This week, the Auburn City Council told Mayor Nancy Backus to go ahead and make changes to grant applications it submitted last spring to the state office that holds the key to two outdoor projects.

The Outdoor Recreation and Conservation Office or RCO, which authorizes funding to protect and improve Washington’s natural and outdoor recreation resources, had asked for the changes.

If the state is satisfied, Auburn will move closer to realizing the Jacobsen Tree Farm project on Lea Hill, and to tying both ends of the White River Trail Pedestrian Bridge Trail into 5 miles of existing trails at Game Farm Park.

The RCO’s ask was that the city adopt additional grant conditions that concern land acquisition projects, projects involving property that is not owned by an applicant and projects applying for grants in certain other grant categories.

According to city officials, the adoption of the provisions will not affect the grant applications or either project because the city already owns the land in question and it has not applied for grants from any of the named sources.