FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
MEETING DATE April 15, 2026
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY Christine Foster, Deputy Town Clerk
SUBJECT Receive report on Councilmembers’ assignments, committees, and activities in March 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
March 2: Meeting 1:1 with town manager, Heather Abrams
March 3: Station 21 renovation project team zoom weekly meeting with BC Patterson, architects, DPW K.Arnold; Town Mgr Heather Abrams.
March 4: Regular Fairfax town council monthly meeting
March 9: Meeting 1:1 with town manager, Heather Abrams
March 10: Station 21 renovation project team zoom weekly meeting with BC Patterson, architects, DPW K.Arnold; Town Mgr Heather Abrams.
March 11: Ross Valley Fire Board meeting
March 13: Hosted zoom for MCCMC Bylaw subcommittee - working on edit proposals for adoption for April 22.
March 15: Attending Fairfax Electrification Fair hosted by Fairfax Climate Action Committee March 16: Meeting 1:1 with town manager, Heather Abrams March 17: Station 21 renovation project team zoom weekly meeting with BC Patterson, architects, DPW K.Arnold; Town Mgr Heather Abrams.
March 18: Meeting with town staff and Chamber of Commerce to discuss upcoming events and COC funding models across the county.
March 19: Meeting with MCF: Jason Blau, Chief Strategy Officer and Amaya H. Counsel to discuss upcoming MCCMC April 22 presentation re analysis on risks to federal funding for Marin.
March 20: Coffee with Mayor (9-10:30am) at BoFax / Stillwater March 23: April agenda planning session with Vice Mayor Egger, Town Manager, Town atty, Christine Foster and Janabai Owens.
March 24: Station 21 renovation project team zoom weekly meeting with RVFD BC Patterson, architect(s), DPW K.Arnold; Town Mgr Heather Abrams.
March 25: MCCMC regular monthly meeting. Presentation from ABAG and County of Marin March 31: Station 21 renovation project team zoom weekly meeting with BC Patterson, architects, DPW K.Arnold; Town Mgr Heather Abrams.
Vice Mayor Egger
March 24, 2026- Fairfax Open Space Committee: Jonathan Braun reported that the San Anselmo Open Space Committee is recommending the purchase of the Sky Ranch Knoll, a 7 acre parcel in Fairfax that
was once proposed for a large single family home but was rejected because of access issues from Fairfax.
Wall property naming; FOSC is awaiting Graton Rancheria comments on naming the fire road Miwok Trail on the Wall Property.
The FOSC is trying to figure out their financials for future projects: the $500,000 for Wall Property maintenance, availability of funds raised from fundraising events placed in the General Fund and Marin County's Measure A for Parks. The FOSC continues to investigate the formation of a 501(c)(3) using SA's OSC as a model.
FOSC was running a Broom Pull.
March 25, 2026-Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers meeting at Corte Madera Town Hall:
1. Bay Area Growth, Housing, and Planning: Regional Strategy and Local Implementation: A joint presentation from MTC-ABAG and the County of Marin. Representatives from MTC-ABAG will provide a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Subregions Overview: Marin County Community Development Agency staff will present the history of collaboration on housing policy in the County, how jurisdictions collaborated on previous Housing Elements, specifically the most recent 6th Housing Element cycle, and an exploration of opportunities for collaboration in the future. Presenters: Sarah Jones, Director, and Jillian Zeiger, Principal Planner.
Marin County Planning Director Sarah Jones explained how 10 Marin agencies collaborated to set Objective Design & Development Standards for residential properties. This is how Fairfax ended up with Ministerial Approvals for Fairfax's 13 Workforce Housing Sites.
I mentioned San Rafael's 17 story housing high rise at 2nd & Irwin will back up traffic on Highway 101. I said no one is coming to San Rafael's defense and said Marin's 11 cities need to stand together on housing issues, otherwise we will be picked off 1 at a time. I said there's a huge unfunded liability for future transportation issues. It's difficult to drive around the County now.
