Aiken City Council Letter from Patricia E. Corey

The following letter from Patricia E. Corey, Hitchcock Woods Foundation Chairman, was distributed at the January 8th Aiken City Council Meeting.

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November 8, 2017

Mr. John C. Klimm
City Manager
P. O. Box 1177
Aiken, SC 29802

Dear Mr. Klimm,

On behalf of the Hitchcock Woods Foundation, I am pleased to be writing this letter to confirm that the trustees of the Foundation have unanimously voted to support the Sand River Stormwater Implementation Plan dated October 3, 2017 prepared by McCormick Taylor and to accept the recommendations of McCormick Taylor as put forth in that report. The trustees also voted unanimously to accept a shared solution as recommended by McCormick Taylor in its October 3, 2017 report.

I believe both the City and the Foundation can agree this is the first time in sixty years we have been at this point. Indeed we are closer than we have ever been to achieving a workable solution to a very difficult problem that only gets worse and more difficult with time.

The Foundation firmly believes that the McCormick Taylor Report has presented both the City and the Foundation with a giant step toward an achievable solution. McCormick Taylor has demonstrated the depth of their professional expertise and experience as engineers and stormwater experts in the preparation of their report. Consequently they have given us for the first time, an independent, qualitative and thorough assessment of the issue at hand. It has also presented us with a common sense approach to not only addressing the issue but also to achieving an actual workable solution that benefits both the City and its citizens as well as the Foundation and its duty to protect and preserve this State and National heritage site we know as the Hitchcock Woods.

The Foundation is very mindful that the steps this City administration has initiated have greatly facilitated the historic progress that has been made in the stormwater issue. We are very grateful and appreciative of these efforts and we look forward to working with the City as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Patricia E. Corey
Chairman
Hitchcock Woods Foundation

cc: Mayor Rick Osbon
Mr. Stuart Bedenbaugh