City receives $112K in grants, rejects project bids

By Bianca Kaplanek DEL MAR — Council members

at the May 18 meeting accepted grants for two projects and rejected all bids for another one.

The Friends of the San Dieguito River Valley donated $5,000 for the River Path Del Mar extension, a quarter-mile stretch of land between San Dieguito Drive and the lagoon that is part of one segment of a seven-mile hiking trail around the city’s perimeter.

The addition will advance the path east from Jimmy Durante Boulevard to the Old Grand Avenue Bridge viewpoint and bring the scenic loop trail one step closer to a future connection at the Crest Canyon segment.

It is a joint project between the city and the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy for an estimated cost of $475,000, which includes design, entitlements and easement acquisition, construction and environmental review and mitigation.

With a $150,000 grant from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program facilitated by County Supervisor Dave Roberts, more than half of the funding has been committed.

REI, the outdoor retail company, announced May 26 that it is donating $7,000 to the extension effort as well, leaving a funding gap of approximately $210,000.

Speaking on behalf of The Friends of the San Dieguito River Valley, Freda Reid said the idea for the path was conceived many years ago by the city’s lagoon committee.

Volunteers started by removing ice plant from land in front of the Public Works Department.

“We were impatient to get going and we had strong backs at that time,” she said. “So we made an effort to get started.

“There’s been a lot of effort over maybe the last 15 years to connect these spots and to produce a continuous River Path Del Mar,” Reid added. “We’re eager to see the current plans come to fruition as soon as possible, though the cost and the required permits were a major surprise to us.”

Reid said her group is hoping the donation will “speed the con- clusion of the efforts of all these people that helped along the way.”

“I just wish we could add more zeros to the check,” she said.

The city also accepted a $100,000 grant award for sealevel-rise planning. The funding came from the Ocean Protection Council, with the California Coastal Commission designated