March 26, 2026-Ross Valley Flood Zone #9 meeting: The RVFZ#9 Advisory Board voted 4-1 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors cancel all further work on San Anselmo & Corte Madera Creeks. That will cancel the removal of Building Bridge #2. 3 businesses were forced to close when the County purchased that parcel & demolished those buildings.
Removal of the Wooden Fish Ladder below the Ross Post Office that blocks some fish passage is also being delayed but there will be an update at the next RVFZ#9 meeting.
Dear Flood Zone 9 Advisory Board Members:
I am writing to share that the Agenda and supporting materials for the March 26, 2026 Flood Zone 9 Advisory Board meeting (6:30 PM) will include a request that the Advisory Board Recommend that the District Board of Supervisors cancel the Building Bridge 2 (BB2) Removal Project and withdraw the pending FEMA CLOMR application.
As outlined in the attached memorandum, staff have completed a comprehensive review of FEMA’s recent comments, the status of required downstream mitigation, project funding and schedule constraints, and the broader watershed planning context. Based on this evaluation, staff are recommending that the District withdraw the CLOMR application and cancel the BB2 Removal Project.
The memorandum also provides background on the evolution of the Ross Valley flood protection program, explains the regulatory and technical challenges associated with proceeding under FEMA’s 100- year floodway requirements, and outlines key considerations related to cost, schedule, and feasibility. In addition, staff have identified potential near-term focus areas for the District should the project be cancelled, including site remediation, operations and maintenance planning, continued delivery of other priority projects, and renewed community engagement.
We recognize that this is a significant recommendation and appreciate the Advisory Board’s thoughtful consideration. We look forward to discussing the item with you at Thursday’s meeting and welcome any questions in advance.
Thank you for your continued service and engagement.
Councilmember Coler
1. March 2 – MCE Clean Energy Executive Committee mtg – The Committee approved: 1) the 6th agreement with EV Energy Corp for MCE Sync, a smart phone app that provides EV owners to ability to shift charging to the least expensive time of day (outside peak time of 4-9pm) and also get the cleanest energy (Standards Reward Tier - average bill savings is $14/month, in 2025 reduced grid emissions by 34%). MCE and EV Energy collaborated on a Dynamic Rewards Tier pilot which had further savings and more) – both developed further enhancements to the app (e.g., Spanish translation, etc.). The 6th agreement further expands both reward tier enrollments to 7200, continues the EV rebates, etc., cost ~ $1M (paid for by a portion of Deep Green revenue) and saves participants ~$1M; 2) the 3rd agreement with Energy Solutions to continue scaling up adoption of EVs (both new and used) for income qualified folks by providing educational resources and financial incentives ($2K used & $3.5K new) – cost $3.6M (paid by a portion of Deep Green revenue) – 85% of the 1,357 participants surveyed said they would not have bought an EV without this program; 3) Schedule A.4 to MSA with CLEARResult Consulting for support and strengthen MCE’s delivery of EV charging incentives and tech assistance to multifamily, workplaces and PROW – delivery of 312 Level 2, 46 Level 1 and 75 planning reports – cost $673K paid by a portion of Deep Green revenue. Ex Com voted to recommend to the full Board the FY 26/27 Budget including the $8,208,000 transfer to the Program Development Fund to support customer programs.
Director Cindy Darling of Walnut Creek was voted unanimously as Vice Chair of Ex. Com.
2. March 10, 17 - Meeting with Town Manager on various Council matters.
3. March 4 – Town Council meeting.
4. March 5 – Marin Wildfire (MWPA) Executive Committee meeting & premeeting for Ex Com - Mar 4 – Ex Comm: received a presentation on proposed Strategic Measures for Goal 4: Public Outreach and Education. As an overview, the proposed strategic measures include: 4a. % of residents / parcels who interact with their Wildfire Evaluation inspector 4b. % of Marin Wildfire parcels organized into fire-focused communities (Firewise, IBHS wildfire prepared etc) 4c. Partnerships with trade / professional organizations, including but not limited to: Builders, realtors, landscapers / landscape architects, nurseries and home hardening vendors, property managers, chambers of commerce 4d. Partnerships with unique needs communities from a fire risk perspective: Working with the County’s Community Resilience Teams (CRTs) and the Center for Independent Living. Goals 1, 2, 3 & 5 already have Boardapproved Strategic Goals (all have dashboard except for Goal 3 which is under development). Ex Com approved: Feb minutes and upcoming Board agenda. Info: the Resource Legacy Fund, a western multistate foundation which deals with environmental matters has met with MWPA and will be hosting their next Board meeting in Marin, they are impressed with MWPA work.
