Laurens, LLC would, in essence, realize a profit of  $500,000 on the 130 Pendleton Street parking lot adjacent to Osbon Dry Cleaners.

Just over a year later WTC Laurens, LLC sold the 130 Pendleton St parking lot property. 

On May 27, 2021 R and O, LLC (agent/owner: Rick Osbon) purchased for $500,000 the 0.37 acre property adjacent to Osbon Dry Cleaners. The closing signature is Weldon Wyatt, who had departed from another major development earlier that month, the nascent Project Pascalis, after signing contracts to purchase more than two acres of downtown property for $9.5 million. 

(Update 4/15/23: Earlier in the month, on March 3, 2021, Mayor Rick Osbon had met with Weldon Wyatt and a hotel developer on another matter: the future of the Project Pascalis properties for which Mr. Wyatt had two contracts to purchase involving $135,000 in earnest money held in an escrow account by the law firm of Smith, Massey, Brodie, Guynn, and Mayes. The meeting was documented in a May 4, 2021 memo by Aiken Economic Development Director Tim O’Briant (excerpt below)

Conclusion

This story provides another example of Aiken city government officials making major financial decisions, involving large sums of taxpayer money, without a competitive bidding system. City Council disregarded the advice of knowledgable citizens looking out for the common good by insisting the city adhere to accepted and proven policies and procedures. 

Yet, a year later the city embarked down an even more expensive road called Project Pascalis, even teaming up with the same developer who had burned them on the old hospital redevelopment and took them to the cleaners on the Finance Building. 

_____________________

(1) https://www.cityofaikensc.gov/aiken-revitalization-project/

(2) Between land and improvements, the City of Aiken eventually spent $11.1 million on the Chesterfield St property; officially purchasing it from the Aiken Public Facilities Corporation on December 12, 2021. The move was completed in June of 2022. 

https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=844&LayerID=15264&PageTypeID=4&PageID=6879&KeyValue=121-21-05-002

(3) https://aikenchronicles.com/2022/06/21/project-pascalis-and-the-wyatt-factor/

(4) “AN APPRAISAL REPORT of a Municipal Building Located at135 Laurens Street SW & 130 Pendleton Street SW Aiken County
Aiken, South Carolina 29801.” September 13, 2021. 

J.Marshall Vann, MAI, SRA
Vann Appraisal Services, Inc. 

(5) November 25, 2019 Meeting Agenda: Pages 62-67

https://edoc.cityofaikensc.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=479198&dbid=0&repo=City-of-Aiken-LF

November 25, 2019 Meeting Minutes. 

https://edoc.cityofaikensc.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=481204&dbid=0&repo=City-of-Aiken-LF

(6) December 9, 2019 Work Session Minutes: 

https://edoc.cityofaikensc.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=483154&dbid=0&repo=City-of-Aiken-LF

(7) City Council meeting minutes for 1/13/20 

https://edoc.cityofaikensc.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=487473&dbid=0&repo=City-of-Aiken-LF

Inset: 

The Finance Building 

135 Laurens Street SW

County ID 105-28-030-012

0.26 Acres

Two story, 8,149 square foot building with 4, 197 square feet of “partially finished basement area” 

https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=844&LayerID=15264&PageTypeID=4&PageID=6879&Q=1513268534&KeyValue=105-28-03-012

The Parking Lot 

130 Pendleton Street SW 

0.37 acres

County ID 105-28-030-013

25 space parking area with a drive through

https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=844&LayerID=15264&PageTypeID=4&PageID=6879&Q=1356400372&KeyValue=105-28-03-013

130 Pendleton Street SW 

0.37 acres

County ID 105- 28- 03- 013 

25 space parking area with a drive through

(1) https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=844&LayerID=15264&PageTypeID=4&PageID=6879&Q=1513268534&KeyValue=105-28-03-012

(2) https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=844&LayerID=15264&PageTypeID=4&PageID=6879&Q=1356400372&KeyValue=105-28-03-013

July 2022, Project Pascalis 2022

Project Pascalis and the Plutonium Settlement

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Plutonium Settlement Funds are Not Earmarked for Project Pascalis 

By Don Moniak

Summary: Twenty five million dollars from State of South Carolina Plutonium Settlement funds legislatively allocated to the City of Aiken do not include any reference to Project Pascalis, and are not project specific. Citizens of the City of Aiken have the opportunity to participate in future deliberations regarding final allocation of these funds for redevelopment and investments in “downtown and Northside Aiken.” 

