Edgecomb is looking for a recreation area to replace abandoned tennis courts

Edgecomb is seeking to replace its former municipal tennis court as a condition of meeting federal guidelines for the 1974 grant. As part of a Land Water Conservation Program grant, Edgecomb received funds to build one tennis court on the former Eddy Schools area on Cross Point Road.

For the past three years, the city has been working with the state, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Forestry to find an acceptable alternative outdoor activity, but finding an acceptable one has not been easy.

In 2004, the city sold the former Eddy School property for $ 1 to the Lincoln County Elder Care Network. A place called Edgecomb Green offers affordable retirement homes. The former municipal tennis court was in the former school and could not be used for years before the sale.

In 2011, a state audit found that Edgecomb had violated the terms of the grant. In selling the property, Edgecomb did not provide the required public access and maintenance of the property, according to the state Department of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Forestry.

In 1974, Edgecomb received $ 5,600 in federal funds to build a tennis court on 2.8 acres. And since the city handed over the property, the city cannot renovate the court. The grant also prohibits Edgecomb from repaying the grant for either $ 1974 or $ 2,021. They were required to find a suitable replacement, Smith said at a board meeting on Oct. 4. The rules are pretty strict. We need to replace it with another equivalent or greater outdoor option.

One option is a donation of 13 acres to create a new recreational route. The electors will discuss this option and others with Schmid Preserve Chairman Lisa McSwain at the October 18 selection meeting.

Finding a suitable recreational location is not Edgecomb’s only challenge. Federal guidelines require a Class A audit to determine if the property is equivalent to a tennis court.

The state must inspect the location and the assessment could cost $ 8,000 to $ 10,000, Smith said.

If the city can’t find a suitable replacement, it won’t qualify for future federal grants, according to Beck. Dawn Murray, Chairman of the Board, is the first year to be elected. He was confused about how complicated and rigid the compensation process is. It’s very frustrating, he said. We gave the property in green dollars to provide assisted housing for our seniors. It is not that we have made money from this.