5. March 10 – Met with Town Manager Abrams, PW Director Arnold, Ross Valley Fire Staff, Anne Crealock (MWPA) and Todd Lando (MWPA ATC Chair and Central Marin Fire) re: environmental work response to RFP for Wall Property.
6. March 11 – Ross Valley Fire Board mtg – The Board: received the report on Compliance Inspections required by the State Fire Marshall (all in 100% compliance) & approved the resolution; approved the revised Onboarding Handbook for new Board members; had a closed session RE: existing litigation – Mollenkopf. Recruitments were conducted for 2 FF/paramedics – 13 candidates were interviewed and two conditional offers were made.
7. March 16 – Community Media Center of Marin Board item: Vice Chair Coler and ED Eisenmenger had a call with an attorney re: establishing an LLC for the building operations (CMCM purchased the bldg. a year ago).
8. March 16 – MCE Clean Energy Closed Session special Board meeting.
9. March 18 – Measure A Subcommittee – the group met to discuss proposed allocations for the County allocation of funds To Fairfax for Measure A, Parkland and Open Space funds – also included Fairfax Treasurer Friedman and Finance Director Vivrette along with TM Abrams.
10. March 19 - Marin Wildfire (MWPA) Board meeting & premeeting (Mar 18)- FIX The Board approved: 3rd amendment to the agreement with Fire Aside SaaS to add Zone Zero in a Box (ZZiB) to the software platform (they already have the Defensible Space & Inspection Program, the Defensible Space and Home Hardening grants programs in the software, and have developed a better Grant Portal for residents in their software for MWPA) – the costs for this amendment are fully funded by a MCF grant - $65,000; Agreement with TeamCIVX1 for professional consulting services related to the Marin Wildfire tax renewal measure – e.g., voter assessments, informational assessments; an increase to the Marin Wildfire tax levy based on the Consumer Price Index listed of 2.5% (MWPA can increase the tax levy based on the February CPI or 3%, whichever is less, in FY 21/22 due to financial hardships at that time we did not increase the tax levy, in other years have done so); Strategic Measures for Goal 4 (Outreach and Education) – see above Ex Com for measures. The Board received a presentation on Zone Zero in a Box – which is now called “Ember Ready” – Ready for Embers, Prepared for Wildfire.
11. March 19 - MCE Clean Energy Board meeting – The Board: the FY 26/27 Budget proposal inclusive of the generation rate reduction to take effect April 1, 2026 of 2.05¢/kWh (14%), however in addition, (with an additional small reduction will be added until Dec 31, 2026 only). MCE’s current residential generation rate is 14.62¢/kWh. MCE Fiscal Year 26/27 is April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2027. The Board also had a discussion of the governance assessment RFP and approved its issuance. The Board:
approved a Resolution creating an Interim Advisory Committee for Energy Procurement Delegation Implementation – for one to 5 year contracts (Coler and three other Board reps are members); rejected pausing the term limit for the Chair of the Technical Committee.
12. March 23 - Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers (MCCMC) Legislative Committee – the March meeting was canceled. 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.
13. March 25 - Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers (MCCMC) monthly meeting – did not attend due to vacation.
14. March 26 – Community Media Center of Marin Board meeting – At the January meeting CMCM officers were elected by the Board: Chair-Bruce Bagnoli, Vice Chair – Coler, Treasurer – Greg Clarke, Secretary – Carl Laur. Did not attend March mtg due to vacation.
