| Time | Speaker | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 00:01:01.96 | Michael Rex | I cried. Thank you. |
| 00:01:14.35 | Ray Withy | Are you ready? Okay, good evening, and welcome to the Tuesday, February 26, 2013 meeting. I hope no one's here for the lecture of the Crows. That was last night, and there happened to be about 100 people in here. |
| 00:01:16.75 | Unknown | Good evening. |
| 00:01:33.11 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:01:34.70 | Ray Withy | So. I guess we'll have our meeting as the crow flies. Anyway, this time here, Debbie, welcome. |
| 00:01:47.53 | Linda Pfeiffer | Council member Pfeiffer? Here. Council member Theodorus? |
| 00:01:50.29 | Ray Withy | Present. |
| 00:01:50.61 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. Councilmember Withey. Here. Vice Mayor Leone. |
| 00:01:51.74 | Ray Withy | here. here. |
| 00:01:54.29 | Linda Pfeiffer | Mayor Weiners. |
| 00:01:55.42 | Ray Withy | Mr. President. We had closed session items and they were Thank you. all on some legal matters and is They continue, we will bring you up to date. But is there any public comment on any of these closed session items? Okay, with that. |
| 00:02:14.32 | Unknown | Thank you. Pledge of Allegiance. Bernie Feeney, would you lead us |
| 00:02:56.39 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 00:02:56.41 | Unknown | Google. |
| 00:02:57.03 | Ray Withy | Excuse me, thank you. Approval of the agenda? So moved. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay, thank you. |
| 00:03:04.56 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 00:03:09.34 | Ray Withy | This time here I'd like to have a Bernie Feeney, come up again over here. |
| 00:03:36.98 | Ray Withy | in recognition of his retirement and devoted service to the citizens of Sausalito, for the countless miles perverse throughout that town, never allowing the rain, sleet, or snow. It's about him from delivering for in one year. |
| 00:03:52.84 | Unknown | . |
| 00:04:50.97 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:04:52.04 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:04:52.07 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:04:52.36 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:04:52.49 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:04:52.81 | Unknown | But what an honor it's been to know all of you and watch families grow and children birthed and the unfortunate thing of watching people leave announced and unannounced. I always encourage people that moved that they would regret it someday, and they did return. We're blessed in so many ways here. We have natural beauty. I think it shapes us. It's a small city, so we rub elbows a lot here. And the unfortunate thing I feel is we see the same faces always involved. And I would rather, at this time in my life, as involved as I am, encourage through example get out and volunteer more. I've been approached by five different organizations already. So. No, they don't want to see me back. I'm too critical. So I thank you all for this honor, mayor, vice mayors, and the council. Thank you so much. And that's one of the people, these two, Adam and Debbie, you know. I'm older than they are. |
| 00:06:27.55 | Ray Withy | Thank you, and thank you, Bernie, for all the years of service. At this time here. |
| 00:06:32.54 | Thomas Theodores | I'll just say one thing, you know, Bernie is, I call him the unofficial historian of Sausalito to many people because he knows the scoop. Both what you got in the mail and also just, he's taught me a lot about people who lived in my home and in our neighborhood, you know, since his wealth of knowledge and length of time here. He's a great resource to the community and such a contributor in many, many ways to Sausalito besides just working here. Thanks, Bernie. Thank you. Anybody else? Don't go anywhere. Don't move, Bernie. Don't move. Thank you. |
| 00:06:32.95 | Ray Withy | One thing, you know, |
| 00:07:03.32 | Ray Withy | And then... |
| 00:07:07.49 | Ray Withy | Okay, at this time here, we're going to have an update on the Golden Gate National Park Service on the status of Fort Baker. And I'd like to have the General Superintendent Frank Dean. |
| 00:07:23.84 | Ray Withy | and the other distinguished members of your group. |
| 00:07:27.69 | Frank Dean | Well, thank you. It's great to be with you tonight and just give you an update on things going on at the Fort Baker portion of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I'm joined tonight by some of my colleagues. Howard Levitt here is our Chief of Communications, and Nancy Horner is our Chief Planner. Catherine Arrow is one of our business analysts, and Dave Dusterhoff is back here. He's one of our project managers. It's been a while since we've been here. the the days of getting Fort Baker ready for the Cavallo Lodge and the retreat center and all the planning that went in with that, we were coming to you more frequently. And as these projects that we're going to talk about tonight sort of emerged and are getting on the cusp of going forward, we wanted to, we thought it was appropriate to come you all an update on where things are heading. In the short term with the road project along Alexander Avenue and then maybe a little bit more really, I guess, in its thinking is the Fort Baker Waterfront. Um, So with that, I'll have Dave come up and talk to us about the road projects in the Marin Headlands and Alexander Avenue. |
| 00:08:38.82 | Dave Dusterhoff | Thank you, Frank. |
| 00:08:49.62 | Dave Dusterhoff | Very good. My PowerPoint is the... Thank you. Thank you. members of the council, Mayor Wiener and community members. My name is Dave Dusterhoff, Park Service Project Manager. I've been doing a lot of work recently out on Alcatraz, completed that work. The Park Service gave me a get out of jail free card and told me to hit the road. So here I am talking to you about Project Kevin's... |
| 00:09:18.14 | Ray Withy | You could talk into the mic. |
| 00:09:19.91 | Dave Dusterhoff | Phase two of the roads project. |
| 00:09:25.29 | Dave Dusterhoff | Absolutely. |
| 00:09:33.63 | Unknown | Right. |
| 00:09:43.00 | Dave Dusterhoff | There we go. That one at the very bottom. At the very bottom. Perfect. |
| 00:09:51.11 | Dave Dusterhoff | Okay, great. |
| 00:09:54.88 | Dave Dusterhoff | So what I'll do is just give you a quick summary of phase one. It's already passed. And then we can talk about phase two, which is upon us. Lovely shot of the head lens there with Battery Spencer at the bottom. So, Quickly here, the map of phase one and phase two. Phase one, the green arrow. So we worked on East Road, as many of you remember, in 2010, 2011. And then moved to Consulman, did the parking lot here at the Northwest Bridge parking lot, formerly known as the Dillingham Lot. And then proceeded up Consulman, and then also did work on McCullough Road here. and additionally brought it all the way up to Hawk Hill and down to Lower Fisherman's Parking, continuing down the one-way portion, of course, and then to the YMCA Field Road and then back down to Bunker Road, terminating. at that point for phase one. So just a quick summary of what we undertook in that phase East Road, Consumman Road, McCullough, Field Roads, and Dane's Drive, which is that short piece of road between Alexander Avenue and the five-minute tunnel. We also restored erosion fingers on Consumman. I have some photo documentation of that work coming up. And then constructed five overlooks on East Road and Consumman Road, all told. Parking lot work included the Northwest Bridge and Battery Alexander parking lots and just overall improved parking, bike, public transit, disabled access and also trail access as well. We are complete with phase one, a budget of $8.76 million for that work. I would like to say at the outset again that this is a Federal Highways Park Service partnership Federal Highways is undertaking all the construction management so they have engineers on site My role as a liaison is to take the park input from the community natural resources, cultural resources, our law enforcement divisions, filter that and bring it forward to Federal Highways as kind of the one voice for the park for the project. |
| 00:12:13.30 | Dave Dusterhoff | So just some quick pictorial before and afters. You can see top left is the before, the bottom right is the after. This is the roundabout on Konzelman and McCullough. So it was taken from an unsafe condition in this particular photo here, moving to a roundabout, which allows for safer transit for folks heading up consulman, allows buses to do a complete circle so that they don't go up the hill and to Hawk Hill, which they're not allowed beyond that. They wouldn't be allowed beyond that point safely down the one way. So this is their opportunity to turn around. |
| 00:12:57.55 | Dave Dusterhoff | This is the roundabout again before the signage was installed and just after the erosion control measures were placed. |
| 00:13:07.01 | Dave Dusterhoff | Battery Spencer, a before and after. You can just see it's a more formalized setup here with the after with accessible parking, a crosswalk for a bus stop. We can move forward here to an overhead view of Battery Spencer, that same. accessible parking area, the crosswalk to the bus stop. Many of you are familiar with this location. And again, a formalized pathway here leading into Battery Alexander with benches and the like. Definitely an improved facility. |
| 00:13:30.13 | Jonathon Goldman | MR. |
| 00:13:30.47 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:13:42.53 | Dave Dusterhoff | This is the Northwest Bridge parking lot before and after. Improved safe access for bicyclists. And this is an overview of that facility just after construction. |
| 00:13:58.87 | Dave Dusterhoff | This is overlook number two on consulman. Again, benches added. An accessible surface was added called granite crete, a mix of the native chert with an admixture to provide a nice firm stable surface that's compliant with our accessibility regulations. Then as I mentioned before, the erosion fingers, this is a restoration of a Some damage caused by a faulty drainage system installed during the military era. So you can see the top left is the sill fence has been installed around the erosion fingers prior to construction, and that was to delineate the area of work and also act as erosion control while the work was in progress. Bottom left you see the restoration in progress, the construction there. It was a banked, it was compacted lifts of earthen material placed in two foot sections as it went up the hill. It was quite an undertaking. And this is pretty thrilling, I think, to be in in that front end loader. So I have video of them kind of at the top of the hill as they make their descent down and just kind of getting ready to roll over. It's pretty compelling. And this is a more recent photo. What you see here is the revegetation taking effect along with erosion control measures. The Park Service installed an irrigation system as well to help tide us over through a dry season. |
| 00:15:41.64 | Dave Dusterhoff | So that's phase one. We can talk quickly about phase two as well. Phase two tackles the other side of the hill on Bunker Road. So the first phase of work will be Alexander Avenue. I'll talk about that in more detail in just a bit. through the tunnel picking up again on Bunker Road. and continuing all the way along Bunker The Smith Road area is going to receive a new parking lot. Continuing out to the intersection with Field Road. beyond to the intersection with Old Bunker and Mitchell Road. and then out to the beach. Restoration of the Fort Cronkite dirt overflow lot, which is an informal parking area currently. That's going to be restored and revegetated. The Fort Cronkite parking lot is going to be upgraded. There's going to be an additional parking lot installed here at the Fort Cronkite Annex. Coupled with that is a restoration of the Fort Cronkite parade ground quarry site. It's historically used as a quarry. We're going to be taking some of the material that's coming off of the excavations. of the cliff face on Alexander and Danes and moving some of that material to aid in the restoration of the Fort Cronkite Great Ground Quarry. |
| 00:17:11.92 | Dave Dusterhoff | So parking lots, the quarry, the dirt overflow lot, guardrail replacement at East Bunker Road, and then kind of the main event here for the folks in the room who might have a special interest in the work on Alexander Avenue. It's a left turn lane extension and an MSE wall installation. MSE wall is a mechanically stabilized earthen wall. Similar to gabion walls, which you may be familiar with as well. |
| 00:17:41.43 | Dave Dusterhoff | Scheduled for this work, Bunker Mitchell Old Bunker work is scheduled for April 2013 through June of 14. The Alexander Avenue work is more near term, April 2013 through June of 2013. That allows for the America's Cup to, and all the traffic associated with that, to proceed unfettered through the area. And the budget for this work is 11 million. and change. |
| 00:18:10.11 | Dave Dusterhoff | So this is an overhead view of the Alexander-Danes intersection. It gives you an idea of the improvements that are gonna be made. Essentially we have a, an elongated left turn lane. compared to what is currently in place now. That's going to aid and hopefully alleviate some of the concerns regarding traffic backing up onto the off-ramp there as folks are queued up to make that left turn on weekends. |
| 00:18:46.79 | Dave Dusterhoff | So the left turn lane is is here and it's going to be elongated. So it's going to be going back. to this area, whereas it's a Not in that location presently. |
| 00:19:06.48 | Dave Dusterhoff | So along with that work, we're going to be doing some work excavating the cliff face. I'll show a photo here that'll help illustrate this a little bit more, but I think the takeaway from this particular image is the excavation on the cliff face. We have a K rail or temporary concrete barrier placed here. There'll be a traveled way of 12 feet, straight median left turn lane of 12 feet, and a traveled way of 12 feet going in the other direction. Five feet shoulders for bike lanes on both directions, which I think we can agree would be an improvement there. So this is it looking south. This is a pictorial representation of what we would be seeing here. |
| 00:20:00.62 | Dave Dusterhoff | You can see the temporary concrete barrier here, the five feet, 12, 12, that lane is 12, and then a five foot bike path on the other side. |
| 00:20:13.95 | Dave Dusterhoff | In order to achieve the necessary road width to allow for the squaring up of the intersection with Daines and Alexander, there needs to be an MSE wall or a mechanically stabilized earthen wall to then move the alignment of the road just a little bit out. to the east. And so that's what this is depicting. Essentially as you're in Fort Baker heading up Bunker Road East, you'll see this tunnel and what's going to occur here is there will be a mechanically stabilized earth wall placed at the top of this tunnel. in alignment with the edge running diagonally It'll continue beyond on either side of the tunnel and that'll allow the roadway to be brought in towards the edge of the tunnel, allowing additional width. |
| 00:21:08.81 | Dave Dusterhoff | This shows the rough alignment of that MSE wall. |
| 00:21:17.33 | Dave Dusterhoff | So while the work is going on, again, it's a three-month activity. We have no road closures slated for Alexander Avenue, just delays. And again, we feel that this is an improvement over phase one, and we're able to accommodate that with Federal Highways in their design phase. Two-way traffic is going to be maintained during non-work hours. That's going to allow for a 22-foot width for vehicles to travel and bikes and three feet separated for pedestrians. Priority is going to be given to vehicles exiting off of the northbound 101 to prevent queuing back up onto the freeway there. Daytime work causing delays is allowed 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except during paving operations. And in that case, we're looking at 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nighttime work is permitted upon approval by the contracting officer. And that's in the offing. It's under consideration by the contractor presently. We have not yet received a request to work during the evening. That would occur Sunday, starting Sunday evening at 9 and then would terminate Monday at 6 AM and would be allowed through Friday 9, terminating Saturday at 6 AM allowing for weekend traffic. to move unfettered through the area. And then traffic control plan will be reviewed by Federal Highways, the Bridge District, and the Park Service. Definitely open to anyone within the Sausalito community as well that you may recommend to provide input on the traffic control plan. very open to that as well. And then alternate routes will be available and they'll be strongly suggested. |
