Fairfax Town Manager's Blog

Blog #3 Free Homeowner Workshop on Making Your Home More Energy Efficient

2012-01-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

You are invited to the following event:
Is your house leaking energy and money?
A Free Fairfax Homeowner Workshop

When:
Thursday
February 9, 2012
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Where:
Women’s Club
46 Park Road,
Fairfax, CA 94930

For more info contact:
Napallo Gomez-Somer
(650) 796-4148
napallo@ecoact.org

Learn more:
EnergyUpgradeCA.org

Attention Homeowners:

Did you know that the average California home wastes 30% of heating and cooling energy? Want to fix your home?

Join us for a Community Energy Workshop and learn how to make your home more healthy, comfortable and energy efficient. Find out how your neighbors are taking advantage of rebates up to $4,500 and how you can too!

Featured Presentations:

• Hear from a Fairfax resident who completed a home energy upgrade and received rebates

• Learn from a Participating Contractor how to address comfort and health concerns while lowering energy use in your home

• Speak with an Energy Upgrade California Specialist about how you can save money with rebates up to $4,500

To Register for this workshop go to this web page: http://fairfax-euc.eventbrite.com/

This is sponsored by Energy Upgrade California partnering with Sustainable Fairfax and through the Marin Energy Authority.

For more info and
useful resources
join us on Facebook

Blog #2 Town Council Actions January 11, 2012 Council Meeting

2012-01-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

Fairfax Town Council Releases Plans and Specifications for three capital projects

Plans and Specifications Released for Bid on Pastori Sidewalk, Drake Bike Lane Striping Project and Street Light Energy Efficiency Project

Pastori Sidewalk: This project includes installation of a new sidewalk on Pastori Ave. from Center Blvd. to Sir Francis Drake Blvd on the west side of Pastori Ave. on the side of the street where the new Good Earth Natural Foods store will be located very soon. It will also include natural swales for improved drainage and will preserve all of the liquid amber trees along Pastori Ave. A short retaining wall will be needed to stabilize the sidewalk area and provide the appropriate slope needed for disabled access and drainage.

Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Bike Lane Striping Project: This project consists of restriping Sir Francis Drake Blvd between Olema Road and Claus Drive, including minor shoulder paving and widening in certain areas. Street markings will be painted with Thermoplastic for better visibility and for longevity. Thermoplastic typically will last about six years while conventional paint only one or two years. Markings will include “BIKE LANE”, “PED XING” and “STOP”.

Street Light Energy Efficiency Project: The work entails removing the lamp or post and replacing downtown street lights with energy efficient LED lights. LED lights are about twice as efficient as regular sodium or incandescent lights and thus will last about twice as long and save the Town significant money on energy costs.

Abolishing Corporate Personhood

The Town Council adopted a resolution calling for an amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing corporate personhood. The resolution calls for federal legislators to join tens of thousands of citizens, grassroots organizations and local governments across the country in the “Move to Amend” campaign to call for an Amendment to the United States Constitution to Abolish Corporate Personhood and return our democracy, our elections, our communities back to America’s human persons and thus reclaim our sovereign right to self-governance.

Report from Fire Chief on adding the Town of Ross to the Ross Valley Fire Department Joint Powers Authority

The Town Council received a presentation from Ross Valley Fire Chief Roger Meagor on the possible addition of the Town of Ross as a member of the Ross Valley Fire Department (RVFD). Formal discussions have begun with the Town of Ross and with the RVFD Board of Directors. Many details are being worked on including assets, liabilities and labor issues. There are significant financial savings and improvement of service with the addition of the Town of Ross because it would add another Fire Station to the RVFD and add personnel including paramedics that would enhance service for the whole Ross Valley. Both the Town of Ross and the RVFD are working towards a possible merger by July 1, 2012. There will be much more discussion over the next few months with the Town Council.

Other actions taken at the Town Council January 11, 2012 meeting:

• Appointed Laura Kehrlein to the Planning Commission; Appointed Michael Aaronson to the Marin Commission on Aging; Appointed Bruce Ackerman to the General Plan Implementation Committee; and Appointed Mia Andler to the Open Space Committee.

• Discussed the concept of combining the Design Review Board with the Planning Commission. After a fairly lengthy discussion the Council voted to conduct the first reading of Ordinance 764. A second reading and adoption of the Ordinance is scheduled for February 1, 2012.

• Council conducted a public hearing on how to allocate the proceeds from the refinancing of the 2002 General Obligation Bonds (Measure K Bonds). After a short discussion the Council directed staff to give partial savings to taxpayers and to cash out part of the proceeds for use in future Measure K projects. The Town will receive approximately $220,000 for new capital improvement projects.

• The Council signed a petition urging the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to delay consideration of CPUC President Peevey’s preliminary decision to charge fees to customers who elect to opt out of the SmartMeter program.

• Adopted a resolution urging Congress and the Drug Enforcement Administration to reschedule cannabis as a drug with recognized medical benefits.

• Approved a letter be sent by the Mayor to the Marin County Board of Supervisors and the Marin County Sheriff supporting the right of private ownership of farm animals.

Other notes and announcements:

• Fairfax Food Pantry – Saturdays 9-11AM at the Fairfax Community Church,1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd-Volunteers needed!!

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Vacancy on the Volunteer Board to complete an unexpired term to 12-31-12

• Two vacancies for community members on the newly formed Cittaslow Committee

• Jolly Hill Cleanup – Invasive Plant Eradication is scheduled for Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 9:30 AM sponsored by the Open Space Committee in Cooperation with the “Gift of Love” Countywide Event

The next Town Council meeting will be February 1, 2012 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #1 - Happy New Year!!

2012-01-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Fairfaxians!

What a great start to the new Year. It will be about 64 degrees tomorrow!! Hope all of you had a great holiday season. Looking for a fun activity for you and your kids this weekend? How about starting the New Year with Ice Skating. See details below:

Ice Skating in Fairfax? You bet! Saturday and Sunday, January 7 & 8, 2012

The Pavilion turns into an indoor ice skating rink, courtesy of the Parks & Recreation Commission. The synthetic ice rink is set up for young & old alike! Minimum age to skate is 5 years old. The event runs from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

Skating slots are in 30 minute increments, and the cost is $5 per session. Tickets will be available at the door. Skates are included in the price of the rental. For younger kids, a jumpee house will be on-site. Additionally, baked goods, popcorn, hot cocoa, coffee and other treats will be available for purchase. All proceeds go to fund the event. Hope to see you there! For more information, contact Maria Baird at 456-5652.

Blog # 32 Year in Review- 2011

2011-12-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

The Year in Review – 2011

Another year has gone by in our great Town and you may wonder what has the Town accomplished this year? Certainly there are few dull moments in Fairfax. Here is a list of some of the highlights of 2011 in chronological order:

JANUARY- MARCH 2011

FairBuck Coin Created

Heard a presentation from Polla Pratt and David Bernard regarding FairBuck - a local currency project being sponsored by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Fairfax and the Town of Fairfax. The basic idea is that special coins are minted for use only in a specified area (such as businesses in Fairfax). The coins have a face value of three dollars, and can be used at all participating businesses. Coins kept as souvenirs and not recirculated net slightly less than two dollars in profit which can be used by the sponsors for the local benefit. It is legal and can be a source of much needed funds for the Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Fairfax and the Town.

Short Term Staff Reorganization

The Town Council directed the Town Manager to return on February 2, 2011 with a job specification and salary schedule for a newly created position of Chief Building Inspector/Public Works Manager and a newly created position of Building Inspector/Senior Maintenance Worker. These newly created positions will be filled by existing staff persons to balance the budget. The position of Public Works Director will not be filled. The Town Manager will act as the Public Works Director.

The Council approved resolutions approving an overall financial policy and a reserve policy for the Town.

SMART METER BATTLE

Michael Peevey, Chair of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has asked in a letter the following of PG&E:

“I have asked PG&E to bring to this commission a proposal or a series of proposals that will allow customers with an aversion to wireless devices the option of being metered without the use of wireless technology,” said CPUC President Michael Peevey in a statement before the CPUC’s meeting March 10 in San Francisco, where dozens of people spoke about the health risks associated with the meters. PG&E's proposal is expected within two weeks.

“This is fantastic news,” said Sandi Maurer, founder of the EMF Safety Network, who had previously filed a motion with the CPUC asking for a moratorium on the installation of the meters.

The wireless digital meters have come under fire over the last year because of concerns about accuracy, security, privacy and health effects. The meters use a combination of radio and microwaves to transmit data from the digital meter attached to your house to a transponder on a nearby telephone pole. That data is then transmitted via a cellular mesh network back to PG&E.

Because of concerns primarily focused on the health questions related to electro-magnetic frequencies and radio frequencies, PG&E has said in the past that it was considering developing alternatives, such as wired meters. PG&E has maintained, however, that the meters are safe and meet FCC standards for such devices.

Peevey also said in his statement that PG&E’s proposal for “some form of opt-out for customers who object to these devices” could be achieved at a “reasonable cost” that will be paid for by the customers that choose to opt-out.

Statewide, PG&E has installed over 7.65 million meters, with the goal of installing 10 million gas and electric meters by mid-2012. In Marin, 88,927 electric SmartMeters have been installed and 66,334 gas – as of March 4. That leaves just over 60,000 gas and electric to still be installed.

But, in towns that have been particularly vocal in their opposition the numbers are much lower.

In Fairfax, where PG&E has voluntarily been delaying installation while community meetings attempted to answer residents’ questions, just 67 electric and 217 gas SmartMeters have been installed. The Fairfax Town Council also passed a moratorium on the meters last year, but it has not yet been challenged in court.

APRIL - JUNE 2011

General Plan Implementation Committee Created

Town Council created a General Plan Implementation Committee (GPIC). The GPIC’s charge will be to monitor and facilitate the goals, objectives, policies and programs contained in the 2010 General Plan. The GPIC will meet monthly to review and monitor the proposed timelines contained within the General Plan and to provide or recruit assistance as needed. The GPIC will report to the Town Council quarterly, at least through the first year of implementation after the General Plan is adopted. It is expected that one meeting would be held per month, for approximately two hours in duration.

Volunteers Help Create a Food Bank for the Community

The Fairfax Volunteers have partnered with the Town, the Marin/San Francisco Food Bank and the Fairfax Community Church to provide a Farmers Market style food bank for the community. The Food Bank will provide free groceries including fresh produce, dry goods and USDA surplus foods.

•When: Every Saturday 9-11 AM
•Where: Fairfax Community Church, 2398 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
•How you can help: Contact hollybragman@yahoo.com or call 456-5652

Smoking Restrictions Tightened, Marijuana Dispensary Ordinance Adopted

The Town Council at its regular meeting on June 1, 2011 adopted an ordinance that tightens smoking restrictions in Fairfax. The key change to the ordinance is that a minimum of 75% of units in a multi-unit residence must be permanently designated as non-smoking, including exclusive areas of the units such as private balconies, porches, decks, or patios. All units may be designated as non-smoking. The non-smoking units must be grouped together and physically separated from the smoking units to the maximum extent possible.

The other key change is that smoking is prohibited within a reasonable distance from any entrance, opening or exit of any enclosed area within which smoking is prohibited, except while passing on the way to another destination. Smoking is also now prohibited in Town parks, including, but not limited to, Contratti Field, Fairfax Park and Peri Park and Playground and at public events such as the Farmer’s Market and the Fairfax Festival.

The Town Council also passed an Ordinance that regulates the location, number and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. The key points are that there will not be more than three dispensaries in the Town. The other key point is that dispensaries shall be located only within the Central Commercial (CC), Highway Commercial (CH), and Light Commercial (CL) area as designated in the General Plan and Zoning Map. In addition, a dispensary cannot be located within 600 feet of a school or directly abutting a residential property unless there is a fence or an intervening natural landform between the commercial property and the residential property such as a creek or significant undeveloped parcel of land.

Pedestrian Bridge Replaced, Creek Bank Stabilized, Tennis Courts Resurfaced

After a long period of planning and construction the pedestrian bridge that fell into Fairfax Creek during the great New Year's Eve flood of 2005 has finally been replaced. A concurrent project to the pedestrian bridge was stabilizing the bank so that the tennis courts do not slip into the creek. After the bridge was replaced and the bank stabilized the tennis courts were resurfaced.

Good Earth Project Approved

The Town Council adopted a resolution approving the initial study, draft mitigated negative declaration and traffic impact permit for a project encompassing remodeling the existing commercial building and adding exterior improvements and landscaping and resurfacing the parking lot at Center Blvd. and Pastori Ave where the old Albertson’s grocery store operated many years ago. Twenty-four speakers addressed the Council, virtually all in support of the project. The Town staff, the applicant and the neighbors living across the street from the future Good Earth grocery store all worked together on several mitigation measures aimed at reducing noise and traffic. One change already made is the removal of a “no turn on red” sign from Pastori to eastbound Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

The new Good Earth store will be about twice the size as the current store at Sir Francis Drake and Claus Drive. The natural foods store is planning to open at their new location in mid to late January 2012.

JULY - SEPTEMBER 2011

Local Sales Tax Measure for Fairfax

On July 27, 2011 the Town Council, on a unanimous vote, adopted a resolution and the accompanying ordinance to place a local one half cent sales tax on the November 8, 2011 ballot. Fairfax voters will decide on a majority vote whether to approve the local sales tax that is estimated to generate about $200,000 per year. All revenues generated will remain in Fairfax and cannot be taken by the State to balance their budget.

Town Budget and Labor Agreements Adopted

The Town Council, after many public hearings and months of discussing the Town budget, adopted the Fiscal Year 2011/12 budget on August 17, 2011 at their regular meeting. The budget is balanced but required a number of painful cuts to the operating budget; leaving four full time positions vacant, requiring major sacrifices from all employees in the form of a loss of compensation by requiring employees to pay for part of their retirement benefits out of pocket, and the borrowing of $226,836 from the Town’s “Dry Period Fund” also technically known as the unrestricted reserve of the General Fund.

All employee groups signed a two-year labor agreement, which the Town Council also approved at the same council meeting. The second year of these agreements requires employees to pay 5% of the 8% toward the employee paid portion of their retirement. This will save the Town more than $80,000 per year moving forward helping to stem the tide of rising health care and retirement costs. The deficit is caused by four straight years of declining property and sales tax revenues and increasing costs for health care and retirement.

Chamber hosts meeting on the proposed Terrapin Crossroads Project

The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce with assistance from Town staff held an informational meeting on September 1, 2011 to discuss the Terrapin Crossroads project. More than 200 community members were in attendance. The project manager, Bruce Berman discussed the vision of Terrapin Crossroads and had drawings of the floor plan and site drawings as well. The meeting was productive in that community members were able to gain valuable information and also ask questions. In early November Phil Lesh decided not to move forward with Terrapin Crossroads in Fairfax.

OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2011

Resource Recovery Agreement

The Town Council approved a ten year franchise agreement with Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) on November 2, 2011. The Agreement covers all aspects of resource recovery, getting to zero waste, and other special programs such as household hazardous waste, medical waste, paper shredding and many other programs. The current Solid Waste, Recycling and Resource Recovery Agreement was written and approved on April 19, 1993 and was with a different garbage hauler. MSS took over this Agreement without any changes. Much has changed in the solid waste, recycling and resource recovery world since 1993 and the Town Council and MSS felt it was time to create an Agreement that better reflects the services that are being provided and can be provided today that were not possible in 1993 such as the pilot food waste recycling program started in Fairfax last year.

This Agreement offers the following new services:

Brush Clearing/Fuel Reduction Program: This involves removing, chipping and redirecting heavy brush that may pose a fire threat to the Town. Town will determine, based on need for creating defensible space, which areas of Town will receive the brush clearing each year, as there is limited funding

Free Compost for Residents: Marin sanitary Service (MSS) shall distribute 15 tons of compost three times per year, spring, summer, and fall. Town will come up with designated location and will provide bunker. A list of compost bin suppliers may be found at: www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics

Food Waste Pilot Program: MSS will develop a food waste pilot program at three multi-family complexes in Town. Locations will be mutually agreed upon by Town and MSS.

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) On Call Pick-Up Program: MSS shall provide residential customers (businesses are excluded from this program) HHW on-call pickup each calendar year at no additional charge by prearranged appointment on their regularly scheduled collection day. There will be no charge for the following items: household batteries; latex paint in sealed containers (limit of 3 gallons); motor oil in sealed or capped containers (limit of 2 gallons); oil filters; pesticides (limit of 3 gallons); fluorescent lights or tubes; aerosol cans partially filled (empty cans may be placed in dual sort cart); computers and monitors; printers; televisions; and cell phones. No flammable, toxic, or hazardous material will be accepted. All items must be contained in boxes or bags. Customers must call Monday-Friday during normal business hours at least 24 hours in advance to schedule an appointment. MSS shall implement the program no later than January 1, 2012.

Larry Bragman Re-Elected, Ryan O'Neil elected for first time to Town Council

Larry Bragman was re-elected for a third term of four years last night. He received 1408 votes or 43.88% of the vote. Ryan O'Neil received 1342 votes or 41.82%. Congratulations to both candidates on their successful election. Chris Lange received 432 votes or 13.46%.

Local Sales Tax Measure D Passes

Measure D - a local one half cent sales tax passed last night with 1250 voters approving the Measure or 64.53%. This was a majority vote and will generate approximately $200,000 a year in new revenue for the Town for the next five years.

Thank you Fairfax voters for approving Measure D and allowing the Town to continue to provide quality services to you. All of the Town staff are very appreciative of the passage of this measure. And thanks to all five Town Council Members for supporting this measure and to the Yes on Measure D Campaign who gave so much of their personal time and energy to pass this Measure.

Town Clerk and Town Treasurer Elected

Judy Anderson was re-elected (unopposed) Town Clerk and Barbara Petty, appointed to the Town Treasurer position by the Town Council nearly two years ago was also elected unopposed. Both positions will serve four year terms.

Town Council Commends Lew Tremaine; Appoints new Mayor and Vice Mayor

At a special Town Council meeting on November 30, 2011 the Town Council certified the election of November 8, 2011 and passed a resolution commending Lew Tremaine for twelve years of service to the Town Council.

The Council then reorganized by appointing Pam Hartwell-Herrero as the next Mayor and John Reed as the Vice Mayor. Both will serve one year as Mayor and Vice Mayor. Both votes were unanimous.

Police Dispatch Services for Town of Ross

The Town Council approved a five-year agreement with the Town of Ross to provide police dispatch services. The Town of Fairfax, without adding any additional staff, will be able to provide this service to Ross for a fee of $21,000 per year for the first three years and $31,000 each year thereafter. This agreement also saves Ross some money as they currently are being dispatched through the Marin County Sheriff’s department. The Council also approved an agreement to share police supervisory services (vacation relief) with the Town of Ross at no cost to either Town.

Blog #31 - Town Council Actions - December 7, 2011 Meeting

2011-12-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

Fairfax Town Council Approves Providing Police Dispatch Services to Ross, Approves Rate Increase for Solid Waste

Police Dispatch Services for Town of Ross

The Town Council approved a five-year agreement with the Town of Ross to provide police dispatch services. The Town of Fairfax, without adding any additional staff, will be able to provide this service to Ross for a fee of $21,000 per year for the first three years and $31,000 each year thereafter. This agreement also saves Ross some money as they currently are being dispatched through the Marin County Sheriff’s department. The Council also approved an agreement to share police supervisory services (vacation relief) with the Town of Ross at no cost to either Town.

Solid Waste and Recycling Rate Increase Approved

The Council approved a 17.41% rate increase for solid waste, recycling, and yard and food waste programs to become effective January 6, 2012.

Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) assumed a Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement in 2006 from Fairfax Disposal Service. From 1993 to 2009 Fairfax did not see any rate increases directly related to the cost of providing the garbage and recycling service because Marin Sanitary did not petition for increases it was entitled to receive to cover its cost. Beginning in 2009, Fairfax and MSS have worked together to get rates set at a level that covered MSS costs without causing undue hardship to customers. According to the independent consultants, even with our last rate adjustment of 10%, Marin Sanitary is not receiving sufficient revenue to cover its operating costs. Thus, the proposed increase is intended to get rates caught up to a break-even point and to a lesser extent cover some new and exciting services included in the new franchise agreement.

The rate adjustment analysis produced by Hilton Farnkopf and Hobson (HF&H) Consultants in March 2011 recommended a 24.23% rate increase for garbage and recycling services in Fairfax.

At the April 2011 Town Council meeting the Council increased the garbage and recycling rate by 10% with the understanding that the Council would be reviewing the rates as soon as the new Franchise Agreement was approved. The Town Council approved a new Franchise Agreement with MSS at the November 2, 2011 Council meeting that includes new waste reduction and recycling programs. Thus, there remains 14.23% of the recommended rate increase from the HF&H study for consideration in addition to determining compensation for MSS’s additional obligations under the new Franchise Agreement.

Listed below are the garbage hauling, waste reduction and recycling programs that make up the recommended rate increase of 17.41%:

HF&H Study 14.23%
Brush Clearing Program 1.06%
Delivering of Compost 3x/year 0.13%
Paper Shredding/E-Waste/Prescription Medication 1x/year 0.30%
Household Hazardous Waste Pick-Up by Appointment 0.49%
Special Events-Waste Reduction/Recycling/Reuse 0.60%
Education and Promotion of all programs 0.60%

TOTAL 17.41%

In addition to the benefits to residential customers there are many services available only to commercial customers as outlined below:

1. Container sizes from 32 gallon to 6 cubic yard to accommodate varying levels of service.

2. No distance charges for commercial customers. MSS retrieves carts and returns them; curbside service is preferred, but not mandatory for commercial.

3. Under the new contract MSS will collect 6 days per week from Town owned solid waste containers placed throughout the downtown area to ensure areas are clean and containers empty at the beginning of the business day.

4. Availability of Waste Audit. MSS Commercial Recycling Coordinators will arrange for a series of free waste audits to characterize material for recycling.

