Port St. Joe Receives $271,000 in Parks Grants

The City of Port St. Joe last week officially received checks from the state in the form of parks and recreation grants to enhance two city parks.

The city received two grants worth $135,611 each for Frank Pate Park and Buck Griffin Lake.

The money for Frank Pate Park will be used for renovations for:
• The fishing pier ($10,000);
• Tennis court ($5,000);
• Playground ($55,000);
• Parking ($28,000);
• Restrooms ($27,611);
• Landscaping ($10,000).

The state grant dollars for Buck Griffin Lake will be for the following additions:
• Bike Trail ($34,000);
• Fishing Pier ($24,000);
• Picnic Facilities ($34,000);
• Exercise Trail ($23,611);
• Landscaping ($10,000);
• Lighting ($10,000).

The state parks and recreation grants were awarded to the city during the spring's regular legislative session.

Each individual award was less than in years past due to budget shortfalls at the state level. The state, rather than select a certain number of requests at the typical $200,000 levels as in previous years, instead funded all requests submitted on time at $135,611 each, a cut of just over $64,000 per request.