1 CITY OF MILL VALLEY
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
ACTION MINUTES
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
26 CORTE MADERA AVENUE, MILL VALLEY
January 22, 2024
5:30 P.M.
Mayor Urban Carmel – Present
Vice Mayor Stephen Burke – Present
Councilmember Max Perrey – Present
Councilmember Caroline Joachim – Present
Councilmember Jim Wickham – Present
City Staff Present: City Manager Cusimano; City Attorney Khalsa; Deputy Director of Public Works Barrilleaux; City Librarian Brenner; Climate Action/Sustainability Coordinator Ledwith; and City Clerk/Management Analyst III Politzer.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Carmel called the meeting to order at 5:30 P.M.
ACTION OUT OF CLOSED SESSION
None.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA ORDER
Agenda_240122
It was MOVED by Councilmember Perrey and SECONDED by Councilmember Wickham to approve the agenda order. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
PRESENTATIONS
1. Receive an Update from Charlie Wilmoth on the Community Housing Foundation of Mill Valley.
Item 1_No Written Material_240122
Mayor Carmel introduced Charlie Wilmoth, one of a group of residents near Scott Highlands who put together an initiative called the Community Housing Foundation of Mill Valley to help create affordable housing in the City.
Mr. Wilmoth provided a presentation on the Community Housing Foundation of Mill Valley, its creation background; its purpose to create affordable housing for people who work in Mill Valley 2 but do not have the financial ability to live there through a rental subsidy program; the foundation’s partnership with Home Match, part of Front Porch; fundraising to provide rental subsidies of up to $1,000 per month; and the foundation’s next steps.
Councilmembers provided comments related to the presentation.
2. Presentation on the Age Friendly Initiative by Kristi Denton Cohen, Mill Valley’s Representative on the Marin County Commission on Aging.
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Mayor Carmel introduced Kristi Denton Cohen.
Kristi Denton Cohen, Mill Valley’s Representative on the Marin County Commission on Aging, gave a presentation on moving the Age Friendly Initiative forward and the steps needed to make Mill Valley an age and disability friendly city. Topics included aging and disabilities; aging in place; senior isolation and loneliness; and Mill Valley’s community support of the aging that is already in place.
Councilmembers asked questions about Ms. Denton Cohen and provided comments related to the presentation.
3. Presentation on the Library Board of Trustees Annual Report.
Item 3_LBOT Annual Report_240122
Mill Valley City Librarian Anji Brenner, and Library Board of Trustees Chair George Rodericks provided the Library Board of Trustees Annual Report for 2023, with topics including a 50% increase in daily visitors, including teens and younger patrons; marketing the library on social media; inspiring first time visitors; the post-pandemic library; the advisory role of the board of trustees; library policies and operations; and the library as an essential service to assist the community meet its cultural, educational, and personal growth needs.
Councilmembers asked questions of City Librarian Brenner and Chair Rodericks and provided comments related to the presentation.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Carmel asked if any Councilmember or member of the public wished to pull any of Items #4-5 from the Consent Calendar. There were no requests.
It was MOVED by Vice Mayor Burke and SECONDED by Councilmember Wickham to adopt the Consent Calendar, Items #4 & 5. The Motion was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.
4. Consideration of the January 8, 2024 Regular City Council Meeting Action Minutes.
Recommended Action: Approve the action minutes.
Item 4_Approval of Action Minutes_240122
3 5. Consideration of a Resolution Accepting as Complete Work Under a Contract with Oak Grove Construction Co., Inc. for the Hauke Park Reclaim Waterline Replacement Project.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. 24____.
Item 5_Hauke Park Reclaim Waterline Replacement Project NOC_240122
COUNCIL/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS Councilmember Joachim said the recent Legislative Committee meeting was cancelled and would occur in February, when they would determine the state budget deficit number. Marin County will be conducting a point-in-time count of homeless people the next day, and she will report on those figures when they become available. Councilmember Joachim also noted she would soon be hosting a Neighborhood Chat with City Manager Cusimano, Community Engagement Liaison Michelle Terrell, and Sergeant Ryan Smith of the Mill Valley Police Department on Cornelia Avenue, with three more Chats scheduled in the next six weeks.
Councilmember Joachim will also attend a conference for newly elected councilmembers later in the week and will report on the latest best management practices at the Council’s retreat at the end of the month.
Councilmember Perrey announced that he and Climate Action/Sustainability Coordinator Ledwith presented Marin County’s Reusable Foodware Ordinance to the League of California Cities’ Environmental Policy Committee, where he serves as Vice Chair, the previous week. Two recurring themes among the new committee members were learning from each other and the issue of plastics and waste. Another presenter from Alameda County spoke regarding state laws about waste.
Vice Mayor Burke attended a Marin Wildfire Prevention Agency Finance Committee meeting earlier in the month. The Southern Marin Fire District’s allocation for work that was going to occur in 2023 was deferred due to environmental review delays, but there will be approximately $400,000 of work done on Summit Avenue and Summit Ridge later this year. Vice Mayor Burke noted he is an alternate on LAFCO, Local Area Formation Commission, formed by the state to deal with overlapping services and boundaries, which recently held a four-hour workshop to train and refresh members.
