AIKEN --- For about a year, Aiken Public Safety officers have patrolled Whiskey Road from Millbrook Avenue south to Talatha Church Road, a nearly three-mile stretch that the city annexed in March 2007.
Traffic citations in the city have increased by about 28 percent, and two traffic-enforcement officers have been hired to help with the workload in the annexed area of the busy highway and an increase in traffic throughout the city, said Pete Frommer, the director of public safety.
The city heard no formal objections and continued with traffic enforcement and road improvement projects.
"We're patrolling that section of (S.C.) Highway 10. We're writing tickets," City Attorney Richard Pierce said. "We consider that part of the city of Aiken."
The South Carolina Department of Transportation disagrees. It is refusing to recognize the city's annexation of the Whiskey Road right-of-way, claiming it violates state law.
An April 12, 2007, letter to city officials says that state law does not allow "shoe string" annexation.
"SCDOT rights-of-way can only be annexed when they abut existing municipal boundary," the letter said.
In March, Mr. Pierce said, the city asked the common pleas court to declare the annexation valid and legal.
"In our paperwork, we have alleged that the department of transportation, if they were objecting to the annexation, would have to file a formal objection not only with our city clerk, but also with the common pleas court," he said.
That objection had to be filed within 90 days of the passage of the annexation ordinance. The city claims the highway department did not do that.
In its motion, the city also accuses the highway department of "engaging in a pattern of conduct" that prevents the city from identifying its borders and from providing public services to motorists.
On at least two occasions, Mr. Pierce said, city limits signs placed near Talatha Church Road were removed by the highway department.
The department of transportation filed a motion of its own in April.
"They're claiming that the annexation was not properly done and that our complaint should be dismissed," Mr. Pierce said.
Phone calls Monday seeking comment from the state highway department's legal counsel were not immediately returned.
In its motion, the highway department states that the city did not obtain "the prior written consent of the SCDOT director or any other representative of the department of transportation."
The department also contends that even though no lawsuit was filed challenging the annexation within the 90-day window, the agency can still refuse to recognize an invalid annexation.
Both sides are waiting to hear from the court.
"I think certainly we're going to vigorously present our case, and we will prepare the appropriate paperwork to accompany our response to the (department of transportation) motion," Mr. Pierce said.
Reach Michelle Guffey at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or michelle.guffey@augustachronicle.com.
BACKGROUND: The Aiken city council approved the annexation of a portion of Whiskey Road from Millbrook Avenue to Talatha Church Road in March 2007. At the time, City Manager Roger LeDuc said annexation would give the city more control over traffic enforcement and signals.
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES:
- The South Carolina DOT refuses to recognize the annexation, claiming it violates state law.
- The city says the agency didn't file a formal objection within 90 days of the annexation.
- The DOT has countered that, although it didn't file a lawsuit within the 90-day period, the agency can still refuse to recognize an invalid annexation -- invalid, it says, because the city didn't get permission from the agency.
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