FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
MEETING DATE March 4, 2026
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY Christine Foster, Deputy Town Clerk
SUBJECT Receive report on Councilmembers’ assignments, committees, and activities in February 2026.
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 Hellman
Feb 2: Attended MCE Executive Committee meeting as alternate for Council member Coler.
Feb 2: Weekly meeting with Heather Abrams
Feb 3: RVFD Station 21 renovation project (weekly) zoom Feb 3: Quarterly Mayors and Managers lunch with District 2 Supervisor Brian Colbert.
Feb 4: Fairfax regular monthly town council meeting
Feb 9: Weekly meeting with Heather Abrams
Feb 10: Feb 24: RVFD Station 21 renovation project (weekly) zoom. RFP for construction bids is out, responses due March 18.
Feb 10: RVFD new Director onboarding subcommittee - working group meeting to discuss content for informational packet. Attendees: Lauren Hourde; RVFD Chief Dan Mahoney; RVFD Director Rich Shortall.
Feb 11: Discussion with community members Andy Peri and Steven Schulmeyer regarding planning retreat workshop.
Feb 11: Attended RVSD meeting via Zoom.
Feb 13: Fairfax Annual Planning Retreat
Feb 19: Agenda setting meeting with VM Egger and Town staff Feb 23: Walk-through Station 21, community center, and 21 Park Road with Battalion Chief Patterson, DPW Director Arnold and Town Manager.
Feb 24: RVFD Station 21 renovation project (weekly) zoom. RFP for construction bids is out, responses due March 18.
Feb 25: Meeting with town staff and Chamber of Commerce Feb 25: Finance Committee meetign with Vice Mayor Egger, Treasurer, Finance Director, and Town Manager. Review upcoming independent audit findings.
Feb 25: MCCCMC monthly meeting held at College of Marin's new Center for Student Success. Hosted / Emcee'd as President. Two presentations: Assblyman Damon Connelly and Omar Carrera, CEO Canal Alliance
Feb 26: Discussion with County staff, Supervisor Lucan, Councilmember Burke (MV) Councilmember Eklund (Novato) and MTC/ABAG staff related to an informational presentation on the subregional housing allocation for March MCCMC meeting.
Feb 26: Attended CA State Boards & Commissions Appointments Webinar about openings on statewide boards and commissions, the application process, the work appointees are leading across the state.
Feb 26: Discussion about effort re Fairfax Festival and formalizing via contract whereby the town serves as fiscal agent. Discussion included alcohol licenses, transparency of revenue and expenses generated by the FF and Eco Fest for reconciliation. Insurance, Overtime by Public Works, Police Depart. Succession planning as current chair has announced retirement.
Vice Mayor Egger
February 10, 2026: Central Marin Sanitary Agency's Zoom meeting; I spoke on the proposal for CMSA to take over San Rafael's wastewater collection department that also transports wastewater to CMSA's sewer treatment plant. I said with all of the high rise apartments proposed in San Rafael, San Rafael's system will be way over capacity and their pump stations and sewer mains are poised to be under water with sea level rise impacting the Canal and Loch Lomond, it will take tens of millions of dollars of public money to handle San Rafael's wastewater. I asked that CMSA continue the item until, they have a cost analysis of SR's future costs that might be shared by all of the cities in the RVSD and Corte Madera. The CMSA Board voted 3-2 to move forward with consolidation. CMSA is a treatment agency, not a collection agency.
February 19, 2026: Met at Town Hall is set the March Agenda, both in person and Zoom. Discussed Festival issues and the Marin Municipal Water District's Bolinas Road project to increase water main size to 8" from Deer Park Villa on Bolinas Road to Broadway and the potential impacts on downtown Fairfax businesses, the temporary removal of 3 Parklets, the 7 month project and impacts on the Fairfax Festival, and holding a public hearing on the renewal of the ¾ cent sales tax that will expire if not renewed by November of 2026. Options include putting the sales tax renewal on the June 2026 Primary and even adding ¼ cent to the current ¾ cent sales tax, making the measure a 1 cent sales tax. The State sales tax Cap for Fairfax has ¼ cent not used but other public agencies could take that ¼ cent and Fairfax's total sales tax will go up to 9&1/2 cents but Fairfax might only be able to get 9&1/4 cents.
