FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
1 AGENDA ITEM #6
MEETING DATE January 24, 2024
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY Christine Foster, Deputy Town Clerk
SUBJECT Receive report on Councilmembers’ assignments, committees, and activities in December.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive Councilmember activities report.
DISCUSSION
Every month, each Councilmember provides a list of the meetings they attended in the preceding month on behalf of the Town, for inclusion in this report. Under the agenda section entitled “Council Reports and Comments” Councilmembers may choose to highlight one of those meetings.
Mayor Coler
Dec 7 – Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM) – The Board reappointed Bruce Bagnoli as Chair, Greg Clarke as Vice Chair, Steven Tulsky as Treasurer and Susan Pascal Beran as Secretary. Gerry Kelly of Fairfax has been designated to represent the business community on the Board by the SR Chamber of Commerce (he will start on the Board in January 2024). Coler is a member of the CMCM Executive Committee with B. Bagnoli and G. Clarke.
Dec 7 – Chamber of Commerce Holiday Party.
Dec 9 – Fairfax Craft Faire.
Dec 12 – Agenda setting mtg - for January 10 Council meeting with Vice Mayor Blash and Town staff.
Dec 13 – Special Town Council meeting – Proclamation for Michele Gardner; Housing Element Adoption and Certification of EIR.
Dec 14 – Marin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) mtg – The Commission approved:
Annexation of 45 Stirrup Ln., Novato to the Novato Sanitary District & Annexation of 19 Tanfield Rd., Tiburon to the Richardson Bay Sanitary District (both of these were to switch off septic); the Southern Marin Sewer Agencies Municipal Service Review with the workplan and reaffirmed the Sphere of Influence in common of Alto, Almonte, Homestead Valley, and Richardson Bay Sanitary Districts. The Commission also amended the Sphere of Influence for the Novato Fire Protection District and discussed topics for its January 12, 2024, Commission workshop. Coler is Chair of Marin LAFCO.
Dec 15 – Wall Property Subcommittee mtg – with Councilmember Cutrano and Marin Open Space Trust (MOST – B. Long & J, Braun).
Dec. 15 – Fairfax Winter Market.
Dec 18 – Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center – met with Executive Director Tomsky and Program Director re: future of FXSACC.
Dec 19 – Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA) Ad Hoc Citizen’s Oversight Committee Selection– review of applications for Southern Marin, San Rafael, and Fire Protection representatives – 3 candidates were selected and will be recommended to the full Board at the January 18 mtg (John McCauley – SM; Pat Randolph – SR; Spencer Sias – FP).
Dec 19 – Met with Town Manager on Council matters.
Dec 22 – Wall Property meeting – with Councilmember Cutrano, Marin Open Space Trust (MOST, Bill Long, Jonathan Braun) with Supervisor Rice and County staff (Max Korten, Carl Somers) to discuss the 2 County as potential “takeout partner” if acquired – the County Open Space District has staff and resources to effectively manage the property as open space.
Dec 22 – Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center & Peruva Auto Shop Christmas parties.
Vice Mayor Blash
December 6th – Regular Town Council Meeting – see recap: https://www.townoffairfax.org/towncouncil-meeting-recap-december-6-2023/ December 7th – Attended a webinar: The League of California Cities: The Do’s and Don’ts of Ballot Measure Activities and Public Resources December 7th – Fairfax Chamber of Commerce Mixer, Deer Park Villa December 7th – Ross Valley Paramedic Authority (RVPA) Board Meeting. Agenda and Board Packet>> The Board discussed a request from the Ross Town Council to grant an extended lease (beyond the usual four-year lease of $35,000) for use of its ambulance facility. The amount of the lease would also be increased to about $50,000. The reason for the increase and extension is that Ross is planning to rebuild its local government campus, eliminating its fire station and greatly improving its ambulance facility. The ambulance facility serves all jurisdictions in the JPA (Joint Powers Authority) region. The Ross Town Council would like a response by January 10th, 2024. The Board decided that to perform due diligence for their constituents, they would like to commission a study to make sure that this is the best spot for the facility considering changing demographics likely brought about by new building required by the state-wide housing mandate (RHNA), the build-out of Oak Hill Apartments between Larkspur Landing and San Quentin, and changes at San Quentin Prison in coming years. In addition, many members of the board were concerned about the length of the new lease, especially considering the fact that the RVPA tax measure is up for renewal on the ballot every four years and might not prevail in future years. The Board voted to:
1. Create a Board subcommittee.
2. Direct staff to start discussion lease terms with Ross.
3. Direct staff to contact vendors to determine the scope of study or deployment analysis and whether this study could be conducted in a timeframe that would allow for an imminent decision on this issue.
December 9th – Visited our wonderful Fairfax Craft Faire December 12th – Agenda Setting Meeting for Town Council December 12th – Toured Marin Valley Sanitary Facility with Council Member Ackerman. Marin Sanitary provides Fairfax’s garbage, recycling, and compostables pickup and street sweeping services. This family-run business is an impressive operation and worthy of a tour. Two items of note for the public:
as of January 2022, every home, apartment complex, and business in California is required by law to collect their food waste, yard waste, and paper separately from all other waste. Starting on Jan. 1, 2024, an enforcement provision has gone into effect for this law. Last year, Fairfax, like other local communities, adopted a single-use food ware ordinance for food vendors. Enforcement of this ordinance began in November 2023. Enforcement will be conducted by Marin County Environmental Health Services since this is becoming a countywide effort.