5. Unlimited Commercial Recycling. All MSS commercial customers are eligible for unlimited recycling services up to 6 days per week regardless of garbage cart size included free in their rates. A commercial customer may have only 1-32 garbage carts picked up once per week, but are able to set out unlimited amounts of recycling material up to 6 days per week.

6. The services of a dedicated commercial cardboard truck scanning the Town 6 days per week. This service includes on-call collection and container sizes up to 2 cubic yards and is not available to residential customers

7. Bulky item collection is available to all commercial customers Monday-Friday and not subject to the Off-Day collection requirements for residential customers.

8. Unlike other jurisdictions MSS serves, the Quarterly Residential Newsletter has always been sent
to commercial customers in Fairfax to ensure they are knowledgeable of available services. The new Commercial Newsletter is being sent to all commercial customers explaining the full range of service available to them.

Other actions taken at the Town Council October 5, 2011 meeting:

• Approved the creation of a Cittaslow Committee and directed staff to advertise for committee members

• Discussed the concept of combining the Design Review Board with the Planning Commission. After a fairly lengthy discussion the Council agreed to bring this item back to the Council on January 11, 2012 for further discussion. Currently the Planning Commission and the Design Review Board are two separate bodies that applicants must receive decisions from and combining the two functions would allow for a more efficient and synergistic review of applications.

• Gave direction to staff on refinancing the General Obligation Bonds (Measure K). The Council elected to use the refunded monies on additional Measure K capital projects.

• Approved the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for banking services. The Town has been banking with Bank of America for many years and the Council felt it was time to seek proposals from all banks in the area. The Council is seeking a bank that is local and active and vested in the community.

• Reviewed the Council committee assignments for the upcoming year and all council members decided on which council member will serve on each committee. Some of the committees are the Ross Valley Fire Board, Transportation Authority of Marin, Marin Telecommunications Committee, Marin Energy Authority, Zero Waste Committee, Flood Zone 9, and Ross Valley Paramedic Authority.

• Other notes and announcements:

• Fairfax Food Pantry – Saturdays 9-11AM at the Fairfax Community Church,1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd-Volunteers needed!!

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Vacancy for a Fairfax Representative to the Marin Commission on Aging to June 30, 2012

• Vacancy on the Volunteer Board to complete an unexpired term to 12-31-12

• JACKED! An original play, based on a fairy tale, to poke fun at politicians and current affairs, December 29, 30 and 31, at the Fairfax Pavilion, created and presented by Fairfax Artists-in-Residence Sam and Shoshanna Parry

• Town Offices are closed from December 27th to January 3rd. All emergency services will be provided during this time. Police and Fire will work their normal schedule.

The next Town Council meeting will be January 11, 2012 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #30 - Mayor and Vice Mayor Appointed

2011-12-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

Town Council appoints new Mayor and Vice Mayor

At a special Town Council meeting on November 30, 2011 the Town Council certified the election of November 8, 2011 and passed a resolution commending Lew Tremaine for twelve years of service to the Town Council.

The next item on the agenda was the oath of office for re-elected Council Member Larry Bragman and newly elected Council Member Ryan O'Neal. They were sworn in at the same time.

The Council then reorganized by appointing Pam Hartwell-Herrero as the next Mayor and John Reed as the Vice Mayor. Both will serve one year as Mayor and Vice Mayor.

The next regular meeting of the Town Council will be December 7, 2011.

Blog #29 - Special Council Meeting November 30, 2011

2011-11-18T12:49:00.001-08:00

Town Council to hold Special Meeting November 30th

The Town Council will hold a special meeting on November 30th at the Women's Club beginning at 7:00 PM. The meeting is to honor the twelve years of service from Council Member Lew Tremaine and to swear into office Larry Bragman and Ryan O'Neil. Larry and Ryan were elected to serve on the Town Council on November 8, 2011. This is Larry's third term on the Council and Ryan's first. There will be cake served after the swearing in. Please join the Town Council on this important occasion.

Ryan O'Neal served on the Planning Commission and Open Space Committee. These two positions are now available. If you are interested in serving the Town of Fairfax on either of these Committees please contact the Town Clerk, Judy Anderson. Or you may go on-line and fill out the application at: http://town-of-fairfax.org/pdfs/Application%20Form.pdf.

The next regular meeting of the Town Council will be December 7, 2011.

Blog #28 - Election Results

2011-11-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

Larry Bragman Re-Elected, Ryan O'Neil elected for first time to Town Council

Larry Bragman was re-elected for a third term of four years last night. He received 1408 votes or 43.88% of the vote. Ryan O'Neil received 1342 votes or 41.82%. Congratulations to both candidates on their successful election. Chris Lange received 432 votes or 13.46%.

Measure D Passes

Measure D - a local one half cent sales tax passed last night with 1250 voters approving the Measure or 64.53%. This was a majority vote and will generate approximately $200,000 a year in new revenue for the Town for the next five years.

Thank you Fairfax voters for approving Measure D and allowing the Town to continue to provide quality services to you. All of the Town staff are very appreciative of the passage of this measure. And thanks to all five Town Council Members for supporting this measure and to the Yes on Measure D Campaign who gave so much of their personal time and energy to pass this Measure.

Town Clerk and Town Treasurer

Judy Anderson was re-elected (unopposed) Town Clerk and Barbara Petty, appointed to the Town Treasurer position by the Town Council nearly two years ago was elected unopposed.

Measure B - TAM Union High School District Measure Passes

Measure B passed with 17570 votes or 72.38%. A two-thirds vote was needed. Congratulations to the Yes on B Campaign for running such an effective campaign.

Blog #27 Council Actions from November 2, 2011

2011-11-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Fairfax Town Council Approves Solid Waste/Resource Recovery Agreement with Marin Sanitary Service

Resource Recovery Agreement

The Council approved a ten year franchise agreement with Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) on November 2, 2011. The Agreement covers all aspects of resource recovery, getting to zero waste, and other special programs such as household hazardous waste, medical waste, paper shredding and many other programs. The current Solid Waste, Recycling and Resource Recovery Agreement was written and approved on April 19, 1993 and was with a different garbage hauler. MSS took over this Agreement without any changes. Much has changed in the solid waste, recycling and resource recovery world since 1993 and the Town Council and MSS felt it was time to create an Agreement that better reflects the services that are being provided and can be provided today that were not possible in 1993 such as the pilot food waste recycling program started in Fairfax last year.

This Agreement offers the following new services:

Brush Clearing/Fuel Reduction Program: This involves removing, chipping and redirecting heavy brush that may pose a fire threat to the Town. Town will determine, based on need for creating defensible space, which areas of Town will receive the brush clearing each year, as there is limited funding

• Free Compost for Residents: Marin sanitary Service (MSS) shall distribute 15 tons of compost three times per year, spring, summer, and fall. Town will come up with designated location and will provide bunker. A list of compost bin suppliers may be found at: www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics

• Food Waste Pilot Program: MSS will develop a food waste pilot program at three multi-family complexes in Town. Locations will be mutually agreed upon by Town and MSS.

• Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) On Call Pick-Up Program: MSS shall provide residential customers (businesses are excluded from this program) HHW on-call pickup each calendar year at no additional charge by prearranged appointment on their regularly scheduled collection day. There will be no charge for the following items: household batteries; latex paint in sealed containers (limit of 3 gallons); motor oil in sealed or capped containers (limit of 2 gallons); oil filters; pesticides (limit of 3 gallons); fluorescent lights or tubes; aerosol cans partially filled (empty cans may be placed in dual sort cart); computers and monitors; printers; televisions; and cell phones. No flammable, toxic, or hazardous material will be accepted. All items must be contained in boxes or bags. Customers must call Monday-Friday during normal business hours at least 24 hours in advance to schedule an appointment. MSS shall implement the program no later than January 1, 2012.

At the next Town Council meeting on December 7th the Council will consider the solid waste and resource recovery rates. The new franchise agreement calls for new programs and will require additional funding to implement these new programs.

Other actions taken at the Town Council November 2, 2011 meeting:
• Approved the Town Council meeting schedule for 2012

• Closed Town Offices from December 27 to December 30. All emergency services will be provided during this time. Police and Fire will work their normal schedule.

• Adopted Resolution 11-56 in support of establishing a State of California Investment Bank;

• Adopted Resolution 11-57 in support of HR 192, Gulf of the Farallon and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act (Congresswoman Woolsey);

• Adopted Resolution 11-58 in opposition to Department of Justice Crackdown on Medical Marijuana Clinics;

• Approved a Proclamation honoring Sharon Sagar for her contributions as a member of the Ross Valley School Board

• The Mayor gave a status report on the Fairfax Bike Spine Project which was approved by the TAM Board. This grant awards the Town $110,000 to install signage and street markings for identified bicycle routes to school. The overall goal is to improve the safety of our Town streets for student bicyclists and increase awareness of motorists who share the road with them. The street markings would include colored thermo-plastic markings for maximum visibility.

Other notes and announcements:

• Fairfax Food Pantry – Saturdays 9-12 Noon at the Fairfax Community Church,1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Vacancy for a Fairfax Representative by the Marin Commission on Aging to June 30, 2012

• SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, December 4th, Deer Park Villa, Appreciation Dinner for Lew Tremaine

The next Town Council meeting will be December 7, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #26 Town Council Actions from October 5, 2011

2011-10-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Fairfax Town Council Appoints Planning Commissioner, Discusses Solid Waste and Resource Recovery Agreement

Planning Commissioner Appointment

The Town Council interviewed two candidates for one Planning Commissioner vacancy. After the interviews and considering the written applications turned in by both candidates the Council appointed Barbara Coler. Barbara has served on the Open Space Committee for a number of years and currently works for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District as a Program Manager. Barbara holds a Master’s Degree in Arts and a Bachelor’s Degree in Systematics and Ecology. Barbara is filling the seat that was vacated by Peter Ramsey who moved out of Town.

Solid Waste and Resource Recovery Agreement

A draft Resource Recovery Agreement with Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) was discussed by the Council and public input was taken. The current Solid Waste, Recycling and Resource Recovery Agreement was written and approved on April 19, 1993 and was with a different garbage hauler. MSS took over this Agreement without any changes. Much has changed in the solid waste, recycling and resource recovery world since 1993 and the Town Council and MSS felt it was time to create an Agreement that better reflects the services that are being provided and can be provided today that were not possible in 1993 such as the pilot food waste recycling program started in Fairfax last year.
This draft Agreement is proposed for ten years and would offer the following new services:

Brush Clearing/Fuel Reduction Program: This involves removing, chipping and redirecting heavy brush that may pose a fire threat to the Town. Town will determine, based on need for creating defensible space, which areas of Town will receive the brush clearing each year, as there is limited funding.

Free Compost for Residents: Marin sanitary Service (MSS) shall distribute 15 tons of compost three times per year, spring, summer, and fall. Town will come up with designated location and will provide bunker. A list of compost bin suppliers may be found at: www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics

Food Waste Pilot Program: MSS will develop a food waste pilot program at three multi-family complexes in Town. Locations will be mutually agreed upon by Town and MSS.

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) On Call Pick-Up Program: MSS shall provide residential customers (businesses are excluded from this program) HHW on-call pickup each calendar year at no additional charge by prearranged appointment on their regularly scheduled collection day. There will be no charge for the following items: household batteries; latex paint in sealed containers (limit of 3 gallons); motor oil in sealed or capped containers (limit of 2 gallons); oil filters; pesticides (limit of 3 gallons); fluorescent lights or tubes; aerosol cans partially filled (empty cans may be placed in dual sort cart); computers and monitors; printers; televisions; and cell phones. No flammable, toxic, or hazardous material will be accepted. All items must be contained in boxes or bags. Customers must call Monday-Friday during normal business hours at least 24 hours in advance to schedule an appointment. MSS shall implement the program no later than January 1, 2012.

The Resource Recovery Agreement will return to the Town Council for approval on November 2, 2011.

Other actions taken at the Town Council October 5, 2011 meeting:

• Directed staff to write a Request for Proposals for banking services for the Town;

• Adopted Resolution 11-55 calling on Congress to re-direct military spending to domestic priorities;

• Directed staff to enter into negotiations to provide police dispatch services for the Town of Ross;
Other notes and announcements:

• Fairfax Food Pantry – Saturdays 9-12 Noon at the Fairfax Community Church,1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Peri Park Playground Clean-up Day is Saturday, October 8th from 9:00 a.m.-Noon, sponsored by PARC

• October 10, 2011 is the 100th Anniversary of California granting women the right to vote; register by October 24th to vote on November 8, 2011.

• SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, December 4th, Deer Park Villa, Appreciation Dinner for Council Member Lew Tremaine's twelve (12) years of service to the Town as a Council Member and Mayor.

The next Town Council meeting will be November 2, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #25 - PCE Cleanup at Fair Anselm

2011-10-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

As many residents and business owners may recall there was an investigation into possible PCE contamination at the site that was the Broadway Video store at the Fair Anselm Plaza. The Department of Toxic Substances Control has been involved for more than a year and has finally finished soil gas samples taken from underneath the building. The results of the sampling will be posted tomorrow at the following link: www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public.

The results indicate there is PCE in the soil under the building and at high enough levels to warrant an expedited removal action. The cleanup will involve the following process:

DTSC will remove the PCE by installing a sub-slab vapor collection and treatment system in units located at 709 and 711 Center Blvd. This system will extract and treat air from a gravel layer in the sub-slab area that was found to be contaminated with PCE, a common dry cleaning solvent. Gas extracted from the sub-slab area will be passed through three drums of carbon. PCE will be captured on the carbon. The treatment system, including the carbon drums and other equipment will be located inside a fenced area in the southeast portion of the Site's parking lot near the dumpsters. Clean air will be released from an exhaust stack. The entire setup is called a sub-slab vapor collection system. This process will begin in early November 2011.

If you have any questions about the Site or upcoming work please contact DTSC's Project Manager, Milly Pekke, at 510-540-3777.

DTSC believes there is no immediate public health risk. However, the elevated PCE levels below the building pose a problem that should be addressed in the short term, as long-term exposure to the contaminates at the Site at elevated levels may cause negative health impacts.

Blog #24 - Town Council Sets Master Fees and Discusses Smart Meters

2011-09-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

Master Fees

The Town Council adopted the master fee schedule for the next twelve months on September 7, 2011. Only a few fees were changed from last year. The significant change was the banner installation fee was reduced from $456 to $250. Other fee changes include: Basic Sign Permit Fee was raised from $88 to $100 and variance fees were raised to reflect actual costs. Residents and businesses can review the entire master fee schedule at the Town’s home page with a link to the Finance Department.

Smart Meters

This item put on the agenda by Mayor Bragman was a discussion and request to delegate authority to the Town to register residents on PG&E’s SmartMeter Opt-Out List. After some discussion by the Council it was agreed to direct staff to collect the emails that residents can volunteer to send the Town so that the Town has a record of the customer’s request to PG&E to opt-out. The overall matter of whether SmartMeters will be installed in Town by PG&E is being handled through the California Public Utilities Commission. PG&E, in a letter from their Attorney which was written a few weeks ago states that there will be no installation until next calendar year and there will be notice to the Town before any such installations occur. Please be aware that PG&E is replacing old meters with SmartMeters in Fairfax because PG&E does not manufacture the analogue meters anymore.

Other actions taken at the Town Council September 7, 2011 meeting:

• Appointed Merrell Maschino to serve another three year term on the Volunteer Board.

• Appointed Jonathan Bornstein to serve a three year term on the Design Review Board.

• Approved Town Council minutes from the July 13and July 27 meetings with changes requested by Mayor Bragman;

• Accepted the monthly financial report for June 2011.

• Adopted a resolution proclaiming September 2011 as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

• Adopted a resolution to extend the Marin County Abandoned Vehicle Authority Vehicle Registration Fee until April 2022.

• Adopted a resolution setting the living wage pursuant to the annual review requirements of Section 8.56.020 of the Town Code.

• Adopted a resolution approving the Police Department Plan to allocate funds for the Citizens Option for Public Safety (COPS) program.

• Heard a presentation from a Marin General Hospital spokesperson Jon Friedenberg regarding the future plans for upgrading the hospital campus to meet seismic requirements.

• Adopted a resolution approving criteria that was crafted by the Open Space Committee when evaluating potential open space properties to be purchased by the Town.
Other notes and announcements:

• Chipper Days scheduled for clearing the weekend of September 10 & 11; removal and chipping on Monday, September 12th, in the Scenic/Tamalpais, Deer Park and Cascade neighborhoods

• Fairfax Food Pantry – Saturdays 10-12 Noon at the Fairfax Community Church,1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Town Picnic sponsored by the Volunteers for Fairfax on Sunday, September 18th, Noon to 5 p.m.

• Workshop on SmartMeter Opt-Out options at the California Public Utilities Commission, September 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 505 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco

The next Town Council meeting will be October 5, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #23 - Adopted Town Budget for FY 2011/12

2011-09-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Fairfax Community:

After many months and some difficult decisions the Town Council has adopted the Fiscal Year 2011/12 Town Budget. Operating and capital budgets were cut, employees agreed to major concessions in pay (reduced retirement benefits paid by the Town) and the Town had to borrow $226,000 from its unrestricted reserves (Dry Period Fund). While the budget is balanced there are still challenges ahead. Thank you for your support of the Town and all the programs and services it provides. You can access the operating and capital improvement budgets at this link:

http://www.town-of-fairfax.org/pdfs/finance/budgets/FINAL%20ADOPTED%20FY%202011-12%20Budget%20Bound%2009.08.11.pdf

Blog #22 - Community Meeting on Proposed Terrapin Crossroads Project

2011-08-31T15:06:00.001-07:00

Fairfax Chamber hosts an Informational Meeting on the proposed Terrapin Crossroads Project

The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce has decided to host a Community Informational Meeting on the Terrapin Crossroads project. The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM today (September 1) at the Fairfax Pavilion. All members of the public are invited to learn about the project and will have the opportunity to ask questions about the proposed performing arts project called Terrapin Crossroads.

The agenda will start with information about the roles and responsibilities of elected and appointed officials that will hear the project and then a discussion of the permit process and the entitlements process. Next will be a presentation of the project description and then a question and answer session followed by public comment.

This is an informational meeting only. No action will be taken and to date Terrapin Crossroads has not had a single public hearing as it is still early in the process. There will be many opportunities to comment at public hearings in the future when decision makers will be asked to weigh in on the project.

AGENDA
COMMUNITY MEETING
TERRAPIN CROSSROADS
SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
FAIRFAX PAVILION
6:30 PM

INTRODUCTION DAVID SMADBECK, Co-President, Chamber of Commerce

TOWN ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES MICHAEL ROCK, TOWN MANAGER

PLANNING AND CEQA PROCESS JIM MOORE, PLANNING DIRECTOR

PROJECT DESCRIPTION BRUCE BURMAN, PROJECT MANAGER

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

PUBLIC COMMENT

Meeting Ground Rules

1. Anyone wishing to ask a question must fill out an index card, write their name and their question, then hand them in to the side table at the right of the stage.

2. Questions will be read by the moderator. If a question has already been asked, it will be passed over to the next question.

3. Anyone wishing to make a comment must fill out a white index card with their name and address, then hand them in to the side table at the right of the stage.

4. Only one person speaks at a time; no one will interrupt while someone is speaking.

5. Each speaker will be given 2 minutes.

6. Disparaging comments are discouraged. Everybody will seek to focus on the merits of what is being said, making a good faith effort to understand the concerns of others.

7. This meeting is strictly informational; no vote will be taken and what comes up is in no way binding on the Chamber or any other agency.

Blog #21 Public Comments on Terrapin Crossroads, Budget Adopted

2011-08-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Fairfax Town Council Hears Public Comments on Terrapin Crossroads, Adopts Budget and Labor Agreements

Terrapin Crossroads

As the August 17th Town Council meeting began the Mayor announced that Item 12, Introduction of Terrapin Crossroads and consideration of establishing a methodology for preparing a traffic impact study for this project was pulled from the agenda at the request of the applicant. Shortly thereafter the Mayor invited the public to speak under open time for public expression. During “open time” twenty-five people spoke on the Terrapin Crossroads project. A majority of those that spoke favored the project. Concerns were raised on a number of issues ranging from the size and scope of the project to traffic and parking. The project has not yet been heard by any Town governing body.

There is a community meeting sponsored by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce scheduled for September 1st at 6:30 PM at the Fairfax Pavilion to introduce the project, discuss the application process and the environmental review process that will be required of this project. This will be an opportunity for the public to become informed, ask questions and voice concerns. There will be many other opportunities for the public to be involved in the process as this project will be considered by the Design Review Board, Planning Commission and Town Council.

Budget Adopted, Labor Agreements Approved

The Town Council, after many public hearings and months of discussing the Town budget, adopted the Fiscal Year 2011/12 budget on August 17th at their regular meeting. The budget is balanced but required a number of painful cuts to the operating budget; leaving four full time positions vacant, requiring major sacrifices from all employees in the form of a loss of compensation by requiring employees to pay for part of their retirement benefits out of pocket, and the borrowing of $226,836 from the Town’s “Dry Period Fund” also technically known as the unrestricted reserve of the General Fund.

All employee groups signed a two-year labor agreement, which the Town Council also approved at the same council meeting. The second year of these agreements requires employees to pay 5% of the 8% toward the employee paid portion of their retirement. This will save the Town more than $80,000 per year moving forward helping to stem the tide of rising health care and retirement costs. The deficit is caused by four straight years of declining property and sales tax revenues and increasing costs for health care and retirement.

Other actions taken at the Town Council August 17, 2011 meeting:

• Approved Town Council minutes from May 4 meeting;

• Authorized the Town Manager to sign an Agreement with Carol Golsch for Town website maintenance for an amount not to exceed $15,000 per year;

• Authorized the Town Manager to extend agreement with Wayne Bush for capital projects consulting services for an amount not to exceed $40,000 per year;

• Adopted Resolution 11-42 approving the negotiated MOU with the Fairfax Police Officers Association for the period of July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013;

• Adopted Resolution 11-43 approving the negotiated MOU with the SEIU (Public Works employees);

• Adopted Resolution 11-44 approving the negotiated MOU with the Management Group for the period July 1, 2011-June 30, 2013.

