Montebello staff told the Parks and Recreation Commission on Oct. 16 that the city has submitted a matching grant application for a playground replacement at City Park North and will pursue a competitive county grant that could fund a multi‑use trail and other improvements at Reggie Park.

Lori Aguilar, senior analyst for the department, said the GameTime playground grant applied for earlier that day is a matching‑funds program. "We get up to $75,000, in a match," Aguilar said, and the playground the city identified for replacement costs about $140,000. Aguilar said the city’s portion of the match would come from the Los Angeles County Regional Parks District Measure A annual allocation (the city’s allocation is about $200,000 per year), not from the general fund.

Separately, staff said the city will apply by Oct. 30 for the LA County RPUSD Regional Recreational Multi‑Use Trails and Accessibility Grant, which allows applicants to seek up to $4 million for projects that acquire, develop, improve or rehabilitate regional recreational facilities, trails and accessibility features. Staff described Reggie Park as a strong candidate because project plans would connect neighborhoods to the Rio Hondo riverbed and to an existing trail the city maintains.

Veronica Ramirez, assistant director of Recreation and Community Services, said the items proposed for Reggie Park mirror elements of the city’s park master plan adopted about four years ago. "The trail and all these amenities are actually already called on that," Ramirez said. If awarded, project elements listed by staff include a walking/multi‑use trail to improve connectivity to the riverbed, trail lighting, restroom renovation, renovation or replacement of baseball and soccer fields, and installation of multipurpose sports courts.

Staff said the Reggie Park application emphasizes connectivity between neighborhoods (named in staff remarks as Bluff Road, Fourth Street and adjacent streets) and the Rio Hondo riverbed. The application deadline is Oct. 30. Staff did not provide a construction timeline or a final project budget beyond the grant maximum; the city said it intends to use its previously developed park master plan as the basis for project scope and priorities.

Commissioners asked whether project design and construction depend on winning the grant; staff replied the park master plan already identifies the improvements and that the grant would fund bringing those elements to fruition. No vote or commitment of local matching dollars beyond the Measure A allocation was recorded at the meeting.