East Manatee residents protest county's youth baseball field plans

While Manatee County hosted a workshop Aug. 18 at the Lakewood Ranch Library in east Manatee County to discuss three upcoming projects — baseball fields at Country Club East Park, soccer fields at Premier Park and the Cortez Marina Boat Ramp — the baseball fields were the most hotly debated project by far. 

The county plans to convert the current multi-use field at Country Club East Park into three youth baseball fields. The fields will include bleachers, dugouts, backstops, perimeter fencing and expanded parking.