The hearing will take place during council’s regular November meeting, which will start at 7 p.m. in council chambers in the Aiken County Government Center, 1930 University Parkway.
Recently-elected Council Chairman Gary Bunker, whose induction ceremony was held Nov. 5, will be presiding for the first time.
According to the meeting’s agenda, Atlantic Broadband, “intends to invest in the expansion of an existing facility in the County through the acquisition of land, a building and improvements thereon; the construction of improvements thereon and/or therein; and/or the acquisition of personal property, including, but not limited to, machinery, equipment and furniture to be installed on and/or in the Land and Building.
The estimated cost of the project over five years is $11 million.
Atlantic Broadband is a provider of cable television, Internet, telephone and Wi-Fi services.
“They are wanting to do some upgrades to their system,” said County Administrator Clay Killian. “They are a utility, so they are taxed at the full 10.5 percent rate normally. They have requested that council give them a fee in lieu of taxes, which would reduce the rate to 6 percent.”
Council passed the resolution on its first two readings, but the third and final reading won’t take place tonight after the public hearing because “there is still some work to be done on the supporting documents,” Killian said.
“The third reading should be in December, assuming all the work gets wrapped up by the council’s meeting date (Dec. 12),” he added.
Atlantic Broadband couldn’t be reached for comment by press time.
The company’s plan was identified on previous council meeting agendas as “Project Mickey.”
Also on the agenda for tonight’s meeting is the second reading of an ordinance that would allow the County to sell Herb Marshall Park on H and H Street in the Belvedere area by releasing it from deed restrictions required by the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
“There was Recreation Land Trust Fund money involved in the purchase and development of the park, and it has to stay a park in perpetuity unless you can replace it with a property of similar value and size later on,” said County Assistant Administrator Brian Sanders.
Originally, Herb Marshall Park was developed for youth baseball, but participation in the sport has declined and the park no longer is needed for that purpose, Sanders said. It also is secluded and there have been problems with vandalism.
More than one interested party is interested in purchasing the park from the County.
Meanwhile, Sanders said, the County is looking at “two or three options” to acquire other property for “park expansion or acquisition that would benefit citizens.”
In addition, tonight's agenda includes a public hearing on the first reading of an ordinance that would allow multiple tax parcels, totaling 51.77 acres, along Glenwood Drive near Aiken to be rezoned from residential multifamily development to agricultural preservation. The Aiken County Planning Commission recommended that the ordinance not be approved during its Oct. 19 meeting.
During its Oct. 17 meeting, council unanimously gave first reading approval to two ordinances that would provide incentives to SE Aiken LLC for the redevelopment of the Aiken Mall.
SE Aiken is associated with Augusta-based Southeastern Development Associates, which announced plans last year to transform the Aiken Mall into a mixed-used shopping and dining center with open space and walking trails.
The second readings of those ordinances are not on the November meeting’s agenda, Killian said, because “we’re still working on the documents.”
©2017 the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
