The city of Del Rey Oaks is looking to invest $177,000 of grant money to upgrade its parks.

It’s been a long time coming: Del Rey Oaks is finally giving some love to Del Rey Park – the only developed park in the city – but is finding that, amid supply chain constraints and inflation, money doesn’t stretch as far as it used to.

On Wednesday, Dec. 8, after the Weekly went to print, the city’s Parks and Recreation Committee met to discuss how to spend $177,000 of non-competitive state grant money made available by Proposition 68, which voters passed in 2018 to fund city and rural parks across the state.

This comes after the committee met Dec. 1 and received an unwelcome surprise: A contractor’s estimate to build an ADA-compliant path from the parking spots at the end of Angelus Way to a new play structure came in at around $42,000, more than four times higher than what the committee expected. And with the new play structure and rubber matting around it (which will replace the existing sandbox) estimated to cost around $130,000, there’s not much money left for anything else.

Ron Fucci, director of public works for Del Rey Oaks, says everything just costs more right now, but adds that providing equal access is a must – not only is it a priority for the city, but required under Prop 68.

Mayor Alison Kerr, who serves on the Parks and Rec Committee, says its members were also hoping to resurface the tennis courts at Work Memorial Park (and stripe them for pickleball; see story p. 24), construct bocce ball courts and add benches and lighting.

The committee’s recommendations for which projects to fund will come to City Council on Dec. 14, so the city can get its application into the state before the grant cycle passes at the end of the year.