Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Blog #45 - Special Events in Fairfax on October 31

There are three special events on October 31st:

Chamber of Commerce sponsors Halloween Parade:

The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce is once again sponsoring the "not to be missed" annual Halloween Parade. Meet in front of the Fairfax Theater and walk down Broadway and Bolinas Rd. to Bolinas Park where you will find a Haunted Grove for the children. Glow necklaces and candy for all and Face Painting by Tatyana and Marie Kate by the Fairfax Theater.

Parade starts at 5 PM. This event is not to be missed due to the incredible costumes you can only see in Fairfax!


Good Harvest Festival in Peri Park:

This event takes place from 11-4 PM in Peri Park. There will be live music, pumpkin carving, great foods, Arts and Crafts, games and much more!! There is no admission fee!!

Halloween Ball at Pavilion:

For Halloween come to Fairfax for the most fun and excitement. THE FAIRFAX HALLOWEEN BALL is for adults over the age of 18 years, enjoy and dance to live bands: THE FOUR FEAR DROPS and S'CREAM hosted by Lee Presson & Leslie Presley of "Lee Presson and the Nails", with a grand costume contest with CASH awards at the Fairfax Pavilion. Tickets are available at the door starting at 7:30 p.m. The event is from 8 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $10. at the door or $8.00 in advance at: www.fairfaxhalloweenball.eventbrite.com

MAIN MUSIC SHOWCASE is sponsored and produced by MARIN ARTISTS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK, a non-profit 501c3 and also produces and presents local Marin Television show, THE MARIN ARTISTS SHOWCASE. In Marin tune in to Marin Cable Channel (Community Media Center of Marin) #26, on Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m.

Marin Artists International Network (MAIN) is not a membership organization and has a Board of Directors. We welcome volunteers to help us with our fundraisers and our programs. We use 60 volunteers for our big fundraiser at the Marin County 4th of July Fair, with our "Heart Healthy Gourmet". Please call or e-mail us.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Blog #44 Public Meeting in Larkspur on Doyle Drive

Marin Community Meeting: November 2, 2009

Learn More about Construction which will Begin in November 2009

After years of intensive regional coordination, environmental reviews and careful planning, construction of the Presidio Parkway, the Doyle Drive replacement, will begin more than a year ahead of schedule, thanks to $50 million in federal stimulus funding. As a result, the region will receive a safer roadway sooner, as well as many new jobs for Bay Area workers. Construction of the Presidio Parkway will begin in November 2009 with substantial project completion expected in 2013. 

You are invited to a community meeting to learn more about construction of the Presidio Parkway. Join the Doyle Drive Replacement Project Team:

When: Monday, November 2, 2009 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Where: Redwood High School, Cafeteria, 395 Doherty Dr., Larkspur, CA 94939

Meeting Agenda:

Open House 6:00-6:15

Presentation 6:15-6:45

Resume Open House 6:45-7:30

About the Doyle Drive Replacement Project

Doyle Drive is structurally deficient and must be replaced; the new roadway is being re-envisioned as the Presidio Parkway-a roadway tucked into the natural contours of the Presidio of San Francisco and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the nation’s largest urban parks.

Visit www.presidioparkway.org to learn more.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Blog #43 - Town Settles Labor Agreements

The Town Council settled all three labor agreements at the Town Council meeting on October 7, 2009. Please see the attached press release detailing the terms and conditions of all three labor
agreements:


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Blog #42 - Broadway Video Store Closure

As many of you may know, Broadway Video Store at 711 Center Blvd. (Fair Anslem Center) closed its doors on Monday, October 12, 2009 due to the owner, George Bianchini deciding to close due to a report he received from Environmental Resource Group stating that there are high levels of PCE (perchloroethylene) which is used in the dry cleaning business. The dry cleaning business next door to Broadway Video no longer uses the active ingredient in PCE as of January of this year. This is a voluntary closure by the owner of Broadway Video. It is unknown when the video store may re-open.

The report from Environmental Resource Group was commissioned by Mr. Bianchini. Environmental Resource Group was clear in their report that,

"...definition and evaluation of environmental conditions is difficult and inexact science. Judgments leading to conclusions are generally made with incomplete knowledge of the conditions present. More extensive studies can reduce the inherent uncertainties. The soil-gas sampling performed for this investigation was performed for preliminary screening purposes. More accurate and confirmation sampling would be needed for risk assessment purposes."


The Marin County Environmental Health Department is investigating the situation. After they review the report written by Environmental Resource Group and visit the site they may determine that confirmation sampling is needed.

A clean bill of health was issued after the 2001 clean up of PCE at the Fair Anselm site. All of the other businesses in Fair Anselm are open.

