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Highlands Today

Consultant Suggests AP Soccer Field Is Unsafe

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: November 29, 2007

AVON PARK — A hired consultant has called the soccer field near Memorial Field a "liability" to the city and recomended it should be overhalued. The city council, meanwhile, was reluctant to close it and instead ordered City Manager C.B. Shirey to "evaluate" the field by Wednesday.

Dan Morgan, an agronomist from Lithia who was hired by the city to examine all of its parks, said it was overused, while its current condition creates a safety hazard. The park system in general also had problems.

"The potential for injury is good," Morgan said. Though he said he wasn't exactly suggesting it should be shut down entirely, he said, "they need to shut it down and rennovate it."

Shirey said that he would consider "interim measures" on the soccer field if necessary, which could include patching pot holes and making temporary repairs. Shirey did not anticipate closing the field altogether in the immediate future, but he was still examining the field by press time.

"The soccer field is being close to being unsafe to play on," he said at the meeting.

Mayor Sharon Schuler said the city's budget was set for the year, so any major rehabilitation of the field would have to be done next year.

Ray Devlin, a member of the recreation board, thought the field needed more than repairs.

"That field is in horrible shape," he acknowledged. "I'm not for kicking off the leagues (using the field), but I think it needs to be pushed and completely redone."

The field hosts two soccer leagues. One of them, the Aztec Football League, begins its season on Sunday.

Marino Gomez, the head organizer for the league, said he learned beforehand that the city was considering closing the soccer field because of the safety issues. The league, consisting mostly of adult migrant workers, pays $1,000 a season for its 10 teams to play soccer games all day Sunday. Its teams consist of players from all over the region.

"If I got 10 teams ready go to, I don't want them to shut us down in the middle of the season," he said.

Morgan made the suggestion earlier in his study to the city's recreation board to close the field. Councilwoman Brenda Gray brought it up Tuesday and Morgan compared it to a similar situation he dealt with in Hillsborough County's school system.

"The field was so bad it was becoming a safety issue," Morgan said.

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