• Adopted Resolution 11-45 approving the borrowing of funds for Fiscal Year 2011-12 and the issuance of and sale of a 2011 tax and revenue anticipation note;

• Adopted Resolution 11-46, authorizing the temporary closure of a portion of Glen Drive for a bike race fund raiser on Saturday, October 1, 2011from 8 AM to 5 PM;

• Approved a second amendment to the Town Manager’s employment agreement to increase the out of pocket contribution to the employee portion of PERS to match the contribution agreed to in the Management Group MOU a total of 5% of the 8% employee portion over the two year agreement;

• Approved a second amendment to the Police Chief employment agreement creating an out of pocket contribution to the employee portion of PERS to match the contribution agreed to by the POA, a total of 5% of the 9% employee portion of PERS over the two year agreement;

• Adopted Resolution 11-49 adopting the Fiscal Year 2011/12 Town Budget;

• Approved authority to have the Mayor write a letter on behalf of the Town Council replying to PG&E requesting further assurances to provide notice to Town residents prior to possible future installation of smart meters in Fairfax. Authority was also requested to compose an additional letter to the California Public Utilities Commission requesting their assistance in this matter;

• Directed staff to apply for a grant through TAM for a safe routes to school bike spine project.
Other notes and announcements:

• Chamber of Commerce sponsored Community Meeting on Terrapin Crossroads Project will be held September 1, 2011 at 6:30 PM at the Fairfax Pavilion;

• Fairfax Food Pantry on Saturdays 10:00 AM-12 Noon at the Fairfax Community Church, 1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.;

• 2 vacancies on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age;

The next Town Council meeting will be September 7, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #20 What is the Public Process for Considering Terrapin Crossroads?

2011-08-09T15:08:00.001-07:00

The Terrapin Crossroads project will need the following entitlements from the Town: (1) conditional use permit, (2) parking variance, (3) height variance due to features of subterranean structure and possibly (4) a driveway separation variance. (Note: additional entitlements may be required as the project design process proceeds.) In order for the Terrapin Crossroads entitlement application to be deemed "complete" and move forward for Planning Commission, Design Review Board and Town Council public hearings, the Applicant is being required to complete what is called an "Initial Study" as part of what is required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The Initial Study process involves a detailed assessment by professionals of potential environmental impacts in these areas: (1) Aesthetics, (2) Agricultural Resources, (3) Air Quality, (4) Biological Resources, (5) Cultural Resources, (6) Geology and Soils, (7) Hazards and Hazardous Materials, (8) Hydrology and Water Quality, (9) Land Use and Planning, (10) Mineral Resources, (11) Noise, (12) Population and Housing, (13) Public Services, (14) Recreation, (15) Transportation/Traffic, (16) Utilities and Service Systems; all resulting in a matrix known as “Mandatory Findings of Significance,” which lists whether there is a (a) Potentially significant impact, (b) Less than significant impact with mitigation incorporation, (c) Less than significant impact, or (d) No impact - for any of the sixteen categories above.

Once the Initial Study is completed, if there are no environmental impacts or any potential impacts have been "mitigated" to less than significant, it is filed with the County as a draft Negative Declaration (or Mitigated Negative Declaration, as the case may be), deposited in specific public places for public review, and circulated for a thirty (30) day period with all pertinent public agencies for review and comment.

The (Mitigated) Negative Declaration will then be considered for certification at the Planning Commission (PC), which is a prerequisite to approval of the project entitlements by the PC, the Design Review Board (DRB) and Town Council. Importantly, if any potential impacts cannot be mitigated to less than significant levels, then the applicant would be required by CEQA to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

The final stop in the entitlement process, unless there is an appeal to Town Council of any decisions at either the PC and/or the DRB is with the Town Council for final approval of the (Mitigated) Negative Declaration and the Traffic Impact Permit.

Please note that in the Town of Fairfax, for a project of this nature, a "Traffic Impact Permit" is also required as part of the entitlement application process. As the first step, per Town Code, the applicant is required to obtain Town Council approval of the methodology to be used in the traffic analysis that it prepares as part of the application process. Typically, this is in the form of the "Scope of Service" to the agreement between the applicant and their traffic consultant conducting the transportation/traffic analysis - before commencing the analysis. Once the methodology is approved by the Council, the study is commenced and the report is written for review by the Planning Commission and Design Review Board public hearings on the Use Permit application.

Finally, assuming the project is approved at both of those public hearings, the Town Council is required to approve the final professional analysis after a peer review by a traffic consultant retained and directed by the Town (at the applicant’s expense).

Therefore, the first step in the public participatory process has been scheduled for the Town Council meeting on August 17, 2011 at 7:00 pm at the Women's Club located at 46 Park Road to approve the Scope of Service (i.e., the "methodology") for the Traffic Analysis.

Blog #19 - Council Votes to Place Half Cent Local Sales Tax on Ballot

2011-07-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

On July 27, 2011 the Town Council on a unanimous vote adopted a resolution and the accompanying ordinance to place a local one half cent sales tax on the November 8, 2011 ballot. Fairfax voters will decide on a majority vote whether to approve the local sales tax that is estimated to generate about $150,000 per year. All revenues generated will remain in Fairfax and cannot be taken by the State to balance their budget.

The Council also voted to decrease their overall compensation on a unanimous vote. Council Members will now pay for the employee portion of their retirement contribution out of their pockets saving the Town $1,440 per year.

The Council also discussed the draft budget for the Fiscal Year 2011/12. The deficit is about $200,000 pending the final outcome of labor agreements.

The next meeting of the Council will be August 17, 2011. At this meeting the Council is expected to adopt the FY 2011/12 budget and approve labor agreements for all employees of the Town.

Blog 18 - Council Approves Good Earth Project, Holds Budget Hearings

2011-06-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

The Town Council at an adjourned meeting on June 22, 2011, approved the Good Earth Project. The Council adopted a resolution approving the initial study, draft mitigated negative declaration and traffic impact permit for a project encompassing remodeling the existing commercial building and adding exterior improvements and landscaping and resurfacing the parking lot.

The natural foods store has a projected opening day in early November of this year. Twenty-four speakers addressed the Council, virtually all in support of the project. The Town staff, the applicant and the neighbors living across the street from the future Good Earth grocery store all worked together on several mitigation measures aimed at reducing noise and traffic. One change already made is the removal of a “no turn on red” sign from Pastori to eastbound Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

The Town Council also heard a lengthy presentation on the draft Town Budget for the 2011/12 Fiscal Year from the Town Manager, Police Chief, Finance Director and Planning Director. The projected budget will have a deficit of about $305,000 due to declining property and other tax revenues and increasing retirement and health care costs for employees. The Town budget recommends leaving the public works director position vacant as well as leaving a police officer, administrative assistant and maintenance worker position vacant from previous years. The proposed budget has 28.25 full time equivalent employees, a reduction of 1.5 employees over last year’s budget. Employees will not receive any cost-of living adjustments this year, marking the third straight year of no salary increases coupled with compensation reductions over the last several years in retirement benefits in order to balance the budget.

Some of the employee groups already pay a portion of the employee portion of the PERS system and labor discussions are occurring with all bargaining groups in Fairfax and with the Ross Valley Fire employees. There will be more budget hearings on July 13th and August 17th.

Other actions taken at the Town Council June 22, 2011 meeting:

• Approved Town Council minutes with corrections for the June 1, 2011 meeting;

• Accepted Financial Statements for the period ending May 31, 2011;

• Adopted Resolutions 11-28 through 11-34 setting the amount of the General Municipal Services Tax, Special Municipal Services Tax (Measure I), Utility Users Tax, Pension Override Tax, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program, General Obligation Bonds (Measure K), and Ross Valley Paramedic Authority Tax;

• Adopted Resolution 11-36 continuing expenditures and revenues in accordance with the 2010-2011 Town Budget and in lieu of timely 2011-2012 Budget Adoption;

• Approved the Notice of Completion for the Peri Park Tennis Court Bank Stabilization and Pedestrian Bridge Replacement FEMA project;

• Discussed the possibility of a local sales tax in the Town of Fairfax.
After some discussion on proposed language for a ballot measure the Council decided to bring back the item for the July 13th regular meeting to consider placing a local sales tax measure on the ballot. The entire amount collected from a one half cent local sales tax would go to the Town and could generate about $150,000 per year. A local sales tax of three quarters of one percent would generate about $225,000 per year. A one percent local sales tax would generate about $300,000.

Other notes and announcements:

• Fairfax Food Pantry on Saturdays 9:00 AM-12 Noon at the Fairfax Community Church, 1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

• Applicants sought for the General Plan Implementation Committee, two community members needed

• Volunteer Board Vacancy to complete an unexpired term to September 30, 2012

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Register now for Camp Fairfax and exciting new summer programs– new FOCAS guide available

The next Town Council meeting will be July 13, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #17 Town Council Actions from June 1, 2011

2011-06-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

Fairfax Town Council adopts ordinances to Tighten Smoking Restrictions and Regulate Marijuana Dispensaries

The Town Council at its regular meeting on June 1, 2011 adopted an ordinance that tightens smoking restrictions in Fairfax. The key change to the ordinance is that a minimum of 75% of units in a multi-unit residence must be permanently designated as non-smoking, including exclusive areas of the units such as private balconies, porches, decks, or patios. All units may be designated as non-smoking. The non-smoking units must be grouped together and physically separated from the smoking units to the maximum extent possible.

The other key change is that smoking is prohibited within a reasonable distance from any entrance, opening or exit of any enclosed area within which smoking is prohibited, except while passing on the way to another destination. Smoking is also now prohibited in Town parks, including, but not limited to, Contratti Field, Fairfax Park and Peri Park and Playground and at public events such as the Farmer’s Market and the Fairfax Festival.

The Town Council also passed an Ordinance that regulates the location, number and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. The key points are that there will not be more than three dispensaries in the Town. The other key point is that dispensaries shall be located only within the Central Commercial (CC), Highway Commercial (CH), and Light Commercial (CL) area as designated in the General Plan and Zoning Map. In addition, a dispensary cannot be located within 600 feet of a school or directly abutting a residential property unless there is a fence or an intervening natural landform between the commercial property and the residential property such as a creek or significant undeveloped parcel of land.

Other actions taken at the Town Council May 1, 2011 meeting:

• Authorized the Town Manager to sign a Professionals Services Agreement with Thomas Vence for solid waste management consulting services for a not to exceed amount of $5000;

• Adopted a resolution to oppose a proposed rate increase by Sanitary District No. 1 (Ross Valley Sewer District) and directing the Town Manager to file a vote of protest in accordance with Proposition 218;

• Adopted a proclamation declaring June 9, 2011 as Linda Bell Day for all her contributions to White Hill School;

• Approved a letter of support for SB 568, prohibiting food vendors from dispensing prepared food products in polystyrene (Styrofoam) containers;

• Adopted a resolution supporting AB 750 (Hueso), establishing a State of California Investment Bank;

• Began a public hearing process to approve the initial study, draft mitigated negative declaration and traffic impact permit for the Good Earth Project on 720 Center Blvd. This item will return to the Town Council at a Special Council meeting on June 22, 2011;

• Discussed the possibility of a local sales tax in the Town of Fairfax. This item will return to the Town Council at a Special meeting on June 22nd to consider placing a local sales tax measure on the ballot. The entire amount collected from a one half cent local sales tax would go to the Town and could generate about $150,000 per year. A local sales tax of three quarters of one percent would generate about $225,000 per year. A one percent local sales tax would generate about $300,000. The projected Town budget for fiscal year 2011-12 will have a deficit of about $350,000 due to declining property and other tax revenues and increasing retirement and health care costs for employees. Some of the employee groups already pay a portion of the employee portion of the PERS system and discussions will occur in the next few months with all bargaining groups in Fairfax and with the Ross Valley Fire employees.

Other notes and announcements:

• Fairfax Festival is June 11-12, 2011

• Fairfax Food Pantry on Saturdays 9:00 AM-12 Noon at the Fairfax Community Church, 1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

• The Youth Commission will be participating in a Youth Music Showcase with Jack Irving on June 11th at 7pm in the Women's Club as part of the Fairfax Festival

• Applicants sought for the General Plan Implementation Committee, two community members needed

• Volunteer Board Vacancy to complete an unexpired term to September 30, 2012

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Register now for Camp Fairfax and exciting new summer programs– new FOCAS guide available

The next Town Council meeting will be June 22, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club. This is a Special Meeting to discuss the proposed fiscal year 2011/12 Town Budget and to discuss possible new revenue sources including a possible local sales tax initiative.

Blog #16 - Local Sales Tax for Fairfax?

2011-05-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

What is a local sales tax?

A local sales tax is a tax to purchases made within the Fairfax Town limits on retail taxable goods. In California only durable goods are taxed. Food and services are not taxed in California. A typical time frame for a local sales tax is anywhere from five to ten years. All revenues collected from this local sales tax stays in Fairfax and cannot be taken by the State!!

Why does Fairfax need a local sales tax?

The Town is facing a $350,000 budget shortfall. The budget shortfall is a structural deficit that will have to be addressed later this year when the Town Council adopts the fiscal year 2011/12 budget. The causes are steep annual increases in health care and retirement costs for Town employees and declining property and sales tax revenues for the past three years.

Without making any changes to the expenditures and revenues the Town budget is not sustainable.

Pensions: The recession hit a number of investment accounts very hard. The State of California and most local government pensions were hard hit in the stock market crash of 2008. To make up the 34% loss to the stock market in 2008 CalPERS has raised retirement contributions for all public pensions by 6-15% per year depending on the exact retirement benefit.

Health Care: The cost of health care has been rising steadily for many years and is averaging about an 8 percent increase every year. This is not sustainable even in normal economic times because in normal years the Town adds about 3-5% per year in increased revenue.

What has the Town done to cut expenditures?

Many sacrifices by Town employees have already been made and more are needed.

Cost of living and other wage cuts: The Town runs a very tight ship (no frills), providing top notch police, fire, road work, park maintenance, planning, building inspection, code enforcement and other public services with smaller staff and wages that are below other salaries and benefits in Marin towns.

Sacrifices:

Wage Freezes and Vacant positions: Town staff have been on a wage freeze for three years, and currently have three key positions unfilled.

More wage cuts in FY 2011/12: The Town is beginning to negotiate with our bargaining units to give up even more compensation. New labor agreements will be in place this summer.

New Revenue Ideas: The Town has few revenue generating options. We have just raised our permitting fees to actually match what it costs the Town to perform the service.

Measure I: If this measure had not passed, we would have been in a really dire position and have to give up services that the public expects us to provide. The Town receives a small portion of property taxes (18%), which have been reduced through reassessments, while expenses go up. And we receive only 1% of the existing sales tax (about $330,000 per year) which has been declining for the last three years. The Town is trying to find ways to spread the burden around and not put it all on our residents and home owners. A sales tax is a small way to have people from outside Fairfax help foot the bill for the town they enjoy visiting and patronizing. We assume that merchants will not take this as a hit for themselves, but pass it on to their customers. One half of one penny on each dollar (about $150,000 per year and all going directly to the Town) seems easier to swallow than some of the other options that have come our way.

Public Input: If you have other ideas for generating $150,000-$200,000 each year, we are open to hear about it.

How can a local sales tax be used in Fairfax?

The local sales tax revenue generated could be used for general government services (such as police protection and services, recreation, youth and senior services planning, building inspection and public works maintenance activities) and for specific government services such as public infrastructure improvements and beautification projects. Infrastructure improvements include street maintenance and capital repairs, building maintenance and capital repairs, sidewalk, curb and gutter maintenance and replacement, and Town maintained landscaping.

A simple majority vote is required for approval of a general tax and a two-thirds vote is required for specific tax.

FISCAL IMPACT

A local sales tax measure of one half cent would generate approximately $150,000 per year for the Town of Fairfax. A local sales tax measure of three quarters of one percent would generate approximately $225,000 per year and a one percent local sales tax would generate approximately $300,000 per year.

Blog #15 The Away Station; Peri Park Clean-Up

2011-05-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Away Station

This weekend join one of the most innovative new Marin eco-institutions for their Grand Celebration of Re-Use & Creativity - The Away Station at Fairfax Lumber & Hardware - taking place tomorrow from noon to 4:00 PM. They are a great new resource to help us move toward zero waste. When you're thinking about throwing something away that could be used again, think about the Away Station.

The Away Station presents (at Fairfax Lumber & Hardware)

A GRAND CELEBRATION
Saturday May 14
Noon - 4 pm

For Sale and Accepting donations of ...
lumber
windows tools
fencing
cabinets
simpson tiles
hardware
electrical
household items
heating & cooling
drainage
flooring
plumbing
shelving
doors
garden
lighting
kitchen & bath appliances
and much more...

(we do not accept or sell plumbing fixtures containing lead or lumber with embedded nails or screws)

SALVAGED AND RECLAIMED MATERIALS REDUCE LANDFILL, REDUCE POLLUTION, CREATE GREEN JOBS, REDUCE CONSUMPTION OF NEW RESOURCES, EARN GREENPOINT AND 'LEED' RATING POINTS................

Farmer's Market Returns

And if you haven't heard the news, the Fairfax Farmers' Market is back creating a festive environment every Wednesday 4-8pm.

Fairfax Volunteers Peri Park Clean Up

Saturday, May 14, 9 a.m.-12 noon

Peri Park is a haven for parents year-round with its many trees, fun play equipment and nearby creek. It serves as an informal gathering spot for those in the community. Our beloved park needs on-going maintenance. Please come and help clean the playground, spread new sand, and maintain benches. Sponsored by Park & Rec and Fairfax FOCAS. For more info, contact Maria Baird at 456-5652.

Fairfax Trails Projects

Sunday, May 15, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

As your kids grow, they may be less inclined to use the park, but more likely to be walking and biking around town, exploring the area. The Fairfax Volunteers have established a trail clearing program for pedestrian pathways. Help pave the way for shortcuts and more walkability through the neighborhoods. Meet at the Fairfax Youth Center, 16 Park Road for a brief orientation. We will then head out to a nearby trail that needs maintenance and get to work. Please wear closed toe shoes. Gloves, tools and snacks will be provided. Earn community service hours! Sponsored by the Fairfax Volunteers. Visit our website at www.fairfaxvolunteers.org for a listing of trail locations. Call Maria Baird at 456-5652 for info.

Chamber of Commerce Fundraiser

When: Sun, May 15, 1pm – 6pm

Where: Peri Park - BBQ Area ()

Description: Fundraiser for bike sculpture

Blog #14 - Food Pantry Arrives in Fairfax

2011-05-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

Volunteers Help Create a Food Bank for the Community

The Fairfax Volunteers have partnered with the Town, the Marin/San Francisco Food Bank and the Fairfax Community Church to provide a Farmers Market style food bank for the community. The Food Bank will provide free groceries including fresh produce, dry goods and USDA surplus foods.

•When: Every Saturday 10 - noon
•Where: Fairfax Community Church, 2398 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
•How you can help: Contact hollybragman@yahoo.com or call 456-5652

For more information, contact us at info@fairfaxvolunteers.org.

Blog #13 - Town Council Actions - May 4, 2011

2011-05-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Tighter Smoking Restrictions, Smart Meter Moratorium to be Extended for One Year

The Town Council at its regular meeting on May 4, 2011 introduced and held its first reading of an ordinance that will tighten smoking restrictions. On the residential side any building with four or more living units will require a minimum of 75 percent of the units (including balconies, porches, decks or patios) to be permanently designated as non-smoking. Landlords may designate up to 25 percent of their outdoor area for smoking. The ordinance also bans smoking in the entrances to any Fairfax building smoking is already prohibited including bars, restaurants, places of employment and public places. A second reading of the ordinance will take place on June 1, 2011 and the law will become effective on July 1, 2011. There is a 14 month grace period. The Fairfax ordinance is more restrictive than the second-hand smoke law Novato adopted in 2008 and slightly less restrictive than the ordinance passed in Larkspur last month.

The Council also conducted a first reading of an ordinance to limit the location, number and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. The ordinance will limit the location of any new dispensaries to the central commercial, highway commercial or limited commercial districts of the Town. Some changes were made at the meeting to the ordinance around the issue of types of identification and auditing of records. A second reading of the ordinance will take place on June 1, 2011 and the ordinance becomes law on July 1, 2011.

Other actions taken at the Town Council May 1, 2011 meeting:

• Re-appointed Elon Rosenfeld to the Parks and Recreation Commission for another four-year term to May 31, 2015.

• Discussed the possibility of a local sales tax in the Town of Fairfax.

• Set the summer schedule for Town Council meetings for the following dates: June 1 (Regular Meeting); June 22 (Budget Workshop); July 13 (Regular Meeting); July 27 (Special Meeting on Sales Tax Proposal) August 17 (Regular Meeting)

• Adopted a resolution calling for the decommissioning of all nuclear power plants on the California coast.

• Approved a proclamation honoring Joe Langlois for his thirty-six years of service to the Ross Valley Fire Department.

• Heard a first reading of Ordinance 754, an ordinance to provide clean indoor health protection including the regulation of the exposure to smoke in multi-unit apartment buildings.

• Adopted Ordinance No. 761, extending for an additional year the Moratorium on the Installation of Smart Meters and Related Equipment within the Town of Fairfax or in, along, across, upon, under and over the public streets and places within the Town of Fairfax

• Discussion/Consideration of possible actions regarding the Town’s bank accounts in light of banking foreclosure and loan practices.

• Introduction and First Reading of Ordinance No. 762, An Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Fairfax Amending Section 5.16.130 of the Fairfax Town Code to Remove Real Estate Agents from Business License Fee Obligations.