The $600 Million Settlement 

On August 31, 2020, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the largest settlement ever with the federal government. After four years of litigation pertaining to the storage of approximately 9.5 metric tons of surplus military plutonium transferred to the Savannah River Site (SRS) since 2002, a $600 million dollar settlement with the U.S. Department of Energy was reached.(1) 

The settlement was enabled by a minor amendment sponsored by then Representative Lindsey Graham to the 2003 Defense Authorization Act. The amendment mandated the federal government to remove at least one ton of plutonium per year from the Savannah River Site beginning in 2016, or pay fines of up to $160 million per year to the state of South Carolina. 

Neither the amendment nor the settlement addressed the approximately two tons of military plutonium left in storage at SRS after more than three decades of plutonium production work officially ceased in 1990. 

The funds are described as “economic and assistance payments,” but the settlement does not specify any detailed criteria for spending the money. Of the $600 million dollars, lawyers for the state were awarded $75 million by the Attorney General’s office (a controversial decision currently being litigated), leaving $525 million for the South Carolina General Assembly to distribute. In June 2022 the South Carolina General Assembly finalized the distribution of funds within its fiscal year 2023 budget. 

The only line item that pertains to redevelopment in the City of Aiken is $25 million for “downtown and Northside redevelopment,” and Project Pascalis is not specifically identified. This is true in each version of both Senate and House bills during the recent legislative session. The distribution of the funds is now at the discretion of Aiken City Council.  The city’s budget is a matter of public record and its approval involves two public hearings, so citizens will have a say in how the money is spent. 

City officials have implied that $20 million of this money is dedicated to Project Pascalis. For example, the Aiken Municipal Development Commission’s (AMDC) May 2022 paper “Just the Facts: Why Pascalis, how do we pay for it?” In it, the AMDC wrote: 

$525 Million Plutonium Settlement provides once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in concrete project that creates generational prosperity for the City of Aiken. (2) 

The opening statement is misleading, since the next sentence describes a request for:

$20 million in Plutonium funds to directly support Pascalis. That request is being considered by the General Assembly and passage could come as early as June of 2022.

The AMDC Lobbying Efforts: No Requests for Pascalis 

Not only are plutonium settlement funds not specifically dedicated to Project Pascalis in the state budget, there is no evidence the city specified the project in its lobbying efforts to state legislators. 

The Aiken Municipal Development Commission began discussing the settlement funds almost immediately, and the money stayed on the agenda for months. (3) 

Two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the City of Aiken regarding letters pertaining to plutonium settlement fund requests from the city have yielded no documents specifying Project Pascalis as a desired beneficiary of the funds. (4) 

The first letter to county and state officials was mailed only seventeen days later. The September 17th lobbying letter established a theme asserting ownership of the funds by the three counties adjoining SRS while blaming the federal government for violating the public trust: 

The settlement is a result of the failure of the U.S. government to fulfill its obligations to our communities in return for a good faith effort to accept plutonium from across the country.

This statement and others like it were to be repeated until it became accepted as fact, it was not true. Part three of this series will discuss the stand-alone decision in 1997 to store surplus military plutonium at SRS for up to fifty years, and the debate leading up to the settlement. 

The September 17th letter did not identify any funding needs, and in fact stated that “allocation of funds should be objective, not project specific.” 

More specific requests from the AMDC were sent on December 16, 2020 to Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon. Of $95.4 million in requests for various projects, $15 million was requested for downtown and Northside redevelopment and investment. AMDC Chair Keith Wood wrote: 

The AMDC, and others should work to fund and coordinate the acquisition and assembly of land and/ or derelict properties at sufficient scale to be repackaged as available sites for medium-density housing/ mixed-use, mixed-income residential and marketed to the development community for either private sector projects or public-private partnerships where appropriate. These funds would also be available to provide incentives for projects that face a funding delta based on the increased cost of property in the central business district through public participation in the projects to include parking solutions, public utility infrastructure, green space uses such a trails, squares and pocket parks, etc. that can reduce the overall project costs while providing a public benefit. Areas of interest include downtown Aiken ( Hotel Aiken project),Aiken’s Northside (former Say-A-Lot site for grocery), East Aiken (East Richland Avenue) and strengthen connection along Route 1 to 1- 20. Identify potential sites along Route 1 for development. 15 million.

The phrase “Project Pascalis” was never mentioned because the project did not yet exist. The request only identified “areas of interest.” 

