Portola Valley: Creek restoration campaign raises $286,000; aims for more

Backers of a plan to uncover a 280-foot stretch of Sausal Creek in Portola Valley's Town Center have $286,000 in donations and are hoping for more after a fundraising party attended by about 100 people was held Nov. 11 in a barn at the home of Mary Hufty and Daniel Alegria.

The campaign has an immediate goal of $800,000, said resident Danna Breen, who is helping to coordinate the effort. "I'm guarded and I'm hopeful," she told the Almanac.

In keeping with the environmentally correct idea of freeing part of a long-buried creek from its culvert, the food at the party kept CO2 emissions to a minimum, said Councilwoman Maryann Moise Derwin.

The apples for the pies were from Portola Valley, as were the figs, the homemade bread and pumpkins for the soup, Ms. Derwin said. Also included: baguettes from Woodside, beer and cheese from the Bay Area, and nuts from the Central Valley. Everyone left with a bag of California poppy seeds and a remittance envelope.

The creek daylighting would become an element of the largely donor-funded $20 million project to build a new Town Hall, library and community hall, but the $800,000 to $1 million needed to open the creek is being sought separately.

The Town Council voted 3-1-1 on Sept. 12 to get the ball rolling with an outlay of $400,000 from the general fund to design a bed for the north-flowing creek after it passes from under the baseball field.

Councilman Steve Toben voted against the outlay, arguing that it wasn't prudent to assume that donors would come forward. Councilman Ed Davis liked the idea but abstained; the timing added undue risk to the overall project, he said.

Donations to the project are tax deductible, Ms. Breen said. Checks should be made payable to the town of Portola Valley with the words "for the creek" in the information line.