WEDDINGTON — The state has imposed a deadline on county and Weddington officials to reconfigure Optimist Park.

The N.C. Division of Emergency Management mandated that a plan to mitigate flooding on and around the Wesley Chapel Weddington Athletic Association’s Optimist Park be submitted by the end of October.

If a plan is approved and enough dirt is moved or removed, the park could end a dispute that has simmered since 2005, when neighbors claimed that park renovations had impacted a floodplain and affected water runoff on their properties.

Weddington Mayor Nancy Anderson and County Manager Al Greene both said a plan would be hashed out in the appropriate time frame and were happy to see the flooding issue nearing a close.

“We have a desire to reach that goal with minimal disturbance of the park,” Anderson said.

Greene said he did not yet know what the full solution would entail, but said he would make the plan public as soon as county engineers finish it later this month.

The dispute started when property owners surrounding the park complained that flooding on their property was because of too much fill dirt added at the fields. Park officials long contended that they did not add dirt in the floodplain and were within their rights throughout park construction. When Weddington annexed land that included the park, the county said town officials took over jurisdiction, but the Weddington Town Council said it was still up to the county to make a ruling.

Weddington and Union County signed an inter-local agreement and will see the park dispute together to the end. The agreement has been updated to reflect the state’s mandate.