County And Education Board Confront Road Problems At New School

Construction of the planned entranceway to the new Dove Creek Elementary School off Hog Mountain Road in the far west of Oconee County has hit a major snag.

The county has discovered that a gas pipeline owned by the City of Winder is along and possibly under Hog Mountain Road, making it impossible to build the entranceway as originally planned without relocating the pipeline.

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell told the Board of Education on Monday that the county is not willing at this point to spend the estimated $600,000 to $750,000 to relocate the pipeline and is seeking at least a temporary modification to the entranceway to the school.

Even that temporary solution is on hold because of the pipeline, Daniell said. Dove Creek is set to open with the coming school year.

In other action at the Board of Education meeting on Monday, the Board agreed, in response to requests from parents, to change the meeting times of both work and regular sessions from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Board generally meets on the first two Mondays of the month.

For more on the story, with a video of the Board of Education meeting, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Board Members Wayne Bagley and Tim Burgess.