The cost to design a riverwalk from the Paper Mill Playhouse to Essex Street in the downtown Millburn area will determine if the Township Committee gets involved with the project.

The committee voted to seek proposals for designs for the riverwalk during its meeting on Tuesday night. The construction of the riverwalk would be funded by a federal grant, but the grant does not cover engineering and design costs.

Necessary approvals from state officials have been secured, said Daniel Baer, the committee member who reported on the project, and the next step is to determine if township officials are interested in moving forward.

The Downtown Millburn Development Alliance secured a $600,000 federal grant for the project, but some of the money was diverted to Hurricane Katrina funding so the grant now stands at $540,000, said Harold Klein, DMDA executive director.

DMDA officials have not determined if there is an expiration on the grant, he said, but they have been told similar grants have never been rescinded by federal officials.

Baer said the request for proposals to determine engineering and design costs would help township committee officials determine if they should move forward with the project.

"We have no obligation to award (the contract)," he said.

Klein said the plan does not actually have a walk on the banks of the river because it proved to be too expensive and require too many environmental permits.

Instead, he said, the plan is to expand the sidewalk from the Paper Mill Playhouse to Essex Street in the downtown area. It would have better sidewalks and lighting, he said, while improving the pedestrian traffic flow. The project would create a safer path for pedestrians, he said.

"We asked the town for (the engineering costs) because (the riverwalk) is not just a benefit to us," he said. "It's a benefit to the whole town."

The DMDA has a limited budget and cannot afford to fund the engineering costs, Klein said.