1 CITY OF MILL VALLEY
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
ACTION MINUTES
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
26 CORTE MADERA AVENUE, MILL VALLEY
September 7, 2023
5:30 P.M.
Mayor Jim Wickham – Present
Vice Mayor Urban Carmel – Present
Councilmember Stephen Burke – Present
Councilmember Caroline Joachim – Present
Councilmember Max Perrey – Present
City Staff Present: City Manager Cusimano; City Attorney Khalsa; Police Chief Navarro; Police Sergeant Wrapp; Director of Building & Planning Kelly; Principal Planner Staude; Senior Management Analyst Walsh; Human Resources Manager Allingham; and City Clerk Politzer.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Wickham called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM
ACTION OUT OF CLOSED SESSION
None.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA ORDER
Agenda_230907
Mayor Wickham noted that Item #1, Presentation, would be moved to a later part of the agenda due to the presenter being delayed.
It was MOVED by Councilmember Perrey and SECONDED by Vice Mayor Carmel to approve the agenda order, as amended. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Wickham noted it had been requested that Item #3 be pulled from the Consent Calendar.
Mayor Wickham asked if any Councilmember or member of the public wished to pull Item #2 or Items #4-7 from the Consent Calendar. There were no requests.
Mayor Wickham opened public comment.
2 Speaker: Ronnie Moore.
Communications (via eComment): None.
Mayor Wickham closed public comment.
It was MOVED by Councilmember Burke and SECONDED by Councilmember Joachim to adopt the Consent Calendar, Items #2 and #4-7, with Item #3 pulled for further discussion. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
2. Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing Execution of a Three-Year Cooperation Agreement with the County of Marin for the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME).
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 23-____.
Item 2_Second Amendment to CDBG Cooperation Agreement Renewal_230907
3. Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute an Amendment to the Skate Park Lease Agreement Providing for a 1-Year Extension.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 23-____.
Item 3_Skate Park Lease Extension_230907
City Manager Cusimano provided a presentation and thanked Senior Management Analyst Linn Walsh for putting the report together and getting them a one-year extension with the School District. He corrected the fiscal impact, saying if they did have to take down the skate park and bring it back to its original state, the cost would be approximately $75,000 and $250,000. He noted they did have a verbal agreement with the Friends of the Skateboard Park that if they needed to bring the park back to its original state, they would assist with funding, but they have nothing in writing. He added that their admin team had met with the School District superintendent recently, and she understands that the City does not want to touch the skateboard park if not necessary, and she is committed to making that happen.
Councilmembers asked questions of City Manager Cusimano and provided comments related to the item.
It was MOVED by Councilmember Burke and SECONDED by Councilmember Perrey to Adopt the Resolution approving Item #3 of the Consent Calendar. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
4. Consideration of a Resolution Approving the City’s Response to the Marin County Civil Grand Jury Report Entitled: “Build More ADUs–An RX to Increase Marin’s Housing Supply.”
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 23-____.
Item 4_Response to Marin Civil Grand Jury Report - ADUs_230907 3 5. Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No. 1345 Amending Chapter 14.05 of the Mill Valley Municipal Code to Amend Section 3110 of the 2022 California Building Code (Part II of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) to Add Safeguards to Manual Gates and Adding Chapter 14.53 to Provide for Administrative and Program Regulations on Gate Safeguards.
Recommended Action: Adopt Ordinance No. 1345.
Item 5_Second Reading of Gate Safety Ordinance_230907
6. Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No. 1346 Amending Chapter 12.04 (“Trees and Vegetation”) of Title 12 (“Trees, Weeds, and Vegetation”) of the Mill Valley Municipal Code.
Recommended Action: Adopt Ordinance No. 1346.
Item 6_Second Reading of Public Trees Ordinance_230907
7. Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with Schaaf & Wheeler for the 2024 Sanitary Sewer Improvement Project.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 23-____.
Item 7_Award PSA for 2024 Sanitary Sewer Improvements Project_230907
8. Consideration of a Resolution Accepting as Complete Work Under a Contract to Always Paving, Inc. for the 2023 Patch Paving Project.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 23-____.
Item 8_2023 Patch Paving Project NOC_230907
PRESENTATION
1. Presentation of a Proclamation Honoring Mill Valley Police Sergeant Paul Wrapp on the Occasion of His Retirement After Over 30 Years of Public Service with the City of Mill Valley.