Two days later, Mayor Osbon sent a letter to Aiken County Council Chairman Gary Bunker outlining the City of Aiken’s priority wishlist for plutonium funds disbursement. Whereas Osbon expanded the overall list and increased the desired amount to $223 million (6), the request for redevelopment and investment in downtown and the Northside remained at $15 million. Osbon forwarded the exact language of the AMDC for that request. 

No other request letters from the Mayor, City Council, or the AMDC have been identified. As will be discussed in Part 4 of this series, the line item that could involve Project Pascalis has always been more generalist and not project specific. If Project Pascalis is cancelled, that money still remains available for “downtown and northside redevelopment.” 

For information on how the Chamber of Commerce and Nuclear Contractor Executives publicly acknowledged plutonium dangers, see Offsite Insights 2022-2 and Plutonium is not for Amateurs, Part II.

The two articles also form an introduction to “From Plutonium Economy to Plutonium Dump: A History of the Plutonium Settlement,” which is in progress.

In progress: The Plutonium Settlement disbursement debate and final results.

For Reference

(1) The announcement of the settlement is at: 

https://www.scag.gov/about-the-office/news/attorney-general-wilson-announces-largest-single-legal-settlement-in-south-carolina-history/

The seven page settlement is at: 

Click to access South-Carolina-Settlement-Agreement-Final-signed-8-28-20.pdf

(2) https://aikenmdc.org/2022/05/16/just-the-facts-why-pascalis-how-do-we-pay-for-it/

(3) Meeting minutes from AMDC public meetings held from September 2020 to _____, 2021 describe discussions on the matter. (add more here) 

(4) A June 10, 2022 FOIA request asked for 

“All official correspondence between the AMDC and or City of Aiken regarding the plutonium settlement funds. Specifically, and at a mininum, I am requesting the letter from the AMDC “sent to the Governor, the delegation, and other elected officials” referenced in October and November, 2020 AMDC meeting minutes.” 

Twenty one documents were retrieved, of which twenty were duplicates of the September 17, 2020 letter. The city charged $24 for this request, and claimed 1.75 hours of retrieval time was required to locate three letters involving requests for $95 to $223 million dollars from the State of South Carolina. A subsequent appeal to the city manager yielded a fee wavier 

An additional request on June 23 specifically asked for “documentation supporting the following assertions: a. City has requested $20 million in Plutonium funds to directly support Pascalis. That request is being considered by the General Assembly and passage could come as early as June of 2022.” 

This request yielded the same three letters as the previous request, with no new lobbying letters since December 2020. The cost this time was $16 for 1.25 hours of search time, for documentation forming the basis of a one month old AMDC published “fact sheet.” 

(5) )  The remaining $80 million in requests involved $30.4 million for Whiskey Road Corridor, and $50 million for “four strategic and and interrelated steps to ignite an innovation ecosystem in Aiken” in the USC-Aiken vicinity. This included additional funding for two projects already in the planning process, one new vaguely defined initiative, and roadwork: 

$10 million for the “Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC). 

$15 million for the South Carolina National Guard Cyber Security Dreamport;

$20 million for a new Aiken Innovation and Impact District to work with the AMC and Dreamport

$5 million for widening of University Parkway

(6) Mayor Osbon’s exorbitant request for $223 million of the available $525 million included the “innovation ecosystem” and downtown and northside development requests, but added $124 million for additional portions of the Whiskey Road project. 

June 2022, Project Pascalis 2022

A Project Pascalis Timeline

5 Comments

This is “a timeline,” regarding the creation, promotion, and stealth of the $100 million dollar plus downtown Aiken demolition and redevelopment endeavor known as Project Pascalis from February 2019 through June 2022. 

It is not “the timeline.” Due to the City of Aiken’s continued secrecy surrounding key aspects of Project Pascalis, gaps in knowledge remain. For example, the city still refuses to release its full May 2021 solicitation for a Request for Proposals. 

Therefore, it is unknown whether any option to renovate the Hotel Aiken was offered to prospective developers; although the evidence to date strongly suggests the only option was demolition. The importance of this key issue cannot be overstated: if the solicitation dictated what the city wanted, then Project Pascalis is a homegrown project and its developers are mere contractors undertaking the wishes of its client. 

February 2019 

February 1: : Weldon and Tom Wyatt of “Wyatt Development” (which was dissolved in 2013) meets with Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon to discuss his $1.1 million offer to Aiken County to purchase the 9.3 acre “old hospital” and county administrative building property at 828 Richland Avenue, E. for $1.1 million 

February 5: Mayor Osbon sends letter to Aiken County Chairman Gary Bunker describing his meeting with Wyatt executives and expressing his support for their vision for the old hospital property. 

