LUTZ — Amid the caravan of red, white and blue proclaiming freedom, one float in the Lutz Fourth of July parade was decorated in the name of protest.

Organizers for Tampa BMX took to the streets with their call for Hillsborough County officials to reopen nearby Lake Park, closed since December after a sinkhole opened about a month earlier. About 30 people rode and marched with the float Monday.

The demonstration notwithstanding, it might be the end of the year before county officials unlock the gates again at the 589-acre regional park. That means the attraction would be closed for all of 2016 to the estimated 300,000 people who use it each year.

The sinkhole triggered a disagreement over the lease of the park land that led to longer-term negotiations between operator Hillsborough County and the owner, the city of St. Petersburg. Officials on each side of the discussion hope to sign a new agreement by early fall.

A meeting last week yielded "a lot of constructive dialogue," said Forest Turbiville, director of Hills­borough County's conservation and environmental lands management department. He hopes a new lease can be signed by the end of September and has said the county won't fix the sinkhole until the two sides reach an agreement.

St. Petersburg has leased the land to Hillsborough County for $1 annually since 1984. In recent years, the county started charging a park entry fee and now St. Petersburg is asking for as much as $36,000 annually for rent. St. Petersburg also is interested in prohibiting horseback riding at the park.

Before the park closed, visitors enjoyed features including equestrian and hiking trails, the BMX track and canoe rentals.

Organizers at Tampa BMX, the association that operates the track, used their Fourth of July float to urge that county officials reopen the park, said Steven Smith, track operator.

With the next-closest track about 15 miles away in Oldsmar, Smith said, a new generation of young would-be BMX riders aren't getting the regular experience they enjoyed at Lake Park.

Meantime, Smith said, the group sent a petition to St. Petersburg, held a demonstration at the park, and has monitored the negotiations through Hillsborough County officials.

"I don't think it's a bad thing for us to draw more attention and keep this on the forefront," Smith said.

Turbiville said he's hoping for a compromise on the rental fee St. Petersburg is requesting. City and county officials also are re-negotiating a similar lease for Lake Rogers Park in northwest Hillsborough County, which St. Petersburg has rented the county for $1 a year since the late 1980s.

The lease for 274-acre Lake Rogers Park is set to expire at the end of September, said Gary Cornwell, St. Petersburg city administrator.

The leases, Cornwell said, "were virtually identical and we're trying to keep them similar going forward."

Most of the city-county discussions have centered on Lake Park because it has so many amenities, he said.

Filling the Lake Park sinkhole, Turbiville has said, could cost up to $200,000 and take as long as two months to complete. St. Petersburg has asked the county to pay for the sinkhole fix and any work on future sinkholes at the park.

"I'm very optimistic that we'll be able to work something out in the near future," Turbiville said, "hopefully by the fall of this year."

Turbiville and Cornwell declined to say what provisions a new lease agreement might contain.

"There may be changes," Turbiville said. "There may not."

Contact Samuel Howard at (813)-226-3373 or showard@tampabay.com. Follow @SamuelHHoward.