• Approval of Invitation to Ross Valley Sanitary District to Discuss Proposed Rate Increase, Sewage Spills/Reporting, and Consolidation Efforts at June Council Meeting

• Discussion and consideration of Measure I Youth Work Grants

• Discussion of Citizens Redistricting Commission Public Input Hearing Saturday, May 21, 2011, Oakland City Council Chambers

• Discussed the possibility of a local sales tax in the Town of Fairfax. This item will continue on each Council agenda for many months as a continuing dialogue is held with the community on this important issue. The entire amount collected from a one half cent local sales tax would go to the Town and could generate about $150,000 per year. The projected Town budget for fiscal year 2011-12 will have a deficit of about $350,000 due to declining property and other tax revenues and increasing retirement and health care costs for employees. Some of the employee groups already pay a portion of the employee portion of the PERS system and discussions will occur in the next few months with all bargaining groups in Fairfax and with the Ross Valley Fire employees.

Other notes and announcements:

• May 12th, Thursday, is “Bike to Work Day”

• May 14th, Saturday, Peri Park Playground Clean-up, 9 a.m. to Noon, clean, spread new sand and maintain benches

• May 15th, Sunday, Volunteer Fairfax Trails Project Workday, 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., meet at 16 Park Road

• There will be no Teen Night on June 3rd.

• The Youth Commission will be participating in a Youth Music Showcase with Jack Irving on June 11th at 7pm in the Women's Club as part of the Fairfax Festival

• Applicants sought for the General Plan Implementation Committee, two community members needed

• Volunteer Board Vacancy to complete an unexpired term to September 30, 2012

• Vacancy on the Fairfax Youth Commission for Ross Valley youth between 14 and 19 years of age

• Register now for Camp Fairfax and exciting new summer programs– new FOCAS guide available

• Statement in honor of Paula Ross, Holocaust survivor

• The next Town Council meeting will be June 1, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #12 - Town Council Actions from April 6 and 14th Meetings

2011-04-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

The Town Council at its regular meeting on April 6, 2011 approved a ten percent rate increase for solid waste and recycling services provided by Marin Sanitary Service (MSS). On April 14, 2011, the Town Council discussed the need for professional services to review the current draft franchise agreement. The Council Members agreed to charge the Mayor and Vice Mayor with providing the names of three solid waste consultants to Marin Sanitary Service and Marin Sanitary Service will provide three names to the Town and then the Town and MSS will pick one consultant to assist in crafting a new franchise agreement between the Town and MSS.

Other actions taken at the Town Council April 6 and April 14, 2011 meetings:

• Appointed Terra Clark to the Youth Commission and re-appointed Richard Pedemonte to the Parks and Recreation Commission.

• Heard a report from the Town Manager on the storm damage of March 24, 2011 which included one major landslide and areas of localized flooding. Several trees fell and there were many storm drains that were clogged at the height of the storm on March 24th.

• Approved an MOU for the FairBuck Project.

• Adopted a resolution establishing a General Plan Implementation Committee (GPIC). The Town is seeking two members on the GPIC from the community at large. The GPIC’s charge will be to monitor and facilitate the goals, objectives, policies and programs contained in the 2010 General Plan. The GPIC will meet monthly to review and monitor the proposed timelines contained within the General Plan and to provide or recruit assistance as needed. The GPIC will report to the Town Council quarterly, at least through the first year of implementation after the General Plan is adopted. It is expected that one meeting would be held per month, for approximately two hours in duration. Applicants for the two community positions must be residents of the Town of Fairfax. Application forms are available at Town Hall or on the Town’s Web site at townoffairfax.org. Appointments will be made by the Town Council at a future regular meeting. For more information, please contact Jim Moore, Planning Director, at 458-2346, or Judy Anderson, Town Clerk, at 458-2343.

• Approved a letter of support for EPA upgrades, Clean Air Transport rule and Hazardous Air Pollutants to protect clean air standards.

• Adopted a resolution in support of SB 810 – Single Payer Health Care.

• Adopted a resolution supporting the California Air Resources Board’s leadership in promoting clean and energy efficient motor vehicles, energy independence, zero emission technologies, and improved quality of life in California.

• Held a first reading of an ordinance prohibiting the establishment of new
medical marijuana dispensaries in any zoning district within the Town until such time that a permanent ordinance regulating the location, number and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries is approved.

• The Council appointed Mayor Bragman and Vice Mayor Hartwell-Herrero as designated representatives of the Town for the purposes of labor negotiations.

• Discussed the possibility of a local sales tax in the Town of Fairfax. This item will continue on each Council agenda for many months as a continuing dialogue is held with the community on this important issue. The entire amount collected from a one half cent local sales tax would go to the Town and could generate about $150,000 per year. The projected Town budget for fiscal year 2011-12 will have a deficit of about $350,000 due to declining revenues and increasing retirement and health care costs for employees. Some of the employee groups already pay a portion of the employee portion of the PERS system and discussions will occur in the next few months with all bargaining groups in Fairfax and with the Ross Valley Fire employees.

Other notes and announcements:

• A special meeting on the FairBuck program will be held on April 20, 2011 at the Women’s Club at 7:00 PM.

• Parks and Recreation Commission is sponsoring the annual Spring Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 23rd at Bolinas Park at 10 AM for children 8 and under.

• A “Spring Clean-Up” will be held at the Fairfax Community Center (Youth Center) on April 30, 2011 from 1:00 pm-5:00 pm.

• If you would like to be a volunteer at the soon to open Fairfax Food Pantry please attend a meeting on April 30, 2011 at the Fairfax Community Church beginning at 10:00 am.

• The next Town Council meeting will be May 4, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club.

Blog #11 Fairfax Open Space Committee Fundraiser at Iron Springs Brewery

2011-04-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Fairfax Open Space Committee To Hold Fundraising Event (Fairfax, Calif.)

The Town of Fairfax Open Space Committee (FOSC) will hold a fundraising event on Tuesday, April 12 at the Iron Springs Pub and Brewery, 765 Center Blvd, Fairfax. Proceeds from the event will benefit FOSC’s work to preserve, acquire and maintain open space for Fairfax. During Iron Spring’s Give Back Tuesday for FOSC, ten percent of sales will be donated to FOSC. The restaurant is open between 4 and 9:30 p.m. and the bar is open until about 10:30 p.m. A raffle will be held featuring nifty Fairfax-themed prizes. FOSC T-shirts and tote bags will be available for sale and maps of Fairfax open space will be on display. The event will include special presentations, beginning at 7:30 p.m., to recognize members of the community.

For more information about this fundraising event, please visit the Committee’s website launched in 2010 at www.fairfaxopenspace.com.

More information about Give Back Tuesday may be found at the restaurant’s website at www.ironspringspub.com.

The Fairfax Open Space Committee exists to preserve the visual and environmental values of the community through the purchase of undeveloped land in and around Fairfax. The goal is to provide sanctuary for indigenous flora and fauna for future generations.

Blog #10 - Fairfax Documentary Film Festival Starts Tonight

2011-04-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

The 12th Annual Fairfax Documentary Film Festival Begins Tonight at 7:30 PM and runs through Sunday at the Fairfax Theater. Listed below are the listings of films. The qulaity of films is quite high with many talented film makers living right here in Fairfax.

“Fairfax Scenes” 48 Views of our Town from 1890 to the 1950s

Guests of Space Alba Roca’s documentary explores the encounter between the Nukak Maku people and the white man in 1988. Known as the last nomads contacted in South America, this film observes the collision of two alien worlds where settlers, missionaries, armed groups and Colombia ’s drug war unexpectedly meet and confront.

Old People Driving Shaleece Haas’ documentary chronicles the adventures of Milton (age 96) and Herbert (age 99) as they confront the end of their driving years. Through them we observe that heartbreaking moment when the generation that came of age during America’s love affair with the automobile has to put the keys in the drawer.

Someplace With a Mountain Pacific islanders, the “Lapita Navigators,” living far from “civilization,” learn that their world on a small atoll is fast disappearing because of climate change. Filmmaker Steve Goodall chanced across them on his travels and alerted them that their days on their island were numbered. They asked for his help. He provided it. "Fairfax Doc Fest Challenge 2011" a preview of the entries to this year's competition.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SATURDAY APRIL 2ND 7:30 pm

Lesson Plan: The Story of the Third Wave Spring, 1967: Disillusionment, anger and confusion bubble to the surface of the nation’s psyche, American youth are on the precipice of a social revolution and for a few tumultuous days, a young history teacher at Cubberly High in Palo Alto, attempts a startling social experiment that will inspire comment and analysis to this day. To explain the appeal of fascism in Nazi Germany, teacher Ron Jones created a classroom setting wherein students subjugated personal freedom to the good of the community, under a charismatic leader followed almost without question. Replete with salutes and Gestapo-like informants, the so-called Third Wave soon attracted scores of students throughout Cubberly and neighboring schools, spiraling out of Jones’ control. This moving reunion and recounting by Jones, school administrators, former students and Dr. Philip Zambardo (Stanford Prison Experiment) enthralls with the force of inescapable conclusions. Director Philip Neel was a member of the original Third Wave class. Q&A with the filmmaker and subject Ron Jones "Fairfax Doc Fest Challenge 2011" a preview of the entries to this year's competition.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SUNDAY APRIL 3RD 1st showing 2pm, 2nd showing 6pm with judging and awards "SCREENING AND RESULTS OF THE FAIRFAX DOC FEST CHALLENGE 2011" a competition featuring short documentaries submitted by local filmmakers of all ages. The Challenge is a favorite event of the Film Festival and is fun for those who participated in making films and for viewers who get to see some remarkable local talent. Tickets are available at the Theater or on-line through www.cinemawest.com. STARTING TIMES VARY-PLEASE CHECK SCHEDULE Features: Open to All Website: http://www.fairfaxdocfest.org/ Phone: (415) 460-9760 Price: $10.00 Tickets: Buy Tickets

Blog #9 - Business License Payment Clarification

2011-03-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

As many businesses know the contract with Muni Services was terminated. The termination period does not end until May 5, 2011. Some business owners have expressed concern about paying the $25 fee to Muni at the same time the termination period is underway. The following solution to this concern is outlined below:

If a business has not yet paid its business license fee and prefers the $25 processing fee go to the Town of Fairfax rather than Muni Services a business may wait until after May 5, 2011 to pay its business license without any late fee penalties. The Town will be administering the business license program beginning May 6, 2011.

If you have any questions please feel free to call the Town at 453-1584.

Blog #8 - Statement from CalEMA on Risk of Radiation Exposure

2011-03-16T08:31:00.001-07:00

The California Emergency Management Agency has released the following statement regarding the likelihood of radiation exposure in California and the proper timing and use of potassium iodide:

NEWS RELEASE
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jay Alan, Cal EMA, Dir. of Communications
(916) 825-6544
media@calema.ca.gov
Al Lundeen, CA Dept. of Public Health
(916) 440-7259

Statement from California's Department of Public Health and Emergency Management Agency on Risk of Radiation Exposure

SACRAMENTO - Today the interim director of the California Department of Public Health, Dr. Howard Backer, and acting secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency, Mike Dayton, issued the following statement emphasizing Californians' safety from radiation exposure and the risks of taking potassium iodide as a precautionary measure.

"The safety of all Californians is our highest priority, and we are in constant contact with the federal agencies responsible for monitoring radiation levels across the West Coast. We want to emphasize that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have all stated that there is no risk expected to California or its residents as a result of the situation in Japan.

We are actively monitoring the situation in Japan and are ready to take all steps necessary to protect Californians should risks develop.

We urge Californians to not take potassium iodide as a precautionary measure. It is not necessary given the current circumstances in Japan, it can present a danger to people with allergies to iodine, shellfish or who have thyroid problems, and taken inappropriately it can have serious side effects including abnormal heart rhythms, nausea, vomiting, electrolyte abnormalities and bleeding.

Our thoughts are with the people of Japan at this tragic time."

Californians with questions about radiation exposure can contact the California Department of Public Health's Emergency Operations information line at 916 341-3947.

For updated information on monitoring, response and relief efforts in California and Japan, please visit the California Emergency Management Agency website at www.calema.ca.gov.

Blog #7 - Japan Nuclear Power Plants - Radiation Fallout Information

2011-03-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Fairfax Community:

The triple tragedy of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant failures in Japan is on the minds of many residents. Our heartfelt thoughts go out to the Japanese people, as well as to those residents of Fairfax with family and friends in Japan, in this time of tragedy.

Residents who are concerned about the status of the nuclear power plants in Japan can access information on the following websites:

•Center for Disease Control: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/index.asp

•Nuclear Energy Institute: http://www.nei.org/newsandevents/information-on-the-japanese-earthquake-and-reactors-in-that-region/

The California Department of Public Health has prepared materials related to the developing radiation incident in Japan . They are posted on: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/, http://www.bepreparedcalifornia.ca.gov/

A local news station ran this story last night:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/category/watch-listen/video-on-demand/?clipId=5659431&flvUri&partnerclipid&topVideoCatNo=194905&c&autoStart=true&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv

I hope this information is informative to you. If there is new information or more specific information the Town will provide it in the coming days on our web page and on this blog.

Michael Rock

Town Manager

Blog #6 - PUC Asks PG&E to offer an Option to Wireless Smart Meters

2011-03-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

Portions of the information below was taken from Patch News as reported by Kelly Dunleavy on March 10, 2011:

Michael Peevey, Chair of the PUC has asked in a letter the following of PG&E:

“[I have asked PG&E to] bring to this commission a proposal or a series of proposals that will allow customers with an aversion to wireless devices the option of being metered without the use of wireless technology,” said CPUC President Michael Peevey in a statement before the CPUC’s meeting March 10 in San Francisco, where dozens of people spoke about the health risks associated with the meters. PG&E's proposal is expected within two weeks.

“This is fantastic news,” said Sandi Maurer, founder of the EMF Safety Network, who had previously filed a motion with the CPUC asking for a moratorium on the installation of the meters.

The wireless digital meters have come under fire over the last year because of concerns about accuracy, security, privacy and health effects. The meters use a combination of radio and microwaves to transmit data from the digital meter attached to your house to a transponder on a nearby telephone pole. That data is then transmitted via a cellular mesh network back to PG&E. Read about how the wireless meters work here.

Because of concerns primarily focused on the health questions related to electro-magnetic frequencies and radio frequencies, PG&E has said in the past that it was considering developing alternatives, such as wired meters. PG&E has maintained, however, that the meters are safe and meet FCC standards for such devices.

“It’s something we’ve actually been looking at,” said PG&E spokesperson Katie Romans of the CPUC’s order. “The order certainly advances the timeline.”

PG&E has until March 24 to come up with a plan to implement the opt-out, while continuing installation of the meters otherwise, and bring that plan back to the CPUC.

Romans said some of the key questions that will be resolved by that March 24 plan are what various options are for those who choose to opt-out, what the cost impacts of those options would be, and what PG&E will do about those customers that already have the new meters installed in their homes.

“We really will have to look at who we are talking about,” said Romans.

It in unlikely that customers will simply be allowed to opt for their current analog meter, given that those are in the process of being phased out by manufacturers, she said. Additionally, PG&E still has a mandate to implement upgrades to the overall system and install a smart grid to allow for energy efficiency programs down the line. It is likely, then, that customers will be given a wired or digital option.

“How do we address these customers’ concerns while still ensuring them these environmental benefits,” Romans said.

Peevey also said in his statement that PG&E’s proposal for “some form of opt-out for customers who object to these devices” could be achieved at a “reasonable cost” that will be paid for by the customers that choose to opt-out.

Statewide, PG&E has installed over 7.65 million meters, with the goal of installing 10 million gas and electric meters by mid-2012. In Marin, 88,927 electric SmartMeters have been installed and 66,334 gas – as of March 4. That leaves just over 60,000 gas and electric to still be installed.

But, in towns that have been particularly vocal in their opposition the numbers are much lower.

In Fairfax, where PG&E has voluntarily been delaying installation while community meetings attempted to answer residents’ questions, just 67 electric and 217 gas SmartMeters have been installed. The Fairfax Town Council also passed a moratorium on the meters last year, but it has not yet been challenged in court. And PG&E has maintained that when work has to be done on a meter, they are forced to install a new digital meter, because the older analog ones are being phased out.

None of the SmartMeters are transmitting yet, until the entire region is installed.

Blog #5 - CERT Classes

2011-03-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

Marin CERT Training Opportunity -- Join Now!

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training is a national program that was adopted in Marin County in 1990 and continues to be provided in all areas of Marin County today. The skills taught in CERT courses are valuable and life-saving skills which include fire safety and suppression, disaster medical operations, and light search and rescue. The community understands more and more the importance of obtaining these skills in order to be more self sufficient at the time of a disaster or emergency and be empowered to take care of themselves, their families, and their neighbors.

Training sessions for CERT are upcoming in Kentfield on March 19 and 26. The 15 hours you spend in training can...

•SAVE A LIFE
•SECURE YOUR FAMILY
•PRESERVE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

More information: event flyer Marin CERT Plan Marin CERT website

Blog #4 - Town Council Terminates Agreement with Muni Services

2011-03-03T15:48:00.001-08:00

The Town Council at its regular meeting on March 2, 2011 terminated the agreement with Muni Services for the processing of the business licenses. The agreement calls for a 60-day termination period. Many business owners objected to a large company handling the businesses license and requiring the license payments be sent to Alabama where Muni has a large processing center to handle business licenses from many jurisdictions in California and elsewhere. The Council will discuss how to handle the business license program, particularly for how to collect next year’s fees, in the ensuing months.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on March 2, 2011:

• Heard a presentation from Marva Sheehan from HF&H, a consulting firm that conducts rate studies for many solid waste and recycling companies including Marin Sanitary Service. Marva presented to the Council the need for a 25.96% rate increase to cover higher operating and capital costs and to pay for the food waste composting program started last year throughout the entire Town. The Council will take up the matter of a rate increase for solid waste and recycling services at the next Council meeting on April 6, 2011. There was considerable public comment and questions from the Council about the garbage and recycling collection service currently provided by Marin Sanitary and a discussion from the Zero Waste Committee (Mayor Bragman and Vice Mayor Hartwell-Herrero) about ongoing efforts to adopt a new franchise agreement. It is expected that a final draft agreement will be before the town Council in July of this year.

• The Council approved resolutions approving an overall financial policy and a reserve policy for the Town.

• Adopted a resolution approving the job description and salary schedule for the Chief Building Official/Public Works Manager position.

• Adopted a resolution declaring April 2011 as Fair Housing Month in Fairfax.

• Adopted a resolution authorizing the temporary closure of certain streets for the Little League Opening Day Parade on Saturday, March 12, 2011.

• Adopted a resolution honoring Gail Wiemann, Fairfax Library Branch Manager, on the occasion of her retirement.

• Adopted a resolution in support of Wisconsin Public Workers Union.

• Discussed the draft ordinance regulating the location, number and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. After much discussion it was decided by the Town Council (with Mayor Bragman recused) not to hold the first reading of the ordinance but to have the Town Attorney make some changes to the ordinance based on Council Member comments and bring it back to Council on April 6, 2011.

• Held a discussion updating the community on the Town of Fairfax v Berg matter. The Council also announced that the Town will be appealing a judge’s decision in this property access case that ruled the Town did not have the right to an easement across the Berg’s property. More information on this can be found at: http://sananselmofairfax.patch.com/articles/fairfax-will-appeal-berg-decision-wont-use-town-money

Other notes and announcements:

• Free classical Indian Dance Performance at the Women’s Club, Thursday, March 10, 2011 from 7:00-8:30 PM sponsored by the Park and Recreation Commission and the Marin County Free Library.

• Little League Opening Day Parade is March 12, 2011 at 10:00 am.

• Annual Brewfest sponsored by the Park and Recreation Commission and the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce is Saturday, March 19, 2011 from 1:00-5:00 pm.

• Teen Youth Night at the Youth Center is on Friday March 25, from 7:00-9:00 pm.

• The Annual Fairfax Documentary Film Festival will be held at the Fairfax Theater April 1-3.

• There will be a special Council Meeting on March 16, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the long awaited re-opening of the Fairfax Creek Pedestrian Bridge that fell down during the floods of 2005-06.

Blog #3 - Business License Program Changes

2011-02-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Fairfax Business Owners:

At their February 2, 2011 meeting the Town Council heard from many businesses in Fairfax. Merchants testified that outsourcing the business license program to a private company (Muni Services) and sending their business license fee to a processing center in Alabama was not acceptable to them. Many businesses expressed concern about not keeping the money local to directly benefit the Town. Business owners objected to divulging their social security number to Muni Services. Due to the concerns of many of our businesses, Town staff has directed Muni Services to make the following changes, effective February 4, 2011:

• Businesses may pay their businesses license fee directly to the Town, in person at Town Hall or through the mail to the Town Hall address: 142 Bolinas Road, Fairfax, CA 94930.

• Businesses do not have to divulge their social security number or employer identification number.

• A delinquent penalty will not be assessed until after March 15, 2011 instead of February 16, 2011 as stated on the business license that was mailed by Muni Services.

The contract with Muni Services states the following regarding the privacy rights of information Muni Services receives from our business owners: “Consultant shall not disclose to any third party any data it receives in conjunction with its performance of the work hereunder except in accordance of the order of a court. Consultant agrees that all documents produced in the performance of this agreement shall be the property of the Town and Consultant shall not transfer any interest in the same (whether by assignment or novation) without the prior written consent of the Town.”
The Town Council will be discussing this issue on March 2, 2011 at their regular meeting and
will discuss whether to continue having this service provided by Muni Services.

If you have any questions about these changes or have any other questions about the business license program please feel free to call the Town at
453-1584.

Sincerely,

Michael Rock
Town Manager

Blog #2 - Town Council Actions from January 12, 2011

2011-01-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

Fairfax Town Council Adopts Building and Fire Code Changes

The Town Council at its regular meeting on January 12, 2011 adopted the 2010 Building and Fire Codes. The changes from previous codes have to do with exception to sprinkler requirements on some second units. The Town was required to adopt its own building and fire codes by January 2011 or else the state codes would take full force and effect.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on January 12, 2011:

• Heard a presentation from Polla Pratt and David Bernard regarding FairBuck - a local currency project being sponsored by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Fairfax and the Town of Fairfax. The basic idea is that special coins are minted for use only in a specified area (such as businesses in Fairfax). The coins have a face value of three dollars, and can be used at all participating businesses. Coins kept as souvenirs and not recirculated net slightly less than two dollars in profit which can be used by the sponsors for the local benefit. It is legal and can be a source of much needed funds for the Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Fairfax and the Town.

