City honors resident for perseverance about safety 3/9/2009 10:35 PM
City awards resident for perseverance
By APRIL BAILEY Staff writer Paul Shore thought he was coming to the Aiken City Council meeting Monday night to learn more about a senior task force in which he was interested in becoming involved. Little did he know that City officials had actually invited him to the meeting to present him with the City of Aiken's Citizen of Character award for his work in improving the safety of his neighborhood.
Shore, who lives on Melville Lane near East Gate Drive, first contacted the City last year with some concerns about safety hazards created by the road design of Spencer Lane, saying the area created blind intersection for drivers traveling down the hill.
After hearing Shore's concerns, the City had a traffic study conducted on the area that found no improvements needed to be made. Shore said the results of the study didn't seem right to him, and he continued to press the issue.
He proceeded to do his own research on National Highway Safety standards and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found there were safety issues with the intersection.
Shore also got his neighbors involved by getting them to sign a petition asking the City to place a speed hump in the area.
He also took pictures that depicted the driver's right-of-way when traveling the road and presented them to City officials.
"We are requesting a traffic calming device in the form of speed humps placed on Spencer Road," Shore wrote in a letter to City Manager Roger LeDuc. "The situation on Spencer Road is not if someone will be seriously hurt or killed, but when. Let us be proactive and save some family the tragedy of a terrible accident."
LeDuc said that as a result of Shore's work, Public Safety took another look at Shore's request and decided that some action should be taken. The City plans to create a speed hump on the road this spring.
"He really persevered," LeDuc said at the meeting. "Sometimes people look at government as bureaucratic and say it's hard to get things done."
Shore, who moved to Aiken from Boston three years ago, said he saw the issue as his responsibility.
"I looked at it as my problem and not the City's problem," he said. "I like this City; it is such a unique place. It was more about keeping the neighborhood safe."
In other action, a representative with Silver Bluff Associates has come back to the City with what he hopes will be a "satisfactory solution" for all involved concerning property on Silver Bluff Road.
Neil Farfour of Silver Bluff Associates is proposing that Silver Bluff Associates donate a portion of property to the City of Aiken for open space, which he says will protect neighboring property owners from additional development in that area.
A request to rezone the property so that martial arts trainer Andrew Blocker could build a tae kwon do studio was recently denied by City Council members after strong protest from neighbors. Under Farfour's proposal, a portion of the land would still be sold to Blocker for the studio. City Council members seemed open to the idea, but many had concerns with how the neighbors would feel about the proposal.
Council members have decided to hold a work session at their next meeting on March 23 to discuss the proposal and receive input from neighboring property owners.
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