ORA sold to County, City, others

Members of the SRS Operations Recreations Association were notified late Thursday that an agreement in principle has been reached to sell to 210-acre recreation site.

The site will be sold to Aiken County, the City of Aiken and the Aiken County Open Land Trust for an as yet undisclosed amount.

Through the Capital Sales Tax program the County has earmarked $1.5 million for a regional park in the area. Add to this $250,000 being loaned to the County by the City of Aiken for purchase and whatever funding the ACOLT can chip in and the total bid for the property will be known.

Aiken County Administrator Clay Killian said a special meeting of the Aiken County Council will be called in about a week to formalize the process that up until this point has been handled as a contractual matter in executive sessions.

Killian said the purchase price for the facility will be announced as part of the formal adoption process.

"We and ORA have agreed in principle to the County's position," Killian said when questioned about the deal.

Killian added that a public announcement of the agreement, issued by the parties involved, should be released today. On Sept. 21 the Aiken Standard reported the ORA board of directors had decided to actively market the site.

According to an Aiken County land broker, who asked to remain anonymous, ORA was offered "over two million dollars" for the property by an adjacent landowner.

Aiken County Council member Scott Singer, who represented the County along with Council member Gary Bunker during a meeting Wednesday with the ORA board, said he could not discuss the negotiations Thursday.

Questioned about the previous agreement in principle to purchase the site that was eventually rejected to seek other options, Singer said the current agreement is much more firm. "It's tighter," Singer said.

Bunker, who is a member of ORA, confirmed he received the e-mail announcing the agreement at work late Thursday. Bunker, however, said he could not discuss the terms of the sale.

ACOLT Executive Director Dacre Stoker said he was pleased with the agreement.

"This is exactly the kind of thing a land trust tries to do," Stoker said. "There are plenty of other places for development."

Stoker said ACOLT currently has 832 acres protected in Aiken County, either through donation or easement. "Land conservation is not cheap," Stoker said. "It comes at a price."

A memo included in the Aike