December 13th – Special Town Council meeting – see recap: https://www.townoffairfax.org/towncouncil-meeting-recap-december-13-2023/ December 14th – TAM Board of Directors meeting-observed as an alternate—see Council Member Cutrano’s notes.
December 15th – Attended the Chamber’s FaLaLaLa Fairfax Steet Market Councilmember Ackerman
12/6 Town Council Meeting
12/7 Climate Action Committee meeting
3 12/12 Tour of Marin Sanitary and discussions with their leadership 12/13 Marin/Sonoma Mosquito & Vector Control District board meeting (mostly missed due to conflict with Council meeting)
12/13 Town Council Meeting
Councilmember Hellman
12/2: Ross Valley Fire Department’s Lifesaving Skills training at the Fairfax Pavilion 12/12: Presentation to 4G Brookside Elementary School on local government 12/13: Fairfax Town Council meeting
12/15: Fairfax Holiday Market – participated in holiday caroling 12/15: North Bay Labor Council 20th Annual COPE event
12/22: Fairfax San Anselmo Childcare Center holiday event 12/31: Renters Rising event protesting unlawful rent increases at 2555 Sir Francis Drake / Lanai Apartment
Councilmember Cutrano
12/6—Regular Meeting of the Fairfax Town Council. Find the agenda packet here. 12/12—Neighborhood Meetup with Residents on Live Oak
12/13—Marin Emergency Radio Authority. Find the agenda packet here. 12/13—Special Meeting of the Fairfax Town Council. Find the agenda packet here. 12/14—Transportation Authority of Marin. Find the agenda packet and supplement here. 12/15—Meeting re the Wall Property with Mayor Barbara Coler and Bill Long and Jonathan Braun of Marin Open Space Trust
12/18— Meeting with Lanai Tenants Association regarding rent increases. 12/22—Meeting re the Wall Property with Supervisor Katie Rice, Max Korten and Carl Sommers of the Marin County Open Space District, and Bill Long and Jonathan Braun of Marin Open Space Trust 12/31—Meeting with Lanai Tenants Association regarding rent increases. 1/5—Meeting with Town Councilmember Hellman and Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli regarding the tenant protections in the Town of Fairfax. 1/9—Meeting with Town Manager Abrams, Councilmember Hellman, and Town Attorney Coleson regarding tenant protections in the Town of Fairfax.
1/9—Community Emergency Preparedness Committee meeting. Find the agenda here.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Marin Emergency Radio Authority
• Construction: Of the final nine sites, four have been turned over to Motorola for network equipment installations while punch list items are completed, and the focus turns to the five remaining sites. Cutover of end users is still anticipated for October 2024. • Site Installations: Motorola is completing optimization at the Pt Reyes Site while network equipment is being installed at the Skyview and Wolfback Ridge sites mid-December. Fire Station Alerting installations continue. Another vendor is currently installing the Distributed Antenna System (DAS) into the Marin County Jail. Nokia and their subcontractor are installing microwave equipment at available sites and will be at Barnabe and Stewart this week. • At the December meeting, Operations Officer Todd Williams informed the board the legacy MERA system continues to operate effectively, and MERA has enough “spares” (spare parts) to operate the legacy system.
• In 2023 the legacy MERA system facilitated 2,329,228 calls. 1,538,464 calls for law enforcement. 506,644 calls for fire. 258,385 calls for public works. And 25,735 non-MERA calls. Read the Operations Report here.
4 Transportation Authority of Marin
• Marin-Sonoma Bike Share Pilot Program Update: In 2022, as the program launch was in the final stage of planning, Bolt Mobility ceased communications with TAM and discontinued its operations, thus terminating the agreement to operate the program. Note that SCTA and TAM retained the full amount of grant funding, which can be used to set up a new program based on the procurement of a new operator. In June 2023, TAM and SCTA initiated a new contractor procurement process by releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to implement and operate a bike share program. Four proposals were received in August 2023, and considered in the evaluation. Drop Mobility was selected as the operator of the Marin-Sonoma Bike Share Program based on the evaluation and interview results. The program is expected to be provided through permit approvals to include the City of Santa Rosa, City of Rohnert Park, City of Cotati, City of Petaluma, City of Novato, City of San Rafael, City of Larkspur, Golden Gate Ferry, and SMART.
• Marin Commutes Update: The Marin Commutes Program is a comprehensive Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program that aims to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and promote sustainable transportation in Marin County. The program offers a variety of incentives and resources to encourage residents and employees to use alternative transportation modes, such as public transit, carpooling, biking, and walking. Over the next year, the Marin Commutes Program will focus on relationship building, continuing to support commute alternatives and trip reduction, and increasing the impact of its rewards program and other programs through marketing and partnerships. To achieve these priorities, the following approaches are being pursued:
o Increase awareness and participation by leveraging partners’ websites, social media, newsletters, packets, and office space. Marin Commutes should also focus on adding new employer networks in the rewards app.
o Use paid social media advertising to drive Marin residents and workers to the Marin Commutes Rewards and Emergency Rides Home pages. Physical advertising on buses and at bus stops can also be used to increase awareness. o Leverage others’ programs by promoting regional incentives (e.g., California Air Resources Board (CARB) e-bike vouchers) and transit operator discounts and promotions.
o Continue to promote the program via TAM and Marin Commutes channels. This includes the website, social media accounts, newsletters, and the rewards app. o In the spring of 2024, the program will launch a campaign focusing on springtime events like Earth Day and Bike to Workday to promote mode shift. The program will pursue outreach opportunities related to these events along with health and wellness events at workplaces and around college campuses and these activities will continue into the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2024.