February 24, 2026: Attended the Marin Municipal Water District meeting in person in Corte Madera. Their agenda included awarding a $2,320,855 contract to Argonaut Constructors, Inc. to replace 3,000 Ft. of water main on Bolinas Road. I made it clear that I was speaking only for myself. I said the MMWD's staff would be at the March 4th Fairfax Town Council meeting and I wanted to give them a heads up as to some of the issues. I said the biggest threat in Fairfax is a wildland fire coming off the mountain and blowing thru Town so we are very supportive of MMWD increasing the capacity of the water main.
I said it would impact 3 neighborhoods, Deer Park, the Cascades and Bolinas Road, a large number of residences, 45 downtown businesses on Bolinas Road & Broadway and the two-day Fairfax Festival & Parade that draws 12,000 people to Fairfax. I asked that they coordinate the project with PG&E to replace old gas lines, the RVSD since laterals may need to be replaced and underground utilities like AT&T and Comcast. Two directors expressed concerns, one mentioning the PG&E gas explosion in San Bruno in 2010. MMWD staff said they contacted PG&E and PG&E had no plans to replace their gas lines from the 1920's & 30's.
I said we have been told it's a 7-month project & MMWD needs to shorten the amount of time needed to complete this project. I also said that the contract only paved the east side of Bolinas Road and I hoped we could come up with the funds necessary and work with their contractor to pave the west side of Bolinas Road from Park to Broadway. A number of Fairfax residents & Chamber of Commerce members spoke both in person and on Zoom stating Fairfax merchants are suffering and the Summer is prime time for their businesses, that the cost to temporarily disassemble, move the parklets and rebuild them
must be subsidized by MMWD. In the end, the MMWD board did not award the bid but held it up until the MMWD staff had met with the Fairfax Town Council on March 4th and worked out all of the issues.
February 24, 2026: Attended the Fairfax Open Space Committee meeting. Discussed was wording on Wall property signs, Mayor Stephanie Hellman's contact with Graton Rancheria Tribal leaders for Wall naming, Piper Lane Open Space, the FOSC drafting an updated Open Space Element, running a booth at the Eco-Fest on June 13 & 14, doing a Broom Pull in April and looking into setting up a FOSC 501(c)3 non-profit like the SAOSC has done. The FOSC heard a report from SAOSC's Vice-Chair Jonathan Braun that the SAOSC had signed a contract to purchase the former Jamie Williams' 7-acre parcel in Fairfax and add it to the Bald Hill Sky Ranch Open Space Preserve. The FOSC will have the item on their next meeting on March 24, 2026.
February 25, 2026: Met as part of the Fairfax Finance Committee to go over the recently received Audit that will be presented at the March 4th Town Council meeting.
February 25, 2026: Attended the February Marin County Council Mayors & Councilmembers meeting at the College of Marin's new Student Center. Discussed setting up an Ad Hoc Committee to review various issues including MCCMC Bylaws, governance structure & and operations. Special guests included State Assemblymember Damon Connolly, candidate for State Senate, on various issues including both current and future RHNA numbers, saying Marin's RHNA numbers are too high, that he was opposed to SB-79 and supported legislation requiring Insurance Companies to credit Home Hardening projects.
Discussions included San Rafael's 17 story building and future impacts on traffic both in San Rafael and the Central San Rafael off-ramp at 2nd & Irwin. Assemblymember Connolly told how the pendulum in Sacramento swings both ways, saying pro-housing legislation has not yet run its course. He discussed his AB 1790 that would close corporate loopholes that allow the offshoring of profits and the loss of billions of dollars of taxes to California.
Omar Carrera, CEO of Canal Alliance, gave a talk on how immigrants are living in fear of ICE and the impacts on immigrants living and working in Marin. Pilipino immigrant care-givers are being adversely impacted too. Immigrants make up a large part of Marin's workforce and our police departments need to provide public safety for our immigrant communities. Attendees spoke of real issues that our immigrant workforce has to deal with.
Councilmember Coler
1. Feb 3, 10, 17, 24 - Meeting with Town Manager on various Council matters.
2. Feb 4 – Town Council meeting.
3. Feb 5 – Marin Wildfire (MWPA) Executive Committee meeting & premeeting for Ex Com - Feb 4 – Minutes and the Feb 19 Board agenda approved; Closed session re: performance evaluation of EO.