• Heard a presentation from Patty Garbarino of Marin Sanitary Service regarding the pilot food waste composting program in Fairfax. Patty also reviewed other programs and the amount of waste generated over the last few years which has dropped due to the slow economy.

• The Town Council re-appointed Brannon Ketcham, Shelley Hamilton, Shelby LaMotte and Morgan Hall to the Planning Commission. There is one vacant position on the Planning Commission due to the resignation of long time Commissioner Pam Meigs who is now serving on the Ross Valley Sanitary Board.

• Authorized Mayor Bragman to send a letter to the Department of Justice commenting on the need to strengthen ADA protections for electromagnetically sensitive individuals.

• Authorized the Town Manager to sign an updated agreement with the American Red Cross for use of the Pavilion as an emergency shelter.

• Discussed possible guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries and asked staff to return to the Council with possible areas of Town that meet the requirements of AB 2650 and are in the appropriate zone for such use.

• Short Term Staff Reorganization: The Town Council directed the Town Manager to return on February 2, 2011 with a job specification and salary schedule for a newly created position of Chief Building Inspector/Public Works Manager and a newly created position of Building Inspector/Senior Maintenance Worker. These newly created positions will be filled by existing staff persons to balance the budget. The position of Public Works Director will not be filled. The Town Manager will act as the Public Works Director. The Council also authorized the Town Manager to sign a consultant services agreement with Wayne Bush for a not to exceed amount of $20,000 to assist the Town with capital projects and grants that have hard deadlines in the coming months. A Fiscal Sustainability Workshop is scheduled for February 16, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in the Women’s Club to discuss the mid-year budget and longer term reorganization of staff to balance the deficit.

Other notes and announcements:

• Regular meetings of the Town Council now begin at 7:00 p.m. and started January 12, 2011

• One vacancy on the Planning Commission

• Fairfax Library will be closed February 7-21 for the installation of new carpeting

• The next Town Council meeting will be February 2, 2011 at 7:00 PM

Blog #1 - Town Council Meets Tonight at 7:00 PM

2011-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

The Fairfax Town Council meets tonight, Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 7:00 p.m. at the Women's Club in Fairfax.

Note, the 7 p.m. start time is different than the previous start time of 7:30 p.m. On the agenda:

■Presentation regarding the possibility of Fairfax creating its own local currency.
■Presentation from Marin Sanitary on food composting and food waste recycling.
■Interview and appointments of one candidate to the Design Review Board and four candidates to the Planning Commission.
■Approve a letter for Council Member Larry Bragman to send to the Department of Justice urging stronger ADA protections for electromagnetically sensitive individuals.
■Second hearing and adoption of new building codes and new fire codes.
■Discuss and consider the establishment of a General Plan Implementation Committee.
■Discuss and consider guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries.
■Discussion of reorganization of town staff.

Blog #74 Ice Skating at Pavilion

2010-12-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

Come join us the weekend of January 8 & 9, 2011 for family ice skating in the Pavilion hosted by Park & Rec. An 1800 foot synthetic ice rink will be set up for entertainment & fun. Skating times run from noon to 5 p.m. on both days. A flat rate of $4 buys you 30 minutes of ice skating and includes the rental of the skates. This year, we will provide a bounce house for kids under 5 who are too young to skate. A small fee will be charged. Additionally, a concession stand will offer hot dogs, chips, sodas, popcorn, cookies, hot cocoa & coffee for sale.

Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 8th for ticket sales. Don’t delay, as this event has been known to sell out! All proceeds benefit Park & Rec. For more info, call 456-5652.

Blog #73 - Year in Review for 2010 - Town Accomplishments

2010-12-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

Another year has gone by in our great Town and you may wonder what has the Town accomplished this year? Here is a list of some of the highlights of 2010 in chronological order:

JANUARY- MARCH 2010

Ross Valley School Bond: This year started with the the Ross Valley School District holding community meetings to discuss the siting of a new K-5 school in several possible locations in Fairfax. The Deer Park residents and others came to the Town Council asking for assistance from the Town Council. The Deer Park and Town and Country Club proposed sites garnered much discussion at many community meetings, including two well organized charrettes in Fairfax. After all of these meetings the Town Council worked with the school district and the community to get a bond measure passed in November 2010 that did not include a new school site in Fairfax.

Marin Energy Authority: The Town Council unanimously chose the “Dark Green” option with the Marin Clean Energy (MCE) program. The “Dark Green” option uses 100% renewable energy. The other option with MCE was a “Light Green” option which uses about 50% renewable energy. The Town’s solar panels on the Pavilion are powering most of the Town’s energy needs thus the “dark green” option will essentially be cost neutral for the Town.

APRIL-JUNE 2010

Hazardous Fuel Reduction Grant: The Town was granted $168,831 in funding from the USDA Forest Service! Our Fire Hazardous Fuel Reduction grant proposal was one of 397 grant proposals this year requesting a total of $70 million. The grant covers environmental consultation, photo monitoring, and contract administration. One major item of the grant requires the hiring of qualified contractors to perform primarily brush clearing and tree trimming services.

Camp Fairfax: Expanded Camp Fairfax from one week to three weeks in 2010 due to the popularity of the one week offer on 2009, the first year of the Camp. The FOCUS program will consider even more Camp Fairfax weeks in 2011! Thanks to all the residents and staff in Fairfax and beyond who made this a great day camp experience for our youth.

The General Plan: In May the Council began the process of reviewing the first of many general plan elements - the Safety Element. Over the next seven months the Council reviewed all the elements of the General Plan culminating in the acceptance of the draft General Plan in December 2010. The next step is to have the environmental review of the plan started in January 2011.

SMART METERS: The Fairfax Town Council wrote a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission requesting that they investigate SMART Meters for a variety of issues related to the accuracy of the meters, possible health hazards, and privacy issues.

Ross Valley Fire JPA: The Town Council unanimously voted to amend the Ross Valley Fire Joint Powers Authority (JPA) Agreement to include Sleepy Hollow as a full voting member of the JPA at a Special Town Council meeting on Saturday, June 5, 2010

Second Unit Amnesty Program: Adopted Ordinance 751 amending the second unit amnesty program to eliminate the requirement for fire suppression sprinklers for existing second units qualifying for legalization.

JULY-SEPTEMBER 2010

FOCAS Program: Approved an Agreement with Camille Esposito to provide Youth Services as part of the FOCAS (Fairfax Open Circle Arts). The Youth Services budget ($18,000 per year) is part of the Measure I funds voters approved in November 2009.

More SMART Meter Actions: Agreed to intervene in the City and County of San Francisco motion at the California Public Utilities Commission to suspend deployment of Smart Meters and agreed to have staff bring back a draft ordinance at the next meeting banning the installation of Smart Meters in Fairfax

Town Hires New Police Chief: The Town Council, in a unanimous vote, hired Chris Morin as the new Police Chief. Ken Hughes retired after nearly 40 years of service to the Town. Chief Morin brings more than 20 years of experience to the job.

Smart Meter Moratorium: The Town Council unanimously passed an urgency ordinance on August 4, 2010 that places a one year moratorium on the deployment of smart meters in Fairfax. PG&E representatives were also present at the Council meeting and told the Council that they would voluntarily halt the deployment of the controversial smart meters in Fairfax immediately. PG&E also promised to hold several community meetings so that they could hear the concerns and questions from residents and businesses and then respond to those questions and concerns. To date there have been three Special Council meetings with PG&E to hear the concerns of the residents and to receive answers from PG&E on privacy, health and accuracy of the meters.

OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2010

Town Budget Adopted: The Town Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2010/11 Operating and Capital Budgets on October 6, 2010. The budget adoption was later than usual in part because the Council had to balance the $205,000 deficit. The General Fund Operating budget is $6.901 million down from $6.988 million the prior year. Estimated revenues for property taxes are 2% less than last year and have been flat or lower than previous years for the last three years. This loss coupled with sales tax losses amounts to a loss of about $125,000 in revenue just over last fiscal year.

To balance the FY 2010/11 several vacant positions were left unfilled for several extra months to save money. For the second straight year, employees throughout the Town did not receive any cost of living adjustments. Most employees have lost compensation as they are paying a portion of their retirement costs out of their pocket which started over a year ago. All operating budgets (materials and supplies) in the Town have been cut 4% over the last two years as another necessary measure to balance the budget.

New Master Fees Adopted: The Town Council adopted a resolution revising the Master Fee schedule on October 6, 2010. New fees will take effect on November 8, 2010. New Fees are posted at the Town’s website www.townoffairfax.org in the agenda packet for the October 6th meeting as Item 17.

New Start Time for Council Meetings: The Council adopted Ordinance 755 changing the regular time of the Town Council meetings from 7:30 PM to 7:00 PM.

Fiscal Sustainability Workshop Held: The Town Council held a Fiscal Sustainability Workshop on November 17, 2010 to discuss eliminating the structural deficit in the budget which will include further cuts to the budget through a reorganization of the Town staff. This Council Workshop included a discussion of escalating retirement and health care costs and the possibility of a further partnership with employees to share the burden with the Town to pay for these escalating costs. A discussion of new revenue sources will also factor into the five year fiscal sustainability plan. This workshop was informational only and no policy decisions were made by the Council.

Good Earth Signs Lease Agreement to move to Old Albertson's building: After many years of speculation and wishful thinking from Fairfax residents, the closed Albertson's at Fair-Anselm Plaza is finally getting a new tenant. Good Earth announced on November 30, 2010, it is signing a long-term lease with LRG Capital to occupy the 23,000 square foot space that has stood empty since Albertson's shut a number of its Northern California stores in 2006.

The long-term lease and move to Fair-Anselm includes an expansive remodel, something Good Earth partners Mark Squire and Baylacq both say includes environmentally-friendly renovations to cut down on energy use and make the building more sustainable.

Renovations include large windows to capitalize on natural light, construction of a clerestory, a grey water system, permeable asphalt, and solar panels. Both the Good Earth partners and LRG Capital will work with design teams on the total overhaul of the building. Baylacq said they've been working on designs for the last four months, which have to be approved by the Town of Fairfax. The renovations are expected to be complete and the new store opened in October 2011.

New Mayor and Vice Mayor selected: Larry Bragman as the next Mayor and Pam Hartwell-Herrero as the next Vice Mayor. Both will serve one year terms and both were unanimous votes of the Town Council. Newly appointed Mayor Bragman commented on some major themes that the Council will have to tackle in the next year. The contracting economy continues and it is affecting the public sector more than any other. Mayor Bragman stated we need a vital public sector, and we need to continue to improve efficiencies and maintain humanity and civility as the challenge of balancing the Town budget continues. Volunteer Boards and Commissions will play a key role in assisting the Town with all of the activities it needs to accomplish.

Blog #72 - Holiday Schedule at Town Hall

2010-12-20T16:05:00.001-08:00

Holiday Greetings to all Fairfaxians!!

Town Hall will be closed December 23, 2010- January 2, 2011. So far the rain is steady and with dry periods in between each storm. There has been thunder and lightning so please be careful outdoors.

Please be sure to remove all leaves and mud from your rain gutters so that the water may drain as normally as possible.

Have a great holiday season!!

Blog #71 - New Year's Eve Ball

2010-12-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

Fairfax Artists in Residence Sponsor the Fifth New Year's Eve Ball. December 31, 2010 8 PM-1:00 AM at the Pavilion. $12 at the door. Seniors and Students $10 - Kids under 5 are free!!
See flyer above for more information:

Blog #69 Fairfax Volunteers Holiday Caroling and Potluck-December 12th

2010-12-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

The annual Fairfax Volunteers Holiday Caroling and Potluck is almost upon us. See attached flyer for all the details.

Blog #70 - FOCUS PROGRAMS - Winter Newsletter

2010-12-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

The Newsletter below was written by Camille Esposito who runs the FOCUS Programs. There is a lot of recreational activities for all ages. Please take a look at all the new programs the Town has to offer!! Great job Camille for vastly improving the FOCUS programs!

Winter Newsletter December 1st, 2010

Greetings!

A chill is in the air and we are working on lots of fun things to do inside this Winter. Come join us for some fun!

Winter Birthdays
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you do when the weather is cold and rainy and you need to celebrate a
Winter birthday? Come celebrate in the Pavilion! There is tons of room for fun activities - treasure hunts, sports and even a jumpy! You can rent the space and bring your own activity or you can have us set up all the play equipment from our playgroup.

We are also offering music and art parties - check our website for rates and details.

Pavilion Playgroup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are getting all set up for the Playgroup to start. The first day we will be open is Wednesday December 8th - your cards from last season will be good thru the end of the calendar year so come down and have some fun! We refreshed the Pavilion this Fall, the stage and benches have been painted, it looks great and is ready for a fun season of play.

Family Fun Nights at the Pavilion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are thrilled to announce that every Friday we are hosting Family Fun Night at the Pavilion. This is a great opportunity to get out and have some fun on a Friday night with the whole family. Adults get to play games - handball, foursquare, dodgeball and more - while the kids play on riding toys and mats! $5 per adult, kids are FREE.

Most Friday evenings 5:30-7:30pm Fairfax Pavilion
Check our online calendar for schedule or find us on Facebook Fairfax Fun Fridays

Quick Links...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.fairfaxfocas.com

Volunteer to help out at the Craft Faire
Winter Birthday Party Info

Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: 415.256.9207 email: fairfaxfocas@yahoo.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join Our Mailing List
Forward email
Safe Unsubscribe
This email was sent to janderson@townoffairfax.org by fairfaxfocas@yahoo.com.
Update Profile/Email Address Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe ™ Privacy Policy .
Email Marketing by

FOCAS 142 Bolinas Ave Fairfax CA 94930

Blog #68 Horse and Carriage Rides with Santa Claus in Downtown Fairfax

2010-12-07T08:09:00.001-08:00

On December 12, 2010 the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce is offering free horse and carriage rides with Santa Claus in Downtown Fairfax. See flyer below for all the details:

Blog #67 - General Plan Accepted, New Mayor and Vice Mayor Selected

2010-12-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

The Town Council had a busy meeting on December 1, 2010 beginning the meeting by appointing Larry Bragman as the next Mayor and Pam Hartwell-Herrero as the next Vice Mayor. Both will serve one year terms and both were unanimous votes of the Town Council. Newly appointed Mayor Bragman commented on some major themes that the Council will have to tackle in the next year. The contracting economy continues and it is affecting the public sector more than any other. Mayor Bragman stated we need a vital public sector, and we need to continue to improve efficiencies and maintain humanity and civility as the challenge of balancing the Town budget continues. Volunteer Boards and Commissions will play a key role in assisting the Town with all of the activities it needs to accomplish.

After more than ten years of drafting various elements of the General Plan the final draft was accepted by the Town Council and staff was directed to begin the environmental review process. A debt of gratitude goes out to the General Plan Advisory Committee, the Planning Commission, the Design Review Board, the Super Committee, and our indispensable consultant Larry Kennings. Our planning director Jim Moore warrants special mention as he worked for the last year and a half compiling all the comments and edits and crafted the final draft. Thank you Jim Moore for your tremendous leadership working with the grass roots committees on completing, for the first time in Town history, a fully updated final draft General Plan. Outgoing Mayor Lew Tremaine commented that bringing to fruition a final draft General Plan and serving on the Super Committee was an honor and a privilege and the major accomplishment during his tenure as Mayor.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on December 1, 2010:

• Adopted a Resolution approving the negotiated Memorandum of Understanding with the Fairfax Police Officers Association for the period July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The MOU has no financial implications for the Town and POA employees will receive no cost of living or benefit increases of any kind.

• Adopted a Resolution in Appreciation of the contributions of Ingrid Weiss to the Town as the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce

• Adopted an Urgency Ordinance No. 756-U adopting 2011 Building Codes

• Discussed Fire Code updates and will meet on December 15, 2010 to adopt updated Fire Codes

Other notes and announcements:

• The Town Council will hold a Special Town Council meeting on December 15, 2010 to further discuss the Fire Code Updates.

• Future regular meetings of the Town Council will begin at 7:00 p.m. starting January 12, 2011

• Sustainable Fairfax/FOCAS Holiday Craft Fair, December 11th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Pavilion

• Annual Holiday Caroling, Wreath Making and Potluck sponsored by the Fairfax Volunteers on December 12th, 3 to 6 p.m. at the Women’s Club

• Ice Skating at the Pavilion January 8 and 9, sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Commission
• Vacancy on the Design Review Board for an unexpired term to January 31, 2011

• Two vacancies on the Planning Commission for full four-year terms to December 31, 2014

• Town Hall will be closed for regular business from December 23-31, 2010 due to the holiday schedule. Police services are open 24/7 every day of the year.

Blog #66 - Good Earth Signs Lease to move to old Alberstson's site

2010-12-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Parts of the article below were excerpted from an article that appeared in Patch News as written by Kelly Dunleavy on November 30, 2010:

After many years of speculation and wishful thinking from Fairfax residents, the closed Albertson's at Fair-Anselm Plaza is finally getting a new tenant.

Good Earth announced on November 30, 2010, it is signing a long-term lease with LRG Capital to occupy the 23,000 square foot space that has stood empty since Albertson's shut a number of its Northern California stores in 2006.

"It's the perfect fit for that building," said Town Manager Michael Rock. "It'll be good for the town in the long run, good for Good Earth, and good for the community."

The natural food store, at its current location since 2000, has been looking to expand, even considering a move to the Home Depot/Yard Birds location in San Rafael or the Delano's Market at various points in the past few years. The possibility of expanding to two or three stores in Marin is also still on the table, said Good Earth partner Al Baylacq.

"We know there's a lot riding on this," said Baylacq, pointing out that it'll help enhance the business community, revamp the entrance to town, and provide more opportunities to residents. "It's a win-win-win-win."

The long-term lease and move to Fair-Anselm includes an expansive remodel, something Good Earth partners Mark Squire and Baylacq both say includes environmentally-friendly renovations to cut down on energy use and make the building more sustainable.

"Our products have always been the greenest so our building will naturally be the greenest as well," said Squire in a statement.

Renovations include large windows to capitalize on natural light, construction of a clerestory, a grey water system, permeable asphalt, and solar panels. Both the Good Earth partners and LRG Capital will work with design teams on the total overhaul of the building. Baylacq said they've been working on designs for the last four months, which have to be approved by the Town of Fairfax.

The renovations are expected to be complete and the new store opened in October 2011.

For a grocery store that started in a tiny space on Bolinas Avenue in 1969, the growing demand for natural and organic products has meant the need for a bigger location. The new site will also include an expanded prepared foods, deli, and bakery section – a favorite among many locals.

"The Good Earth lease is an important step to revitalizing the Fairfax property," said Geoffrey Koblick, one of the managers of the LRG Capital Real Estate Fund, in a prepared statement.

Though the revitalization of one of the town's biggest empty storefronts is a boon for Fairfax, Good Earth still must go through the permitting process, needing to address traffic flow and submit to an environmental review. The parking lot is heavily used on weekends by cyclists who park and meet for rides in the hills above Fairfax or into West Marin. Those spaces will likely no longer to available with the lot in use by Fair-Anselm and Good Earth customers, an issue that will be addressed over the next year.

Hopefully, said Rock, those are the same people that enjoy shopping at Good Earth and will stick around town.

"I don't think a deal like this comes around very often in a small town," said Baylacq.

And though the move fills one empty storefront, it does leave another in its wake for residents to begin a new wishing game: what will go in the current Good Earth space on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard?

Baylacq said there are currently negotiations between the town and Chase Bank for the bank to move into the parking lot property. The Good Earth building, though, will remain under Squire's ownership and be leased out — with the possibility that Good Earth may move its lunch program's kitchen from Novato to the back of the building.

Blog # 65 The Spirit of Thanksgiving: Donate a Turkey to Ritter Center

2010-11-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

What is the Ritter Center?

The Ritter Center was established in 1980 to respond to the needs of Marin County’s low-income residents. All agency programs focus on providing highly professional services with respect and compassion. The agency employs a comprehensive case management model to assess each client’s immediate and long-term needs. A case plan is then developed to help stabilize clients and lead them back towards self-sufficiency. Ritter Center’s main outcomes are transitioning people into housing, employment, and health, mental health and substance abuse treatment as well as improving people’s day to day living conditions.

Donate a Turkey to a needy family for Thanksgiving

The Ritter Center holds an annual “Thanksgiving Turkey Drive”. This year is particularly difficult with the economy and number of jobless and homeless families. Currently there are 191 families down on their luck hoping for a Thanksgiving Turkey, but The Ritter Center has only received 22 turkeys to fill the need so far. Turkeys normally run $8.00 - $10.00 each depending upon the size of the bird at Safeway.

Your gift of a turkey or gift cards from grocery stores and department stores will help make this program a success. Please bring your donations to Ritter Center between November 11 and November 22, 2010; Ritter Center is open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm to accept these donations at:

16 Ritter St, PO Box 3517, San Rafael 94912 - 415.457.8182

Many thanks for all your support!

The Ritter Center has done some great work for the needy here in Marin County for many years, providing food, clothing and shelter for literally thousands of people. I think our holiday meal may taste just a little bit better knowing we were generous and compassionate with our less fortunate families here in Marin.

Blog # 64 - Fiscal Sustainability Workshop-Special Council Meeting on Wednesday, November 17th

2010-11-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Town Council will meet this Wednesday, November 17th to discuss the long term fiscal sustainability of the Town. With the slowdown in the economy and a very slow recovery period expected, the Town will have to continue to reduce expenditures and look for new revenues to tackle the structural deficit that has developed over the last several years. See the agenda below and to read all the agenda items click this link: http://town-of-fairfax.org/html/council_packet.html

Blog #63 Council Actions from November 3, 2010 Meeting

2010-11-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

The Town Council after interviewing four applicants for one position appointed Morgan Hall (Architect, President of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Design Review Board) to the Planning Commission. After more than one hour of interviewing the four applicants the Council collectively agreed it was a difficult decision based on the high caliber of applicants. One of the applicants for the Planning Commission, Roxanne Ezzet-Lofstrom, was appointed to the Affordable Housing Committee. She had applied for both positions. The other candidates were Ryan O’Neil and Barbara Coler.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on November 3, 2010:

• Accepted the Quarterly Report from the Town Treasurer, Barbara Petty.

