1 CITY OF MILL VALLEY
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
ACTION MINUTES
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
26 CORTE MADERA AVENUE, MILL VALLEY
April 17, 2023
5:30 P.M.
Mayor Jim Wickham – Present
Vice Mayor Urban Carmel – Present
Councilmember Stephen Burke – Present
Councilmember Max Perrey – Present
Councilmember Caroline Joachim – Present
City Staff Present: City Manager Cusimano; City Attorney Khalsa; Director of Public Works Poster; City Librarian Brenner; Senior Management Analyst Walsh; and City Clerk/Management Analyst III Politzer
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Wickham called the meeting to order at 5:30 P.M.
ACTION OUT OF CLOSED SESSION
None.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA ORDER
Agenda_230417
It was MOVED by Councilmember Burke and SECONDED by Councilmember Joachim to approve the agenda order. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
PRESENTATIONS
1. Receive Earth Day Presentation from Director of Green Change, Fabrice Florin.
Item 1_Earth Day Presentation Handout_230417
Fabrice Florin, Director of Green Change, provided a presentation regarding Earth Day Marin, an environmental festival in its second year, to take place on April 23rd at the Mill Valley Community Center. Mr. Florin presented a sample of the events and climate action exhibits.
Councilmembers asked questions of Mr. Florin.
Councilmembers thanked Mr. Florin for the presentation. 2 2. Presentation of the Library Board of Trustees Annual Report.
Item 2_Library Board of Trustee Annual Report_230417
Mill Valley City Librarian Brenner spoke of the changes to the library resulting from the pandemic and introduced George Rodericks, Chair of the Mill Valley Library Board of Trustees.
Mr. Rodericks provided a presentation regarding developments at the library.
Councilmembers asked questions of City Librarian Brenner and Mr. Rodericks.
Councilmembers thanked the Library Board and staff for their work.
3. Presentation of the Planning Commission Annual Report.
Item 3_Planning Commission Annual Report_230417
Director of Planning and Building Kelly spoke regarding the background and duties of the Planning Commission. Director Kelly introduced former Planning Commissioner Alan Linch.
Mr. Linch provided a more in-depth background on the duties and responsibilities of the Planning Commission and application types. and the approval process, design review, projects in the City since the last report, the Housing Element, Zoning Code updates, and work items in 2022 and 2023 so far.
Councilmembers asked questions of Mr. Linch.
Councilmembers thanked the Planning Commission for their work.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Wickham asked if any Councilmember or member of the public wished to pull Item #4 or Item #5. There were no requests.
Vice Mayor Carmel reported that Lydia Maroevich had been selected to fill the vacancy on the Mill Valley Arts Commission.
It was MOVED by Councilmember Burke and SECONDED by Vice Mayor Carmel to adopt the Consent Calendar, Items #4 and #5. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
4. Adopt Ordinance No. 1342 Repealing Chapter 7.30, Environmentally Preferable Food Packaging, of the Mill Valley Municipal Code and Replacing it with an Ordinance Requiring All Food Facility Vendors to Use Reusable Foodware for Dine-In Operations and Compliant Compostable Foodware for Take-Out Services.
Recommended Action: Adopt Ordinance No. 1342.
Item 4_Adoption of Reusable Foodware Ordinance_230417
3 5. Consideration of a Resolution Making an Appointment to the Arts Commission.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 23-___.
Item 5_Appointment to Fill Arts Commission Vacancy_230417
COUNCIL/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS Councilmember Joachim reported that she recently volunteered with Steps, Lanes, and Paths and adopted the SLP she helped to clean. She encouraged the public to volunteer with the organization and reported that cleanups happen on the second Saturday of each month.
Councilmember Perrey noted that the Home Match program that Mill Valley has contributed funding to have an article in the Marin IJ and encouraged the public to check it out.
Councilmember Burke reported that he had recently represented Mill Valley at a meeting of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers (MCCMC) Homelessness Subcommittee in San Rafael. He reported that the Director of Homeless Coordination for Marin County gave a presentation, and it was encouraging to see the County and City at the same table. He also reported that four out of five homeless people in Marin are from Marin County.