February 19: WTC Investments, LLC is registered as doing business in South Carolina with the Secretary of State. Attorney Ray Massey is the listed agent. (Unknown: presence of absence of Mr. Massey at February 1 meeting with Mayor.)

April 2019 

April 16: WTC Investments, LLC enters into a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) with Aiken County to purchase the “old hospital” property at 828 Richland Avenue, E. for $1.1 million dollars.  

WTC manager Tom Wyatt, son of Weldon Wyatt, announces plan to demolish existing historic structures and construct a new hotel, apartment complex, conference center, and parking garage. 

August 2019

Ordinance establishing the Aiken Municipal Development Commission (AMDC) passed by Aiken City Council and governed by South Carolina Community Development Law. Citizens told Commission will enable increased public input and participation in planning process. 

November 2019: 

Aiken City Council passes rezoning ordinance approving the Wyatts’ concept plan for the old hospital/County complex site. 

January 2020

January 12: WTC Attorney Ray Massey informs Aiken County officials they are withdrawing from the old hospital purchase contract.

May 2020

May 26, 2020 First meeting of the AMDC. Commissioners receive tutorials on the Freedom of Information Act, Ethics, and South Carolina Community Development Law. (In the next twenty four months the Commission, always meeting at 3:30 pm, would enter into closed executive sessions forty percent of their meeting time. During the Pascalis planning and negotiations this figure increased to more than sixty percent.) 

July 2020 

July 15: The Aiken Municipal Development Commission submits a “Redevelopment Plan for Downtown Aiken” to the City of Aiken. The plan does not include properties on Newberry Street currently inhabited by Newberry Hall and Warneke Cleaners. No public hearing is held by the Commission as required by community development law. 

August 2020

August 31. Attorney General Alan Wilson announces a $600 million dollar settlement to more than four years of litigation with the Department of Energy regarding storage of surplus nuclear weapons plutonium at the Savannah River Site. Wilson states that after attorney fees of $75 million, $525 million remains for the legislature to allocate. 

August 2020. Aiken City Council approves first reading of the downtown redevelopment plan. 

September 2020

September 14: Aiken City Council amends the AMDC ordinance, replacing three City Council members with three new voting members, and reclassifying council members as ex-officio. Chamber of Commerce President J. David Jameson, former city councilperson Philip Merry, and Second Baptist Church pastor Douglas Slaughter are added as voting commissioners. 

Second reading of minor redevelopment plan passes. 

September 2020 to December 2020: AMDC discusses plutonium funding lobbying efforts. A letter requesting $30 million for redevelopment purposes is sent to the legislative delegation and other officials. 

January 2021. 

January 4: WTC Investments, LLC dissolves. 

Unknown date in early 2021: WTC Investments, LLC signs contract to purchase Hotel Aiken, and the adjacent motel, 106 Laurens Street, the former Johnson Drug Store, and Warneke Cleaners from Shah Investments and other Shah family holdings. 

March 2021: 

March 15: Royal J. Robbins and Garnett Family Holdings sell 210 The Alley to Aiken Alley Holdings LLC for $2,025,000. Ray Massey is agent for Aiken Holdings LLC. (This property was adjacent to the original Project Pascalis footprint, but is now within it). 

March 18, 2021: AMDC first announces the existence of Project Pascalis. City of Aiken Development Director Tim O’Briant tells the Aiken Standard “Transparency is key” and promises more pubic information within a few months. (Although details are not released, even the initial plan was to demolish Hotel Aiken and surrounding properties and construct a new hotel, apartments, parking garage, and conference center complex similar to that originally proposed at 828 Richland Ave. E, the old hospital). 

O’Briant and Chair Keith Wood authorized by the Commission to execute an agreement with an unnamed, “experienced and well-capitalized” private developer that was “recruited and identified” by the AMDC. (public learns in 2022 that developer was Weldon Wyatt’s GAC LLC; and only in the November 4,  2021 meeting minutes is it revealed that WTC, Investments, LLC was involved with property purchases). 

April 2021

April 13: Aiken Standard reports AMDC meeting behind closed doors to discuss Project Pascalis, indicating it involves downtown properties. 

April 15: WTC Investments, LLC signs purchase and sale agreement with Newberry Hall property owner Myrtle Anderson to buy the property for $2 million. Modified lease agreement provides Newberry Hall business operators options to negotiate repurchase the new building, operate the new conference center, and receive compensation for lost income during construction stages. 