Mayor Carmel announced that he would be hosting the next Community Chat, along with Councilmember Perrey and City Manager Cusimano, to be held on February 1st in the Council chambers. Last week, the Planning Commission approved outdoor dining at Bungalow 44; a permanent structure is expected to be installed by April 2024. Corner Bar will be going into the space where the Coho and Vasco restaurants used to be. The Sequoia Cinema reopening has been delayed due to projection and sound system issues, but the theater should reopen next month. The 575 East Blithedale project groundbreaking is expected mid-year, provided it gets its financing in place. Mayor Carmel announced the Third Annual Mill Valley Music Festival will be held on May 11-12 at the community center, with Fleet Foxes as the headliner for the event. He encouraged everyone to consider sponsoring to get VIP tickets and provide tickets for people in need. Five of Mill Valley’s six commissions have openings, with the deadline to apply on February 9th. Mayor Carmel, Vice Mayor Burke, City Manager Cusimano, and the former BPAC, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, met last week with Public Works to discuss the future of TMAC, 4 the Transportation and Mobility Advisory Committee. Topics of discussion included expanding TMAC from five to seven members to allow greater school participation, the 2024 workplan, and the 2024 purview. The City appointed a blue-ribbon panel last summer to provide information on Mill Valley’s infrastructure plans and is now planning the City’s own infrastructure investments in 2024.
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
City Manager Cusimano gave a report/update on the following topics:
• Thanked Police, Fire, and Public Works for protecting Mill Valley through the recent storms.
• Recently, a minor landslide on Monte Vista Avenue came down onto Wainwright Place, impacting a 150-foot stretch of roadway and three houses. Mill Valley is at risk for landslides, so City staff actively monitor 100-plus locations, but drainage issues can happen fast. City Manager Cusimano also noted how impressed he was with the Public Works team in assisting the impacted residents and clearing the site, and luckily, there was no property damage to the homes. He said this is an example of how delicate Mill Valley’s infrastructure is and the importance of having a long-term strategy. • City Manager Cusimano said another issue is that while the city has great staff and departments, but each department has its own brand, so at the upcoming retreat he would be pushing staff and the City Council to consider how to eliminate the separation between departments and put resources together to be effective, save money, and ensure that service delivery is there at all times.
• Sustainably has been going well, and Climate Action/Sustainability Coordinator Ledwith has been outstanding. The City just added a paid intern who will work with Climate Action/Sustainability Coordinator Ledwith remotely on moving some projects forward.
PUBLIC OPEN TIME
Mayor Carmel opened Public Open Time. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Mayor Carmel closed Public Open Time.
NEW BUSINESS
6. Presentation of the Annual Traffic Report Card.
Recommended Action: Receive presentation and report.
Item 6_Under Separate Cover_Annual Traffic Report Card_240122 Item 6_Traffic Report Card 2023_240122
Deputy Director of Public Works Jared Barrilleaux introduced Mill Valley’s Annual Traffic Report Card, and introduced consultants James Jessup, of Parametrix, and Brian Sowers of Kimley-Horn.
Mr. Jessup stated that this report card would provide insights and conclusions on the period from October to December 2023 after construction on East Blithedale is now complete after two years, 5 compare travel times to those of pre-COVID, and provide a look back at the baseline 2012-2013 school year. Other topics of discussion included methodology and travel times into and out of Mill Valley. East Blithedale Avenue: travel times were within 10% of what was seen pre-COVID and before construction, substantially increased over the 2012-2013 figures, but in the middle of the 11 years since that time. Shoreline Highway from Almonte Blvd to Highway 101: travel times have improved in the eastbound and outbound direction, and the travel times westbound are relatively higher or in line with pre-COVID times. Like East Blithedale, traffic times in 2023 were significantly higher, but in the middle of the average of the 11 years since that time. One intention of the 2016 report was to identify improvements, and many of those recommendations have been implemented over time. He said there is a lot of room to gain ground in reducing travel times, and it comes down to intersection efficiency, especially signalized intersections.
Mr. Sowers said Kimley-Horn was hired in 2017 to update the signal synchronization plans along the East Blithedale corridor and to optimize those timings, and they saw good improvements.
Kimley-Horn was hired again this year to review the operations and ensure the signal timing still operates similarly to what was operating in 2017. Kimley-Horn also did similar reviews in 2019 and 2022. As part of the reviews, they check the timing and the accuracy of the clocks within the controllers at individual signalized intersections on East Blithedale and ensure the GPS boxes installed in each cabinet are functioning. They also drive the corridor during weekday and weekend peak periods and collect travel time data, and look at general operations and signal timing operations. They did not find a large amount of degradation and did not recommend specific timing changes to those synchronization plans, but did recommend that the City look at installing a centralized control signal system.
Deputy Director of Public Works Barrilleaux spoke about the cost of signal synchronization and its potential to improve throughput and efficiency, and said Public Works may recommend City Council review. He also discussed travel time on East Blithedale Avenue.
Mayor Carmel opened public comment. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Mayor Carmel closed public comment.
Councilmembers asked questions of Director Barrilleaux and James Jessup and provided related comments.
7. Consideration of a Resolution Establishing a Policy for the Issuance of Non-Exclusive Revocable Encroachment Permits to Property Owners Abutting Steps, Lanes, and Paths within the City of Mill Valley SLP Inventory.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution No. ____.
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Mayor Carmel announced that New Business Item #7 has been postponed to a future City Council meeting.
COUNCIL REQUESTS AND IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION
None.
6 ADJOURNMENT – The Council ADJOURNED at 7:28 p.m. to the next Regular City Council meeting to be held on Monday, February 5, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. in the Mill Valley City Council Chambers.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED BY THE MILL
VALLEY CITY COUNCIL ON JANUARY 20, 2026
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Max Perrey, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Risa De Ferrari, City Clerk