By Chuck Hunt.
Well by now I'm sure most everyone is aware construction has finally begun on the new Pleasantdale Elementary School! The contractor arrived on site the second week of June and site clearance began immediately. It is continuing at a fast pace, especially in front of the school along Northlake Drive where the contractor has to complete a new driveway complete with temporary student drop-off zone and limited parking in time for the school year to begin the first week of August.
The first couple of weeks of construction were marked by some heavy rains that complicated site preparation and brought out community members distressed by both the loss of trees and some excessive runoff of water and mud from the site. These concerns were made immediately known to the contractor and school administration. While it took longer than some wished, both contractor and school officials were responsive and have installed what appears to be adequate solutions to control these issues, including temporary retention ponds on the site and other runoff control measures.
The Northcrest neighborhood has three community representatives on the Pleasantdale School Construction Advisory Committee who meet and communicate with school administration regarding construction issues. Paige Lozier, Kathleen Curry, and Chuck Hunt have been actively engaged to address issues regarding the impact of the construction on our neighborhood. In addition to working to resolve the runoff issues, they have also met with neighbors adjoining the work site to provide updates on the work, answer questions and relay concerns back to the county. The most recent issue brought by a neighbor, and seemingly resolved, was to ensure the contractor conformed to the work hours allowed by county code. No work is allowed after 7 pm Mon. – Fri., after 5 pm Sat., and no work is all allowed Sundays and major holidays. We encourage you to contact any of these committee members if you have questions or concerns you want addressed as they have a line of communication to school administration to get answers and resolution of issues.
I'm sure we all miss the section of “our forest” that had to be sacrificed for the new school, but once completed in the fall, 2019, we will have a new school the community can be proud of.