• Adopted a Resolution creating a Town Theater Director and appointing Sam Parry to the position.

• Approved changing the regular Town Council meeting date to January 12, 2011.

• Adopted a Resolution to allocate funds ($100,000) for the Citizens Option for Public Safety (COPS) Program for 2010-11.

• Agreed to an amendment to the contract between the County of Marin and the Marin Human Society to forgo the scheduled four percent increase to the contract for the 2010-11 fiscal year and to extend the current contract to June 30, 2012 and to provide a two percent contract increase in fiscal year 2011-12.

• Adopted Ordinance 755 changing the regular time of the Town Council meetings from 7:30 PM to 7:00 PM.

• Directed staff to work with Marin Community Food Bank and the San Geronimo Community Center on locating a food pantry in Fairfax.

• Approved a resolution to send a letter to the five major banks in the United States requesting mortgage lenders to amend their home loan modification programs to better serve Fairfax homeowners

The Town Council will be holding a Fiscal Sustainability Workshop on November 17, 2010 to discuss eliminating the structural deficit in the budget which will include further cuts to the budget through a reorganization of the Town staff. This Council Workshop will include a discussion of escalating retirement and health care costs and the possibility of a further partnership with employees to share the burden with the Town to pay for these escalating costs. A discussion of new revenue sources will also factor into the five year fiscal sustainability plan.

Blog #62 - How to Design and Build a Rain Garden

2010-11-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

SPAWN and MMWD in collaboration with Sustainable Fairfax are hosting a hands-on workshop on November 7, 2010 exploring the principles of harvesting and storing rainwater to disconnect from the storm drains and protect precious water resources! See detailed information below:

Blog #61 - Smart Meter Meeting #3 - November 30, 2010

2010-10-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Town and PG&E are holding a third community meeting on November 30, 2010 to address the questions and concerns raised by residents at the first meeting on September 15th and the second meeting held on September 29th. At this third meeting PG&E will provide information on the following topics:

a. Security Issues
b. Billing Accuracy
c. Other Issues raised at prior meetings (RF/Health Concerns)

A full agenda will be provided in a future Blog.

Blog #60 - Halloween Parade - October 31st

2010-10-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Annual Downtown Fairfax Halloween Parade sponsored by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce is on Halloween, Sunday, October 31st starting at 5 PM. This is an event more than worth seeing as there are some really fantastic costumes worn by children and adults.

There are costume prizes. See the detailed information below:

Blog #59 - Pavilion Clean-Up Day - Sunday, October 17, 2010

2010-10-12T14:24:00.001-07:00

Please join us in cleaning up the Pavilion on Sunday, October 17, 2010. The Town Council and staff appreciates and values the volunteers in Town and is asking for help from contractors and painters.

Blog #58 - Biketoberfest, Saturday October 16, 2010

2010-10-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Biketoberfest is coming this Saturday, October 16th at FairAnselm Plaza, 765 Center Blvd. in Fairfax!!! Click on the image for all the details!

Blog #57 Town Council Adopts FY 2010/11 Budget

2010-10-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

The Town Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2010/11 Operating and Capital Budgets on October 6, 2010. The budget adoption was later than usual in part because the Council had to balance the $205,000 deficit. The General Fund Operating budget is $6.901 million down from $6.988 million the prior year. Estimated revenues for property taxes are 2% less than last year and have been flat or lower than previous years for the last three years. This loss coupled with sales tax losses amounts to a loss of about $125,000 in revenue just over last fiscal year.

To balance the FY 2010/11 several vacant positions were left unfilled for several extra months to save money. For the second straight year, employees throughout the Town did not receive any cost of living adjustments. Most employees have lost compensation as they are paying a portion of their retirement costs out of their pocket which started over a year ago. All operating budgets (materials and supplies) in the Town have been cut 4% over the last two years as another necessary measure to balance the budget.

The Council will be holding a Fiscal Sustainability Workshop on November 17, 2010 to discuss eliminating the structural deficit in the budget which will include further cuts to the budget through a reorganization of the Town staff. This Council Workshop will include a discussion of escalating retirement and health care costs and the possibility of a further partnership with employees to share the burden with the Town to pay for these escalating costs. A discussion of new revenue sources will also factor into the five year fiscal sustainability plan.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on October 6, 2010:

• Accepted the audit of the FY 2008/09 financial statements.

• Heard a presentation from Rachel DeMicco of Sustainable Fairfax on the concept of installing a rain garden for Town Hall. Council directed staff to work with Sustainable Fairfax on creating a rain garden next to Town Hall.

• Received an update on the Marin County 680 Trail from Chris Bramham, Superintendent Capital Projects, Parks and Open Space Department of Marin County. The project is in environmental review.

• Appointed Jacob Feickert and Jolie Egert to the Open Space Committee.

• Appointed Megan Cohen to the Volunteer Board.

• Adopted resolutions supporting Measure A (Local Quality Education School Measure), Measure B (Ten Dollar Vehicle Registration Fee for Transportation Improvements), Measure D (Continuation of the Paramedic Authority Special Tax), and Proposition 19 (Regulate, Control and Tax Cannibas Act of 2010).

• Adopted a resolution supporting funding for preliminary engineering study for the East-West (Cross Marin) Bicycle Corridor.

• Adopted a resolution revising the Master Fee schedule. New fees will take effect on November 8, 2010. New Fees are posted at the Town’s website www.townoffairfax.org in the agenda packet for the October 6th meeting as Item 17.

• Adopted an ordinance implementing a temporary moratorium on the establishment of marijuana dispensaries within the Town of Fairfax. This ordinance is in effect for 45 days and will return to the Council at the November 3, 2010 meeting for consideration to extend the moratorium. The Town Council directed staff to develop proper criteria for evaluating proposed dispensaries and bring this newly developed criteria to Council for consideration.

• Conducted a first reading of Ordinance 755, changing the regular Council meeting time from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. A second reading and adoption of the ordinance will be considered on November 3, 2010.

Blog #56 - Town Council Meeting October 6, 2010

2010-10-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

The Town Council will meet to discuss adopting the FY 2010/11 Town operating and capital budgets and to conduct a second reading of an ordinance to adopt an interim moratorium on the siting of any new marijuana dispensaries. Other items include resolutions supporting local Measures A, B, D and state Proposition 19. See full agenda below:

Blog #55 - Body and Soul Festival, Saturday, September 25, 2010

2010-09-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Fairfax Body and Soul is a festival for the whole person, whole family and whole community. Nourish your Body & Soul, under the shade of the redwoods in beautiful downtown Peri Park, with experiences, flavors, workshops and demonstrations representing the leading edge of health, wellness, organics & sustainability.

* Live Music * Health & Healing * Kidville Fun * Free Outdoor Classes * Speakers * Culinary Demos * Organic Food * Holistic Products *

Don't miss:

Sacred Music & Yoga taught under the redwoods at mainstage by Sienna Smith of Yoga Mountain accompanied by Todd Boston (As seen at Earthdance & Wanderlust festivals & heard on NPR)

Solstice: A female vocal ensemble, the national top three award-winning acapella sensation on center stage

Fairfax All-Stars including members of Tom Finch Group and Big Brother and the Holding Company will close the day with an outdoor dance party!

Jim Talley of Tres Mojo as seen with Vinyl, Franti and Kimock

Liz Stires (Jerry Garcia Band, Huey Lewis) & a Kettle of Fish

AND internationally-known comedian Swami Beyondananda & Steve Bhaerman
co-author (with Bruce Lipton) of Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future
(and a Way to Get There from Here)

For more information visit the official website for the Body and Soul Festival at: http://www.fairfaxbodyandsoul.com/

Blog #54 - Smart Meter Community Meeting #2 - September 29, 2010

2010-09-23T08:18:00.001-07:00

The Town and PG&E are holding a second community meeting on September 29th to address the questions and concerns raised by residents at the first meeting on September 15th. This second meeting will address the following topics:

Installation Process and procedure

RF/Health Concerns

A third meeting tentatively scheduled for October 13th will address security, billing accuracy, and other issues. Please see agenda below for the second meeting on September 29th.

Blog #53 - The 3/50 Project - Save Your Local Economy

2010-09-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

The 3/50 Project is designed to save the bricks and mortars our nation is built on through purchasing goods and services locally.

3 Think about which three independently owned businesses you would miss most if they were gone. Stop in and say hello. Pick up a little something that will make someone smile. Your contribution is what keeps those businesses around.

50 If just half the employed U.S. population spent $50 each month in independently owned businesses, their purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue.* Imagine the positive impact if 3/4 of the employed population did that.

68 For every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.

1 The number of people it takes to start a trend...you

Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.

Visit the 350project.net

*Employment statistics courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from February 2009

Blog #52 - Moratorium on Deployment of Smart Meters and a No Smart Meter Zone

2010-09-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

On August 4, 2010, the Town Council passed an urgency ordinance placing a one year moratorium on the deployment of smart meters in Fairfax. Town residents and businesses should not be receiving any smart meters during the moratorium as PG&E pledged at the August 4th Town Council meeting to honor the moratorium.

However, some residents have informed the Town that PG&E has installed smart meters or is planning to stay on their deployment schedule for this area. Old meters that no longer are operable will be replaced by a digital meter that at a future date with the proper wireless device attached to the meter and wireless antennas on utility poles activated can then become an operating smart meter.

At the current time PG&E is replacing very old copper gas lines with new plastic gas lines throughout Fairfax. PG&E workers are replacing the gas lines.

If you are a resident in Fairfax who does not want a smart meter installed for any reason you can get information about the smart meter and a sign you can post on your house from the following website:

http://www.turn.org/downloads/NO-SMART-METER-WINDOW-SIGN.pdf

You can also get information about smart meters and utility companies from the following site:

www.turn.org, for a utility reform group’s point of view.

The fist of two community meetings with PG&E will begin this Wednesday, September 15th at 7 PM at the Women's Club. The first meeting will be a listening session. See agenda below:

Blog #51 - TOP 20 SALES TAX GENERATORS IN FAIRFAX

2010-09-10T08:52:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to all of the top 20 sales tax generators for the first quarter of 2010!!

The Top 10 in alphabetical order are:

Deer Park Villa
Delano IGA Market
Fairfax Lumber
Ferraro Service Stations
Good Earth Natural Foods
The Graphic Source
Iron Springs Pub and Brewery
Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana
7-11 Food Stores
Sunshine Bicycle Center

11-20 Sales Tax Generators

Don's Market
Fairfax Cyclery
Fradelizio's Ristorante
Ghringhelli's Pizzeria
Grilly's
Jennifer Robin Interiors
M&G Burgers and Beverages
19 Broadway
Pancho Villas
Peri's Silver Dollar Bar

The exact order is confidential information and thus they are presented in alphabetical order.

Congratulations to all 20 businesses for making Fairfax the great place to live, shop, dine, recreate and be entertained. The Town receives about 14% of all sales tax revenue collected in Fairfax.

Please support local businesses and the Town by shopping locally!!!

Blog #50 - Smart Meter Community Meeting -September 15, 2010

2010-09-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

The Town of Fairfax, in cooperation with PG&E officials will be holding a “Listening Session” on September 15, 2010. The purpose of the “Listening Session” is for PG&E officials to hear from the public any questions or concerns regarding the Smart Meter program. This meeting will be a “Listening Session” only.

A second meeting will be held in late September. Questions or concerns from the “Listening Session” will be answered by PG&E officials. Any requested information from the public that can be provided will be available at the second meeting.

Members of the community will have three minutes to speak and five minutes if representing a group.

The “Listening Session” meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at the Women’s Club on 46 Park Road in Fairfax.

The "Listening Session" is being held to address concerns from residents about the possible negative health effects of EMF exposure, the inaccuracies of some of the smart meters, and issues surrounding the sharing of data with other businesses, and the concern over the security of the data and making sure that it does not get into the wrong hands.

Mayor Lew Tremaine commented “I am looking forward to the “Listening Session” as a way to lay out all the possible questions and concerns the community may have regarding the Smart Meter program".

Blog #49 - Town Council Actions from September 1, 2010 meeting

2010-08-31T16:08:00.000-07:00

Fairfax Town Council Conducts First Reading for a Moratorium on Marijuana Dispensaries

After considerable discussion and public testimony the Town Council heard a first reading on an ordinance that places a moratorium on any new applications for a marijuana dispensary in the Town of Fairfax for a minimum of forty-five days. The Town Council can extend the moratorium for a period of no more than 24 months in total. Mayor Lew Tremaine explained the reason for the moratorium, “If the ballot measure legalizing and taxing marijuana passes statewide, the entire terrain is going to shift. We are going to have a whole lot to deal with in terms of how the new law is implemented in town and how it impacts the existing medical marijuana facility. So it doesn’t make sense to me to be entertaining any more of them until we know what things will look like if it comes to pass.”

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on September 1, 2010:

• Heard a presentation from Ross Valley Superintendent Eileen Rohan who introduced herself to the Town Council and spoke about the upcoming Ross Valley school bond initiative.

• Heard a presentation from Dave Cort, Executive Director of the San Geronimo Valley Community Center on the Marin Food Bank program.

• Heard a presentation from Mimi Newton on the Fairfax Open Space Committee annual report.

• Appointed Linda Novy to the Fairfax Open Space Committee for a four year term.

• Appointed Merrell Maschino to the Volunteer Board for a

• Awarded the low bid to Maggiora & Ghilotti for the Tennis Court Bank Stabilization Project and Peri Park Pedestrian Bridge Replacement Project in the amount of $477,774.

• Adopted a Proclamation declaring September 2010 as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

• Authorized temporary closure to Glen Drive for a bike race fund raiser on October 16, 2010.

• Discussed the Master Fee Schedule. This item will return to the Council on October 6th for adoption of the new fees. New fee schedule begins 30 days after the adoption.

• Introduced an ordinance amending the Town’s smoking ordinance to provide clean indoor air and health protection including the regulation of the exposure to smoke in multi-unit apartment buildings. After some discussion and public input the Council agreed that the Mayor and Vice Mayor will review the ordinance with a fine tooth comb and return at the October 6th meeting with a revised
version for the first reading of the ordinance.

• Reviewed and discussed the draft conservation and housing elements of the general plan

The Council will hold a Special Meeting on September 11, 2010 from 9 AM -12 NOON to discuss the FY 2010/11 Town Budget and the Town Strategic Plan

Blog #48 - Draft Housing Element-Public Meeting August 26, 2010

2010-08-23T13:41:00.001-07:00

The Town of Fairfax is holding a public meeting on Thursday, August 26, 2010 from 7:00 PM-9:00 PM at the Women's Club to discuss the draft Housing Element of the General Plan. The joint meeting of the Planning Commission, General Plan Advisory Committee and the Affordable Housing Committee will “roll out” the draft 2010 Housing Element.

The agenda for this meeting is up on the Town’s web page. Town staff & its consultant will be presenting the draft 2010 Housing Element document; i.e., how it is organized - along with the major opportunity sites and the strategy for meeting the Town’s fair share of 108 affordable housing units over the next five years. In addition, we will be presenting the recommendations for which zones in Town should allow emergency homeless shelters “by-right” (per SB 2).

The major opportunity sites and/or zoning changes that we will be covering at Thursday night’s public meeting are as follows:

 Rezoning the Lutheran Church property at 2626 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard from Upland Residential 7 du/acre (UR -7) to Planned District Development (PDD) and thereby making it possible to accommodate forty (40) units of “senior housing”;

 Rezoning the “Olema/Mandarin Garden” property at 2170 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard from Light Commercial (CL) to Planning District Development and thereby making it possible to accommodate twenty (20) units of “work-force” housing;

 Rezoning School Street Plaza from Light Commercial (CL) to Planned District Development (PDD); thereby making it possible to accommodate a mix of uses including housing and/or a new school at this site;

 Rezoning all Highway Commercial (CH) to Central Commercial (CC), which will allow housing on second floors “by right” instead of requiring “conditional use permits” thereby making it possible to accommodating at least twenty one (21) units of affordable housing spread out over multiple properties and acres – and within a mixed-income range of housing;

 Rolling over the Second Unit Amnesty Ordinance without the requirement of fire suppression sprinkler systems, thereby incentivizing for formalization of at least twenty seven (27) second units (i.e., the 25% maximum allowable credit for second units to be counted as part of the State mandated 108 unit share of affordable housing for the Town of Fairfax); and

 Allowing Emergency Homeless Shelters within the Central Commercial (CC) zone, and on public and quasi public properties “by right”; thereby meeting the new State requirement to specifically allow shelters “by right” in at least one zone within the Town of Fairfax (per SB 2).

Please note that in addition to the “roll out” of the draft 2010 Housing Element this Thursday evening, the public will have another chance to comment on the draft 2010 Housing Element at the Council’s September 1, 2010 meeting - as part of the General Plan update report. And likewise, the public will have still another chance to comment when the “packaged” General Plan is presented to Council for adoption (pending environmental review) – after the “Super Committee” completes its final review of the entire 2010 General Plan in the fall.

Blog #47-Marin Climate and Energy Partnership

2010-08-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

The following article appeared in the July 2010 issue of the Institute for Local Government on-line magazine:

Climate Protection Staffing: Marin’s Collaborative Approach
County: Marin
Population: 256,500

Summary

Most local governments in the Bay Area have realized that climate protection is an important new aspect of their work to develop more livable, sustainable communities. There is, however, limited staff time and other resources, especially in small jurisdictions, to launch climate protection efforts on a scale commensurate with the challenge of climate change. The cities and County of Marin have overcome some of these challenges by forming the Marin Climate and Energy Partnership (MCEP) to share resources and expertise, and jointly hire a dedicated staff person to work with jurisdictions on building their in-house climate protection capabilities.
Program Highlights

* MCEP is a public sector partnership among the 11 Marin cities, Marin County, the Transportation Authority of Marin, and the Marin Municipal Water District.
* By working collaboratively MCEP participants have been able to leverage public resources as well as attract additional private funding from the Air District and the Marin Community Foundation.
* The Marin General Services Authority, a joint powers authority, acts as the fiscal agent for the MCEP.
* To date, the MCEP has worked on construction and demolition waste recycling ordinances, green building ordinances, an electric vehicle transition plan, and energy efficiency retrofits in government buildings.

Lessons Learned

* Be patient with GHG inventory and climate action plan development, these often progress slowly, but are none-the-less important tools in keeping the momentum behind local climate protection efforts.
* Striking a balance between fast payback measures such as energy efficiency in municipal operations, and larger scale, longer payback, community wide measures is important to move climate protection efforts forward.
* Elected level leadership is essential to drive more politically challenging efforts, like PACE programs and community choice aggregation.

Resources To Learn More

* Marin GSA page (includes MCEP progress reports)
* The City of San Rafael’s Green Initiatives Page (includes green building resources)

The Rest of the Story…

With two medium-sized cities and nine small towns, Marin jurisdictions had been struggling for several years to find adequate resources to complete GHG inventories and begin writing climate action plans. The idea of establishing a collaborative network of local governments to help move local climate protection forward in Marin was first conceived in discussions between representatives of the Marin Municipal Water District, the Marin Community Foundation and a private energy/climate consultant.

In 2007 the option of joining the MCEP was presented to Marin jurisdictions and resulted in all 11 Marin cities, Marin County, the Transportation Authority of Marin, and the Marin Municipal Water District participating in the partnership. Securing the participation of the Transportation Authority was particularly significant for the group since 62% of countywide GHG emissions in Marin come from the transportation sector, and many of the big options for reducing transportation-related emissions are best served by a regional approach.

In 2008, with the help of a $75,000 grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, MCEP took an important step forward by establishing a new dedicated Climate Protection Director position to help assess project priorities and work with partners on an as-needed basis. During the first year of the effort, MCEP participants worked with ICLEI to conduct GHG inventories and came together to develop a set of realistic priorities.

In addition to municipal energy efficiency work, the partnership decided to pursue some countywide initiatives like developing an aggressive model green building ordinance to be adopted in each Marin Community, and establishing the development of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure as a component of Marin’s transportation planning. The group has also turned its attention to PACE financing, support of Marin Clean Energy, environmentally preferable purchasing, and construction and demolition ordinances.

The City of San Rafael led the development of the model green building ordinance for the group, and key to that work was the establishment of a high level task force, called Marin Green Building Energy Retrofit and Solar Transformation (Marin Green BERST), made up of elected and appointed officials from each of the MCEP jurisdictions. Currently three of the 11 governments have adopted the green building ordinance and the majority of the remaining jurisdictions are in the process of adopting it. The model green building ordinance is one of the most aggressive ordinances of its kind in the country, and it is significantly more comprehensive than the new statewide CALGreen building standards. Both the green building work and the EV work have led to additional funding for the MCEP from the Marin Community Foundation.

Some of the ideas that were initially discussed by the partnership, such as the electric vehicle transition plan, may have been out of reach for individual small local governments, had they not been part of a collaborative effort. Two years later however, with the multi-jurisdictional approach in place, even Marin’s small towns like Belvedere are working to install electric vehicle charging stations.

As a participant in MCEP partners agree to pay dues of $2,000 a year, and on a rotating basis provide a staff person to serve as chair of the group. The MCEP Chairperson is a 1-year position, tasked with handling logistics for the monthly meetings and other administrative tasks. Felicia Wheaton, a planner from the City of Belvedere who served as the first MCEP Chairperson, estimated that she spent on average 4-8 hours a month on these tasks in addition to her regular job duties. Ms. Wheaton further reported that participating in the partnership has helped local government staff with no previous climate protection experience gain confidence with some of the technical aspects of climate protection, like GHG accounting, making it easier to report back to council.

