Survey Work Underway For Putnam County’s New School

Crews have begun surveying the land for Putnam County’s newest school.

Upland Design Group’s Kim Chamberlin said the work should take about three to four weeks to complete.

“They’ve got the cleared areas pretty much surveyed at this point, so they’re working their way into the rough areas,” Chamberlin said. “We have received some preliminary information from the city in the way of the topography there. Hopefully by next month’s meeting we’ll be able to tell you that’s complete.”

The Putnam County Board of Education received an update on the project during Thursday night’s meeting. They also voted to spend up to $8,150 for additional environmental work on the property.

“This will be required by the city. There will be a wetlands investigation and sinkholes have to be identified,” Chamberlin said. “That is above and beyond what has been approved to date.”

The new school will be located on a 45-acre property on Lee Seminary Road.

The board’s next decision will be selecting what type of school to build on the property. Superintendent Jerry Boyd said last month that the land survey results will ultimately be the deciding factor for making that decision.

“Getting a survey, and looking at potential footprints of school buildings will help us decide if it is feasible to put a K-8 facility on that site,” Boyd said. “If not, then we will move forward with the original plan, which is a K-4 facility.”

Chamberlin met with school officials this week to begin preliminary discussions about the specific type of school. He’s hoping to begin presenting potential options to the board within the next 60-days.