4. Feb 11 – Ross Valley Fire Board mtg – mtg was canceled for Feb.
5. Feb 12 – Attended the MWPA Operations Committee mtg as a member of the public to provide comment on the upcoming workplan – urged the Committee to allocate more funds for the resident grants (make available to all rather than limiting to income qualified and seniors only). And to create three resident grant programs: Zone 0; D-Space; and Home Hardening. Chief Dan Mahoney was elected as the new Chair; Todd Cuisimano as the Vice Chair of the Ops Committee.
6. Feb 12 – Marin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) mtg – The Commission approved an Annexation of 673 Atherton Avenue, Novato into the Novato Sanitary District; discussed the new Board Structure for CALAFCO and Consideration pf Marin LAFCO continued membership in
CALAFCO. Other business: approved update of contract for bookkeeping services and approval of Policy and Personnel Handbook changes. Chair Coler assigned Commissioners to committees – Coler assigned to Personnel & Policy Committee.
7. Feb 13 – Town Council Strategic Planning Retreat.
8. Feb 19 - Marin Wildfire (MWPA) Board meeting & premeeting (Feb 18)- The Board received reports on: MWPA Workplan; February Fire Safe Marin report (e.g., 90 Firewise groups in Marin); 2025 Chipper Day Annual Report (5th year – highlights: 5,089 residential pickups & removed 18,700 cubic yards of vegetation countywide; the highest season with 4% increase from 2024; crews completed ~ 169 reservations/week with 6 rounds of chipping events w/ curbside pickup; used Fire Aside software again w/improvements; FY2024–2025 program spending was $1,335,627, distributed evenly across the 5 JPA zones); Ranger programs and funding split for Novato and San Rafael; and the MWPA 24-25 Annual Report (1. Veg Mgt - > 40 Core projects approved & 1,444 acres treated - Modeled results show a 72% increase in Direct Attack Acres & 48% overall reduction in fire behavior in treated areas; 3. Grant Programs -across all Measure C-funded grant programs, including member agency initiatives, $1,764,439 was awarded to support defensible space and home hardening mitigation efforts; Direct Assistance pilot was launched; 4. Outreach – partnered with FSM and others, included more than 13,000 face-to-face contacts across 83 community events, and wildfire preparedness video viewership increased 528% year-over-year; 5. Fire Resistant Homes - 30,367 homes were evaluated and 11,132 defensible space violations were mitigated, with 60% of inspected parcels identified as being without high-risk issues. Fiscal - income was $22,635,447 and expenses were $21,470,937 • Including grant-funded and other income, total income was $24,620,082 and total expenditures were $23,373,865; ROI - Marin Wildfire continues to activate taxpayer dollars. For every dollar spent on the Marin Wildfire Grant Program, Marin residents report spending $7 dollars preparing their homes for wildfire. Similarly, Marin residents spent an additional $1 for every Chipper Day program dollar. We also actively seek grant funding.). The Board began its Strategic Planning sessions (TB cont’d at other sessions). The Board approved RFQ Home Hardening (HH) for Master Services Agreements with several contractors to become pre-qualified for HH primarily for the Zone Zero in a Box program with Direct Assistance. The EO reported that our partnership with Mercury Insurance has resulted in one home in Inverness signing on to Mercury and exiting the CalFair plan (she had to replace siding yet it is a 5 year ROI by the change)– success! MWPA is working with Mercury on other homes in Inverness (highest % signups with CalFair in Marin). Coler asked if we can expand in the future to do this in Fairfax.
9. Feb 19 - MCE Clean Energy Board meeting – The Board: approved a generation rate reduction to take effect April 1, 2026 (rates are assessed using six criteria: revenue sufficiency, rate competitiveness, rate stability, customer understanding, equity among customers, and efficiency and conservation) of 2.05¢/kWh (14%), however in addition, an additional small reduction will be added until Dec 31, 2026 only). MCE’s current residential generation rate is 14.62¢/kWh. While the MCE’s generation rates will reduce, PGE assesses a PCIA charge to CCA customers (approved by CPUC) which is significant. The Board also determined that its meetings will end at 10:00pm. MCE Fiscal Year 26/27 is April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2027. Coler is now Chair of the MCE Executive Committee.