Currently, MCEP participants are working to complete Climate Action Plans and the group has transitioned its staff position from Climate Protection Director to Sustainability Coordinator, a part time position, with more managerial responsibilities than the previous position. MCEP continues to evolve but ultimately having this collaborative approach in place will make it easier for Marin to fast track big regional efforts that will be necessary to adequately progress in addressing climate change.

Case Story provided by BAAQMD, July 2010

Blog #46 Marin Clean Energy Recognized by the EPA

2010-08-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

The following press release was released by Mary Simms of the U.S. EPA:

San Francisco Bay Area Municipalities Get Thumbs Up from the
Federal Government for Fighting Climate Change
U.S. EPA recognizes Marin, Santa Cruz for nearly
50 Million hours of green power use

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that Northern California based Marin Energy Authority will for the first time appear on EPA’s Top 20 list of the largest local government green power purchasers nationwide (ranked as No. 13). Equally impressive, the City of Santa Cruz’s Wastewater Treatment Facility will for the first time appear on EPA’s Top 20 list of partners generating and consuming the most green power on-site (ranked as No. 17).

Green power is generated from a subset of renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. Green power sources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies and produce no human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Purchases of green power also help accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide.

“EPA’s announcement underscores the vital local efforts to move beyond traditional sources of electricity generation in order to fight climate change and support clean energy alternatives,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Administrator for the Pacific Southwest region. “By using and purchasing green power, these leaders are expanding America’s renewable energy portfolio while significantly benefiting the environment.”

The Marin Energy Authority is purchasing more than 42 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually from Shell Energy North America, enough to meet 25 percent of the electricity use for its communities in Marin County. This is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 6,000 passenger vehicles per year or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly 4,000 average American homes annually.

The City of Santa Cruz’s wastewater treatment facility is generating nearly 5 million kWh of green power annually from an on-site solar and biogas system, which is enough green power to meet 39 percent of the organization's electricity use. On-site green power is deployed directly on energy users’ facilities rather than at central power plants. This is equivalent to avoiding the CO2 emissions of more than 600 passenger vehicles per year or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of more than 400 average American homes annually.

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,200 Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit: www.epa.gov/greenpower.

Blog #45 Council Places One Year Moratorium on Deployment of Smart Meters

2010-08-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Town Council unanimously passed an urgency ordinance on August 4, 2010 that places a one year moratorium on the deployment of smart meters in Fairfax. PG&E representatives were also present at the Council meeting and told the Council that they would voluntarily halt the deployment of the controversial smart meters in Fairfax immediately. PG&E also promised to hold several community meetings so that they could hear the concerns and questions from residents and businesses and then respond to those questions and concerns. See entire text below:

Fourteen persons addressed the Council on the smart meter ordinance and all expressed concerns about the health effects of exposure to the meters and also had concerns about the privacy of the data stored in the meters. Nearly all of the speakers requested a one year moratorium on the deployment of the meters which is in the ordinance. Other issues regarding accuracy of the meters and other forms of smart grids that could be more cost effective were also discussed. The Town and PG&E will be setting up community meetings in the near future to further discuss the smart meters.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on August 4, 2010:

• Received certification as the second Cittaslow town in the United States. Cittaslow means “slow city” in Italian where the Cittaslow concept originated. Cittaslow International selected Fairfax for meeting their manifesto which states: “We are looking for towns and cities animated by people eager to rediscover the best of the past, with a wealth of squares, theaters, workshops, cafes, restaurants, places of worship, unspoiled countryside and interesting artisans, where people still live in harmony with the slow, benevolent turning of the seasons, enjoying authentic products respectful of health and local flavors, and the spontaneity of ancient custom”.

• Appointed Bruce Killen to serve a three-year term on the Volunteer Board.

• Approved the release of plans and specifications for the Tennis Court Bank Stabilization Project and Peri Park Pedestrian Bridge Replacement Project

• Adopted a Resolution honoring Senior Maintenance Worker Jack Adams on the occasion of his retirement after serving 29 years in the Public Works Department with the Town of Fairfax. Jack truly is a “jack of all trades” and will be sorely missed by the staff and the community.

• Discussed the proposed changes to the Master Fee Schedule and after some discussion voted to continue the item to the September 1, 2010 Council meeting where all five members will be present.

• Discussed the proposed Town Budget for FY 2010/11 and reviewed the staff report regarding recommendations on how to balance the budget and reviewed recommendations from the Town Manager on staff reorganization. The Council took no action as they are awaiting the financial audit for FY 2008/09 which will be available before the next Council meeting.

• Accepted the Final Report of the Parkade Area Circulation Study.

• Renamed the Solid Waste Committee the Zero Waste Committee and expressed that the focus of the committee will change to achieving our zero waste goals as previously adopted by the Council.

Blog #44 Camp Fairfax

2010-07-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

Camp Fairfax - Summer camp for your kids!

Come join us for fun in your own backyard! We are happy to announce our Summer camp -fun, affordable and local. Inspired by the success of Camp Earth last year, we are starting a new yearly tradition - Camp Fairfax. We will have a strong emphasis on sustainability and nature. Weekly field trips, recycled art projects, water fun and more!

•Camp hours: 10am - 4pm

•Three weeks - Week One: August 2-6; Week Two August 9-13; Week Three: August 16-20

•$165 per week

•Before and after care available for an additional fee

•Summer Super Saver - All three weeks including care from 8am to 6pm - $600!!!!

For more information click to:

http://activenet16.active.com/sananselmorecreation/?redir=1

The third week is full but the first two weeks have many spots still available. Sign up right away!!

Blog #43 - Participating in Town Council Meetings

2010-07-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Town of Fairfax and the Town Council encourage all members of the
public to participate in Town government and attend Town Council meetings.

This guide provides information to help you participate more effectively.

Location: Women’s Club 46 Park Road, Fairfax, CA
Time: 1st Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m.

Chambers. Special meetings may occur earlier or on different days.

Here are some general tips for participation in meetings:

You may speak during the Public Comment period of the agenda for three minutes on a topic not on the agenda, so long as the subject relates to the business of the City Council.

You may speak on any item on the agenda once given recognition by
the Mayor.

Speakers must adhere to the time limits, using the time limit lights as
indicators of how much time is remaining.

Comments and statements should be addressed to the Council, not the
audience.

Applauding or other displays of approval or disapproval are
inappropriate for Council meetings.

Subscribe by email or check the website to receive agendas ahead of
time.

Copies of the agenda packet are available in the Town Clerk’s Office,
online and at the Fairfax Library.

Submit written information ahead of time. Early submission allows more
time for the Council to consider your comments.

Please turn off your cell phone or set it to vibrate

The next Town Council meeting will be August 4, 2010. The agenda will be posted on July 30th by 5 PM.

Blog #42 - Smart Meters to be Installed in Fairfax

2010-07-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

SMART METERS – Did you receive a letter from PG&E about installation of a Smart Meter at your address?

Some Fairfax residents have received letters stating that meters would be installed in the next few weeks. It is possible to contact PG&E at the number provided in the notification letter, 1-866-743-0263 and to be placed on a “delayed action until further notice” list.

The Town Council discussed this issue at length at the meeting on July 7, 2010 and staff is drafting an ordinance for their consideration to address the installation of Smart Meters in Fairfax. Information about Smart Meters was provided by the Town Manager in Blog #32 posted on June 2, 2010. The staff report on Smart Meters is on the Town Web site as part of the Town Council packet for the July 7, 2010 meeting.

More information is available from PG&E at their Web site at www.pge.com/smartmeter or at www.turn.org, for a utility reform group’s point of view.

Blog #41 - Fairfax Players Presents: A Thousand and One Dreams

2010-07-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

A Thousand And One Dreams:A Tale of the Princess Roshkilde
(A ‘Parry-D’ on Shakespeare!)

Fairfax Players presents Sam M. Parry’s original play: A Thousand And One Dreams at the New Stage, Peri Park, Fairfax, opening July 23 for ten performances—Thursdays to Sundays until August 7.

Curtain at 7:00 PM. Adults $15, seniors & students
$12, kids six and under $7.

Don’t miss the world premier of this exciting Shakespeare-esque fantasy comedy replete with witches, genies, swordplay, songs, special effects and more!

Tickets at the door or in advance at Revolution 9 in Fairfax.

Tickets may be used for any of the ten performances so come
early to bag your seat!

Blog #40 - Town Hires New Police Chief

2010-07-09T14:07:00.001-07:00

The Fairfax Town Council, in a unanimous vote, has selected Fairfax Sergeant Christopher Morin as their new Police Chief, replacing retiring Chief Ken Hughes. He will be taking over August 1, 2010.

Sergeant Christopher Morin, a twenty-seven year police veteran has spent that past ten years working for the Fairfax Police Department after serving previously for the San Rafael and Oakland Police Departments. Throughout his career he has served in a myriad of assignments from Patrol Officer, Criminal and Internal Affairs Investigator, Recruit Training Officer and Patrol Supervisor. For the past nine years he has served as Administrative Sergeant of Police, overseeing much of the daily operations of the Fairfax Police Department.

His personal and professional roots are here in the Ross Valley. His family has resided in San Anselmo and Fairfax since the early 1930’s. Chris was raised in San Anselmo, his father was a Fairfax Police Officer in the 1960’s and his grandfather was a San Anselmo Police Reserve Officer for thirty years dating back to the 1950’s.

Town Manager Michael Rock is looking forward to working with Sgt. Morin in his new role as police chief and values his leadership skills which will benefit the Town staff and entire community.

Council Member Weinsoff commented "Chief Morin's approach to community policing complements the work of retiring Chief Hughes and ensures that the excellent public safety Fairfax residents enjoy will continue under the leadership of our new Chief."

Mayor Lew Tremaine stated, “Chief Hughes leaves some very big shoes to fill after 39 years of service to the Town. Fairfax is lucky that Chris found his way to us ten years ago. His philosophy of community policing is perfectly in synch with Fairfax's values. The Council was very excited to appoint him as our new police chief”.

Blog #39 - Council Action from the July 7, 2010 Meeting

2010-07-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

Council Reviews Town Budget, Master Fees

The Town Council reviewed the draft 2010/11 Town Budget and first passed a resolution to continue expenditures and revenues in accordance with the 2009/10 budget and directed staff to return to the next council meeting with recommended changes to the budget to balance the $205,000 deficit.

The Town Council also reviewed all of the proposed changes to the fees the Town charges for all services. The fees are based on a fully burdened labor rate and none of the fees charged are more than the cost of providing the service. It is necessary to review fees at this time because the Town has not raised fees for more than three and a half years. Council Member Bragman expressed concern over the increases in many of the fees and wondered about the ability of the public to pay them. Mayor Tremaine commented that the Town General Fund has been subsidizing many fee for service activities for many years and there is a need to have the fees right priced to avoid further subsidization from the General Fund. The Council will review the proposed fee changes again at the August 4, 2010 Council meeting at which time the public can comment at a public hearing.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on July 7th, 2010:

• Appointed Mimi Newton, Jack Judkins, and Helen Fauss to serve another four-year term on the Open Space Committee. Appointed Chelsea Donovan to a four-year term on the Open Space Committee. Also appointed Laura Kehrlein to serve another three year term on the Design Review Board. Appointed Karl Varvek to serve a three year term on the Design Review Board.

• Received a report that Pacific Slope, Tree Masters, and the Tree Man were awarded a contract under the Hazardous Fuel Elimination Grant to provide tree trimming, brush clearing and tree removal services.

• Adopted a Resolution in opposition to Proposition 23, and effort to delay the implementation of AB 32 (Global Warming Solutions Act)

• Received the Grand Jury Report “The Cost of Governance: Local Control Comes at a Price”

• Discuss and considered contracting out the business license renewal process. After some discussion the Council gave direction to staff to come back at the next Council meeting with a proposal to contract out the program in order to reduce the cost of collecting the business license fee and increase revenues through better data management and enforcement.

• Approved an Agreement with Camille Esposito to provide Youth Services as part of the FOCUS (Fairfax Open Circle Arts). The Youth Services budget ($18,000 per year) is part of the Measure I funds voters approved in November 2009.

• Discussed the progress being made on the updating of the General Plan and reviewed the draft Open Space, Land Use and Noise Elements of the General Plan. The Council will review all the elements of the draft General Plan in the ensuing months.

• Agreed to intervene in the City and County of San Francisco motion at the California Public Utilities Commission to suspend deployment of Smart Meters and agreed to have staff bring back a draft ordinance at the next meeting banning the installation of Smart Meters in Fairfax.

Blog #38 - Capital Project Updates

2010-07-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

The advent of summer in Fairfax signals the beginning of the construction season for our Measure K and FEMA projects. Listed below are the remaining Measure K and FEMA projects to be completed this summer or next:

Seismic Retrofit of Pavilion: The Town was awarded a federal grant in the amount of $425,000 and matched $125,000 from the Pavilion Restoration Fund to seismically upgrade the Pavilion. This project is currently in architecture, engineering and environmental review. Construction to begin in October of this year.

Fairfax Library pathway project: This is a County project to flatten the pathway for easier access. This is scheduled for completion at the end of next week.

Pedestrian Bridge replacement and Bank Stabilization Projects (FEMA): The pedestrian bridge over the Fairfax Creek that fell down after the 2005/06 floods will be replaced and the creek bank by the tennis courts will be stabilized. These projects will be under construction this Fall.

Pastori Outfall Pipe: Currently under environmental review and will be under construction in the Spring of 2011

Blog #37 - Zero Waste Workshop

2010-06-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Fairfax ZERO WASTE 2020

presented by the Town of Fairfax

There is no Away

Tuesday June 29th from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm, 2010 at 46 Park Road (Women’s Club)

Zero waste is a philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. Any trash sent to landfills is minimal. The process recommended is one similar to the way that resources are reused in nature.

The Town of Fairfax set a goal of being Zero Waste by the year 2020 and we need to work together to get there. Manufacturers, haulers, businesses, and consumers all have a role to play.

At this event will review the Marin County Zero Waste study’s Phase I and II implementation guidelines. We will explain the JPA study and then chart out responsible parties and tasks ahead of us.

Please join Council members Larry Bragman and Pam Hartwell-Herrero for an evening of taking a vision and creating the steps needed to make it a reality. If there is interest we will form a Zero Waste Task Force.

www.town-of-fairfax.org

Blog #36 Ross Valley School Board Votes on K-5 Facility Issue

2010-06-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

The article below was printed in the Marin Independent Journal on Saturday, June 19, 2010:

Ross Valley board nixes Fairfax school site

A rebuilt Deer Park elementary school won't open in Fairfax anytime soon. In an emotional meeting Thursday night, the Ross Valley School District board of trustees voted 3-2 to expand existing school campuses rather than reconstruct a school at the district-owned Deer Park site on Fairfax's rural south side.

The decision in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the district office finished two years of intense debate about how increased enrollment will be handled within San Anselmo, Fairfax and unincorporated Sleepy Hollow. The student population has increased the most in Fairfax over the past few years.

Trustees Chris Carlucci, Heidi Kritscher Weller and Conn Hickey voted in favor of expanding existing schools, and Rick McCallum and board President Sharon Sagar were opposed.

No matter which way the vote went, the district will be faced with seeking a bond measure to pay for any school expansion and improvements. The board discussed bond measure language after making the Deer Park decision and hopes to have a measure on the November ballot to raise upwards of $41 million for school facilities.

The school site decision came two days after the Fairfax Town Council voted unanimously to oppose the Deer Park site as an option for the district.

Thursday's vote means the Fairfax San Anselmo Children's Center, which leases the Deer Park site and serves about 90 low-income families and at-risk children, will not be forced to move. It also means some kids in the upper

Ross Valley will either not attend the school closest to their home or be forced to switch to another school.
The controversial vote seemed to hinge with Hickey, who said he was upset with the pressure from children's center supporters but did not hear enough support from Fairfax residents who favored building a new school at Deer Park.

"It's striking to me how many Fairfax people who supported the Deer Park option did so quietly," he said before the vote. "Based on the e-mails we received, it was about 50-50, but in public you didn't hear that side."

Carlucci and Kritscher Weller said they based their decision more on what was financially responsible in an era of revenue cuts and declining reserves. Opening Deer Park was estimated to cost $22 million, while expanding existing sites would run about $12.5 million.

Several trustees chastised opponents of the Deer Park proposal, many of whom were involved with the children's center, who "demonized" the board with threatening personal e-mails. McCallum said he was called a racist over the course of more than 40 meetings and received an e-mail that mentioned his anatomy.

"I am left with very little good will with the children's center," he said. "I witnessed some morally reprehensible behavior on their behalf. That doesn't lead me to think they are a partner we want to continue to work with. I never once heard 'thank you' for the more than 20 years we have subsidized them."

Sagar said she, too, was disappointed in how divisive and polarizing the issue was rather than having the town councils and residents come together toward a solution that worked for a majority of people.

"I think we failed our kids," she said. "I guess I was optimistic that we would come together for our kids and set a positive example. As a Fairfax resident, I am sad that the town I live in is saying no to its kids and is making it seem that it's OK to send our kids to another town for school."

Sagar said several individuals who rallied troops on behalf of the children's center were dishonest in some of the information that was disseminated and that they are "willing to hold our kids hostage" by stating that they would not support a bond if the board chose the Deer Park option.

A few San Anselmo parents scolded the board after the trustees made it clear how they were going to vote, saying the San Anselmo schools are full enough now and that Fairfax should face the burden because that's the part of the district that is growing in enrollment.

One topic on which both sides seemed to agree was that increased traffic in any area will cause pedestrian safety problems. Proponents of the Deer Park site said traffic will increase around every other school in the district, and opponents said a new school there would cause problems on a narrow Porteous Avenue.

Blog #35 - Town Council sends letter to Ross Valley School Board

2010-06-16T08:21:00.001-07:00

The Fairfax Town Council sent a letter to the Ross Valley School Board today expressing its opposition to the Deer Park site. The School Board is scheduled to vote on the preferred K-5 school site tomorrow (June 17th) at their regular meeting which begins at 5 PM at 110 Shaw Drive in San Anselmo.

See the letter below:

Blog #34 - Council Amends Ross Valley Fire JPA, Reviews 2010/11 Budget

2010-06-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

The Town Council unanimously voted to amend the Ross Valley Fire Joint Powers Authority (JPA) Agreement to include Sleepy Hollow as a full voting member of the JPA at a Special Town Council meeting on Saturday, June 5, 2010. Before taking the vote the Council agreed to some changes to the Agreement that was presented to them. These changes must return to the San Anselmo Town Council and to the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District Board for a vote. If approved by these two governing bodies then the JPA will be amended to include Sleepy Hollow as a full member of the JPA.

The Town Council also reviewed the first draft of the fiscal year 2010-11 Town budget. The Town is facing a $430,000 budget deficit due to continued declining revenues and increasing costs to the employee retirement and health benefits programs. The Town of Fairfax, like nearly all other cities in California has a budget that, over the short and long run, is not sustainable. Property and sales tax revenues are not keeping pace with the rising costs of the retirement and health care costs for employees.

The overall downturn in the economy is a large part of the problem because the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) is tied to the stock market and health care costs are tied to the overall cost of providing health care to all members in the CalPERS health care plan.

The Town Council will continue to have discussions about balancing the budget. No decisions have been made on how to balance the budget in terms of what will be cut verses what will not be cut. The Council will meet on July 7, 2010 and public comment will be taken for the second time on the budget.

Other actions taken at the Regular Meeting on June 2nd and the Special Meeting on June 5th, 2010:

• Appointed Ryan Meagher, Emma Mooney, Carlee Murray, Matt Saunders, Olivia Sicroff, Jolon Timms, and Jake Weinsoff to the Youth Commission.

• Re-Appointed Sam and Shoshanna Parry for an additional two years as the Town’s Artists in Residence.

• Adopted a resolution opposing Arizona Law SB 1070 (Immigration Reform as it relates to unlawfully present aliens) and urged its immediate repeal.

• Authorized the Mayor to write a letter to Assembly Member Huffman in opposition to the Governor’s budget proposal to severely cut State funding for childcare.

• Adopted Ordinance 751 amending the second unit amnesty program to eliminate the requirement for fire suppression sprinklers for existing second units qualifying for legalization.

• Authorized the Town Manager to award contracts to qualified bidders for chipper services, brush clearing, tree trimming and tree removal for the Hazardous Fuel Reduction Grant project in the amount of $148,560.

• Adopted a Resolution setting the amount of the General Municipal Services Tax ($50/year), the Special Municipal Services Tax ($125/year), the utility users tax (4% of utility bill), the pension override tax (.0910%), setting a fee for funding the storm water pollution prevention programs ($15/year), and setting the tax rate (.048%) in connection with the general obligation bonds for Measure K. All of these taxes are at the same rate as the year before. There are no increases in any of these rates. The Town is required to adopt this resolution every year setting the tax rates.

Blog #33 - Budget Workshop on June 5th

2010-06-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Fairfax Town Council is holding a Special Town Council meeting on Saturday June 5 from 9 AM - 12 Noon to discuss the proposed draft fiscal year 2010/11 Town Budget. The Council will also be considering the Amended and Restated Joint Powers Agreement for the Ross Valley Fire Department. See agenda for the meeting below.

You may view the Proposed Draft Fiscal Year 2010/11 Budget at:

http://town-of-fairfax.org/pdfs/council/council_packet/June%205%202010/Item%208%20Draft%20Budget%2010-11.pdf

Blog #32 - Information on SMART Meters

2010-06-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Fairfax Town Council wrote a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission requesting that they investigate SMART Meters for a variety of issues related to the accuracy of the meters, possible health hazards, and privacy issues. See the letter below:

Fairfax is fortunate that “smart meters” have not yet been installed in Town, but PG&E is planning to begin in July 2010. If you are concerned about SMART Meters or would like to request that a SMART Meter NOT be installed in your home you may:

* Phone PG&E at 800-743-5000 and tell them that you don’t want a smart meter installed. Ask to speak to a smart meter representative. They have been telling people that they have no choice, but don’t let them bully you into believing this. Demand that they put you on the list of people who will not get smart meters on the first time around.