Vampire Penguin opens for business at 106 Laurens Street, while planning to demolish the building proceeds in secrecy. 

May 2021:  

May 5: WTC Investments, LLC re-registered to do business in South Carolina. Agent: Attorney Ray Massey. 

May ?? 2021. WTC Investments, LLC withdraws from its contracts to purchase downtown properties. The Chamber of Commerce takes “assignment” of the property contracts while the AMDC seeks funding to purchase them on behalf of the city. This all occurs behind closed doors. 

May  19, 2021. The AMDC sends solicitations for Requests for Proposals to continue the new hotel/apartments/garage/conference center project to select developers. In the solicitation, the AMDC offers to privatize a part of Newberry Street. (The entire solicitation remains secret to this day, withheld under a FOIA exemption by the City of Aiken, despite fact that FOIA clearly states the city “may” release the documents. The AMDC does not deny the solicitation is only for demolition, not renovation of Hotel Aiken and surrounding properties.) 

June 2021 

June 8: Longtime State Farm agent Joseph Harrison sells his office property at 121 Newberry Street SW—adjacent to Newberry Hall—to Aiken Alley Holdings LLC (Ray Massey, agent) for $675,000. 

July 2021: 

July 12, 2021. AMDC Chair Keith Wood sends letter requesting $10 million in city funds from Aiken City Council to purchase “Parkway area properties” between Morgan and Williamsburg Street. 

August 2021

August 25: City of Aiken approves $10 million in funding for the AMDC to purchase properties in the “Parkway District” bounded by Morgan Street, Hampton Avenue, Park Avenue, and Beaufort Street. Exact properties remain unspecified. 

September 2021

September 20, 2021: AMDC announces it will conduct a fact finding trip to review the redevelopment of downtown Florence. 

September , 2021: AMDC and several officials, joined by Attorney Ray Massey and representatives of Rainesco hold a “public meeting “ at a Florence restaurant. Meeting minutes are noticeably short. 

October 2021 

October , 2021. RPM Development Partners, LLC registers with the SC Secretary of State. Agent: Ray Massey. Key Players: Rainesco and Lat Purser (RPM likely to represent Raines, Purser, and Massey).  Story not reported. 

October , 2021: City of Aiken signs contract with Attorney Gary Pope for assistance with legal counsel. (This agreement cited in May 2021 as evidence of City Attorney Gary Smith’s “recusal” from all things Pascalis, but no such recusal is in document). 

November 2021

November 5: In an Aiken Standard article, Development Director O’Briant again emphasized the need for transparency, and stated the AMDC would soon have a website to share information. 

November 6: Project Pascalis is discussed at a Design Review Board meeting. Responding to a question about the future of Hotel Aiken, City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh states a decision is still pending. 

November 9: AMDC announces the purchase of several downtown properties for a total of $9.5 million, including Newberry Hall and Warneke Cleaners. The information is shared on the AMDC’s website, aikenmdc.org: 

Click to access Municipal-Development-Commission-Agenda-Packet-Updated.pdf

Aiken Standard fails to report involvement of the Chamber of Commerce. 

According to County Records and the AMDC report, the purchases were: 

106 Laurens St SW for $1 Million from Shah Enterprises. 

235 Richland Ave (Hotel Aiken) and 112 Bee Lane/219 Richland Ave (The motel portion of Hotel Aiken) for $4.25 million from Historic Hospitality LLC (which had “purchased” the hotel in 2017 from Shah Enterprises for $5). 

211 Richland Ave West, 203 Richland Ave West, and 113 Newberry Street (Warneke Cleaners) for $2.25 million from S & N Hospitality LLC (which had purchased the properties in 2018 for $ 1 million from Myrtle Anderson). 

111 Newberry Street (Newberry Hall) for $2 million from Myrtle Anderson. 

December 2021

December 3, 2021. RPM Development Partners announced as Project Pascalis developer. Purchase and Sale agreement made between RPM . Aiken Standard reports that AMDC owned properties scheduled to be “razed.” (Document released in April 2021 shows that one developer rejected in part for only offering $1 million for Hotel Aiken). 

December 13 and 20; 2021. AMDC advertises for Requests for Proposals for Project Pascalis, as required by community development law, but after choosing a developer. 

December 26-December 31: At the urging of the AMDC, Rainesco CEO Grey Raines hosts five private meetings organized by Aiken Chamber of Commerce President and AMDC Commissioner J. David Jameson. AMDC Director Tim O’Briant attends every meeting with Commissioner Jameston. (City of Aiken denies the meetings qualify under Open Meetings clause of FOIA). 

