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Highlands Today

Community Support Makes Lake Placid Fields Possible

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By Bill Rettew Jr. | Highlands Today

Published: December 18, 2007

LAKE PLACID — Seems like everybody is stepping up to the plate and making five new playing fields at Lake June Park and Sports Complex a reality.

The town is considering building three multi-purpose ballfields for both soccer and football players, along with fields for softball and T-ball.

The proposed fields, at 933 Jackson Road, will complement three existing fields for soccer, four for baseball and one for softball, at the 50-acre complex. Plans include new playground equipment, concession stands and paved parking.

On Tuesday, county commissioners voted to chip in $57,000 in in-kind support.

Three Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program (FRDAP) grants are bringing in $600,000 for the project while the town of Lake Placid is pitching in and doing much of the work.

Several local trucking companies have also pledged support to bring in marl soil from the county borrow pit at a cheaper rate.

The businesses are expected to donate their profit margin – and charge $71 per load – to help pay driver's salaries and gasoline costs, said Don Bates, county commissioner.

The job will likely require more than 600 loads of marl, or bog soil –– which is naturally mixed with carbonate of lime, and will be combined with local sugar sand at the site to stabilize a foundation for Bermuda grass.

The truck companies are also expected to donate five loads for every 100 hauled. Some county equipment, including trucks for hauling, rototilling and compacting equipment, will be covered by the county grant.

"It makes it possible for the town to use those fields," said Bates. "It's appropriate that the county participates, since most people who use the fields are from the county and not Lake Placid."

George Russell is a member of the five-member recreation commission, which helped secure much of the funding and requested the trucking companies to donate.

"It's come together very well," said Russell. "The recreation commission did a sound job of getting this started and John (Komasa) has done a great job of putting this together and doing the detail work."

Komasa, who is the town's recreation director, said the project is on schedule to meet a FRDAP grant deadline of April 30, 2008 for two of the $200,000 grants and third $200,000 grant, whose deadline is April 30, 2009.

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