| 00:22:57.77 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:23:02.41 | Dave Dusterhoff | 15-minute delays max. Ideally, we haven't seen them going that long. Generally, in phase one, we saw folks moving pretty quickly, five, ten minutes. Fifteen was an extreme. And in this case, because of the need to prevent queuing back onto the freeway at 101, That traffic coming off is going to be moving up. pretty much streaming through. and held up only occasionally. |
| 00:23:31.83 | Dave Dusterhoff | So project resources, I have some cards. We have a project website. It's www.projectheadlands.gov and email, projectheadlands.dot.gov, and a telephone number as well. And then I'm always available by email, by phone. My information's here, and I have business cards I'll be more than willing to provide for everyone. |
| 00:23:54.04 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:23:55.69 | Dave Dusterhoff | Yes. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Oh, sorry. |
| 00:23:57.31 | Unknown | THE FAMILY. |
| 00:23:57.58 | Ray Withy | Hold on. |
| 00:23:57.95 | Unknown | Oh, no. |
| 00:23:57.97 | Ray Withy | Hold on, hold on. |
| 00:23:58.89 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 00:24:08.16 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah, so we'll ask a few questions, and if we don't cover your questions, please feel free to come up, and we'll need to put the mic back and get them on the record, too, for the people who are watching at home. A couple of questions. Is there a plan for the rest of Alexander? is that phase three that is not, and for folks at Sausalito, the whole length of Alexander is obviously equally important, not just the interchange to go down to the parade grounds and that. And that's, you know, both from a bike perspective, making the whole thing safer for everybody as well as for, you know, cars. |
| 00:24:41.83 | Dave Dusterhoff | as well. Absolutely. There's been a planning study conducted, luckily, by the chief of planning right here. So I'll pass the mic on during this. |
| 00:24:50.06 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah. |
| 00:24:53.76 | Nancy Horner | Okay, thanks. I'm Nancy Horner, the Planning Division Chief for the park. There was an Alexander Avenue planning study that was funded by Federal Highways through the National Park Service, and the City of Sausalito participated in that along with Marin County, Caltrans, and the Bridge District, and it identified all the problems and many solutions and then a phased approach to implementing those. And the road is owned by the Golden Gate Bridge District. And the underpass under the freeway is Caltrans jurisdiction and off-ramp And part of that first intersection is also Caltrans. implementation of the improvements is really subject to moving those projects ahead by the responsible jurisdiction. So this first project was our responsibility because it was our commitment to make that improvement to the left-turned-pocket and it turned into a 1,000-foot-long plus project for us. So it takes on a good chunk of the road, but it doesn't complete all the improvements. So we have been working with Caltrans and the Bridge District to look at how we can collaborate and help them move those projects ahead, and there's some other federal funding sources that could be available to them. So hopefully we'll see those improvements also in the future, because they're all really important. And this will be a really important first step in that, but it's not the solution to |
| 00:26:18.43 | Ray Withy | Thank you, Nancy. |
| 00:26:20.19 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah, and is there a, in terms of the rating for at least the portion of the bike-ped path at five feet width, is there a class rating for that? You know, is it class one, class two, class three as far as the jump mix use or? |
| 00:26:20.71 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:26:32.91 | Dave Dusterhoff | don't fix it. Nancy's indicating that she believes it's class two. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:26:38.55 | Thomas Theodores | Okay. |
| 00:26:40.52 | Ray Withy | Any other questions? |
| 00:26:41.65 | Linda Pfeiffer | Yeah, so thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I just had a question regarding that one slide you showed us that showed the bike path, you know, |
| 00:26:41.70 | Ray Withy | Thank you. . |
| 00:26:50.82 | Linda Pfeiffer | And so just to reiterate what Council Member Leon said, this project, this phase ends where? It goes past the tunnel. |
| 00:27:01.40 | Dave Dusterhoff | It's fun to roll. you That's correct. |
| 00:27:06.02 | Linda Pfeiffer | Up, down Alexander. To what point? |
| 00:27:09.38 | Dave Dusterhoff | So it includes Alexander Avenue in that Dane's Drive intersection area. So probably 200, 250 yards to the south of that intersection, probably 50 yards. |
| 00:27:09.41 | Linda Pfeiffer | So it- |
| 00:27:25.58 | Dave Dusterhoff | To the north. There's a small amount of work on Dane's Drive. And then that's mostly in association with a bus stop. and with a sidewalk. installation, then it picks up on the west side of the tunnel. and it proceeds all the way out to the beach. So it goes out Bunker. Bunker eventually turns into Mitchell Road. and then Old Bunker goes up to the Marine Mammal Center. And that work is included as well. |
| 00:27:52.92 | Linda Pfeiffer | So I'm just curious if we were to, as you know, we're very keenly interested in seeing the rest of Alexander addressed as well. Right. If we were to, you know, look at partnering and, you know, |
| 00:28:02.38 | Unknown | Right. |
| 00:28:06.57 | Linda Pfeiffer | encouragement for the federal funding there. they would probably look at kind of what you did during this phase. And I was just wondering, was there also a place for pedestrians to walk in that area, or were there just bike lanes? |
| 00:28:21.64 | Dave Dusterhoff | on Alexander Avenue. |
| 00:28:23.02 | Linda Pfeiffer | Yeah, what you're doing right now with this phase. |
| 00:28:26.43 | Dave Dusterhoff | A fair amount of consideration was given to pedestrians on Alexander Avenue. It's not an official pathway, obviously, for folks. So they kind of find their way there. We're looking at other ways to get them down to Sausalito without having to make this very dangerous traverse down Alexander Avenue. |
| 00:28:41.53 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:28:52.74 | Linda Pfeiffer | Because, yeah, sorry. |
| 00:28:54.65 | Dave Dusterhoff | The five foot width for bikes is dedicated for bikes on Alexander Avenue. with the understanding that Without being directed to do so, pedestrians would probably be sharing that lane with them as well as they presently do, but it would be a safer facility in general due to the increase with the extended left turn lane. |
| 00:29:20.68 | Linda Pfeiffer | So right now there's no way you could also work in something for the hikers or the pedestrians that do traverse that path because when they share that with the bikes, the bikes go into |
| 00:29:29.49 | Dave Dusterhoff | because when they I completely agree with you. Let me just quickly... |
| 00:29:45.73 | Dave Dusterhoff | Right, right. Very good. So Nancy's pointing out some legitimate alternates routes to get down to East Road and Fort Baker and then to Sausalito. So I would just point out that on this side there is a small area for folks to walk on, on this side of the guardrail. It's not an official |
| 00:29:45.76 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:29:45.78 | Unknown | THE FAMILY. |
| 00:29:46.18 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:30:13.72 | Dave Dusterhoff | uh, designation or walking pathway for them. This is a temporary barricade and we're going to monitor the rock fall activity coming down off the slope after the cut, which often happens. |
| 00:30:27.59 | Unknown | you Thank you. |
| 00:30:29.47 | Dave Dusterhoff | That's correct, uh-huh, east side. And so, If it turns out that this is no longer warranted, then we'll have a fair amount of width to add pedestrian access to. should that be necessary at the time. given the other things that the park is working on potentially with a Vista Point Trail, There's also a a way to get from the Vista Point, of course, under the bridge to the Northwest Bridge parking lot and then to utilize the old Consulman Road alignment down into Fort Baker, taking East Road out. I like to call it the long and scenic route, but it's It's definitely viable and should be encouraged and we will actually be encouraging folks to use that during construction on Alexander because even though a width is going to be provided for them, it's... That's to keep folks off that road in general. So we'll definitely provide that alternate group. |
| 00:31:22.39 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you for your answer. I have one more follow-up question regarding, so we, there was an article that appeared in the Marin IJ. I went on your website and I read about Phase 1 and Phase 2, and I was looking at the, you know, it looks like road work and infrastructure, |
| 00:31:25.36 | Dave Dusterhoff | Amen. |
| 00:31:25.54 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:31:38.38 | Linda Pfeiffer | The article that I read talked about new food services, new beverage services, etc. Can you speak to that? And also changes with regards to Horseshoe Cove. And the marina. |
| 00:31:51.58 | Dave Dusterhoff | That's coming up. |
| 00:31:52.61 | Linda Pfeiffer | That's coming up. Okay, thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:31:56.09 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:31:56.12 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 00:31:56.14 | Unknown | Any other questions? |
| 00:31:57.03 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Okay. I'll open it up to any public comment. You have to come up to the mic. You want to put the mic in. |
| 00:32:03.88 | Dave Dusterhoff | I'm not sure. up to the mic. You want to put the mic in? |
| 00:32:10.23 | Johnston Melbestad | Thank you. |
| 00:32:10.24 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 00:32:10.28 | Johnston Melbestad | Yeah. |
| 00:32:10.48 | Ray Withy | . |
| 00:32:10.51 | Johnston Melbestad | Thank you. |
| 00:32:11.93 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 00:32:11.96 | Johnston Melbestad | you Sure. Oh, no. Do I do the normal routine? Just state your name. I'm Johnston Melbestad. |
| 00:32:15.58 | Unknown | Just state your name. I'm John Stanton. |
| 00:32:18.31 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:32:20.77 | Johnston Melbestad | I'm a resident of Sausalito. extensively. And my question was about the left-hand turn extension area, but the part is your...what's the name of that? Dolan Drive? |
| 00:32:35.61 | Ray Withy | Dean. Dean. |
| 00:32:35.78 | Johnston Melbestad | Thank you. DANES. DANES. DANES. OK, so you're turning right off Danes to head towards the bridge. Right. That's a very dangerous place for people to pull out. It looks like you've turned it into more of a sharp write rather than an almost an on-ramp configuration. |
| 00:32:52.33 | Dave Dusterhoff | That's correct. |
| 00:32:56.24 | Thomas Theodores | Can you guys switch? |
| 00:32:59.69 | Dave Dusterhoff | Thank you, Johnston, for your question. Sorry, we need to get two more microphones. Absolutely. But we also did that in Phase 1 and teed up intersections for safety and line of sight, so the rationale is the same here. That's another reason why we need to build the MSE wall to provide the additional lane width necessary to do those hard lefts and hard rights. |
| 00:33:01.06 | Thomas Theodores | I need to get two more microphones. |
| 00:33:19.52 | Johnston Melbestad | My only comment is that it makes it more difficult for people to get up to speed. The speed limit there is 45 miles an hour. And if you have to make a hard right, it's much harder to get up to speed to get into the flow of traffic there than if you're already almost lined up and can just step on it and go. Agreed. Okay. And the other comment I have is that maybe we should just preclude pedestrians from that extreme. I am amazed that no tourist in a rental SUV has not run over a gaggle of German tourists on bicycles yet. |
| 00:33:47.19 | Dave Dusterhoff | you I'm amazed as well and oftentimes the vehicles will swerve and get into accidents with other vehicles to avoid those particular types of encounters. So it's a very dangerous area and we're moving forward with some safety improvements on the Thank you. |
| 00:34:04.93 | Johnston Melbestad | you |
| 00:34:04.94 | Unknown | you |
| 00:34:04.96 | Johnston Melbestad | Okay. I appreciate you guys focusing on this because, of course, the bicycles have been a boon and a problem for us, but there's no reason for them to get killed coming here. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. |
| 00:34:07.49 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:34:18.16 | Ray Withy | Okay. Thank you. Any other comments from the public? |
| 00:34:22.64 | Johnston Melbestad | Good, Barbara. |
| 00:34:23.95 | Jerry Wynkoop | Thank you. |
| 00:34:27.37 | Barbara Geisler | Barbara Geisler, resident of Sausalito. I remember it used to be we could ride our bikes down under the bridge. and through Is that ever going to be accessible? You can? Thank you. |
| 00:34:44.47 | Ray Withy | Yes. |
| 00:34:44.70 | Barbara Geisler | Thank you. Get back on my bike. |
| 00:34:46.10 | Ray Withy | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:34:46.27 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:34:46.36 | Ray Withy | Well, I believe what happened for a while was when they were doing some construction on the Golden Gate Bridge, they closed that road so they could be able to store the materials for the bridge. |
| 00:34:46.57 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:34:46.64 | Barbara Geisler | Well, |
| 00:34:46.96 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 00:35:00.02 | Ray Withy | Any other public comment? Okay, let's bring it back up here. Any comments here? I'd like to make one comment. And that is I hope that we all, the city, of Sausalito, the the PAC service. That's my Boston accent. in the Golden Gate Bridge District. I'll work together to make sure that at least the visiting bicycles, the tourist bikes, or the rentals, are really pushed down into Fort Baker. I think it's much, much safer because when they come back up, on Alexander at least before coming into Sausalito, at least they were on a flat level. where otherwise they're just charging down that hill and you'll find out when our vehicles tries to take a right from Alexander into Bunker on that right. You almost have to come to a full stop. And that's easy for an automobile to do, but it's not easy for bicycles coming down that hill. So the momentum has a, as a way of taking the accidents up in that area and that's where most of them, when you hear the ambulances going through Sausalito, That's where they're going. They're not in Sausalito, but just on the outskirts. Go ahead, Jim. |
| 00:36:16.15 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah, I just wanted to add two quick things, but it goes into the next project. One, first of all, Nancy, you've been here before more recently than about the first phase, and thank you for coming back again and outlining this section of it. The second thing, I think what Herb and other folks, this is a new cast of characters up here by a large part since the last set of dealings with the Park Service. And what we've done with the Bridge District, and Herb largely has done this, is create a very productive relationship with them. And we'd like to do the same thing with the Park Service. And particularly that addresses the Alexander side. And I know folks, the city has already been working with you, Jonathan Goldman and his staff, on the Alexander Project. And we hope to continue to do that going forward. |
| 00:37:03.97 | Linda Pfeiffer | And I just would like to comment, and I want to thank the Park Service for coming tonight and answering our questions and the public's questions as we move forward, you know, through this. I did want to provide some resident feedback with regards to the Point Bonita Trailhead and the work that has been done there. At one point, there was informal parking along the line, you know, leading to the trailhead. It was kind of parallel parking in front of the Y, and now that has been replaced with a, you know, |
| 00:37:39.07 | Dave Dusterhoff | a battery Alexander parking lot, and a trail. |
