The city of Lebanon will receive more than $1 million in grant money to purchase land for parks, and is awaiting notice on a third grant.

City officials were notified July 18 that it had been awarded two grants from the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). A third grant is pending federal approval.

One grant, in the amount of $1 million, will be used to purchase land on the south shore of Cheadle Lake. The other, for $50,000, will help the city pay for a small parcel at the northeast corner of the lake.

Both properties are in the the city's Cheadle Lake Master Plan and are part of future improvements at the lake, which is owned by the city.

Local matching funds were provided by park funds and donations of property.

The larger grant will help the city buy 9.07 acres of a 10.21-acre parcel adjacent to Cheadle Lake and near Weirich Road and Highway 20. The sellers, Cheadle Lake LLC, donated the remaining 1.14 acres.

The land is designed to be the primary public access point to the lake. It does not touch the park further southeast that is being developed by the Lebanon Foundation. The Cheadle Lake Master Plan calls for a boat ramp, swimming area, parking lots, support buildings and trails. Sell said the city will have to seek funding for the development of the area. The city hopes to have sufficient, but minimal facilities available to open the property to the public within two years.

The smaller property is 3.3 acres, identified by the city as the spillway property. It was bought by the city this spring from Lebanon Hardboard, LLC, Rece Bly, managing member, for $200,000. City Public Works Director Jim Ruef said in an e-mail in March that the seller donated the difference between the purchase price and the appraised value of $395,000. The land, which is off River Road near where the canal crosses under it, includes a couple of older outbuildings.

The city wants to develop the property with a boat ramp and dock, hopefully by late 2009, said City Maintenance Manager Rod Sell. The land provides a secondary access to the lake at the north end and is the planned location of a major trailhead that will connect to trails from both north and south.

The state allows grant money to be used for property already purchased when a waiver of retroactivity is approved before the purchase, as it was in this case, Sell said.

The pending grant, for $129,000, involves federal money from the Oregon Land and Water Conservation fund. It has passed the state approval process but needs approval from the National Parks Service too. It will go toward the price of the 3.3-acre parcel.

OPRD gives more than $4 million annually to Oregon communities for outdoor recreation projects. The money is from voter-awarded Lottery money.

For more information on the grants, visit the City of Lebanon's website at www.ci.lebanon.or.us or the OPRD web site at http://egov.oregon.gov/OPRD/GRANTS/index.shtml