Item 1_No Written Material_230907
Mayor Wickham presented the proclamation and invited Councilmembers to make comments.
Vice Mayor Carmel spoke of his great respect for Sergeant Wrapp.
Councilmember Burke spoke of Sergeant Wrapp’s empathy, which he displayed to the residents of Mill Valley.
Councilmember Perrey recalled his many encounters with Sergeant Wrapp over the years.
Councilmember Joachim congratulated Sergeant Wrapp on his long career in Mill Valley.
Mayor Wickham recalled working with Sergeant Wrapp when he was in the Mill Valley Police Department.
4 Mayor Wickham invited others to make comments.
City Manager Cusimano spoke of his long friendship with Sergeant Wrapp and his legacy of how he touches everyone around him.
Police Chief Navarro said how much the Police Department would miss Sergeant Wrapp, along with his leadership, knowledge, experience, and ability to bring a team together.
Human Resources Manager Seth Allingham said that as a City employee, Sergeant Wrapp has always been an example of how they operate as a team and as co-workers.
Damian Morgan spoke of going to high school with Sergeant Wrapp and his natural leadership.
Police Sergeant Wrapp expressed his appreciation for the kind words from the Council, City staff, and community members. He said he had a great career in Mill Valley and spoke of his personal growth. He appreciated that his compassion and empathy were noted by others, saying it is important in his profession, and how getting the know the community is vital.
COUNCIL/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS Mayor Wickham noted that the 1915 painting of Mt. Tam from the Panama Pacific International Exhibition that had been at the back of the chamber had been moved to behind the City Council seats, where it would be more visible, and thanked City Manager Cusimano and City staff for their efforts in moving it.
Vice Mayor Carmel said the City Council approved a 15-member Infrastructure Working Group at their July meeting to look at infrastructure needs, budget, and potential City investments over the next 10-15 years, and they would kick off that effort the following Monday. He noted that the ebike Ordinance Police Chief Navarro initiated at the end of the last academic year, is now in full force, and the first ebike training for teens would happen the following Saturday. Vice Mayor Carmel announced Concerts on the Plaza on the following Saturday and Sunday, hosted by the Arts Commission.
Councilmember Perrey said he and Councilmember Burke had connected with the new School District superintendent to discuss a range of topics. He also participated in the recent Bay Wave meeting, a group of cities next to the bay, to provide insight and collaborate around sea level rise planning with the County Department of Public Works, where they received a presentation from the City of San Rafael outlining work they are doing.
Councilmember Joachim attended the Marin Clean Energy Board meeting as the alternate for Councilmember Perrey. She also attended the Elder Fraud Summit on August 23rd and congratulated Police Chief Navarro on hosting the event, and Community Engagement Liaison Michelle Terrell, who organized it, saying it was well-attended, and she hoped it would become an annual event. She also attended, along with Vice Mayor Carmel and Councilmember Burke, a Zoom workshop hosted by the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority to get information on the City’s proposed bond measure. She met with the Mt. Tam Community Land Trust, as well as with 5 the new School District superintendent. She and Councilmember Perrey attended the initial Showing Up for Racial Justice Workshop. Lastly, she announced the Enjoy Mill Valley Guide, put out by the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce, which is full of great information and events.
PUBLIC OPEN TIME
Public Open Time_Public Communication No. 1_230907
Mayor Wickham opened Public Open Time.
Speakers: Adrien Gonthier, Dan Pressman, Ruth Holly, Kasia Stiggelbout, Damian Morgan Communications (via eComment): Clayton Smith
Mayor Wickham closed Public Open Time.
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
City Manager Cusimano gave a report/update on the following topics:
• He referred to public speaker Ruth Holly to the United Against Hate resolution that the City Council passed on November 7th to reject hate of all kinds in the belief that building a safer and more equitable world starts by working together. • The unsheltered person issue is a top priority for the City but is highly complicated and highly frustrating. He referred to public speaker Kasia Stiggelbout to Police Chief Navarro for a basic education on the laws, the Supreme Court ruling, and what the city is doing with its resources, and referred her to the City’s Community Chats. • Congratulations on hiring Dr. Kaufman, the superintendent of the Mill Valley Schools. He met with her and said she will be very collaborative and outstanding, and they will begin working with her on the district’s capital improvement projects. • The tree in front of City Hall has been landscaped and limbed up, a follow-up from Mayor Wickham, who directed City Manager Cusimano and staff to find a way to come up with a low-cost landscape plan for the front of City Hall. The next step is to move the flagpole closer to the Fire Department.
