A Seventh Day Adventist Church official said the church is still moving forward on its plans for a camp and conference center on Gant Hollow Road and is now studying environmental issues related to creating a man-made lake on the property.

In February, when officials of the South Central Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church appeared before a meeting of Bedford County Planning Commission, they described the camp as potentially a $20 million project. They said that by the time a feasibility study had been completed, the church would have already spent $1 million on it.

That feasibility study was supposed to have been completed in August. Eugene Harris, an elder with the church, said on Wednesday that church personnel met with zoning officials in August and that the main delay at this point was making sure that a proposed man-made lake on the property would pass environmental muster. An environmental scientist from South Carolina is scheduled to visit the property in the next few weeks, said Harris.

"We're moving forward with our plan," said Harris, who plans to make a final presentation on the project to church officials in December. At that point, a two-year plan for funding the project would be adopted.

The first stage of the project would be a youth retreat, and Harris said the lake would be essential to make the site attractive for that purpose.

"Water is the drawing card," he said. "You've got to have water."