| 00:37:42.61 | Linda Pfeiffer | Yeah, and the problem is that because the congestion is such, because that parking is gone now, I mean, you would typically get at least like 10 to 12,000. extra cars leading to that popular Point Bonita trailhead. there's nowhere for the cars to go. And so what's happening is they have no choice but to park. and create new informal parking you know, going down the side off the road on the other side Yeah, and thank goodness, frankly, that that is available because otherwise people would not be able to experience, you know, what they were, you know, coming for, like the full moon hike or whatever. And so I just wanted to share that feedback with you because it's lovely. I mean, what you've done with the repaving and everything, I just wanted to provide that feedback. |
| 00:38:37.49 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:38:37.53 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:38:38.81 | Unknown | you |
| 00:38:38.86 | Ray Withy | Okay. |
| 00:38:39.36 | Linda Pfeiffer | Okay, thank you. |
| 00:38:39.41 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comment? Thank you. |
| 00:38:42.37 | Frank Dean | Go ahead, Frank. If I may before we jump into the next project, I've been taking some notes and maybe to clarify a few of the questions that came up. This is the first real federal money we received since the park was created 40 years ago to take what were army roads and make them more park-like turnouts and benches and site distances and so forth, so bike lanes. So we're excited about this. Some of these roads we're talking about here, aside from Danes Road itself, they're not even our roads. But we know that we do generate a lot of the traffic that goes on Alexander and we've taken the lead. The bridge district owns that stretcher road. It was not a priority for them as you would imagine. They're focused on 101 and the bridge itself. But we have taken the lead on that and we are looking, as Nancy said, further down the street, if you will, to see what we can do. Particularly the intersection, the interchange at 101. That's a real tough situation on the weekends with people leaving Vista Point and then doubling back around trying to get to the city and Sausalito people exiting. So that's a pretty challenging project but there is a new fund source it's called FLAP, Federal Lands Access Program, for roads that are not owned by the federal government but that lead into federal parks. We've been working a little bit with Caltrans and the Golden Gate Bridge District to apply for that new fund source to see if we can at least start the design or at least the exploration of what we can do with the intersection there. |
| 00:39:50.09 | Unknown | Amen. |
| 00:39:50.31 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:40:18.12 | Frank Dean | A couple other thoughts. The Point Bonita situation, the bridge, the Point Bonita Bridge was also rebuilt last year if you didn't catch that. So Dave was the manager. |
| 00:40:27.30 | Unknown | It's beautiful too. Thank you. |
| 00:40:28.33 | Frank Dean | well. And we're really surprised at the interest in that site. So we're actually considering reopening past the roundabout on weekends, the Battery-Mendell area for parking. Oh, great. We'll see how that goes. Yay. |
| 00:40:41.00 | Unknown | Oh, great. Yay. |
| 00:40:43.26 | Frank Dean | So we're looking at that. Wonderful. There's also, jumping back to Alexander Avenue, I believe there might be a speed limit reduction part of this project. I'm not really sure if that's official yet, but that's something that was on the table with Federal Highways and the Bridge District, and that actually might address some of the concerns about merging from, as you leave the park. |
| 00:40:44.02 | Unknown | Wonderful. |
| 00:41:07.21 | Frank Dean | Yes. Two quick things on the Bunker Road area, just maybe some landmarks that you might realize or might jog your memory. The parking lot at Smith Road is actually across from the Presidio Stables, so that's a new trailhead parking lot there. And then the Boneyard lot, we call it the Boneyard lot, but it's basically as you go up to the Marine Mammal Center, there's this unfortunate collection of backhoes and logs and dirt. That's all going to go away and that will be a new overflow lot for the Marin Headlands area. So that's part of this project. And the last thing I'll say about it is that the contract has been awarded, so despite the uncertainties that we're all experiencing this week with our federal budget, this is a go, and it will proceed whether we get bad news on Friday or not. So at this point I'll segue to the next project, Fort Baker Waterfront. As I mentioned at the outset, the Cavallo Lodge project, the retreat center as we call it officially, that was a big preservation effort and somewhat controversial as we know with your predecessors. But we came through that pretty well. We worked together with the city and I think everyone's pretty pleased with the result. It was always our dream to eventually look at the waterfront and the rest of Fort Baker and see what we could do there. We don't have money or funding at this point to actually do the full project, but we do have some funding to do Satterley Road, which is the road that leads you to the real Cavallo Point and Battery Yates, the furthest you can drive out there past the marina. So that road will be slightly realigned and improved. And... That's the last bit of Army money that we have from when they left. And that'll complete that account and that that road down there. But the vacant land along the waterfront, the seawall that's falling apart, the docks and so forth that need some TLC. That's what we're now beginning to explore. What ideas are there for that site to make it better? and make it more park-like and also keep it affordable Um. And just... Again, we're not asking for formal proposals yet, but Catherine Arrow, I'll have you come up now and speak about the process and where we are, but we're just sort of casting a net, a wide net for ideas at this point. |
| 00:43:37.07 | Catherine Arrow | Hello, my name is Catherine Arrow. I'm a business management analyst with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. And council members, mayor, and community members, thank you for having me here today to discuss the Fort Baker Historic Boat Shop and Marina project. |
| 00:43:58.64 | Catherine Arrow | Yes. So I'll give you |
| 00:44:02.30 | Thomas Theodores | I give you both kudos because most people don't figure out that control the first time they use it. Seriously. |
| 00:44:06.74 | Catherine Arrow | Seriously. Kind of like the TV clicker. |
| 00:44:14.22 | Catherine Arrow | So just a little background about the historic boat shop in the marina. It was built by the Army starting around 1941, and it served as a small boat repair facility to serve the mine and anti-submarine fleet during World War II. And then it was taken out of military service in 1949. It transferred to the National Park Service in 2001, and it's on the Historic District of National Register of Historic Places. It's currently operated by Travis Air Force Base under a special use permit with the National Park Service. They also sponsor the Presidio Yacht Club. They operate the marina there, the bar and grill, the special event venue facility, as well as public and military programs. And as I also mentioned, the Presidio Yacht Club has been in that location since 1959. They are a social organization with about 300 members and I believe about 20 of the boats that are in the marina area. There's currently, I think, slips for 74 boats. And then, of course, you probably noticed the Tamalpais Outrigger Canoe Club has those big, beautiful outriggers out there on the beach. So this is the premises that we're looking at. You can see, is that a pointer? Okay. So there are four buildings Maybe not. Okay. So the big building you see in the picture, and then there's two smaller buildings to the left there, and then a tiny little, like 10 foot by 10 foot, we call it almost a kiosk, it's a storage shed for paint. There is a public dock that comes out, and then here you can see all the boat slips. Getting up a little bit closer, the main building, the historic boat shop, building 679, is about 8,250 square feet. About two-thirds of it, maybe less than two-thirds of it, is the single story space there. And if you get a chance to go in there, it's... quite historic. It's really cool inside. There are a couple little offices off to the left. to the left of the photo, and then to the right end or the east end of the building is where the Presidio Yacht Club built their Mike's Place, which is the name of the bar and lounge upstairs. And that was done in the late 1950s. Down in the lower corner here, Building 699 is a workshop right now. They do boat repair. They store materials in there. It's about 1,200 square feet. I read in one of our historic resources notes is that the building was actually building 699. Ninth, let's see. They flipped the number. And they hung it upside down incorrectly, so that's why it's kind of out of sequence with the other one. 669 is what it was. But now it's 699. And then to the right on the screen is building 665, and it's another... They're both clear span spaces, as is a major portion of 679, and that is used for storage right now. It has a big crane that you run through the middle of it. And this is the marina. This is the spectacular view. And Superintendent Dean was talking about the Satterley Road parking improvements. That's where these cars are parked right below here. So on November 15th, the National Park Service issued a Request for Expressions of Interest. That's an RFEI, and it's a non-binding request reaching out to the public so that to give people a format to present their ideas on how they might want to operate the facilities that we're providing, which may be under a lease or some other similar type of agreement. We're interested in a partnership to develop a maritime recreation center, and we would like to provide a mix of programs and services. And those services are called out in our EIS that was done, completed in the year 2000 for all of the Fort Baker area. And so those uses include public educational programs that include maritime themes such as boat building and sailing. a public marina with a mix of slips and buoys that accommodates up to 60 boats. And that's primarily for DAY USE AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS. THE RFEI DOCUMENT ALSO TALKS ABOUT ASKING THOSE WHO ARE SENDING US PROPOSALS Tell us also, is there a mix in in ratcheting down the number of long-term boat slips to a primarily daytime use and community program use. So we see that there needs to be sort of a blend and then a slow transition to make the economics of upgrading the marina viable. Food and beverage services are permitted, as is event venue. Small convenience store was envisioned back in the year 2000, so that's an option. And then, of course, public restrooms. So if you've been down there when the historic boat shop is locked up, There are people knocking on the door and trying to figure out We send them up to Kavala Lodge or Bay Area Discovery Museum. So facilities to the public are certainly needed. We also want to make sure that the uses there are complementary to the other Fort Baker programs and services that exist. And then very importantly, we need someone that has the financial capability to do the rehabilitation of the historic facilities. I mentioned earlier about the EIS, and this is the guidance that we received. So we'd like to, we asked the public to help us understand in 2013, you know, how to help us bring that vision current um, And. to convert the marina to provide public facilities. So, We issued the RFEI back on November 15th. Did extensive public outreach, set up a website, had lots of folks register with us so that we could keep them informed, answered many questions. We had two site tours, one December 12th and another January 10th. And we had a little over 50 people total between those two days come see the buildings and we could answer questions for them. The deadline to submit the proposals was February 15th, and at that time we received Thank you. come see the buildings and we can answer questions for them. The deadline to submit the proposals was February 15th, and at that time we received six proposals and two letters. So at this point, our next step is to assess the proposals that we received. I'm in the process of drafting summaries that will be issued to all interested parties. We'll put that out on our website, and I'll email that out to the group. We also created a LinkedIn participant group so that those people who are interested in finding other folks that COULD BE ABLE TO DO THIS. maybe their nonprofit organization could provide parts of the project objectives, you know, that they could all kind of find each other. And we have over 30 members. I think they still are kind of standing back. You know, there's been limited use of that, but it was made available to them. And then our next, we have to also then identify and pursue our operational and authorization options, which is will it be a lease, et cetera. |
| 00:52:25.89 | Catherine Arrow | Any questions? |
| 00:52:27.57 | Ray Withy | We have any questions up here? |
| 00:52:35.32 | Thomas Theodores | So I'll ask you to go ahead and talk. |
| 00:52:36.52 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:52:36.62 | Unknown | Exactly. |
| 00:52:36.94 | Unknown | . |
| 00:52:36.97 | Unknown | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:52:37.02 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 00:52:37.90 | Unknown | On the next steps, can you give us a little bit more detail, for example, assess partnership proposals. How will you do that? Will there be public input hearings? And maybe a little bit more on the next step, because that's coming. We're in spring 2013 right now. Exactly. |
| 00:52:54.37 | Catherine Arrow | Exactly. So we did just receive them, and I am putting together the summaries. I think once we – I'm going to really try and do an analysis to see which proposals met all of the objectives, and I'm going to need to reach out to some of them and get to do some clarifying questions. So it's very preliminary at this point what we're going to do, but we'll have to meet internally with our park service management and have a next steps discussion. I'd be happy to discuss that with you when we've made that decision. Right now, really we wanted to hear people's ideas. It had been so long since we talked about the boat shop that it was kind of time to just let everybody know that we were We were activating the project in I think, does that answer your question? |
| 00:53:46.24 | Linda Pfeiffer | Any questions? |
| 00:53:48.51 | Unknown | You know. |
| 00:53:49.03 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. |
| 00:53:49.11 | Unknown | Yes. |
| 00:53:49.94 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. So, as you know, the people, the residents of Sausalito have long been concerned that this area could go in the direction of a fisherman's worth, a tourist kind of a place. And the traffic, and I saw bicycle rentals, and the congestion, there's a lot of concern around that. And as you know, the history, you know, here has been very, very much concerned with respect to traffic impact and traffic mitigation. as well as the impact on the wildlife the mission blue butterfly and the other, you know, endangered species. And I was just wondering if you could comment on that. And I have a follow-up question. |
| 00:54:41.38 | Catherine Arrow | Sure. I think we agree with you. Part of the beauty of Fort Baker is it's a very peaceful place. And the idea is to take the uses that are there now, all these things that are happening to a certain degree, and just make it a little bit more accessible to the public so that if you're sailing or you want to visit, it's The painting behind you, it's such a spectacular spot. And we do want to let visitors know that it's a place they can visit, but the whole intent is to not build it out. |
| 00:55:20.27 | Linda Pfeiffer | Okay, and the painting, I was on the Arts Commission when we presented this to the council, so the painting has a special place in my heart as well. |
| 00:55:29.18 | Unknown | as well. |
| 00:55:30.45 | Linda Pfeiffer | So in respect to the marina with the 60 boats and not building out the marina, but I heard references to day use and et cetera. And so, of course, you know, people may be concerned that it's opening the door to tourist water taxis with the bullhorns or whatever. And I guess my question is that also you may know the Coast Guard auxiliary uses slots there. So are there plans to incorporate the historic use with respect to the maritime safety and services that are provided currently? |