• The City has coordinated with PG&E to ensure that once streets in Mill Valley are paved, PG&E would not have to cut into the roadways to install utility boxes underground. They are holding off on PG&E installing three utility boxes until they restore the roadways, and they hope the work can be completed in the next two to three months. • He noted that the new Recreation Director, Ashley Howe, is also very impactful statewide. She is part of the Public Works Directors Association, known as the California Park & Recreation Society (CPRS), which puts on a three-day Directors Academy every year, and said Director Howe is a trainer in that academy this year. • Movies in the Park will happen on September 8th, screening “Monsters University” at Old Mill Park, starting at dusk. On September 9th and 10th, Concerts in the Plaza will occur. 6 PUBLIC HEARING
9. Consideration of a Resolution to Accept the Objective Design and Development Standards Toolkit.
Recommended Action: Conduct the Public Hearing and Adopt Resolution No. 23-____.
Item 9_Objective Design and Development Standards (ODDS) Toolkit_230907 Director of Planning and Building Patrick Kelly provided an overview of the Objective Design and Development Standards Toolkit, development standards that help to streamline the approval of new housing units through Objective Design Development Standards (ODDS) as opposed to subjective guidelines. Director Kelly reviewed the Toolkit’s development, funding, importance of their use, and staff’s recommendation to adopt the Toolkit.
Principal Planner Daniel Staude provided a presentation on the Toolkit process, transition to objective standards, streamlining, upcoming opportunity site overlay, general approach to the Toolkit and its focus, Toolkit content and its application, review of development standards, next steps, and rezoning.
Principal Planner Staude, Director Kelly, and City Attorney Khalsa responded to questions from the City Council.
Mayor Wickham opened the Public Hearing.
Speakers: Unidentified person.
Communications (via eComment): None.
Mayor Wickham closed the Public Hearing.
Vice Mayor Carmel supported the resolution, saying it was approved by an amazing stakeholder group and the Planning Commission. He said objectifying the development standards made a lot of sense, and when he was a planning commissioner, he looked forward to getting public input, because the public understands their neighborhood and what works, and the process leads to good projects. He said the stakeholder group came down on the right side, that this is a guideline for most things they do, it is an objective toolkit for the new things they would do, and it would change Miller Avenue, which could be done very well with more objective standards.
Councilmember Burke appreciated how staff had distilled all of the Objective Design Standards into something consistent with and appropriate for Mill Valley, and how the different pieces have been brought together in the face of this raft of legislation to give staff and the City the ability to balance between the objective and subjective issues that govern decisions. He was keen to support adopting the toolkit and participate in and see how the zoning changes and decisions go forward.
Councilmember Perrey said the toolkit was great, and the 575 East Blithedale conversation brought to light that objective design guidelines are needed. He said it would not be the end of State legislation, and this is the way they must move. He said he was leery about putting too many 7 guardrails on architectural design, and they need to think through what they would do if it were not part of six different architectural designs, but overall, he thought this was great direction.
Councilmember Joachim echoed her fellow commissioners’ comments and supported adoption of the toolkit, saying this is the initial step needed. She did not believe adopting the toolkit wholesale would be the right move, because there are still many considerations to be made. She was keen to incentivize the missing middle, something she felt was missing in Mill Valley, and said having this toolkit would help them refocus and recalibrate and meet the needs of the community.
It was MOVED by Councilmember Burke and SECONDED by Vice Mayor Carmel to adopt a resolution to accept the Objective Design Standards Toolkit. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
COUNCIL REQUESTS AND IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION
None.
CLOSED SESSION
A. CLOSED SESSION BUSINESS – Following Public Comment, the City Council adjourned to Closed Session to consider the following:
1A. Public Employee Performance Evaluation: Government Code Section 54957, Title:
City Manager
B. ACTION OUT OF CLOSED SESSION
ADJOURNMENT – The Council ADJOURNED TO CLOSED SESSION at 7:12 p.m. and to the next Regular City Council meeting to be held on Monday, September 18, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. in the Mill Valley City Council Chambers.
___________________________
Stephen Burke, Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
Risa De Ferrari, City Clerk
Approved and adopted by the City
Council of Mill Valley on July 21, 2025