10. Feb 23 - Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers (MCCMC) Legislative Committee – The Committee voted to send a support letter for AB1708 RE: establishes certain requirements for a Continuum of Care (Marin Co is one) regarding HHAPP funding (Homeless Housing, Assistance & Prevention Program). Too early in the session for review of other bills, about 1800 bills were introduced by 2/22, about 600 are spot bills. MCCMC LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE SCOPE OF ADVOCACY: Fiscal Protection: protect city revenues from state. Local Control: support legislation that enhances local control of resources to provide services while supporting regional co-operation. Oppose unfunded mandates and preemption of local authority and control of land use. Transportation Investment: promote stable transportation finance structure for
state and local government. Multimodal, enhancing livable communities Housing/Land use: protect local government land use authority. Oppose punitive housing legislation, and legislation that restricts or reduces local discretion on land use decisions. Other legislation can be recommended to MCCMC at a regular meeting. Coler requested and was approved to follow all wildfire bills as they fit within land use/housing and local control.
11. Feb 25 - Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers (MCCMC) monthly meeting – held at College of Marin. Featured Speakers: Assemblymember Damon Connolly and Omar Carrera, CEO of Canal Alliance. Vote was to be held to state the Monthly meeting and Standing Committees (including Legis) will conform to the Brown Act & update the By Laws. Mtg held after report submitted.
12. Feb 26 – Community Media Center of Marin Board meeting – mtg held after report submitted.
13. Feb 27 - Age Friendly Fairfax mtg – no mtg held in Feb; reconvene in April.
Councilmember Blash
01/31: Community Site Walk with Marin Water. Participated in this walk to review information and provide feedback on Marin Water’s Roads and Trails Management Plan Update. Additional site walks will be held February 27 and March 13. This walk was well-attended, particularly by the mountain biking community (Marin Trail Stewards (formerly Access for Bikes), Marin County Bicycle Coalition, but also included people active with the California Native Plant Society, the Nature Conservancy, the West Point Inn Association, Marin Conservation League, and others. https://marinwater.org/series-of-communitywatershed-site-walks-planned-for-january-march/ 02/02: San Rafael City Council Study Session One. Presentation on Housing Development in San Rafael and Potential Changes to Housing Policies and Review Procedures. Attended online. 02/02: Spoke with expert on Cannabis Policy expert about upcoming agenda items 02/03: Met with Town Manager.
02/04: Town Council Meeting. GASB presentation. Made changes to the zoning ordinance re: cannabis to remove no longer relevant mentions of former MMAM locations. Heard residents’ petition re: MMAM relocating to 61 Bolinas Road. Public Hearing on vacancy report. 02/02: ILG Webinar – The 2026 Election: What Local Leaders Need to Know for Ballot Measures and Candidate Elections. A discussion of the Fair Political Practices Commission’s campaign finance rules, as well as legal issues pertaining to campaign activity by local officials, including the use of public resources for educational outreach and more. https://www.ca-ilg.org/post/webinar-2026-election-whatlocal-leaders-need-know-ballot-measures-and-candidate-elections 02/09: Discussed upcoming Council Retreat with teambuilding activity leader. 02/09: Met with Town Manager.
02/12: Met with former Council Member Bruce Ackerman. Discussed microgrid/resiliency hub ideas. 02/13: Town Council Strategic Planning Meeting (Retreat). Team building exercise. Discussed Council Goals, the potential expiration of Measure C (sales tax that funds a considerable portion of the Town’s budget).
02/13: Met with Town Manager and Attorney. Discussed concerns about council retreat and transparency.
02/19: Observed most of the Planning Commission Meeting. Topics included the updates to the Town’s ADU ordinance and Formula Business Ordinance.
02/20: Met with Town Manager. Discussed Measure C, Formula Business Ordinance. 02/24: Discussed Political Polarization with researcher. 02/24: Met with Town Manager. Discussed upcoming agenda.
02/25: Marin County Council of Mayors and Council Members. Discussed establishing an ad hoc governance committee. Received committee reports. Heard presentations from Assemblymember Damon Connolly and Omar Carrera, the CEO of the Canal Alliance 02/26: Tam Board Meeting. Special closed session around potential litigation. Reviewed and Approved the Measure A/AA and Measure B Revenue Projections and the FY2026-27 Annual Budget Development Schedule. Discussed Community Oversight Committee (COC) Vacancies and candidate search. 02/27: Marin Water Site Walk #2. This guided site walk is for community members to explore areas of the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed that will be a focus of the Road and Trail Management Plan update. During the walk staff highlighted existing road and trail conditions, signage, stewardship programs and visitor facilities, and discussed how these areas relate to watershed protection and recreation.
Councilmember Ghiringhelli
Not received in time for publication.