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DeBary officials say what was first thought to be a sinkhole next to the F-15 fighter jet on display in DeBary’s Memorial Park has been dug out and compacted with new fill dirt.

“There is no sinkhole,” DeBary Parks and Recreation Director Jason Schaitz said.

Rather, the depression in the ground on the west side of the display was actually a sinking of the soil over the decaying wood of trees buried several years ago. The depression showed up earlier this year, when part of the concrete sidewalk by the display began to sink.

The City Council agreed to hire ECS, a geotechnical engineering firm, to confirm the presence of decaying material beneath the surface of the ground.

The council also contracted with All Terrain Tractor Service Inc. to excavate around the depression and remove the buried trees. The excavated site was subsequently compacted with fill dirt, and new sod was placed over it.

The total cost of the project ws $14,200. The city paid $3,300 to ECS, while All Terrain Tractor Service received $10,900.

The F-15 display was set up in 1999 to honor Airman 1st Class Brian McVeigh, a DeBary native who was killed in the June 25, 1996, terrorist bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

The bombing also claimed the lives of 18 other U.S. military personnel and injured many others.

McVeigh was a crew chief for an F-15 fighter of the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base.