Linn supervisors still backing Prospect Meadows Ball Fields project

The Linn County Board of Supervisors reaffirmed its commitment to the Prospect Meadows Ball Fields project this week when it extended the time for the 17-ballfield complex to start the project on 121 acres of leased county land at County Home Road and Highway 13.

The supervisors' lease agreement with the non-profit Prospect Meadows Inc., which was signed in February 2012, anticipated that the project would begin on April 1, 2013. Fundraising for the $9.4 million project is continuing, so the supervisors this week extended the project-start requirement until June 1, 2014.

Jack Roeder, president of Prospect Meadows Inc., said this week that the organization plans to seek a state Community Attraction & Tourism program grant and a state transportation grant, both processes which he said won't be complete until later this year.

The project intends to raise $4.2 million in private donations and $5.2 million in state and local public funds.

The Board of Supervisors has agreed to lease the 121-site to the project for $1 a year for 20 years, with three 25-year options. In addition, the supervisors spent $20,000 in 2011 for a project feasibility study. The board also is permitting the proceeds from current crop production on the future ball field site to go to Prospect Meadows. The crop payment was about $53,000 in 2012, and a similar payment is expected in 2013, Roeder said.

John Harris, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said this week that the supervisors have supported the ball field project from the start and do so now. The project will provide new recreational opportunities as well as an economic development boost to the county, he said.

"This is exactly the kind of community partnership Linn County is proud to be involved in and to support," Harris said.

Last month, the city of Marion, which is near the project site,

agreed to contribute $750,000 to the project in payments over five years. Last week, the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency board

signaled that it would contribute $50,000 to the project. The agency's Site 2 landfill is across Highway 13 from the project site.