Several roads across Oglethorpe County remained slick throughout the days following a heavy snowstorm last Saturday.
Road conditions disrupted travel as well as school and government operations through Tuesday. The average snowfall in the county was 4.3 inches on Saturday, per Wayne Hughes of the Oglethorpe County Rainfall Reporting Network.
The low reached 19.9 degrees with the wind chill peaking at 5 and gusts blowing up to 33 mph in the Athens area, according to the National Weather Service.
“Stay put and let mother nature do its thing,” Oglethorpe County Public Works director Adam Nation said as advice for future ice and snowstorms. “If you don’t have four-wheel drive, just stay at home.”
Poor conditions cause accidents
At least three auto accidents were reported between Saturday and Monday.
Nation said he knew of one accident near Union Point Road on Sunday and another on Collier Church Road on Monday.
The Oglethorpe County Emergency Management Agency noted on Saturday via Facebook that it received a report of another at an unspecified location.
Nation said Beaverdam Road, Smithonia Road, Sandy Cross Road and Harris Road were still being treated with salt trucks as of Monday. A grader also treated the Maxeys area the same day.
Nation said the county didn’t close any roads and he didn’t hear of any power outages.
Schools have another snow day
The Oglethorpe County School System was closed Monday and operated on a two-hour delay Tuesday. The school district was also closed on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27, due to the previous weekend’s ice storm.
Though students didn’t have classes, teachers worked remotely both last Tuesday and this Monday. Oglethorpe County School System Superintendent Beverley Levine said teachers were told to work ahead on lesson plans, as well as their behavior screenings, which they don’t typically start until later this month.
Levine said she was unsure at noon Monday if schools would reopen Tuesday because it was too early to determine whether roads, especially dirt roads, would be safe for both cars and buses.
At 5:45 p.m. that day, the school district announced the delayed start for Tuesday on its website.
“We err on the side of caution,” Levine said prior to the announcement. “I don’t want to put any of our students in danger, (nor) our staff (or) bus drivers.”
Levine said she’s working with the principals and the Board of Education on solutions for students to make up work after missing three days of class.
Board of Commissioners meeting rescheduled
The Board of Commissioners meeting was postponed from Feb. 2 to Monday, Feb. 9, due to roads still being in poor condition. The announcement was made Sunday afternoon on the county government website.
County offices were closed Monday.
The rescheduled meeting will be the first since the board passed the new rules of decorum for its public meetings. About 80 people attended that meeting to hear the decision on a newly proposed noise ordinance, which was shut down by the board.