15. March- Age Friendly Fairfax mtg – no mtg held in March; reconvene in April.
Councilmember Blash
1. 03/04: Met with Marin Water Rep. Spoke with Ranjiv Khush about the upcoming Marin Water project on Bolinas Road in Fairfax.
2. 03/04: Fairfax Special Close Session and Regular Council Meeting. Presentation honoring Maria Baird for her 20 years of service. Received clean financial audit and mid-year budget report. Presentation on the Bolinas Road project from Marin Water. Adopted resolutions calling for a special election to put renewal, extension, and increase of local sales tax on the ballot.
Continued authorization of expenditures for Fire Station 21 remodel. Authorized agreement between Town and Fairfax Festival Committee. Adopted an interim urgency ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on formula businesses.
3. 03/05: Ross Valley Paramedic Authority Board Meeting. Received information on Annual Form 700 – Statement of Economic Interests (2025 Filing) for Board Members. Adopted FY 2025-26 Mid-Year Budget Amendment. One change to the budget was increasing the consultant lineitem budget by $10,000 and the legal services budget by $25,000. These increases have to do with an effort to restructure the JPA and create more financial transparency, which is nearing closure. The budget continues to be in good shape.
4. 03/07: Workshop: Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC). Community discussion about pedestrian and cyclist safety and desired improvements around town.
5. 03/10: Met with Town Manager.
6. 03/16: BPAC Meeting. Discussed preliminary results from the BPAC townwide survey.
Discussed the logistics of tabling at the May 6th Farmer’s Market. Received an update on stakeholder interviews from Associate Planner Bryn McKillop.
7. 03/17: Met with Town Manager.
8. 03/18: Redwood Bike Share Tour with Transportation Authority of Marin. “Test-drive” of Redwood Bike Share bicycles on along the Corte Madera Creek bike path and discussion of the potential of extending this system after the pilot program has concluded. Currently the bikes are only located in cities and towns adjacent to SMART Train stations. Some Fairfax community members and elected officials would like to see a hub here.
9. 03/18 Fairfax Measure A Committee. Discussed how to spend the Town’s annual allocation of Measure A Parks funding. This is included in the Town’s Budget. Items of interest included funding towards resurfacing the tennis court, open space acquisition and monitoring, renovations of the Women’s Club and surrounding garden, and improvements to local steps and stairs. It was noted that the stairs between Hillside and Forrest Terrace would probably cost $100k to replace it and hence it would take some time to accumulate that amount of funding through grants.
10. 03/20: Marin Women’s Political Action Committee (MWPAC) luncheon honoring women elected leaders. Attended as an honoree.
11. 03/26: Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) Board Meeting. Reviewed and approved the indepth Community Oversight Committee Report. Received an update from the Marin Commutes program.
The major discussion item was the Public Hearing on Proposed Amendments to the Measure AA Expenditure Plan, which provides considerable transportation funding across the County.
This is the first mandated 6-year review of the funding allocations. Representatives from the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade wanted the Board to allocate $1.2 million in funding for a wildlife crossing on Chileno Valley Road. Representatives from the Marin Conservation League and Resource Renewal Institute wanted at least some acknowledgment that TAM funding for the new “Reimagined Roadways” category could be used for mitigation or prevention of the impacts of roads on habitat and wildlife. The TAM staff added wording that would allow the inclusion of “integrated environmental protections and mitigations.” Staff and Board members explained that jurisdictions take the lead in instigating road projects and County Supervisors Rodoni and Sackett pledged to help the group look for solutions. Meanwhile, the representative from the Town of Ross objected to the amendment because the new “Reimagined Roadways” category would divert a percentage of funding from the local streets and roads categories into major projects shared across two or more jurisdictions. While Fairfax had similar concerns, we are also hopeful that we may eventually become a recipient of one of these projects, or benefit from revisions down the road from our town. The amendment also allocates more funding to crossing guards.
12. 03/31: Met with Town Manager.
Councilmember Ghiringhelli
Not received in time for publication.