Opponents of the planned site for a new high school reiterated concerns about the site’s viability and safety during tonight’s meeting of the Colquitt County Board of Education.

Clarence Lowe, a former member of the board, said the architect’s plans were based on a half-acre of wetlands on the site, but Lowe said a map from the Natural Resources Conservation Service showed about two acres of wetlands there.

“Part of it is under where your cafeteria’s going to be,” he told the board.

Lowe said the board has said after the high school is built at Packer Park off Darbyshire Road, the site will still have 99 buildable acres. The NRCS map, though, shows many of those acres in red, indicating land that is not suitable to build on. He said the map indicates only about 18 of those 99 acres are actually suitable for building.

He said he and his colleague, Jimmy Jeter, are the only two people who have inquired of the NRCS about soil conditions at that site.

Jeter addressed the board next. He praised the board for accomplishments “over the last 15 years or so.” His praise included for the idea of a sports complex, which is what was originally built on the Packer Park site. The plan was good, he said, even if many think the implementation was flawed.

Since it was built, some $4.7 million has been spent at Packer Park, much of it to address drainage issues, Jeter said.

Jeter made the case for an alternative site on Veterans Parkway, even as he said he and his group are not wedded to that site.

For more details about the Board of Educaiton meeting, see Wednesday’s Moultrie Observer.