Vice Mayor Carmel revealed that he, Councilmember Burke, and City Manager Cusimano have been having discussions regarding the City’s long-range financial plan. He also reported that they are reexamining the Safe Routes to School Program and are putting out an RFP for crossing guards and for the program itself. He said they would do a thorough top-down vetting of how they want the program to evolve and noted that they would be losing the crossing guard at Park School. Lastly, he was invited to do a seminar for Berkeley grad students and city planning where he discussed how to develop a housing element in the context of the Wildland Urban Interface and how it is done in Mill Valley.
Mayor Wickham reported that the Richardson Bay Regional Authority (RBRA) had its first inperson meeting in Tiburon and approved its budget, with Mill Valley at about $80,000 a year. He noted that the RBRA has received a grant of over $2 million from Senator McGuire for housing that they would distribute starting with the Housing Authority in May 2023. He reported there are 48 boats left on the waterfront and the city is on target with their agreement with BCDC to have them removed by 2026. Mayor Wickham noted that the downtown area is being renovated and hoped it would be completed by Memorial Day. He added that he and Vice Mayor Carmel have been attending the Friday Downtown every Friday at 10 am where business owners can come and talk about where the renovation projects will be.
PUBLIC OPEN TIME
Mayor Wickham opened Public Open Time.
Speakers: Karen Jaber, Diane Simpson, Damian Morgan
Communications (via eComment): None
Mayor Wickham closed Public Open Time.
4 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
City Manager Cusimano gave a report/update on the following topics:
• He and Vice Mayor Carmel would host their first community Fireside Chat on May 11th, and it would be a hybrid meeting in the Council Chambers and on Zoom. • The applicant for the 500 Miller Avenue project requested a time extension for construction that will be up in May 2023, so that the project will go to the Planning Commission in May. If approved, they have a plan to start construction immediately. • A program started with the California Public Utilities Commission mandates utilities, specifically Comcast and Verizon, install battery backup boxes in neighborhoods to protect them during power loss. These boxes go in utility easements, and so far, two boxes have been installed, one on Bigelow Avenue. They will be meeting with the regional manager in charge of these installations on April 24th to discuss how to do this important work the right way and will keep the public appraised of best practices for permit approval.
• Staff has developed a strategy to develop a 12–18-month work plan, which has been given to the Council. If the work plan is approved, they will have an all-hands meeting to review the work plan, put a schedule to it, and then report back to the Council. • An employee engagement survey, which is done every two years, will be done later this year. A follow-up to that survey will be an all-hands meeting of employees to move forward to a work plan of where they are going as staff. • There were a series of commercial burglaries recently, the first at The Depot and then at the Cantina. Nighttime patrols have been increased and business owners advised on how to prevent such crimes.
Councilmembers asked questions of City Manager Cusimano.
NEW BUSINESS
6. Confirmation of Outcomes from the 2023 City Council Annual Retreat.
Recommended Action: Receive report and confirm outcomes.
Item 6_Annual City Council Retreat Outcomes_230417
Item 6_Public Communication No. 1_230417
Senior Management Analyst Walsh reported a proposed draft revision of the City’s Mission Statements, Core Values, and Key Issues, including the reasons for the changes. Further revisions will be made based on Councilmembers’ suggestions, and the final document will be brought back to the Council at a future meeting.
Mayor Wickham opened public comment. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Mayor Wickham closed public comment.
Councilmember Burke said the Mission statements document had been brought up to date. His only concern was he liked the diversity and arts and cultural programming and wondered what else the City would do to support business vitality.
5 Councilmember Joachim said that some of the Core Values are subjects and others are more action-oriented, so they should be subject versus a verb, which is more of an action item.
Mayor Wickham suggested adding “small town character” under the definition of Core Values because Mill Valley has always tried to maintain itself as a small town. He also suggested rather than “breaking down barriers to community participation and leadership,” to use, “encourage more community participation and leadership,” because he didn’t think they had a lot of barriers and are trying to get the community involved.
