Costa Mesa

Marina Funds Sought:Just inside the east bank of the Santa Ana River mouth lies a 1,000-acre lowland, south of 19th Street in Costa Mesa. Its abundance of wildlife makes it a virtual paradise to environmentalists. It’s also the site where a recent $9,500 city-commissioned study found that transforming the vacant area into a marina would have a positive economic effect. The study and other documents in support of such a plan will be presented to Congress by city officials when they travel to Washington, D.C., Thursday to try to win $250,000 for a feasibility study. If the funds are denied, as they have been in past years, Assistant City Manager Allan Roeder will seek a waiver from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would allow the $250,000 to be raised locally, a city planner said.