| 00:56:15.79 | Catherine Arrow | Yes, and I think that's part of why we're looking to expand the programming out there is we do want to, we want something where we can educate our visitors about the history of the place, about maritime. It's a challenging place to sail in and out of. There's some serious title changes there, so you really have to be an experienced sailor to come and go. When we were talking to various different kayak companies, They were unanimous in saying this is not a place to rent kayaks because you just lose people out the gate in a heartbeat. So they talked about maybe doing some lessons there and probably people that are more advanced in their skills and really know what they're getting into. So it's not a place where you're going to have a lot of novice beginner programs. |
| 00:56:47.50 | Unknown | of the gate. |
| 00:57:04.78 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. Yes. Now I make sure. |
| 00:57:08.15 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:57:08.17 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. |
| 00:57:08.19 | Ray Withy | Wait, we'll get to the public in a minute. Yeah. |
| 00:57:08.26 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. |
| 00:57:08.27 | Thomas Theodores | Wait, we'll do that. Thank you. So having looked at, you know, it's a big, junk document, but flipped through it, and I know the members of staff went through the walkthrough, and, you know, I think the scope that you folks have outlined here is laudable in what you're trying to achieve in that you're trying to maintain the interesting quality of what's there now in terms of the structures, and it's going to be a challenge for the money and all that. And I think you're doing it. This is not I don't personally have a lot of fears about the impact of what you're doing here. I think it's well within what already exists there. And it's just a question of I hope we can find somebody who can get the money to help you get to where you want to be on the business side of some of this stuff. But the, and I think in terms of some of the nonprofit stuff, I think the city may have already. on the business side of some of this stuff. But the – and I think in terms of some of the nonprofit stuff, I think the city may have already contacted you. We'll be more than happy to help you, especially the boat building. We certainly have some of that left here in Sausalito. Maintain that. whether it's demonstration based or whatever the programs you would, we have some sailing schools and other things where they're going to be building boats, Spalding Boat Works. We'd love to be able to try and serve as a go-between there to help with the, you know, people who really aren't super organized because most boat builders who are building wooden hand-to-mouth kind of folks, and, you know, that's our job to help place them with you and maybe there's a way to help coordinate organizing that. Thank you. So we'd be more, I think, speak for the city. |
| 00:58:35.94 | Catherine Arrow | THANK YOU. And we have sent out materials to the, I remember Spalding Boat and Andrea Ray, their executive director, came out. And they're looking for things where we can, you know, have small boat building and children's education programs. |
| 00:58:45.79 | Ray Withy | Right. |
| 00:58:55.31 | Thomas Theodores | Right, and I think it would dovetail well with the Discovery Museum and everything they're trying to do on that same front. And the, you know, whatever role we can play in trying to connect folks together, and, you know, one of our challenges is to organize that community, and that's a very independent community, and try and work more closely with you, depending on what the scope of what you're going to do inside the vote building. Well, thank you very much. |
| 00:59:15.81 | Unknown | Well, thank you very much for that. |
| 00:59:33.13 | Unknown | My name is Leslie Schoferman, I'm a Sausalito resident. And I take my dog for a walk down in this area approximately three or four times a week. And I'm very familiar with it. And I would just like to emphasize the beauty and the tranquility and how important it is for Sausalito, Marin County, to maintain open space. It's quiet down there. The last thing that Horseshoe Cove needs is traffic coming in and out. The last thing that area needs is a convenience store. The whole transition, the whole idea expressed today is a transition from a place of contemplation and rejuvenation, which I believe is part of the Park Service's mandate. is what people can find down there. I've never seen anybody fighting to find a bathroom down there. and there aren't crowds down there, There aren't, except perhaps on some weekends, cars coming in and out. and the whole of Horseshoe Bay is tranquil. Every once in a while a boat comes in and anchors um... and I really implore the city council to spend some time down there and to think this through. It's not a question of finding people on the business side that have money that can put into development down there. It's a question of preserving the beauty and the tranquility And it's one of the few places close to Sausalito that we can find that. We can walk up in the headlands, thank God, but this is a a sacred place close to Sausalito that we can actually relax from the hectic nature of modern life. and tranquility and the peacefulness of this area. needs to be preserved. And we do not want to, speaking for myself, do not want to bring traffic in there, convenience stores, facilities that encourage people to utilize the facility. We want to maintain it as a place that people can find for relaxation. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. |
| 01:01:48.58 | Jerry Wynkoop | I'm sorry. |
| 01:01:48.94 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:01:48.99 | Jerry Wynkoop | Thank you. |
| 01:01:51.28 | Unknown | you |
| 01:01:52.09 | Jerry Wynkoop | Thank you. I'm Jerry Wynkoop and I live in Horseshoe Bing and I've been there for Since 1986, my daughter grew up there. And I've seen it go through a real transitional period here. And I'm a disabled veteran, and I live there with two other disabled veterans. And we were evicted because of changes that were coming to the park. And I think there's, I don't know. I'm not going to go into that. But I think there's a lot of veterans down there. There's a large community of disabled veterans there. We value our privacy and our peace and the values it is in the extreme. and to change it, I think it has military history and that should be respected. Thank you. Thank you. And there was a period where everybody thought that The military was extravagant in their use of it and they should be put out of there because it wasn't correct. But you know, there's so many people coming back from the wars now that need some peace and solitude and a place to call their own. And there's really not much left. It's the only vestige of the military left in the Presidio. And I think it's wrong to push the military out of there. I think Travis should put in some skin and fix the place up, which they've been doing more and more now. but, I don't know, turning the boat shop into a museum. where you're showing people what boats used to be built there. I don't think that's really proper. Or making a warming hut or some sort of a generic cafe out of the, the bar's not, I don't know, it's not world class. It's pretty funky. But it's real and it shouldn't be, you know, made into some kind of pablum thing where it's for I mean, we love tourists down there. They get lost all the time. That map they've got here in Sausalito is terrible. Nobody can find their way back to town. I've told 500 people if I've told one how to get back out of there. But... You know, it's a small town and that's a real great example of it. But you shouldn't think of the military as something bad. We didn't do anything bad. Okay, there's a lot of retired people down there too. There's a lot of veterans. and You should encourage that. There's nothing, there's not a bunch in In Marin County, left, that's for veterans. I mean, the freeway says Veterans Highway, That's just a token sort of, you know. It should be... A veterans... I've got to cut you. Okay. Okay. It should be a veterans return center, a veterans... |
| 01:05:21.76 | Unknown | veterans, |
| 01:05:31.28 | Jerry Wynkoop | Recreational Therapy Center is what it should be. |
| 01:05:35.87 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:05:37.78 | Jerry Wynkoop | Vicki. |
| 01:05:38.17 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:05:43.53 | Vicki Nichols | Vicki Nichols, 117 Caledonia. Maybe my question will... answer some of the impacts that we might have down there. I'm happy to hear that it's on the National Register, the building, and I haven't heard anything about proposals to increase the size, the footprint of the boathouse. So if there, you know, it is acceptable to do that with the Secretary of Interior Standards, but if we're going to use the existing footprint, I had occasion recently to have a class experience down there for a day, and it isn't It isn't so big that it's going to accommodate a huge cafe and all these other uses. So if it's the existing footprint, I think these things can be incorporated, and I'm just curious to see how they plan on using the buildings. |
| 01:06:32.28 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:06:32.32 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:06:32.69 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:06:33.72 | Ray Withy | answer. |
| 01:06:33.97 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:06:34.04 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:06:34.06 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:06:35.86 | Johnston Melbestad | and see if I can make sense of the notes I took. Okay. Couple questions. you |
| 01:06:42.59 | Ray Withy | You've got to face us here. |
| 01:06:43.78 | Johnston Melbestad | Catherine, question for you. the Marine Railway and the crane. I'd like to see that retained to keep the working nature of that facility intact because it's a way to maintain with minimum infrastructure change or significant aesthetic change, a way to maintain income in a real way. Water taxi, I think it's a good idea. Water taxis do not include pole horns. Thank you. It does not equal a bullhorn to have a water taxi take bicyclists back to San Francisco instead of having to deal with them in Sausalito. And I have a comment about what Jonathan said about aiding and abetting anything that can happen down there. I think Sausalito ought to focus on its own waterfront. and let the the feds deal with theirs. We have a lot of our own stuff we can work on. We can talk about it later, but that's kind of my gut reaction is like, hey, let's put ours together and we can help with them. But we've got a lot of stuff to do for our own. And I just have to say that every time I've been, I grew up here, born in Sausalito, 1960, on and on. I've been visiting the headlands since I was a seven-year-old kid and played soldier in We had complete access. The place was completely quiet. And as the park took over, it became more and more crowded. Now I don't even go up there anymore. because you can't park, you can't get through the traffic jams, They reduced all the parking with the street improvement. I love the street improvement. But they took out so many parking spaces, there's this huge cluster up there trying to park. So what I'm hoping is it doesn't happen. down there at the Presidio Yacht Club. I think that should just be, you guys would be heroes if you could just keep it silent down there. Like this former gentleman said, it's absolutely such a rare place. You could sit there and gaze at the wonder of man's ingenuity, that Golden Gate Bridge. That's what you need to do. Make that a stage. And forget about making it pay for itself. We'll figure out a way. But don't get a bunch of vendors to come in and increase traffic so that I know you're under the gun to come up with funds for all these improvements you need to make. How about not spending the money on the improvements and then you don't need the income. All right, thanks. Okay. |
| 01:09:12.01 | Louie Kanotis | Hi, my name is Louie Kanotis. I'm the manager of Travis Marina and Presidio Yacht Club down there. Has everyone in the room been down there to the marina? Yes, good, okay. We, the Air Force, |
| 01:09:22.15 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 01:09:27.63 | Louie Kanotis | to work with the Park Service as much as possible to implement some of the changes. You know, time moves on. Things don't stay the same. I've been managing the marina for six years now. In that time, we have opened up, we have opened the entire operation up to public access. We have brought in new members who are civilians. You do no longer need to be military-based to to be part of the Presidio Yacht Club or to enjoy the services that we offer there. We do have food and beverage service there. It is a lower price point than Cavallo Point. Just a little. And I know that is what the Park Service is looking for. We're doing everything that we can to make our operation as accessible as possible. Now, with possible sequestration, with funding that is in short supply, it is true that the Air Force may not be as well-funded as some private developers. However, our operation does run in the black, and we are committed to slowly but surely bring up the appearances and bring up the quality of the facilities in conjunction with what the Park Service is looking for. We also want to partner with a boat builder. I've been in talks with RBMA, who I... Not quite hand to mouth. but Richardson Bay Maritime Association. Anyways, Michael Rex has done a lot of work with us to help out with the proposal, the RFEI that we gave. And I am hoping that we are given the opportunity, Travis Air Force Base, Travis Marina, Presidio Yacht Club, to continue the work that we have done, provide a continued home to these few disabled vets who live on their boats. And thank you for your time. |
| 01:11:40.76 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:11:48.66 | Unknown | Good evening, everyone. This is my first opportunity to speak to the new council. |
| 01:11:48.91 | Unknown | Good evening, everyone. |
| 01:11:54.33 | Unknown | Congratulations again to everyone. And my name is Bonnie McGregor, and I live here in Sausalito. And I've had the good fortune to be a military brat. I've lived all over the United States, and I've lived on a couple of antique army bases. One that I grew up on as a teenager was just outside of Washington, D.C., called Fort Washington. It's on the Potomac River. Well, when I moved there in the early 50s, you know how old I am, |
| 01:12:26.10 | Ray Withy | Are you telling us now? Yeah, I am. Ain't no secret. |
| 01:12:27.35 | Unknown | Yeah, well, it ain't no secret. It was, the last time it was used as an active military base was World War II. They had over 500 German PWs down there at one point in time. A lot of people didn't know that, but we found a couple of uniforms out in the woods along with the poison ivy. And I suffered from that, the poison ivy. We won't ask you. |
| 01:12:50.62 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 01:12:50.66 | Unknown | We won't ask you what else. |
| 01:12:55.03 | Unknown | Bye. What I also witnessed while living there for 10 years, by golly, It was a totally self-sustaining place. It had its own sewer system, its own power system, its own water system, and it owned transportation when we lived there. because we were 10 miles outside of D.C. It was a great place for kids until you were a teenager and wanted to go dating your friends who were 10 miles away. But what I also saw there was that, who approved things, and of course for everyone's protection and benefit, right, they tore down all of the officers' quarters, the generals' quarters, and all of the other buildings there. So I've had the opportunity to go back and visit it, and all you see is this open grass area for the whole thing except the one right down by on the river, which was the original post built to protect Washington from those ugly people coming up the Potomac River. That's all that's left of it now. And you go and you look and what's there? It's just people look, come down and say, well, why are we not coming back down here? There's nothing to see. And I hate to see that type of thing happen to what we have here. I want to see it protected. I want to see it maintained. I want to see the deferred maintenance taken care of. And I think that we do have an opportunity here And we've shown through Cavallo Point that the traffic that was supposed to inundate Sausalito hasn't happened. The bicycle is the biggest problem we've had, not the people from Kavala Point. And I don't see anything that looks like they're going to be done. By the way, I'm on the board of the Richardson Bay Maritime Association. So we've been working with them on that. And I think we need to keep this active. And it could provide a revenue source to maintain the buildings, maintain the things that are going on there. rather than let it sit there and deteriorate and fall apart. I think it can be precious, it doesn't have to be a tourist mega. Thank you. |