Vice Mayor Carmel agreed with Mayor Wickham and said he thought the original wording regarding community leadership and participation could be read better. He also outlined his other proposed revisions on the Mission Statements, Core Values, and Key Issues.
Councilmember Burke said cyber security is more of an operational issue and not a broad community issue and thought it should be eliminated.
Councilmember Perrey agreed with Vice Mayor Carmel’s suggestions but suggested “small town” be included but remove “character” or “preservation.” He also suggested adding language under the Quality-of-Life section for supporting workers and low-income community members, to ensure the community knows that is a priority, even if it is under priority #3.
It was MOVED by Councilmember Burke and SECONDED by Councilmember Perrey to allow finalization of the Preservation Statement and approve the document as amended taking into consideration Vice Mayor Carmel’s notations and Councilmember Perrey’s Quality of Life piece. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
7. Confirmation of the Mayor’s Appointments of City Council Representatives to the Joint Powers Authorities and Liaison Assignments.
Recommended Action: Discuss and confirm appointments.
Item 7_Confirm City Council Liaison Assignments 2023_230417 Mayor Wickham asked Councilmember Joachim if she would be willing to accept the appointment of Mill Valley CERT Steering Committee Liaison. Councilmember Joachim responded in the affirmative, saying she is happy to serve wherever there is a gap.
Councilmember Perrey stated that he met with Councilmember Joachim recently and was pleased to hear she was interested in working on emergency preparedness as the liaison to the Southern Marin CERT Steering Committee, as well as PCUP, the education subcommittee of the County’s Disaster Council, but he asked to remain as the liaison to the EPC as a former member.
Vice Mayor Carmel said he is on the MCCMC Legislative Committee and recommended Councilmember Joachim for that position.
Councilmember Perrey agreed to remain on the MCCMC as an alternate.
Councilmember Burke thanked Councilmember Joachim for taking on being a member of the MCCMC Homelessness Committee.
6 Vice Mayor Carmel agreed to remain on the MCCMC Climate Committee.
Councilmember Perrey clarified there was a vacancy for an alternate on the Homeless Committee and confirmed that Councilmember Burke would fill that position.
Councilmember Joachim agreed to be the alternate for the MCE.
Councilmember Perrey said as an alternate on the League of California Cities he assumed the liaison role when former Councilmember McEntee vacated her position on the City Council and would like to continue as the main delegate.
Mayor Wickham opened public comment. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Mayor Wickham closed public comment.
It was MOVED by Vice Mayor Carmel and SECONDED by Councilmember Burke to accept the revised Council liaison assignments. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
8. Consideration of a Resolution Prohibiting Parking on Westbound East Blithedale Avenue Between Thalia Street and Carmelita Avenue.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 23-___.
Item 8_Right Edge Lines Resolution_230417
Item 8_Public Communication No. 1_230417
Item 8_Public Communication No. 2_230417
Public Works Director Andrew Poster gave a brief presentation on the proposed six parking spaces to be eliminated.
Councilmembers asked questions of Director Poster.
Mayor Wickham opened public comment.
Speakers: Don, Karen Jaber, Patrick Seidler
Communications (via eComment): None
Mayor Wickham closed public comment.
Vice Mayor Carmel said the resolution for the right edge is great, and the staff report addresses the Millwood left. He reiterated that the Millwood left was discussed at a December 2021 City Council meeting where it was resolved that they were going to create it and it would take a City Council action to change it.
It was MOVED by Vice Mayor Carmel and SECONDED by Councilmember Perrey to adopt the Resolution. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote. 7 COUNCIL REQUESTS AND IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION
None.
ADJOURNMENT – The Council ADJOURNED at 7:54 p.m. to the next Regular City Council meeting to be held on Monday, May 15, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. in the Mill Valley City Council Chambers.
___________________________
Stephen Burke, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Risa De Ferrari, City Clerk