Industrial Hygienist, Paul Spillane has stated that the levels of PCE at the site are "unlikely to be harmful to customers or casual visitors." and he went on to state that, "the percentages in the report refer to long-term exposure levels and this is not an immediate health hazard".

PCE is legal and is used by both the film and dry cleaning business. PCE is being phased out in the dry cleaning business as new technologies are available and are non toxic.

As of the posting of this blog no federal, state or local agency has evaluated the site. County Environmental Health will have more information soon. The Independent Journal published an article on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 related to the video store.


I will update this blog as new information becomes available.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Blog #41 - Winter Season Preparations

The forecast is predicting more rain through the end of tomorrow. Please be sure to remove leaves from your roof gutters and drains. Our public works staff has cleaned the storm drains throughout Town. There may be temporary back ups of the storm drain systems because of the intensity of this storm system.

If you see any public storm drains that are plugged up please call Public Works at 453-2587. In case of power failures it is a good idea to have a little extra food and bottled water in the winter months.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Blog #40 Town Council Actions from October 7, 2009 Meeting

The Town Council met for more than three hours yesterday and took the following actions:

1. Appointed Monty Stephens to serve on the Park and Recreation Commission for a full four year term to October 31, 2013.

2. Congratulated Fairfax residents and high school athletes Sven Beer, Tommy Breeze, Mitch Calder, Lauren Catlin, Nick Dommen and Riley Predum for qualifying and competing in the 2009 National Mountain Bike Championships in Colorado.

3. Honored 19 Broadway for all of their contributions to the Town on their 25th anniversary in Fairfax and announced their Grand Re-opening.

4. Heard a presentation from Dawn Weisz, Interim Director of the Marin Energy Authority (MEA) regarding the potential vendors that are bidding to supply power to the MEA.

5. Authorized the Town Manager to sign a contract with the Marin Conservation Corps for the construction of a pathway with grant funding at Deer Park School.

6. Adopted a Resolution approving the Memorandum of Understanding with the Fairfax Police Officers Association, the Fairfax Management Unit, and SEIU Local 1021. All three MOUs have no cost-of-living adjustment through June 30, 2010 and institute a two-tiered retirement system which will save the Town an average of over $13,000 per year per each new hire. Both the Management Unit and SEIU agreed to having employees pay a portion of their retirement contributions. The Town thanks all the staff for bargaining in good faith and understanding the need for these structural changes that will begin the process of creating a long term sustainable Town budget.

7. The Council agreed to close Town Hall December 21-23. December 24-25 are holidays and Town Hall will be closed both of these days as well.

8. The Council agreed to hold the January 2010 Council Meeting on January 13th instead of the traditional first Wednesday of January due to the New Year’s Day Holiday.

9. The Council agreed to not renew the Management Analyst-Limited Term position. This will save the Town $70,000 for the rest of this fiscal year including the $40,000 the Council authorized to continue to work with FEMA on reimbursements for the December 31, 2005 floods, pursue new grants and implement two grants awarded this year.

10. Adopted Ordinance 746 amending chapters 12.36 and 12.40 of the Fairfax Town Code regarding regulations for parks, playgrounds, tennis courts and the central ball field.

11. Approved a “Town Fire Forum” in partnership with the Ross Valley Fire Department to discuss with the community defensible space, fire sprinklers, and fire hydrant upgrade costs. Stay tuned for more information on when the “Town Fire Forum” will take place.

12. Adopted a resolution setting guidelines for all Town Council appointed commissions, committees, and boards.

13. The Council agreed to hold a Special Council Meeting on November 30, 2009 to seat the newly elected Town Council.


The next Regular Town Council meeting is November 4, 2009. Election Day is November 3rd.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Blog #39 - Council Meeting Tomorrow, October 7th

The Town Council will meet tomorrow night at 7:30 pm at the Women's Club on 46 Park Drive on a number of important issues including:

1. Appointing a candidate to the Parks and Recreation Commission
2. Honoring 19 Broadway for their 25 years of service to the community and for their Grand Re-opening
3. Approving labor agreements which covers all employees of the Town.
4. Hearing a presentation by Dawn Weisz regarding the process for selecting a vendor to provide an energy supply to the Marin Energy Authority.

You can view the agenda on line at www.townoffairfax.org. Once you reach the home page for the Town click on the Government drop down and then Town Council. The Town web site is being repaired each week. Right now you can get the Town Council meeting agenda from the web site. In the next several weeks we will have all of the drop down sites working. We apologize for this inconvenience. When completed the web site will have much more information for the public to access, including the Town Budget, monthly agendas for all public meetings, information about each department, information about capital projects, the Town Code, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report, and much more.