A massive fuel spill from 30 years ago will finally be cleaned up.

Lake County Commissioners on approved a deal to pay for the cleanup without raising taxes.

Lake Idamere is a serene lake in Astatula surrounded by homes with a park, playground and a pier for fishing.

"It's not just the fish but people love to come here and hang out with children," said Alex Carson, who was walking back from the park's fishing pier.

But the popular spot could be in danger because of a 20,000-gallon fuel spill at the nearby refueling facility for county vehicles.

The spill was discovered back in 1999.

Jim Stivender, Lake County’s public works director, estimates it happened soon after the facility was built 30 years ago.

The county pays $125,000 a year for recovery wells between the facility and the lake, which have done little to curb the problem.

"The perimeter wells are picking up 100 gallons at a time, not 20,000 gallons," Stivender said.

A permanent solution would be to siphon the fuel out of the ground. But that’s an upfront cost of $500,000 and would cost a total of $2.5 million over the next 10 years to be completed.

The remediation was part of an 18 percent property tax increase initially proposed by the County Commission.

"I'm trying not to have a tax increase, but this is one expenditure that if continuously put off, we are starting to risk the water quality and health of residents who live nearby," Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks said in an interview last week. "And that's just something I don’t want to do."

Parks cast the deciding vote at Tuesday's meeting to use solid waste reserve funding instead of new tax dollars to pay for the cleanup. He said it's a dangerous path for the county that could eventually lead to no funding for hazardous waste programs or service centers.

But Stivender said there was simply no time left to wait.

"It's not getting into any potable water, but you just don't want this kind of stuff in your groundwater," he said.

The county's latest proposal trims $5.8 million from the budget and would lead to an 11 percent increase in property taxes.

Other budget items cut include courthouse renovations and a planned park in south Lake County, near Groveland.