Story Created:
Mar 4, 2010 at 12:08 PM PST
Story Updated:
Mar 4, 2010 at 12:08 PM PST
BELLFLOWER — City officials are seeking a state grant of about $800,000 for phase two of its Riverside Park project and $3 million for a “pocket park” on Eucalyptus Avenue.
The two requests are for funds from Proposition 84, the voter-approved Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of November 2006, officials said.
In a report to the City Council Feb. 22, Public Works Director Deborah Chankin said phase one of the project should start this spring thanks to a $3 million grant from the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountain Conservancy and local funds.
The proposed park is 15 acres of open space which runs along the west bank of the San Gabriel River from Alondra Boulevard and Caruthers Park on the south to Andy’s Nursery near Somerset Boulevard on the north.
Brian Lee, director of community development, said the park will be mostly landscaping, featuring native, drought-resistant plants, with a pedestrian trail, a bike trail and possibly a bench or two.
He noted that 11 of the 15 acres are occupied by Southern California Edison transmission lines. Bellflower owns the other four acres.
Edison will lease its 11-acre property underneath the lines to Bellflower for $500 per acre per year or about $5,500 annually, City Manager Mike Egan said.
Chankin said phase two will consists of installing irrigation, a botanical garden, a picnic area, a resting area, shade structures, a pedestrian bridge and a dry creek bed.
Lee said the pocket park is planned on the southeast corner of Alondra Boulevard and Eucalyptus Avenue, offering an open space in the heavily apartment area.
Proposed are benches, picnic tables, a small community office and a community garden.
However, negotiations with the property owner are still under way, Lee noted in a report Feb. 22.
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