The Regents School of Oxford and representative engineer Paul Koshenina of Precision Engineering came before the Lafayette County Planning Commission to request approval for a preliminary site plan for a new facility on 274 County Road 102.

Regents officials have come before the planning commission and county Board of Supervisors multiple times over the past few months for various requests as they begin development for a site that will house 14 classrooms, administrative space, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and a weight training area.

According to Koshenina, the school and its engineers have worked diligently with the County Development Services’ office and County Engineer Larry Britt to alleviate any concerns officials may have about the development.

Development Services Director Joel Hollowell said the majority of the project meets their requirements but they have a few remaining issues with the development. According to Hollowell, the school does not have a will serve letter from Great River Utility Operating Company affirming that Great River UOC will be able to manage Regent’s wastewater system and maintenance.

“We still don’t have the Public Service Commissioner’s approval for [Grey River] to expand their service area,” said Hollowell. 

Koshenina said Regents made the application for Grey River to expand their service on Monday morning.

“We’ve been working hard over the several months and that application has been formally submitted to the Public Service Commissioner,” he said. “We will be waiting for their feedback. [Great River] has capacity at their existing facility at Twelve Oaks and we saw that opportunity a few months ago. It’s a great opportunity for that school, for the area and it works with our budget.”

The other issue relates to traffic issues on CR 102.

Over a month ago, Britt identified that the development could potentially cause traffic jams at the roundabout. Since that observation, Britt and engineers have worked together to find a solution.

“I met with them last week and they showed a stacking procedure through a second parking lot and I think as long as they are able to do that, we’ll be fine,” said Britt. “The main goal is the safety of the children. The only thing we’ve been concerned about is the roundabout because it’s going to be extended and lots of traffic will come through, but I think they’ve got it worked out.”

“We feel confident about it and we also have plans for after-hours events when we might have a lot of folks on campus or an event at the gymnasium and we have a lot of cars on site,” said Koshenina. “The school is also committed to having a flagman or whatever is needed if traffic becomes an issue.”

Officials said Regents will not adopt additional structures without sufficient queueing and stacking.

The Lafayette County Planning Commission approved Regents’ preliminary site plan. Regents will have to before the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors for approval at the Aug. 15 board meeting.