* Write the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), 505 Van Ness Ave. San Francisco, CA 94102, or call them at 866-849-8390, saying that you oppose the installation of smart meters on your home or business, and insist on an immediate moratorium until the current CPUC investigation is completed.

* Call State Senator Mark Leno (916) 651-4003 to support his efforts to create tougher testing standards for smart meters through Senate Bill 837, and urge him to include health issues.

* Sign an opt-out letter on-line by going to this link: http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=1588 and read their excellent page Are Smart Meters Smart? at http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?

page_id=872.

* Download a sign and other useful resources at http://www.turn.org/article.php?id=1154. Post it on your meter to indicate your refusal to have your meter changed.

Blog #31 - Special Council Meeting Tonight

2010-05-24T10:54:00.001-07:00

There is a Special Town Council Meeting tonight to finish many items the Council could not get to on May 5th. Key items include:

1. Consideration of accepting the Fairfax to San Rafael Cross Marin Bikeway Study

2. Adopting a telecommuting policy

3. Consideration of approving the purchase of one tax default property for open space in the amount of $5,700

4. Review and discussion of the Draft Safety Element on the General Plan

See entire agenda below:

Blog #30 - Camp Fairfax

2010-05-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Camp Fairfax - Summer camp for your kids!

Come join us for fun in your own backyard! We are happy to announce our Summer camp - fun, affordable and local. Inspired by the success of Camp Earth last year, we are starting a new yearly tradition - Camp Fairfax. We will have a strong emphasis on sustainability and nature. Weekly field trips, recycled art projects, water fun and more!

•Camp hours: 10am - 4pm

•Three weeks - August 2nd-20th

•$165 per week

•Before and after care available for an additional fee

•Summer Super Saver - All three weeks including care from 8am to 6pm - $600!!!!

For more information click to:

http://activenet16.active.com/sananselmorecreation/?redir=1

Blog #29 Town Awarded a Hazardous Fuels Reduction Grant (Fire Grant)

2010-05-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

The Town of Fairfax was awarded a Hazardous Fuels Reduction Grant from the U.S. Department of Forest Services through the California Fire Safe Council in the amount of $168,831. One major item of the grant requires the hiring of qualified contractors to perform primarily brush clearing and tree trimming services.

The Town is seeking a list of qualified contractors to carry out the work of this grant.

If you are a contractor interested in providing any of the following services please go to the Town's web page www.townoffairfax.org for the full document so you can submit a proposal:

Proposals must include per diem costs for the following items:

1. Brush clearing (three person crew)
2. Chipping services (including equipment)
3. Tree pruning services
4. Tree felling and removal services, and
5. Hauling services.

REQUEST FOR SERVICES: Hazardous Fuel Elimination Project
California Fire Safe Council Grant Number 10USFS-ES556
Proposals Due: 5:00 p.m. May 25, 2010

A. DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT:

The project is intended to:

1. Educate the public about fire safe landscaping and the creation of defensible space around homes in three target areas;

2. Provide chipper days at no cost to residents;

3. Prune and remove roadside vegetation along the Ross Valley Fire Protection District Fire Apparatus Clear Zones (FACZ) identified in the Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3 tables listed below; and,

4. Remove up to 50 of the oak trees that have succumbed to Sudden Oak Death disease.
The purpose of this Request is to establish a list of contractors willing to work on a per diem basis to provide brush removal, chipper days, tree pruning and tree removal services. The minimum per diem rate shall be based on all employees being paid at the Town of Fairfax Living Wage rate, currently $15.34 with employer sponsored benefits and $17.53 without employer sponsored health benefits.

It is imperative that contractors are sensitive to the concerns of the citizens and allow time for addressing concerns. If a questions arises, the contractor must call the Fire Department and let the Department arbitrate the situation. The contractor may have to move on to the next section and then return later to do removal. Removal may have to be rescheduled if residents’ complaints are not resolved.

B. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES:

Brush Removal – Contractor to provide roadside clearance of vegetation up to a height of 15 feet as follows: provide a three person crew with a chipper and a dump truck. All brush and shrub species shall be removed from shoulder areas, extending 10feet out from the paved road surfaces. All cured (dry) grasses shall be cut or mowed to a maximum of three inches (3”).

Chipper Days – Provide mobile chipper service in Zones 1, 2, or 3, including the vehicles, equipment and trained employees to chip collected vegetation along the FACZ routes. (Instructions will be provided to homeowners on the acceptable vegetation for chipping and efficient placement of vegetation for more efficient chipper operations.) If possible, chips should be broadcast back onto the property. If not possible, they should be removed. Remove and dispose of all woody debris hauled to the roadside that cannot be chipped and spread on site. The cost of dumping chips outside of the Town will be paid independent of the contracted vegetation removal cost and on an invoice separate from this contract.

Tree Pruning – Removal of all tree limbs and trunks which obstruct traffic flow on designated roads (list attached). Vegetation is to be no lower than 15' from the surface of any usable portion of the roadway. All pruning is to be done under the supervision of a Certified Arborist in accordance with the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) tree-Pruning Guidelines and the American National Standards Institutes A300 Pruning Standard. Removal of tree trunks and/or limbs greater than 8" in diameter must be approved by the Town of Fairfax Planning Department prior to removal. The object of the work is to prune in such a way as to maintain an obstacle-free roadway without the frequent need to prune again. Shearing of smaller branches and heading cuts of larger branches is not acceptable. All pruning debris is to be removed by the contractor prior to end of workday.

Tree Removal – Provide all services for the felling and removal of dead trees in varying sizes. Removal of tree trunks and/or limbs greater than 8" in diameter must be approved by the Town of Fairfax Planning Department prior to removal.

Blog #30 Town Saftey Fair and Open House

2010-05-07T15:16:00.001-07:00

Disaster Preparedness Safety Fair and Open House in Fairfax

Saturday, May 15th, 12 noon – 3:00 pm Bolinas Park

Participating agencies include the Red Cross, Marin Municipal Water District, Marin Humane Society, Office of Emergency Services and more.

Come see “behind the scenes” of town offices and departments. Tours, Fire extinguisher prop, hands on demonstration, and free hot-dogs at the fire department.

See attached flyer below for more information:

Blog #28 - Farmer's Market Begins!!

2010-05-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

The Fairfax Farmer's Market will begin on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 from 4-8 PM at Bolinas Park. There will be fresh fruits and vegetables and live music as well as food vendors and a bounce house for the kids. There is also a Town Council meeting on Wednesday, May 5th at 7:30 PM.

See agenda below:

Blog #27 - Safety Fair and Open House at Town Center

2010-04-29T16:10:00.001-07:00

The Town of Fairfax Disaster Council is sponsoring a Disaster Preparedness Fair on May 15 from 12 NOON - 3:00 PM. The Red Cross, Marin Office of Emergency Services, Marin Municipal Water District, the Human Society, Police and Fire personnel will be at the Fair.

In addition to the Fair the Town is hosting an Open House so the public may tour Town Hall and meet the staff and learn about the services provided. See attached flyer below for more details.

FREE HOT DOGS will be served at the Fair!!

Blog #26 - Improvements on Drake begin April 26th

2010-04-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

Major improvements to Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in the Town of Ross will begin on April 26th and is scheduled to be complete by June 15th, 2010.

The first improvement will be the installation of a 2700 foot long water pipe on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. between Winship Avenue and Lagunitas Road. Work hours are between 8 AM -6:30 PM. Two lanes will be open at all times during the MMWD project. There will be minor delays due to this construction project.

The next improvement will be the installation of sidewalks by the Town of Ross July 1-August 15. The new sidewalk will be on Drake between Bolinas Ave. and Kentfield.

In addition to the Town of Ross will be replacing the Lagunitas Road Bridge between June 15 and October 31.

If you would like additional information please go to www.townofross.org or to www.marinwater.org.

Blog #25 - Mini Charrette Planned to Accommodate More Ross Valley Students within the Town of Fairfax

2010-04-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Two Meeting Dates have been confirmed for a Mini Charrette regarding the need to address an increased population of students entering the Ross Valley School District.

The first Mini Charrette meeting will be held on Sunday April 25th from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm in the Women's Club, and the second meeting will be held on Saturday May 1st from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm in the Women’s Club.

This first session on April 25th will focus on:

a) Background briefings, b) brainstorming “values” going forward, and c) “listing” all acceptable opportunity sites

The second session on May 1st will focus on:

a) Reviewing “site-capacity” studies on the sites identified on the 25th (prepared by design professionals between the public sessions.)

b) Receive feed-back on the alternative plans, and prioritize sites.

Then, on May 6th at the Ross Valley School Board meeting the results of the Mini Charrette will be presented to the Board to give them (1) a confirmed list of potential sites, (2) capacity studies on each of those sites, and (3) a preference of those sites and possible “strategies” to accommodate 180 new students in Fairfax.

These three items would be presented with the strong recommendation on how to conduct the CEQA review on ALL the sites in the District equally.

Blog #24 - Town Council Approves Dark Green Option

2010-04-12T12:50:00.001-07:00

The Town Council unanimously chose the “Dark Green” option with the Marin Clean Energy (MCE) program. The “Dark Green” option uses 100% renewable energy. The other option with MCE was a “Light Green” option which uses about 50% renewable energy. The Town’s solar panels on the Pavilion are powering most of the Town’s energy needs thus the “dark green” option will essentially be cost neutral for the Town.

Other actions taken at the April 7, 2010 Regular Town Council Meeting:

• Re-appointed Vicki Burns to the Parks and Recreation Commission and re-appointed Anya Schandler to the Volunteer Board.

• Adopted a Resolution re-naming Central Field “Contratti Field” in honor of Town employee Rudy Contratti for his dedication to the maintenance of the field.

• Adopted a Resolution opposing Proposition 16: The California Constitutional Amendment Ballot Initiative entitled: New Two-Thirds Vote Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers.

• Reviewed and discussed the East-West Bikeway Plan and will discuss and consider it again at the May 5th Council meeting.

• Adopted a Resolution authorizing budget adjustments for the current fiscal year 2009-10 budget.

• Discussed and considered amendments to the Second Unit Amnesty Ordinance. After some discussion directed staff to return at the May 5th Council meeting with amendments to the Ordinance that would relax the requirement of installing sprinklers in second units.

• Discussed at some length the “smart meter” technology being installed in many communities by PG&E. Due to some possible inaccuracies in the smart meter related to billing customers and possible negative health effects the Council directed the Mayor to write a letter and directed staff to draft an Ordinance to opt out of having smart meters installed in Fairfax.

• Adopted a Resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign an MOU with the Marin Energy Authority related to a Guaranty for $100,000 and related instruments in connection with a working capital loan in exchange for annual payments of $7,368 for a period not to exceed 16 months.

The next Town Council meeting will be May 5, 2010 at 7:30 PM in the Women's Club.

Blog #23 - U.S. Census Count is Important

2010-04-05T09:28:00.001-07:00

The official U.S. Census is conducted every ten years as described in Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. It calls for a an accurate count of the people living in the USA and is used as a gauge in the allotment of of each state's seats in the House of Representatives and in the allocation of funds to citizens in need.

If the number of Fairfax residents is under counted Fairfax will receive less money from federal and state grants and many other funds.

The Census Bureau seeks to determine only the following information:

Occupant's age, address, phone number, gender, race, birth date and marital status and whether the home is owned or rented. Census workers must conduct the survey in person, through the mail or by phone. You are not required to give your social security number or pay or donate any money to a census worker.

It is vital that all Fairfaxians are counted to ensure we receive every last penny we can in these difficult economic times. It is also important for the Town government to know how many residents it really has and thus really needs to serve.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation in this important task.

Blog #22 - Sewer Pipe Grants Available

2010-04-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sewer Pipe Grant Program

The Ross Valley Sanitary District has funds available to help customers fix their sewer pipes. The district’s lateral grant program provides funds for RVSD property owners to repair their damaged sewer pipes.

The Lateral Grant Program is designed to help prevent sanitary sewer overflows, which are caused in part by damaged sewer pipes (known as lateral pipes) on private property. These bad pipes threaten property and public healthy and leaks can cause significant environmental damage as well.

For many people, the need for repairs is obvious, due to chronic problems like backups and overflows that require ongoing professional plumbing maintenance. For others, the signs of leakage and damage may be less evident. If you experience slow-running pipes that cause minor backups in showers and sinks, have noticed odors, or have seen ground movement around your lateral pipe, you should visit the Ross Valley Sanitary District website at www.rvsd.org, for instructions on dealing with the problem.

Blog #21 - SchoolPool Marin

2010-03-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Carpool, Walk, Bike or Bus to School and Help Us All Win Big!

Did you know that 21% of Marin’s morning traffic is school related? Now you can do something about it by signing up at www.schoolpoolmarin.org . SchoolPool Marin is a web-based trip matching service that connects interested families to carpool, walk, bike or take the bus to school together. SchoolPool Marin is part of Green Ways to School, a campaign from the Transportation Authority of Marin’s Safe Routes to Schools’ camp program. The Campaign focuses on reducing automobile trips to Marin County schools and the related traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Campaign also includes incentives to families to register on the website, contests between classrooms and a Challenge among all Marin schools to win up to $2000 for the most increase in green trips. Fairfax encourages all families to look into the many benefits of SchoolPooling at www.schoolpoolmarin.org.

Blog #20 - Special Town Council Meeting on Saturday

2010-03-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Fairfax Town Council is holding a Special Meeting on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 9:00 AM in the Women's Club to continue discussing the Strategic Plan and Goals and the Five Year Strategic Financial Plan. All residents are welcomed. The Agenda Packet for this meeting is at: http://town-of-fairfax.org/html/council_packet.html

Blog #19 - School District to Wait Until November to Place Bond on Ballot

2010-03-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

Please see the email below from the Interim Superintendent:

Dear Ross Valley School District staff, parents, and communities of San Anselmo and Fairfax:

After much discussion at last Thursday’s regular RSVD Board meeting, the Trustees agreed to forgo placing a facilities bond resolution on this June’s ballot. We are aiming to place a resolution on the November 2010 ballot. The November ballot is a critical deadline in order for us to address our overcrowding and to prevent increased student-teacher ratios in our classrooms.

This decision is in response to community input the Board has received over the last few months identifying two important criteria for a bond: (1) to ensure an agreed upon and executable facilities plan is adopted first; and (2) to communicate this plan to the San Anselmo and Fairfax communities as part of a bond.

Over the next few months, the District will continue to research and analyze options, including the recently proposed “Small Deer Park” and “Two Middle School Plan:”

• “Small Deer Park” - A small K-5 school at Deer Park, modernizing the existing classrooms and buildings; the addition of six new classrooms on existing K-5 campuses; and replacement of portables at White Hill with permanent classroom structures plus new classrooms to accommodate enrollment growth.

• “Two Middle School Plan” - A new option to redevelop and reopen Red Hill creating two middle schools of equal size (one at White Hill and one at Red Hill); and to reconfigure White Hill to include a new elementary school.

The Board plans to discuss how we can research these options in depth and receive input from representatives from the District and towns, parents, teachers and other stakeholders affected by the District’s facilities plans. An outline and timeline is being developed for the facilities plan process and will be discussed at a School Board meeting this month.

Options will be discussed at the District’s upcoming Town Meetings on Monday, March 8th at Manor School and Tuesday, March 9th at Lower Brookside. Please join us on Monday and Tuesday to learn more about this news and the next steps the District is taking to solve our classroom shortage.

Sincerely,

Catalina Nocon
Interim Superintendent
Ross Valley School District
(415) 451-4060

Blog #18 Marin Clean Energy-Net Metering Workshop

2010-03-08T10:00:00.001-08:00

Marin Clean Energy

Marin Clean Energy (MCE) is a renewable energy alternative to PG&E's electric supply that will soon be available to Marin customers. MCE is responsible for sourcing the power and purchasing the energy supply, while PG&E continues to deliver the energy, maintain and repair transmission lines, and provide customer service and billing.

All PG&E customers in member towns, like Fairfax, will automatically be enrolled in the Marin Clean Energy program, in accordance with State legislation. Customers who have received notification that they are in Phase 1 who do not wish to be part of Marin Clean Energy may opt out by calling (866) 743-0335 or visiting www.pge.com/cca.

Net Metering Public Workshop

The Marin Energy Authority is holding a public workshop on Net Metering. Net metering allows a customer to turn their meter backwards and receive a credit at times when their solar system generates more power than is used on site, and is taken back at times when more power is used than the system produces. The credits and use are netted out after 12 months. The California Public Utility Commission requires PG&E to treat Marin Clean Energy (MCE) generation customers the same as PG&E generation customers. MCE will provide any generation credits and PG&E will continue to provide credits for transmission, distribution and all other charges to MCE customers.

The workshop will be held on Monday, March 15, 2010, from 12 noon to 2 p.m. in the Planning Chambers, Room 328, Marin County Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael. The public is invited to join the Marin Energy Authority for a public input session for the development of the Marin Clean Energy net metering tariff.

To learn more about Marin Clean Energy and Net Metering please go to the following link: http://www.marinenergyauthority.org/

Blog #17 - Town Council Action from March 3, 2010 Meeting

2010-03-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Town Council met on March 3rd and discussed and took the following actions:

The Town Council took public testimony for 90 minutes regarding the Ross Valley School District plans to possibly house about 120 students at the existing Deer Park school site. Most of the speakers were opposed to the idea because they do not want to see the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center moved from the site. For the past 28 years the Children’s Center has been operating at the Deer Park site and currently has about 125 children in their program. After testimony ended the Town Council appointed Mayor Lew Tremaine and Councilmember John Reed to a subcommittee with two school board members to discuss a plan that will address the rising student population and how to house this increase. A plan that will work for all the students in the school district will be the primary goal of this subcommittee.

Other actions taken at the March 3, 2010 Regular Town Council Meeting:

• Adopted a Resolution approving a garbage and recycling rate increase of 3.18% beginning May 1, 2010.

• Adopted Ordinance 749 revising the Animal Control Ordinance Fee Schedule.

• Adopted Ordinance 750 amending the contract between the Town and the Board of Administration of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to reflect the change to 2% at 55 retirement for newly hired miscellaneous members.

• Discussed web-casting and/or televising Town Council meetings and possibly other public meetings. Directed staff to trench and install a fiber optic line from the Youth Center to the Women’s Club on Park Drive. Council will consider this item again at the April 7th meeting when more specific costs will be known for the actual web-casting or televising of meetings.

• Discussed considering an MOU with the Marin Energy Authority (MEA) for a $100,000 loan guarantee. After some discussion the Town Council voted to support, in concept, a guarantee to the MEA and directed staff to return at the April 7th meeting with a final draft of the MOU. The Town only has to guarantee the $100,000. There is no actual loan to the MEA and the MEA would only receive the guarantee if MEA defaulted on its loan. The Town will receive $7,368 per year for guaranteeing the money for a maximum of five years. Should MEA pay off their loan before the five years the guarantee from Fairfax will terminate.

Blog #16 - More Town Hall Meetings Scheduled by School District

2010-03-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

The Ross Valley School District has scheduled more meetings to discuss the recently discussed preferred option of using Deer Park School to house about 120 students.

The School Board is currently focusing on an option to modernize and upgrade Deer Park School for a smaller K-5 school using the existing facilities. This option would create a neighborhood school that would draw students from less than a mile radius. This option also includes the addition of a few permanent classrooms to existing K-5 campuses, and includes facilities to accommodate the upcoming enrollment growth at White Hill including replacing the 20 portables at White Hill plus building additional classrooms and facilities.

Please see the attached document from the Ross Valley School District with the meeting dates and times.

Blog #15 - Town Hall Meeting on School Facilities March 4, 2010

2010-03-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

The Ross Valley School District is hosting another Town Hall meeting on March 4th from 3:15-4:00 PM at the Manor School Library in Fairfax. See attachment below for more details:

Blog #14 - Small Business Development Center

2010-03-01T10:45:00.001-08:00

Are you a small business owner in Fairfax? If so, you may be very intersted in the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

Since 1991 the SBDC has helped small business owners in Marin and Sonoma counties improve performance and enjoy greater success. Funded by the United States Small Business Administration the SBDC provides no-cost professional business counseling and low-cost training. Areas of support include: capital sourcing; business plans; legal structure; new product development; product pricing; restaurant operations; accounting and loan documentation; manufacturing; marketing and advertising; human resources; patents; trademarks; and copyrights; and much more!

You may contact the SBDC at their website: www.sbdcsantarosa.org for valuable information and current schedule of programs. SBDC is located at 606 Healdsburg Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95401. Phone 707-524-1770 or toll free at 888-346-7232. You may email them at sbdc@santarosa.org.

Blog #13 - Special Town Council Meeting Saturday, February 27, 2010

2010-02-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Fairfax Town Council will meet Saturday, February 27, 2010 from 9:00 AM - 12 NOON to discuss reviewing the five year strategic financial plan, hearing a mid-year budget report, and discussing the annual goals of the Town.

I encourage all residents to attend. It will be an opportunity to express your priorities for the Town as the Council also discusses the goals and priorities within the constraints of the Town budget. You may access all the reports for this meeting on the Town's Web Page.

See agenda below:

Blog #12 Fairfax Police Need Your Help

2010-02-19T18:56:00.001-08:00

The Fairfax Police need your help with vandalism and tire slashing of vehicles located on Cascade Drive, Pine Drive, Hickory, Madrone Court and Meadow Way. At this time we have thirty eight reports of vandalism from this second series. Please see all the details in the attached neighborhood flyer. Please remember to lock your vehicles.

Blog #11 Project Homeless Connect 7

2010-02-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

Project Homeless Connect will be in Fairfax on Thursday, February 18, 2010 from 10 AM-2:00PM at the Fairfax Women's Club, 46 Park Drive. If you are homeless or are in transitional housing Project Homeless is offer the following FREE services and access to:

Health Screenings
Dental Treatments
Legal Assistance
Shelter Beds
California IDs
Public Assistance Programs
Therapy & Psychiatric Services
Coats, hats, gloves, scarves
Veterans Programs

LUNCH will be served!!