Tomorrow night the Salinas City Council is scheduled to approve an agreement with Monterey County outlining a land swap that will advance plans for a regional soccer complex.

Mayor Dennis Donohue and Board of Supervisors Chairman Supervisor Salinas said Thursday that a deal was near so that the Salinas Regional Sports Authority can pursue state funding for the soccer complex, which would be located on county-owned land on Constitutional Boulevard. 

COPA is calling for the council to approve the land transfer, which would allow the city to lease 42 acres for the construction of 11 additional soccer fields.

"After hundreds of conversations with families, soccer coaches, kids and church leaders, COPA has succeeded in bringing the community of Salinas together behind a positive and powerful antidote to gang violence," said Alfred Diaz-Infante, executive director of CHISPA and a COPA leader, in a prepared statement. "We call on the City Council to take the first step to formalize this agreement at Tuesday’s Council meeting."