News 12 at 6 o'clock / Monday, Dec. 5, 2011

MARTINEZ, Ga. -- Columbia County leaders say they're working hard to get an $800,000 drainage project completed in a Martinez neighborhood.

The project is weeks overdue and has shut down a road right in the middle of the Springlakes neighborhood for months. County leaders say they're just as frustrated.

Two weeks ago, the county issued the contractor a letter of termination. They have until this Thursday to get the road open again.

As president of the Springlakes Community Association, John Capes is sick of the construction right in the middle of his neighborhood.

"Everybody's lives have been disturbed. This is the worst thing that can happen to our neighborhood," Capes said.

Capes says the once wooded stream and cut-through street has now become a nightmare as crews work to alleviate flood concerns along Reed Creek.

"Quite the mess," Capes added.

The road has been shut down for four months. The project was set to be done Nov. 24, but the county says problems and mistakes have slowed the contractor.

"It's been a very trying process with this particular contractor. He's done some work with the county in the past and on this particular job we've seen a lot of problems," said Columbia County Administrator Scott Johnson.

A few weeks back the county issued a letter of termination, halting construction. Then they agreed to give the contractor a new Thursday deadline to complete phase one, including reopening the road.

"Certainly it's been a tough situation for the residents over there and I think the county recognizes that, which is really the reason why we're trying to push this contractor to get this work done. Right now our number one goal is to get that road opened back up," Johnson said.

The county says this contractor was the lowest bidder for the project months ago.

"This particular contractor has done work with us in the past and we have had some issues with some of his work in the past but not enough to keep him from bidding on a job," Johnson said.

"Low bidder is what you get sometimes. Lowest class of work, too," Capes said.

Capes is also concerned that the construction is filling up the neighborhood lake with silt. The county says they're looking into that.

If the Thursday deadline is not met, the county says they are prepared to halt construction and go through a possibly lengthy process to secure another contractor.

News 12 spoke with the contractor. He says his goal is to have the road opened by Thursday. He says small hiccups and changes have caused the construction delay.