Cities pursuing bond money for parks

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- Newport Beach and Costa Mesa leaders are looking for

ways to spend about $1.4 million in state money for park improvement the

cities are eligible for.

The cities must apply to California State Parks later this year to

receive their share of the $2.6-billion Proposition 40 park bond that

passed March 5.

“We’re the clearinghouse for the money,” said Roy Stearns, spokesman

for the parks agency. “It comes out of the Legislature, through our

budget and ends up with the cities.”

The grant money from Proposition 40, known as the 2002 Resources Bond,

is divided into two pots.

Cities are eligible for “per capita” grants, which are divvied up

based on a city’s population, and forRoberti-Z’Berg-Harris, or RZH, block

grants. The RZH grants are given for urban, low-income areas that need

additional parkland.

Costa Mesa will be eligible for about $515,000 of the per capita

funds. The city will be able to tap into about $310,381 of RZH grant

money. Overall, the city will have access to about $825,381.

Costa Mesa officials haven’t yet identified specific projects that

would be eligible to receive the funds. However, Parks Project Manager

Dave Alkema said there are several efforts to develop parks on the

Westside that could benefit from the money.

“We’ll be working more closely with the Prop. 40 funds in the coming

future,” Alkema said. “We’ll be identifying projects for them.”

Newport Beach officials are further along in the process: They’ve

already tabbed a potential project.

Newport Beach would be eligible for about $365,000 in per capita grant

money and about $220,120 in RZH funds. The city will be able to tap into

about $585,120 in total funds from the bond.

With the money, city officials hope to replace playground equipment at

possibly two parks. Changes in laws that require access for people with

disabilities have led to a push to replace playground equipment at

Newport Beach parks.

Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau said he hoped Newport Beach

would pin down the grant money to pay for new equipment at Cliff Drive

Park and a second park that has not yet been identified.

“The equipment must be accessible to them,” Bludau said. “We’ll

certainly take a hard look at [the funding], because we have some

recreational needs.”