| 01:15:00.10 | Ray Withy | Thank you, Bonnie. |
| 01:15:05.05 | Unknown | I'm Peter Van Meter. Likewise, my first opportunity to bask in your glow. How's it feel? It's wonderful. |
| 01:15:10.97 | Unknown | THE FAMILY. |
| 01:15:11.06 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:15:11.36 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:15:11.39 | Thomas Theodores | Okay. |
| 01:15:11.97 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:15:12.03 | Thomas Theodores | wonderful. |
| 01:15:12.91 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:15:13.03 | Unknown | you |
| 01:15:13.20 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:15:13.94 | Ray Withy | Are the windows open wide enough? No. |
| 01:15:16.39 | Unknown | Yes. |
| 01:15:16.96 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:15:16.98 | Unknown | No. |
| 01:15:17.55 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:15:18.60 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:15:18.62 | Thomas Theodores | You look like you have a tan. |
| 01:15:18.73 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:15:18.94 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:15:18.97 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:15:20.96 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:15:20.98 | Unknown | Thank you. I'd just like to say that this is like really good news. You know, we've had a great historic restoration of the balance of Fort Baker and to see that project completed. and have this historic Thank you. restoration continue to the waterfront and into the cove is just terrific and I'm very excited to hear the Park Service plans for this and hope that we can endorse their efforts. Okay. |
| 01:15:52.74 | Michael Rex | Michael Rex and I'm speaking on behalf of the Richardson Bay Maritime Association. I'm the president of the nonprofit board. And we've gotten involved in Fort Baker when the Park Service first took over. In fact, we published a report in 2001 in response to the environmental study. because At the time, they were thinking of getting rid of the burrs bringing in a bicycle shop and getting rid of the yacht club, and we were horrified. It seemed like it was a plan that didn't really understand that part of our waterfront. Thank you. and that's why we wrote our report. A lot has changed since. We understood the reasons that the Park Service put this project, the Horseshoe Cove, of Fort Baker's upgrade. on the shelf. They had to get a sewer system in and remediate toxics and get the upland buildings preserved. They've accomplished that. I think they did a fantastic job. I think almost everyone would agree. Now they're turning their attention to the waterfront. And once again, the RBMA is involved in paying attention. We've submitted one of those six proposals. We worked very closely with Travis. The RBMA wants to assist bringing together the Park Service and the Saucyut community to really honor this site. And by honoring it, it means doing very little. preserving it. When you go to change a place, you've got to be careful. You don't screw it up. There's a lot there that works just the way it is. But the buildings do need to be restored. There do need to be restrooms. The docks are falling apart. And I think the park has demonstrated they're an organization that is there to preserve a place to protect the wilderness and not have it trampled. And, um, And I think we can do all of that. We can also bring to this part of our waterfront some marine programs. And that's where the RBMA wants to play a critical role. We want to have a boat builder in residence. We want to take one of those buildings and create a true boat building shop. It drives me crazy that they Discovery Museum has a fake boat to show kids what the waterfront used to be. Without bringing a lot of tourists, we can show those kids what a real waterfront is. And it could be low-key, and it could be consistent with what's there. We want to roll up our sleeves and work with the Park Service and work with the South City community. I agree with Bonnie completely. This is an opportunity and we can get it right, just like the Uplandsmen done right. So let's work together. Thank you, Park Service, for moving forward. |
| 01:18:39.80 | Ray Withy | Thank you, Michael. Thank you. |
| 01:18:41.10 | Michael Rex | Frank. |
| 01:18:41.45 | Frank Dean | Thank you. |
| 01:18:45.59 | Frank Dean | I know we've taken a lot of time tonight, but I think one of the drivers on this project that we maybe didn't speak to is that the buildings are and the docks are in poor conditions. So asbestos removal and things like that, fire protection has to occur and without a lease and some investment, that's difficult to happen. We're not really, we recognize this as a special spot, as you saw in that photograph that Catherine provided, that view of the bridge and the lagoon and everything. Our intent here is to be light on the land and I think we've demonstrated in the past that we can do that. In fact, one of the things we've done in the Satellite Road Project, we'll be actually removing a portion of that loop road at the end of the point there to restore some of that peninsula. With that, I think we'll call it a wrap. Okay. |
| 01:19:34.04 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:19:34.09 | Frank Dean | Thank you. |
| 01:19:34.41 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:19:34.95 | Frank Dean | Thank you. |
| 01:19:34.96 | Ray Withy | All right. With that, any other questions? Anything public? All right. Yeah, I'll just say, |
| 01:19:40.89 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah, I'll just say so people understand where I'm coming from. You know, again, having read this as well as I could in the past, I think with the scope of it being something greater and different and totally different is not what this document went out for expressions of interest in doing. And that's my point. And as far as the tranquility and things like that, I think this tries to, their goal now, and I hope they get there, is to sort of maintain the scale and the scope and the of what currently exists as well as some new things that Michael and other folks, Michael Rex and other folks are working with. So when I, and I'm not a proponent of development as some folks may know, and I don't see this as trying to do that. I think it's trying to honor what's been there and bring it forward. The money has to come from somewhere to maintain these buildings or they will, you know, go, take care of themselves and then fall apart. And I think it's important for the community to also, and this is what I was trying to get to before, we don't control this area. They're reaching out with their hands of friendship in some ways and saying, hey, let's work together. And we're trying to influence in a productive way what the Park Service does, but we can't control that here. And we don't want to repeat, at least I don't want to repeat, it certainly helped alleviate some of the concerns about impact with the original proposal for what became Cavallo Point in terms of the scope. But I don't see that as anywhere in relation to what's happening here because we spent the better part of two or three years of public maintenance on our streets on that lawsuit. Be that as it may, I think, you know, our goal is to work closely with the Park Service and be a part of this process and provide feedback and connections to the community that may not occur otherwise. |
| 01:21:37.49 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:21:39.38 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:21:39.45 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:21:39.55 | Unknown | Mr. Mayor. |
| 01:21:41.65 | Unknown | I just want to thank you all for coming tonight and updating us. We're neighbors, and I appreciate you coming and that we have a relationship as good neighbors working together. I know coming here tonight and taking your time, we certainly appreciate it. And we want to continue that. We appreciate your openness to have our input as we go along and things that affect us. Things that you hear is the most things we're – we like what we're hearing. We like the idea that this is going to be a small scale, that you're respecting the historic nature of everything, that we're gonna look at the tranquility and the beauty of the spot. And also the traffic. The traffic is a major concern, and we've had discussions before, and that's something that is at the top of our list that we don't increase our traffic here. So I think we're at the beginning of the process, and we appreciate the road we're on right now, and I'm sure we'll ask you to come not too often, but to keep us updated. And thank you again. |
| 01:22:43.68 | Linda Pfeiffer | And I just want to add that just a note for the history books with Cavallo Point. I actually commend the residents that were so actively involved. |
| 01:22:44.18 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:22:58.81 | Linda Pfeiffer | in ensuring that Fort Baker was not the high density plans that initially had been put forth for consideration because it was with their active participation is how we wound up with Cavallo Point. And I really want to say thank you for getting involved and just like you're involved tonight and you're here tonight, that's what we need to see. I have to say that I look at this and I am, I have to say that I do have concerns. I have concerns that we are walking a fine line here. We're walking a fine line where we could lose something that's very beautiful and very precious. And we could lose something that is just world famous in terms of that whole area. And so I would ask, and I'm going to be watching this closely as the Park Service embarks on Phase 2, that you keep an eye to the historic background of the area. And Sausalito is impacted by what happens here. And we do have a voice here because the traffic mitigation, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, all of these things, Mission Blue Butterfly, anything that happens, we're all connected here. We're all part of this fragile ecosystem. And so I want to thank the Park Service for being here tonight. You've educated us, you've answered our questions. I want to thank the residents who are here tonight. And I just want to say that moving forward, I'm going to be watching this very closely and I'm going to welcome a dialogue and an ongoing conversation conversation with the Park Service, you know, as you move through this process. So thank you. |
| 01:24:51.88 | Jerry Wynkoop | There was a herring swan today. |
| 01:25:01.77 | Unknown | Thank you, sir. I have to a certain degree studied the request. I found it modest. I was really encouraged by it. I think it was thoughtful in terms of historic preservation. Um, You can't preserve unless you can figure out a path to And that's the way we actually preserve our history. Your proposal is in the spirit of that. I think one of the most important things is that we encourage you to come back and as each step of this process unfolds, at least initially let us know what is the next steps in much more detail than you provided. I think would be very valuable for all the residents. |
| 01:25:58.67 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:25:58.69 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:25:59.44 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Um, My comment is kind of simple. |
| 01:26:03.71 | Unknown | and I'm not sure. |
| 01:26:04.49 | Ray Withy | Thank you. I want to thank you very much for coming tonight and enlightening us. These buildings that you saw down there, I think you're going in the right direction because if you don't, look for preserving or restoring those buildings. Now. I think with the onslaught of the ADA requirements that have been put on you and us in our city. that. If we don't do anything now, or you don't do anything soon and it'll end up being knocked down. So I hope that we all realize that if we want to preserve these buildings, we're living in the new age of ADA requirements, very expensive to do. So I think that's part of the driving force because you just cannot let buildings sit there without having that requirement. So with that, I'd like to thank Frank Dean for coming. Howard Levitt, thank you very much. Nancy Horner, thank you. Dave Dusterhoff. And Catherine, thank you very much for coming. |
| 01:27:12.90 | Louie Kanotis | Okay? |
| 01:27:14.05 | Louie Kanotis | Thank you. |
| 01:27:14.22 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:27:18.91 | Linda Pfeiffer | Mr. Mayor, could we take a five-minute break? |
| 01:27:21.49 | Ray Withy | I'd rather do it at 9 o'clock. Nine o'clock, yeah. |
| 01:27:28.97 | Ray Withy | Okay, let's move along because we're running. Ugh. Yeah, well, that's what they came for. |
| 01:27:43.97 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. . |
| 01:27:56.81 | Unknown | I think it's a long ways here. |
| 01:28:02.07 | Thomas Theodores | Okay, folks, if we can get settled and keep moving here. |
| 01:28:07.61 | Unknown | Thank you. Let's take the camera. |
| 01:28:10.70 | Ray Withy | Okay, we're running behind, so I'm going to try to move it up a little. At this time here, we open it up for public communication. This is a time for the City Council to hear from citizens regarding matters that are not on the agenda. Okay. Anybody like to speak? Yep. Your third time is a charm. |
| 01:28:34.07 | Johnston Melbestad | I'm getting a lot of time up here today. |
| 01:28:35.88 | Ray Withy | Yeah, well, you got three minutes. |
| 01:28:36.21 | Johnston Melbestad | Well, you got three minutes. That's a good one. Johnston Melbostad, resident of 225 Locust Street. |
| 01:28:37.82 | Unknown | melt the status. |
| 01:28:44.84 | Johnston Melbestad | inmate of Sausalito. I'm going to try and get through this letter. |
| 01:28:49.49 | Ray Withy | Not such a bad place to be in. |
| 01:28:51.20 | Johnston Melbestad | Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Oh. Esteemed Mayor and members of the City Council, we are addressing you to resolve the newly critical parking situation that we residents of Bridgeway Marine Corporation now face as a result of the City's recent code enforcement which closed the end of Locust Street. We have several concerns and some proposals to lessen this new burden on us. It came to light in a conversation with a parking analyst at the police department that there exists a permit renewal priority process for the L permits. Specifically, current permit holders are notified by mail to renew their permits prior to the period when those permits are available for sale to those that do not currently hold This creates a scenario wherein some will continually have precedence for obtaining a permit, and others, after the small amount of permits have been sold, will have no chance of obtaining a permit. Our main disagreement is not that the priority process exists, but it doesn't favor residents over the other monthly users, such as business owners or their employees, none of which should be competing for parking with residents or people visiting our merchants. If the city is to maintain a priority allocation for these permits, we believe it more in the public interest of the residents that they be given first priority to sign up and purchase parking permits. We want to point out that residents must purchase an L permit at the cost of $440 per year. Nearby residents paid less than 10% of that amount for their permits, such as in the Caledonia We believe this creates a discriminatory environment. Therefore we propose that the city create a special class of permit for those birth holders of 225 locust at Bridgeway Marine Corporation, allocating one permit per boat slip. Additionally, since these are residents, they should be allowed to purchase these permits for a similar amount other residents pay in the nearby neighborhoods. Also in its present form, the L permit allows parking for up to 72 continuous hours. This seems fair and will discourage storage or abandonment of vehicles. but it provides no provision for people who have to be away for extended periods of time to work or for work or personal reasons. Thank you for consideration. The underside in residence of 225 Locust Street. I put this up at 4 this afternoon down in our, we don't have a bulletin board. We have put it on the bathroom door. Those are the signatures I got. That's another one. You have a copy of the letter. I will give it to them. Okay. And I think Lois wants to talk as well. Are you awake, Lois? |
| 01:31:05.24 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 01:31:10.30 | Johnston Melbestad | Thank you. |
| 01:31:10.31 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:31:10.53 | Johnston Melbestad | Thank you. |
