Friday, January 23, 2009

Blog #3 - Rain is Welcomed

It is great to see the rain coming down. It is much needed and is not coming down too hard to cause any problems.

The forecast is predicting more rain through the middle of next week. Please be sure to remove leaves from your roof gutters and drains. Our public works staff has cleaned the storm drains throughout the Town. If you see any public storm drains that are plugged up please call Public Works at 453-2587.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Blog #2 - Council Action from January 14, 2009 Town Council Meeting

· Mayor David Weinsoff announced vacancies on various Town Committees and Commissions.

· The Council interviewed and appointed Mallory Geitheim to the Design Review Board for a full three year term ending January 31, 2012.

· The Mayor presented a resolution to Police Chief Ken Hughes for 30 years of exemplary service to the Town as a sworn officer and Police Chief. Police Chief Ken Hughes has been with the Town for more than 37 years.

· Acting Planning and Building Services Director Larry Kennings gave a presentation to the Council on what a Site Specific Plan is and where its application may be beneficial to the Town. The Council directed staff to bring the issue back to the February 4th Council meeting for further discussion of where a site specific plan may work in Fairfax.

· Council adopted Resolution 09-03 to approve an agreement with W-Trans for the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program Parkade Circulation Study.

· Council adopted Resolution 09-05 expressing gratitude and support for the Marin Stables and Trails

· Council joined over 400 communities nationwide in endorsing the “Empowering Local Government Climate Action: Blueprint for President Obama and the 111th Congress”. The endorsement includes encouraging the federal government to enact a national climate policy, an economic recovery policy that creates green jobs and implement clean energy policies that reduce energy use by 30 percent by 2025 and provide for 25 percent of the nation’s power come from renewable energy by 2025.

· The Council conducted a first reading and public hearing of Ordinance 737 Reenacting the Second Unit Amnesty Program for a One-Year period. The Council will conduct a second reading and consider adopting the Ordinance at the February 4th Council Meeting.

· The Council adopted Resolution 09-07 approving a garbage and recycling service rate increase beginning April 1, 2009. The rate will go from $18.20/month to $21.84/month in the flat areas. Residents can opt to have a smaller 20-gallon container and reduce their bill by the same amount of the rate increase. The increase covers the cost of new dual sort carts that will be rolled out to customers in April or May. There has only been one small rate increase in Fairfax in the last eight years and that increase was to add a fee to the bill for a road impact fee.

· The Council voted to approve a request from Council Member Maggiore to be excused from Town Council Meetings through March 25, 2009 due to a health condition.

· The Council heard from the Shared Services Committee (Members Brandborg and Tremaine) and from the Police Chief regarding the possible consolidation of police dispatch services for the Towns of Fairfax and San Anselmo. The Council directed staff on a 3-1 vote to do nothing further on the consolidation of police dispatch services. Mayor Weinsoff dissented. The 24 hour dispatch operation at Town Hall will remain as is.

· The Council appointed Vice Mayor Tremaine as the Town representative on the Marin Energy Authority Board of Director’s. They also appointed Council Member Bragman as the alternate.

· The Council adopted Resolution 09-12 approving construction of a pedestrian and bicycle parking bulb-out on Broadway near Scoops Ice Cream Shop.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Blog #1 - Update on FEMA Projects

Happy New Year to all! I will re-number my blogs each new year. My goal is to write about 50 blogs per year. I fell a little short of that in 2008. It was quite a busy year. Many of you may be wondering what is going on with the FEMA projects the Town requested more than two and a half years ago. Well, here are some answers:

As you may recall, the Town identified a number of projects to be funded by FEMA after the December 31, 2005 floods. Town staff have been working with FEMA and state officials since the beginning of 2006 to have critical repairs funded. Here is an update of the status of the final outstanding projects:

Creek Road Bridge –The project is complete. The bridge reopened December 1, 2008. The bridge was stabilized with the installation of five 6" pipe piles 55'deep. The cost of this project was $409,000.

Glen Dr CulvertThis project was finally approved by FEMA for $112,000. This project involves replacing part of the pipe and improving the culvert that runs under Sir Francis Drake to Glen Drive. Construction will start after July 15, 2009.

Peri Park Pedestrian Bridge – This project was finally approved for $126,000. We are moving forward on acquiring all necessary environmental permitting. This project involves replacing the bridge that collapsed during the December 31, 2005 flood event. Construction will start after July 15, 2009.

Tennis Courts – This project was finally approved for $427,000. This project involves stabilizing the bank in an environmentally sensitive way so that the Tennis Courts do not slough into the creek. Construction will start after July 15, 2009.

Cascade Dr Culvert – This project is funded for $6,241 to cover only the placement of rip rap. The Town requested $100,000 to cover the culvert replacement, road repaving, environmental permits, and biologic assessment. The Town has appealed the decision to only fund the rip rap.

Pastori Outfall Pipe – This project was finally funded for $55,000. This project involves replacing the existing outfall pipe and installing a new larger pipe to accommodate the new 48 inch storm drain pipe that is being installed on Pastori Ave. Construction on the outfall pipe may begin after July 15, 2009.

The total dollar amount of these 6 projects is: $1,135,241. The five remaining projects will be under construction this summer.

Nearly all of the credit goes to Town staffer Yvonne Roberts, Management Analyst, who has worked tirelessly to get FEMA to fund these projects at the appropriate level. Had she not been very persistent and read the FEMA letters carefully we could have ended up with considerably less money or no project to construct. Thank You Yvonne!