January 2022

January 4: : Rainesco engineers conduct structural assessment of Hotel Aiken, even though decision to demolish building was made behind closed doors in early 2021. 

January 22: Aiken Standard reports that “CTR, LLC, a group of local investors led by attorney Ray Massey, has offered $800,000” for two city-owned properties: the east half of the 214 Park Avenue municipal building and the parking lot across from the Hotel Aiken. Council meets in Executive Session to discuss the offer, no results are reported. Attorney Massey’s law partner, City Attorney Gary Smith, does not recuse himself from the proceedings. 

February 2022

Feburary 17: DRB tours Hotel Aiken during a “special work session.” 

March 2022

March 1: DRB approves demolition of Hotel Aiken and 106 Laurens Street by a vote of 6-1. Vice-Chair Lucy Knowles casts sole dissenting vote. (Councilperson Andrea Gregory withdraws support for Ms. Knowles within a month of the vote, and nominates non-resident Laura Blessing to the Board to replace Ms. Knowles at the end of her term). 

March 28: Ten months after AMDC offered part of Newberry Street to interested developers, Aiken City Council conducts first public hearing (reading) of ordinance to privatize  0.6 acres of Newberry Street, in exchange for 123 Newberry St. SW and parking area behind 210 The Alley. Council unanimously approves first reading of ordinance despite nearly 100 percent of comments being against the proposal.  City Attorney Gary Smith acts in usual parliamentarian role. 

April 2022

April 15: Aiken Standard reports unilateral AMDC decision to repurpose soon to be vacated 214 Park Avenue municipal building into the new conference center. Tim O’Briant credits DRB Chairman McDonald Law with the suggestion. (Mr. Law later denies this was an “ex-parte” communication that violates FOIA Open Meetings law). Aiken County Chair Gary Bunker expresses concern about stalled negotiations with city to utilize the building for office space for county judicial functions. 

April 20: AMDC holds first public meetings to discuss entirety of Project Pascalis. RPM Development Partners, LLC and City contractors devote 85% of the scheduled meeting time to presentations before accepting a single comment or question. Public comments at the first meeting is suspended after an hour due to “prior engagements” of Raines representatives. Two AMDC Commissioners, Keith Wood and Chris Verenes, speak in favor of the project without disclosing their affiliation. 

Attorney Gary Pope sits at a city meeting for the first time, in place of City Attorney Gary Smith. Mr. Pope offers the information that Mr. Smith called him at “an early point in the project” to recused himself; but provides no date. (No written recusal documentation is offered in response to subsequent FOIA requests). 

May 2022

May 9: Aiken City Council votes 6-1 on second reading 6-1 to approve Newberry StreetOrdinance, with councilperson Ed Woltz the lone dissenting vote. Among other falsehoods, Councilperson Kay Brohl supports her yes vote by describing The Alley as an unlively place prior to the city’s 2016 renovation. AMDC Commissioner Philip Merry speaks in favor of the proposal without revealing his affiliation. Attorney Gary Pope sits in place of City Attorney Gary Smith. 

May 10: Lawsuit filed by area resident and Aiken property owner Drew Johnson documenting conflict of interest violations by City Attorney Gary Smith due to the role of his law partner Ray Massey in Project Pascalis. (In subsequent response, defendants do not deny the allegations but call for dismissal on jurisdictional grounds). 

May 11, 2022: Formation of the Do It Right! Alliance is announced, with the goal of preserving historic properties and holding city officials accountable to the law. 

May 15: AMDC releases “Just the Facts…,” revealing its intent to resell city properties to developers at a discounted price. 

June 2022

June 7, 2022: Aiken Downtown Development Association sponsors public “design workshop” to solicit comments on modified design of Hotel Aiken facade. AMDC Director Tim O’Briant tells WJBF News in Augusta that appraisals were unnecessary because the property is like gold. 

June 21, 2022. Design Review Board holds “design workshop.” Attendees not told until beginning of the meeting of a no public comment policy. City officials summon a police offer 

June 24, 2022: City of Aiken posts 45 notices announcing DRB public hearing on proposed demolition of Newberry Hall, Warneke Cleaners, Motel portion of Hotel Aiken, Johnson Drug Store, Taj Aiken Restaurant, and adjacent businesses. 

June 27: Historical Aiken Foundation, which is identified as a key city partner in its strategic development plan, releases fact sheet documenting concerns that support its opposition to Project Pascalis.

Next: August to September, 2022.