| 01:31:10.87 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:31:13.30 | Johnston Melbestad | She agrees with me. She's my neighbor. She agrees with everything I do. That's it. And I would love to talk with you guys more about it later. |
| 01:31:16.68 | Ray Withy | Okay. |
| 01:31:17.08 | Unknown | to. And, uh, |
| 01:31:19.92 | Ray Withy | We'll talk more about it later. Well, as you know, when you come up and you talk about items not on the agenda, we up here at the Council cannot answer you back. |
| 01:31:28.22 | Johnston Melbestad | Yeah. I understand. |
| 01:31:29.32 | Ray Withy | I understand. |
| 01:31:30.48 | Johnston Melbestad | Pretty good, that was 15 seconds over. |
| 01:31:32.10 | Ray Withy | Okay, you did it. Okay, next. Is there anybody? Come up. |
| 01:31:39.78 | Ray Withy | State your name, please. |
| 01:31:42.75 | Helene de Boisier-Swanson | Good evening all. My name is Helene de Boisier-Swanson. I am a resident of Sausalito. In fact, I changed my Voter registration just to vote you all in. and because I'm very much interested in putting on the agenda, not this next Tuesday coming up, but thereafter, two different two different items. One is in regards to a removal of a seventh bench at Dunphy Park. I'd just like to open up conversation. I don't know where we'll all go with that, so I'm not letting any hard terms there, but I do think we need to explore that. That's one. of the agenda from two weeks from now. And the second would be I'd like to start talking about bringing shower facilities to our parks and beach that would serve a multiple of issues in this community, such like at the beach. Well, we'll go from there. Okay. So that said, Bye-bye. See you in two weeks. |
| 01:32:38.40 | Thomas Theodores | Okay, thank you. Can I suggest one thing we can do when these things come up is we can direct staff to talk to you. And this sounds like something that's better to start at the Park and Rec Commission because and then bubble up. But certainly we're well aware of the second point that you've raised about facilities. |
| 01:32:55.73 | Helene de Boisier-Swanson | Well, I have sent an email a little bit ago regarding the bench, and I'd really like to get on top of that. |
| 01:33:01.81 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:33:01.84 | Ray Withy | Okay. |
| 01:33:02.08 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:33:02.15 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:33:02.33 | Thomas Theodores | All right. |
| 01:33:02.57 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:33:02.60 | Thomas Theodores | Right. |
| 01:33:02.75 | Helene de Boisier-Swanson | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 01:33:03.02 | Ray Withy | Can I, Mr. Mayor, can I add this comment on that because I think we can put that one to rest. There was a proposal to remove a bench that made it. VCDC responded back to the city and the Public Works Department and the Park and Rec Director and I met. |
| 01:33:19.75 | Ray Withy | that bench is going to remain. It's going to, it's also the seventh, it's also going to be replaced. It's going to be a new bench. but it's not going to disappear, but it's going to be Just like the other six benches, it's going to be improved. |
| 01:33:31.98 | Helene de Boisier-Swanson | improve. |
| 01:33:33.85 | Ray Withy | It'll be the same style as the benches that are going in there. I don't know exactly what those designs are, but they are common park benches. |
| 01:33:43.03 | Helene de Boisier-Swanson | Okay, well, okay. But happy to talk to you offline. We'll talk later. Okay. I'm just getting tired right now, so. All right, thank you. |
| 01:33:44.13 | Ray Withy | But happy to talk to you offline. |
| 01:33:46.46 | Ray Withy | I'm just tired right now, so. All right, thank you. |
| 01:33:48.96 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:33:50.71 | Ray Withy | Okay. |
| 01:33:54.39 | Ray Withy | With that, let me move right along because we are running behind. I'd like to move to approval of the minutes of the regular council meeting on February 12th. Has everybody read them? Get an approval. So moved. |
| 01:34:12.21 | Unknown | Second. |
| 01:34:12.84 | Ray Withy | Okay, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. |
| 01:34:14.62 | Unknown | Hi. |
| 01:34:18.69 | Ray Withy | Okay, the next item that we have on here is the consent calendar. Thank you. And matters listed under the consent calendar are considered routine and non-controversial. It would require no discussion. have unanimous council support. and may be enacted by the Council in one motion in the form listed below. Okay. |
| 01:34:42.96 | Unknown | I move that we approve the consent calendar as specified in the |
| 01:34:47.83 | Unknown | under it. They don't know if the first |
| 01:34:50.92 | Thomas Theodores | We can move it. That's fine. |
| 01:34:51.83 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:34:51.97 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:34:52.10 | Unknown | Sure. |
| 01:34:52.51 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:34:52.52 | Unknown | you |
| 01:34:54.48 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah, I have just a point of clarification. Thanks. And it could be, I don't know anybody, Adam or Charlie, on items 4C. And this is the donation of motorcycles to the police department. I would ask staff to consider perhaps, that's great, I think somebody wants to, but whenever you get something, you've got to maintain it, and you've got to pay for it ongoing and the training and all that other stuff. |
| 01:34:55.02 | Unknown | but |
| 01:35:17.74 | Thomas Theodores | I know my understanding is we don't really have this in the budget for that aspect of it in the police budget going forward, but maybe we should wait to by accept the donation under the pretense that, you know, if we don't allocate funds to actually maintain and train people on how to use these motorcycles, that at least we wait and do that don't purchase anything until we do that in the budget cycle that's about to begin. And that would be my suggestion because unless there's money floating around in the budget, which I don't think there is in the police budget, to just do that, you know, you can comment on that as you see fit. |
| 01:35:55.87 | Ray Withy | Just happy to comment on a couple things there. The motorcycle program started as a shared service with Twin Cities, and actually we received a loaner motorcycle from, I think it was San Anselmo. PD. and the training was also a shared service where they provided the training to that. at least one officer that's fully trained. In the SAF report, it talks about the maintenance component of that and that they feel that the existing maintenance budget Um, will be enough. One, it's not a lot to maintain motorcycles. There's a warranty on the motorcycles for at least the first year of the service. And then the reduction in maintenance on the vehicles, which are more expensive because there'll be more use of the motorcycles than the vehicles. So at this moment we at least think it's cost neutral if not cost benefit and in the budget process we can look this thing, look forward in the years to come. but I think that the proposed Staff report addresses the maintenance issues when the bikes, Life comes to an end. unless they can get another donation or the city prioritized. this type of program, so the program would also come to an end. |
| 01:37:22.27 | Thomas Theodores | That was my second point. I did read Saffirport and I understand that, but, you know. Thank you. So let's see what they come back on their fleet maintenance expense. If it doesn't change or it changes with inflation, then that will hold true to the word that, okay, it's not going to add more operating costs to the city. But the other thing is on the vehicle replacement, we have to pre-fund that over time. So that's another expense that starts as soon as you accept the donation, unless we agree that we're not going to do that and they're just going to go the way they're, you know, the city's accepted donations for things over the years that it ends up not being able to pay for ongoing whether it's Sally or whatever. So let's just be conscious of that and that the police department understands that. |
| 01:37:53.68 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:37:58.64 | Craig Justice | We'll be right back. |
| 01:37:58.71 | Ray Withy | I don't think we put |
| 01:37:59.43 | Craig Justice | Sally. |
| 01:38:05.66 | Thomas Theodores | Um, Hmm. |
| 01:38:07.25 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 01:38:07.26 | Thomas Theodores | one other time. |
| 01:38:07.36 | Ray Withy | Just for clarification, we're not pre-funding vehicle replacement program. an allocation per year We give a life expectancy of a vehicle, and over that course of time, we fund it per year. |
| 01:38:19.90 | Thomas Theodores | Right, so when it goes to, it reaches its useful life, it's funded to be replaced. And that, so in a sense, you are pre-funding it. |
| 01:38:22.97 | Ray Withy | Yeah. |
| 01:38:27.21 | Thomas Theodores | then that needs to be, if that's also not going to suddenly appear in the budget, then that's what you're saying is that they'd have to go out and find another funding source for replacement vehicles. Um. |
| 01:38:36.49 | Ray Withy | you Thank you. |
| 01:38:36.95 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 01:38:37.03 | Ray Withy | Well, I feel confident that, first of all, we have a year warranty. So if we decide that we don't have the monies or anything to operate these after a year, we don't have any obligation. We have those bikes arise. I don't know. And I think it was nice enough for someone to come forward. And the total amount that they donated was $26,000. All right. That's nothing to sneeze at. And I really do believe that we have the train. It's much better than the one big motorcycle. That is not really set up to go climbing up hills and banging U-turns on Bridgeway and things like that. And I really think it's a plus. I think we're lucky that we have this, and as I said, It's our choice. After one year, if the warranty runs out and we think the maintenance is more than we want to even handle, It's ours to do whatever we want with. So I really think this is a plus, and I think it's an added feature that we'll need, especially downtown. I think you need that versatility and that ability to maneuver very well and get in and out of downtown if there's something going on either downtown or Thank you. or elsewhere, so I really think that's a plus, and I think that we should move forward on it. |
| 01:39:59.75 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 01:40:01.46 | Ray Withy | So once again. consent calendar. Thank you. |
| 01:40:05.99 | Unknown | So I'll second the motion. |
| 01:40:08.34 | Ray Withy | Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, Sunni, do we have any public comment on that item? Okay, let's move next to an update on the EPA order compliance. Jonathan Goldman. I'm a little late, but better late than never. |
| 01:40:28.46 | Jonathon Goldman | My flight was delayed, so I appreciate you holding up the meeting for me. Mr. Mayor, Mr. Vice Mayor, members of the council and staff, I want to take a brief opportunity, the one without Southern Southern Marin City. |
| 01:40:31.06 | Ray Withy | I'm going to have to make it for me. |
| 01:40:32.44 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:40:45.33 | Helene de Boisier-Swanson | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:40:49.01 | Jonathon Goldman | A brief opportunity to recognize a number of folks here in the audience who I think have actually come just for this presentation. Bob Simmons, who's the general manager of Sausselet-Maroon City Sanitary District, soon to retire. Craig Justice, who is slated to replace him. I think Craig or maybe Bob are going to have a presentation available. We have both current and former board members from Sausalito Marin City Sanitary District Board. I think all of whom are Sausalito residents. For all I know, we have future board members of Sausalito Marin City Sanitary District here. I know how heavily involved a number of folks here in the audience are. And also John Elam, who's the manager of Tamil Pais Community Services District, and Jerry Taylor, who's a Sausalito resident and is involved in that organization as well. There's a huge volume of information here in the packet, and I'm not going to apologize for that. The concept is to try to provide a lot of background both to sitting council members who've been here for some time and also to new council members because |
| 01:41:28.95 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:41:29.07 | Unknown | and it's like, |
| 01:41:29.36 | Unknown | district. |
| 01:42:05.60 | Jonathon Goldman | Not that there are critical issues for us to discuss and debate and take action on this evening, but to try to set the stage for some subsequent things that will come before us, and also to make sure that you and members of the community have a little bit more idea how the three of us entities, the three of us wastewater agencies communicate and collaborate and try to deal sometimes independently but always kind of collaboratively in dealing with some of the issues that we have to deal with. I always start these, I try to do these presentations quarterly, try to remind myself and the community of the requirements of the EPA Administrative Order that all three of our agencies are operating under. Just briefly, status on City of Sausalito's wastewater enterprise. We are currently fully staffed. One position is still probationary, and I am certain that that individual will clear probation. Don't tell him I said so. Between October 1st, 2012 and December 31st, we cleaned 12.3 miles of pipe. That's on the order of half of our system, almost half the system, plus repeat cleaning for pipes on the three-month and six-month hotspot list. I've said this before. There are communities that use chemicals, herbicides, basically modified herbicides to control roots in their sewer systems. We don't do that. And I'm not... chemicals, herbicides basically, modified herbicides to control roots in their sewer systems. We don't do that. And I'm not saying we would never do it, but it's not desirable to me. I don't think it's desirable to the community or to the wastewater treatment plant and their permit conditions. This information is in your packet, just a map that we regularly update depicting the locations where we've had sanitary sewer overflows during various reporting periods. In the long run, I would love to do an animation of this, be able to show something like this through time, and someday if I have that time on my hands I will. But our quarterly report for the most recent quarter, which was the end of last calendar year, we had a total of six overflows, two of those public overflows and four private. As you can kind of tell from the map, in a couple of instances, two of those private overflows were in the same place, which is usually an indication of a problem worth taking a little more definitive action with, and in this case we actually did. We ended up retaining a contractor to resolve what was really a private issue while the private parties figured out how to reimburse us equitably. Both the public overflows were noted by city staff. That actually is the first quarter that I remember that happening, and I think that's also a symptom of a very progressive and proactive approach to the way our maintenance division, sewer maintenance division, operates, and I'm proud of that. Just again, a note on the private overflows. How many of you have had a chance to have conversations with Patrick Guasco, who's our Sanitary Service System Coordinator? But the level of effort, the amount of time that he spends in a given work week dealing with private sewer issues, not people who've come to the counter to get a building permit but issues where there's a sanitary sewer overflow there may be interaction with him may have been triggered by a substantial remodel or the sale of a house. But. very complex private lateral issues, almost never with the presence of recorded easements and maintenance agreements for common laterals that would, in contract, you know, legally resolve these kinds of issues. We, because we're the regulated entity by the State Water Resources Control Board and the EPA, we're expected to find ways to mitigate those private overflows. This is too many words for PowerPoint, and you've seen a lot of it before. The short-term good news, we're still working very closely, sometimes multiple times a day with State Reval-Mikban staff to get approval of award for the Spinnaker Anchor Project. I literally expect that approval any day. uh I'm going to skip through these. Again if questions come up either now or in the future, I'm always