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Ball field parking lot full of 'it'

Fill 'er up
Fill material dredged from Holmes Beach canals for the city's ongoing canal-dredging program now occupies most of the parking lot at the Birdie Tebbetts Field in Holmes Beach. Patrons of the field can expect the lot to be "full" for several months at the least, according to public works director Joe Duennes.

Patrons of the Birdie Tebbetts Field in Holmes Beach and the adjacent soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts might want to plan on finding an alternative parking spot rather than the lot on the east side of the ball field by the basketball court - at least for the foreseeable future.

The parking lot is being used as the dumping ground for the fill material being dredged by Millmac Inc. as part of the city's on-going canal-dredging program. Only a few parking spots are still available.

Public works director Joe Duennes said this is the normal staging area for fill material and the location has been used in previous canal dredging efforts for the city.

While Millmac's current contract calls for completion of canal dredging by Sept. 30, the company might be back within a week after that date. Another contract for $400,000 worth of dredging of about four-and-half canals is in the proposed 2006-07 city budget that commissioners have yet to approve. Mellmac's present effort involves only one-and-a-half canals.

Duennes said the fill material is dumped in the parking lot until it's dry, then sold to companies needing fill and then trucked away.