happy to provide details. One of the issues that we are recognizing at this point is, as you may recall from the sewer rates that we adopted on the order of four years ago, we had laid out a set of priority capital projects and the nexus for the rates, the basis for the rates was established on a combination of state revolving fund, in other words, borrow money at about a 3% interest rate basis combined with pay as you go, in other words, pay cash for projects basis to make sure that the resources were available to fund all of the capital improvements that we had identified at that time. Our experience thus far has been that the construction cost estimates that we used for the bigger projects were low. We saw with Spinnaker Anchor as an example and we're seeing with the complexity of some of the other projects, Gate 5 Road is the next one on the project. in the hopper, we're going to be spending probably twice what we thought we were going to when we initially scoped those projects. In addition, the pay-as-you-go projects where at that time we thought we had a good idea of what was going on, we're finding that, for example, when we schedule the reconstruction of a concrete street. And we think, well, we're going to have to do some silver work in conjunction with that. to protect against having to tear up a perfectly new concrete street in within any reasonable length of time afterwards, we're finding that Some of those sewer issues are also much more significant costs than we thought they would be going in. And further, we have the need, if we're going to go to the trouble to reconstruct that street and replace the sewer main, the need to take into account the fact that all the private lower laterals should be replaced at that same time. It just would be ridiculous not to do so. And most recently, urgent sewer replacements have been identified as necessary under portions of 3rd and 4th and Main Streets, as well as Miller Avenue, and the current construction cost estimate for those projects is $600,000. Thank you. Reconstruction of Richardson Street, same kind of thing. We have to plan on Richardson Street as on the current priority list for the next generation of paving project, we're going to have to replace the sewer main and all the lower laterals as part of that project. And the streets funds aren't available to cover those costs. Or if we made them available, we'd be doing a lot less streets. So very briefly, just a reiteration of kinds of issues and opportunities, we continue to be a lot slower at acquiring and spending state revolving fund money than we would like. Our lateral grant program, although we continue to make it available along with our other inspection grants and the loans program that council has approved, we're turning over very, very few repairs of private facilities with those programs. It's on the Council's priority calendar and the City Attorney's priority calendar and my priority calendar. to Um, back a sewer ordinance revision that we brought to council some time ago as a draft but really have not engaged in the outreach, the public participation process to take that further along the line and try and enact some significant improvements in the way we regulate sewers here. Policies regarding facilities in the public right-of-way, I alluded a minute ago to some of those issues. They're going to come up again with some of our bigger projects. So one of the things that council was very generous in doing is recognizing with this current fiscal year's budget the need to look at, I'm not sure. both the nexus for the current sewer rates as well as try and project what changes both in the nexus and potentially in sewer rates, it makes sense for council and the community to consider going forward. Another piece of that is to look at trying to find ways to fund storm drain asset replacement. So at a subsequent meeting, and at this point it looks like it won't be before the second meeting in March, we'll be bringing a draft scope of services. It actually has already been to the Finance Committee, but we'll be bringing a draft request for proposals to council to look at retaining that consultant. Recent studies, and one of the reasons that we have representation from Sassoli-Marin City Sanitary District and Tamalpais Community Services District here tonight, and one of the reasons for the large volume of information in your packet is, to share the studies done by our neighboring agencies, not just those two, but even Ross Valley and others in Marin County, addressing the equity of our sewer rates and trying to see whether there's a way to more equitably take into account wastewater flows or the use of water as a surrogate for wastewater flows. I'm sure that I know from having sat at the South Dakota Marin City Sanitary District meeting on this issue recently that there's some pretty um, pretty agitated folks about some of these issues. I talked about pay-as-you-go and SRF funding balance and also, again, frankly, really have challenges with the workload that we have in-house to manage all of this program and to try to deliver state revolving fund and pay-as-you-go fund improvements faster than we've been able to do so. This was in your packet, December 2012. TCSD and South Carolina Emergency Sanitary District successfully concluded negotiation of an agreement for South Carolina Marin City's provision of wastewater treatment services to TCSD through December 12, 2042. I doubt that I'll be here then. The City of Sausalito and Sausalito Marin City Sanitary District will initiate our own discussion on revisions to our existing outdated services agreement, hopefully with the sewer ad hoc committee's involvement beginning next month. And TCSD and Saucyta Marin City Sanitary District have recently both evaluated sewer service charges and considered or will consider changes. And the information that was available at the time the staff reports were prepared is in your packet on those two items. TCSD left its sewer rates unchanged following completion of its rate study. And then January 30th, there was a special meeting of the Sussler Emergency Sanitary District Board to hear a presentation from their consultant. And then as of that time, they were scheduled to hear the matter again at a special meeting in May. So I'm available to answer questions if you would like now, and then I think Sassan Marin City at least is prepared to make a presentation. |
| 01:55:16.16 | Linda Pfeiffer | Mr. Mayor, I have a question. Thank you. |
| 01:55:18.04 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you. |
| 01:55:18.07 | Unknown | What should I? |
| 01:55:18.66 | Linda Pfeiffer | Um, so... So last year during the housing element discussion, And I expressed concern about the cumulative impact of it, you know, with regards to the potential you know, increase density in that area. And at the time I asked about the state of the sewers, you know, the sewer systems. And I'm seeing here urgent sewer replacement have been identified as necessary under 3rd and 4th and Main Streets. I see reconstruction of Richardson Street. So I guess my question is, Did these issues just recently become apparent and was it the last storm or what was the process in terms of uncovering this and the timing? |
| 01:56:04.43 | Jonathon Goldman | Well, the process is the maintenance process that we are responsible for, where we are responsible for cleaning and inspecting our entire system regularly. We also are responsible for doing a lot of other things with the system. But as I mentioned in talking about the locations of repeat overflows, for example, When... We, if we have not recently televised with equipment that we now own that I believe is as good or better as anything available to anybody in Marin County, when we have not televised an area and we have an overflow, our procedures involve not only clearing the blockage, but then also making sure that we get a high-resolution inspection. And during the course of that kind of work, and an example is a segment of fourth where after identifying some maintenance issues and following up with a thorough cleaning and inspection, we find that there's a belly in the pipe. The pipe does not drain. And then in asking, our design consultant to evaluate how that, how we can make an improvement so that that pipe will drain, we find that we need to not only replace that segment of pipe, but that we have to lower the main on Main Street in order to make sure that it that we have the grade for the entire distance that we need. So it's one thing for us during the course of a pipe condition assessment or something like that, or the kind of broader brush. capital prioritization that we did that went into the last set of sewer rates to say, you know, this area, this pipe segment needs to be replaced. It's another thing when we get into the design details of dealing with a hot spot or any specific segment and finding that a lot more work needs to to be done in order to make it worthwhile. The pavement replacement on Richardson is also a good finding that a lot more work needs to be done in order to make it worthwhile. The pavement replacement on Richardson is also a good example. We knew that we would have to look at and consider replacing the sewer main there. But what we didn't take into account when the first pass at |
| 01:58:23.65 | Unknown | So what? |
| 01:58:23.97 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:58:23.98 | Unknown | So, |
| 01:58:37.85 | Jonathon Goldman | and the current sewer rates was created was how much more work is going to be necessary to replace all of the lower laterals. |
| 01:58:49.15 | Linda Pfeiffer | When did this become apparent though to you regarding Old Town specifically, these two bullets, the third and fourth and Main Streets and Richardson Street? What was the timing on that? |
| 01:58:59.98 | Jonathon Goldman | Well, the Richardson Street came up as a priority because of the need to reconstruct the street. And in order to plan for a thorough reconstruction of the street, we have to evaluate the condition of the sewer main at that time because it doesn't make sense to reconstruct the street without it. |
| 01:59:06.46 | Linda Pfeiffer | to. |
| 01:59:06.69 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:59:20.45 | Linda Pfeiffer | I'm sorry, I need to ask a specific question. Did these two bullets surface in January this year, or was it last fall, or what was the timeframe in which it became apparent that these two were big issues? |
| 01:59:20.53 | Jonathon Goldman | I'm sorry. |
| 01:59:35.70 | Jonathon Goldman | The prioritization of Richardson as a pavement project is January. Thank you. The other repairs that I identified and Miller, we had identified as hotspots, and we retained a designer to prepare plans for making those repairs. That was some time ago. |
| 01:59:35.96 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. |
| 01:59:43.18 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:59:47.67 | Linda Pfeiffer | Third and fourth and eighth. |
| 01:59:53.47 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. |
| 01:59:53.66 | Vicki Nichols | Thank you. |
| 02:00:00.17 | Linda Pfeiffer | some time ago, last year, 2012, 2010. Yes, and |
| 02:00:04.15 | Jonathon Goldman | And it's not until they've done their work and we've had a chance to review their work that we're able to identify the magnitude of the projects that need to be done. |
| 02:00:04.83 | Linda Pfeiffer | 2012? |
| 02:00:16.62 | Linda Pfeiffer | Okay, thank you. I have one more question, but I'll hold off because I think the council has another. |
| 02:00:20.12 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you. |
| 02:00:20.17 | Thomas Theodores | Council has. questions. Yeah, Jonathan, just going back, and you don't have it tonight, but, you know, in the map that we did, that you did and presented to the council previously and to the sewer committee prior to that, which Council Member Pfeiffer and I used to be on. the old town repairs were a phase in that in that previous study that was that West Yost study that did that so |
| 02:00:47.71 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:00:47.74 | Unknown | Yes. Thank you. |
| 02:00:48.70 | Thomas Theodores | These have been highlighted for a number of years now. It's just that because the streets have been prioritized, the timing of that construction on that particular thing may have changed. Is that a fair way of... And the scope because of the private lateral issue you have uncovered. |
| 02:00:59.86 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you. It is. In addition, what was done at that time, and it was for the purpose of supporting the rate study, was to try to prioritize those capital projects based on television inspections that were done 2007 or earlier. And... As we continue, at that time we didn't have any full-time maintenance staff for the Waste Water Enterprise. With the current rates, we have full-time maintenance staff, they have much better equipment, and holding the system, holding as we hold them, to a higher standard of care. So the process of reprioritizing those projects is constantly ongoing. And an example that I'll mention is a situation where we got fined $75,000 for repetitive overflows for a line segment that crosses, it's in an easement, but between Toyin and Woodward. And we got fined because we had an overflow and we cleared the blockage but it overflowed again the next day. By recognizing that as a significant issue, we were able to prioritize that line segment for repair, and that work was done. We got fined $75,000, but that work at least has been done. We have the same kind of thing that occurs. If we, in paying attention to where we're having problems and gathering more accurate information when we see that we have a problem, we're constantly reprioritizing our hot spot repairs. Some of those we do on an emergency basis. |
| 02:02:48.35 | Linda Pfeiffer | I have a follow-up question. Thank you, Jonathan. My next question has to do with your staffing. You say right now you're fully staffed. Would you say though that, I mean, that staff is just, you know, flat out around the clock, you know, your reference to, you know, the, Well, I wrote his name down, but working on the private sewer laterals, being very busy. Yeah, Pat. So right now, I mean, Would you say that your staff, you know, this looks like a real full, you know, obviously a very, you know, full list. So you, would you say your staff is completely, you know, 100% maximized right now? |
| 02:03:37.54 | Jonathon Goldman | Um, Yes, they're working at capacity. We are not working overtime unless there's an emergency. But that staff is a maintenance staff. It's not a construction staff. And... What our maintenance staff is doing is keeping a system that has had deferred capital replacement accumulated for a really long time flowing as best they can and helping Mr. Guasco and Todd Teachout and myself and our other consultants, make sure that we're focused on the highest priority areas where we can best protect public health and the environment by identifying a pay-as-you-go capital project and making sure that it gets delivered. |
| 02:04:27.17 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. |
| 02:04:31.10 | Ray Withy | Any other questions? At this time here, any questions from the public? Okay, bring it back up here for comment. |
| 02:04:39.55 | Thomas Theodores | you Thank you. |
| 02:04:40.08 | Ray Withy | Oh, I'm sorry. |
| 02:04:40.11 | Thomas Theodores | Oh, I'm sorry. You're going to hear the others who end. Oh, yeah. Sorry. |
| 02:04:43.67 | Ray Withy | Oh, yeah. Sorry. |
| 02:04:49.39 | Craig Justice | Hello, Mayor and City Council members. General Manager Craig Justice with the Sausalito Marin City Sanitary District. I'm happy to be here. I want to thank you. It's been a while since our district has presented to the council, so this is a nice opportunity. I want to also thank Mr. Goldman for providing this and our sister agency, I'll call it, over at TCSD and Jonathan and John Elam in the audience. And I wanted to recognize our distinguished board members, too, that are in the audience. We have President Ray Gurgis, Vice President Bo Rehn, Anne Arnott. and former, you know, Norm Wischlager. wanted to say hi. And also, just retired and enjoying fishing and hiking and other stuff, General Manager Robert Simmons. |
| 02:05:39.36 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 02:05:39.83 | Craig Justice | Thank you. He tapped me on the shoulder and said, oh, you have to do this one. So I said, OK. |
| 02:05:44.39 | Unknown | I said, okay. |
| 02:05:47.05 | Craig Justice | I'm happy to do that. So we have a brief presentation today, a little bit on introduction of our agency. That's a picture of the planet on the waterfront. This is kind of – we call it our service area and shared challenges, and certainly I share Mr. Goldman's viewpoint and information he shared for you on just how big the problem is we're talking about underground piping systems that are not easily understood, not easily you can't get to them very easy. They're kind of out of sight, out of mind. It's a real challenge to really understand what's going on underneath the ground and really build the momentum and the financing to get it done. So currently, the district provides sewer service for the City of Sausalito. Whoops. Sorry. The City of Sausalito TCSD under agreement. We own and operate the Marin City on a corporate area collection system and also treat that sewage. We certainly provide wastewater treatment for the National Park Service, so that was an interesting presentation earlier today, and we're a project partner with them, both the Fort Baker area, which they talked about in the Cavala Point, but also the marine headlands. And we have currently about 10,000 property owners. You can see there's about 70 miles of private lateral as well in our system. And there's a map you can see that shows our service area boundaries between our respective agencies. As Jonathan pointed out, Mr. Goldman, we're both working together to protect the public health and environment. One of the major drivers is U.S. EPA compliance orders that have been issued to our agencies. So we have that to tackle. There's some points there that the city council can read as far as what we need to accomplish. What's different about our agency, the South Dakota Marin City Sanitary District, is that we operate under an MPDS permit for the plant too. So we have the U.S. EPA compliance orders, MPDS permit, which is issued by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board. And so we're battling those challenges, balancing needed infrastructure improvements and rate structures and all that. It's a real hard thing to do right now. Our goal as joint agencies is really to reduce inflow and infiltration into our sewer system by about 35 percent. So that's been estimated that as a group, all agencies, we need to work together to kind of get to that point. It's a challenge. It's going to take some time to do. It really is going to take private and public partnership to do. In other words, as Mr. Goldman mentioned, there's a lot of pipe that's out of our control that's in private hands that we need to really work with the private community to understand the problem and do something about it. So it's a real – something that's going to take quite a bit of time. So to meet our obligations, we've gone through extensive planning and financial planning studies, built a capital improvement program. We're now the second to last bullet underway on our improvement program. It's about a $40 million program to get where we need to be. We're about $10 million into it. Half of that $40 million is roughly at the plant for upgrades. About the other half is in the collection system, improving pipelines, pumping systems and such. And I mentioned before the private sewer lateral issue is big and we need to tackle that. We've tried to implement some programs in the district to help with that. We have a private sewer allowed ordinance we've just adopted, much like the city has, there's triggers for homeownership changes within our Marin City unincorporated areas. And also we have a loan program in place that helps people with replacement and repairs, and they can pay it back on their property tax bill over a 10-year period. So we're hoping those two things help spur people on. We also have, Mr. Goldman mentioned, our partner agency coordination. We're very pleased, and I think I speak for General Manager Elam over at the Tama Pius Community Services District, that we're very excited about the new agreement we have. It took about a year or two to get nailed down. It's a good agreement. It outlines our business relationship, and you can see financial capacity rights, asset ownership, joint planning, jurisdictional responsibilities. It encompasses a lot of things, but it's really our business plan, and we're very happy to have that behind us. Also we're, as Mr. Goldman mentioned, the city we'd like to work with to update that agreement. It's been in place. We have a longstanding working history with the city, as you know. Things have worked very well. Thank you. to update that agreement. It's been in place. We have a longstanding working history with the city, as you know. Things have worked very well. We've done a lot. That agreement, service agreement is, I think, 1953, 58. So we've worked, it's worked very well, but I think it's time to look at it to update it to current kind of standards. |
| 02:10:30.15 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 02:11:13.65 | Craig Justice | I want to go through quickly our projects we're currently executing within the city and also at Marin City. There's Locust Street before and after. Most of you have seen that. We get mostly positive feedback about the structure just to give the city council feedback on it. And we did do incorporate some improvements that the city should benefit from too. The ADA ramp was improved. There were some surface drainage issues in the city should benefit from too. The ADA ramp was improved. There were some surface drainage issues in the area we improved. We work at the Public Works Department on some storm drain issues. So we tried to not only, you know, replace our sewer pump station but improve the area as much as we can for the city as well. Out in our Marin City service area, the map to the right is an assessment, a pretty extensive assessment we did of the pipelines out there to assess where we need to do improvements. They were all prioritized and we looked at about 32,000 linear feet of pipeline. We just completed that project in December, got a good bit of work done. We got the first, there was enough projects and they they were prioritized based on, you know, due in the first five years, 10 years, 15 years. We were able to, with good bid prices that Mr. Goldman mentioned, we were able to get more work done than we thought. So we actually got the first 10 years' worth of projects done, and so we're sitting in good position in Marin City currently. And the techniques we used were pipe bursting, lining, cured in place pipe, and open trench. So it was a combination of improvements based on the need. We had some easements and property issues, so you just pick the best one that fits for This is in progress, almost done. We installed bypass lines at four of our stations, including Main Street. That was an EPA compliance order requirement. We now have bypass pumping, so if electrical system fails, pumps fail, we can get a pump out there and keep this system going to kind of protect the bay and public health. We also have worked with Public Works to install those at the two city-owned stations, Whiskey Springs and Gate 5. So in the near future, next month or two, we'll get those done in coordination with And I wanted to show the site improvements we tried to incorporate into Main Street to improve that area. The left was kind of the – it's beaten up a little bit. It wasn't that bad before. It's beaten up a little bit because it's for the construction prep, but that was before and after shots. So the painters are out there now painting the area, and so you can drive by and take a look. I think it's a lot better, and hopefully the community appreciates the aesthetic improvements. We have a couple projects in final design. One is a follow-up project at Main Street to rehabilitate the station. It was last done in about 1999, and it needs to – we need new pumps. We need some other systems replaced, electrical upgraded, odor reduction system that's there currently we need replaced to keep up to speed. I need. And then go through the list there to see what's going to happen. We're planning to construct that this summer, and we're very concerned about doing that in a timely manner. We're going to make sure our contractor is really on the ball as far as schedule and timing. We have some outreach to do with the adjoining property owners, the Portofino Apartments in particular, to make sure that goes as smoothly as we can. We can make it. But once that's done, that station is essentially rebuilt and good for the next 15 years or so. And that's our goal. Get in there, get it done, get out, and then we won't have to do anything there for a long time. Another major project I mentioned was the Headworks project, primary and secondary improvements project. This is a follow-up to – not a follow-up, but the project that hasn't been kind of done, this level of magnitude of project hasn't been done since 1986. 1986 was the last upgrade to this treatment system. So this is kind of a busy slide. There's a lot of improvements going on at the plant, but I want to touch just for the council on some major points. The project includes flow equalization, and if I can figure this out, laser, there it is. This is a two, three-story building right here that's staged. The bottom is going to be a flow equalization tank. And some of you council members and city staff members recall we've been looking for a way to retain water during storm events. It's a real problem until we get the pipes all buttoned up. So we were able to design a flow equalization system in the building that allows us to flow and attuate storm flows. That helps us at the plant be able to treat all the wastewater. And also it kind of eases the pressure a little bit, I think, out in the collection system too. We have all the systems, the new primary tank, this system, the existing biologic system that we have, there are chircling filters, they'll all be covered for odor control. So it will further enhance that capability. And all this has meant one major thing is all these system improvements, the flow equalization in particular are meant to allow us to not eliminate, not allow us to blend anymore. Blending is when we bypass treatment systems, when we're just overwhelmed by the amount of flow that's coming into the plant. So this project will allow us to not eliminate it because a major, major, major storm, like a once in a 50-year storm, the amount of flow is just – we can't build it a big enough retention basin to handle that. But 98% of the storms that are going to happen we're going to be able to handle. So it's a huge improvement. That's the head works. The timing on that is we're heading into final design right now. Design stage is about a year. We're on National Park Service property, so we're working with them on their approvals, which is a pretty extensive process as well. and also BCDC. So we're kind of in the final design planning and permitting stage currently. And then a little bit on a rate study. We executed agreement with HFH, was it Hilton, Farnkhoff, and HFH, Hossett-Hopson, is that right? Hilton, Farnkopf, and Hobson to complete a study for us. We worked on it for about a year. So it was a slow, deliberate process. It was instituted for the bullets you can read there. Those are the reasons why we entered into this study. It was a pretty informative process. I can tell you that the more you study it, the more complicated it gets. It's not an easy thing to tackle. When you hear things like, well, I should just pay for what I put in the system, well, that's great, but when you drill down to the detail on the make that happen and the impacts it is to the city or district on our case and the customers, it's not easy. These are the kind of flow structures that we looked at that are out there that might be something you might want to consider. The fixed rate we currently have, everybody understands that. It's easy, consistent, steady revenue stream, low risk. Everybody knows what they're going to pay. And that's been the standard in the industry. There's also flow based rates per individual customer. which involves a lot of work. It involves estimating flows from each individual customer that you have. We don't meter wastewater flow. That's part of the problem. Water is metered, so it's easy for water companies to say, you use this much water. You should pay this much. When you start getting into individual wastewater contributions, it gets difficult because you have to assume a lot of assumptions. You have to use winter water usage, assume that's for the whole year. So it gets complicated. It's doable. You can do it, but it's hard. There's also flow-based rates per customer class that we looked at. In other words, we looked at customer classes, single family, multi-family, floating homes, and we looked at, well, for each individual class, what are their contributions on average and relatively? And you can use that concept to build based on flow as well. |
| 02:19:24.63 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 02:20:15.12 | Craig Justice | This allows you to potentially go two ways. You can individual bill on that basis, or you can continue the county tax roll billing, which is a little advantageous in that it's county-backed, so where individual utility billing is a little harder to do. And then there's the last bullet here, the combination fixed and flow-based rates per customer class. And that's what we were mostly focused on, our board. And what we've been – staff has been directed to kind of put the documents together for board approval in May. And why that's attractive is it aligns your fixed and flow-based rate to your fixed and variable cost. So we have a high fixed cost so that we have to pay it regardless of the flow. So what we try to do is conceptually, well, what is our variable cost for our district and tie our flow-based charges to that variable cost, the true cost that actually vary with flow. So that's the method that we're currently looking at as a first step into incorporating a flow-based rate into our structure. I'll say that knowing that the board is interested in revisiting this issue. I think it's an evolving thing in the next few years that agencies are going to look at. So this isn't the end for us. We'll continue to study and refine it over time. And I want to give you some – our January 30th rate study community meeting was a lively discussion. We had roughly 30 people in attendance. We sent flyers to every customer, personalized envelope flyers, so we really tried to get people at the meeting. We had about 30 in attendance. And you can see here, these are the general comments. No. Uh-oh. Sorry. The alternative three that we were kind of proposing, most people that were there thought that the flow component wasn't enough. Most people thought it was great that we were looking. We got some good feedback that we're looking at it. So I think that was a positive customer feedback that we're trying. Most people thought, as I mentioned before, the flow-based system is most equitable in the customer's eyes. The floating homes, we got some feedback from as far as their contributions and adjustments that they think we should make. Let's see. And you can go down the list there. So the feedback in general was good. I thought it was a good process, and it gave our customers an opportunity to give us some feedback. And I think another reason why the board wants to revisit the issue. Some of these suggestions were pretty good ones, actually, but we were constrained a little bit with our ability to put something in place quickly because of Prop 218, which we couldn't increase rates. We have to keep them where they are. So with that, we did the best we could with the adjustments we could make under our current existing ordinances and resolutions to avoid Prop 218 this year, and then knowing we'll do some more work later and do some refinements. with that. Thank you. With that, that kind of concludes my... My talk, there's plenty of expertise here to answer questions. Should you have any? So I'd be happy to do that. Thank you. |
| 02:24:00.66 | Unknown | Thank you. Any questions right here? |
| 02:24:05.62 | Craig Justice | Thank you. |
| 02:24:05.65 | Thomas Theodores | I'll just. say that, you know, this is a daunting task that you're faced having sat through this process on the Marine Energy Authority newly created entity as they tried to figure out their own deal for how to charge people's stuff. And I would encourage you to talk to them. And you obviously are working with MMWD on the flow side of things. So just in terms of brainstorming, but I see your challenge here, and I'm loathing that you're taking it rather than stick with the current system because it is the current system. So I won't tell you what to do with it. I can just say those guys might be able to – I know the energy folks have learned a lot in a very short period of time, and it might be worth the conversation for you and their folks on how they went about analyzing this and the feedback they've gotten since they've started charging people money. And it may or may not apply to you, but it's a good sounding board. |
| 02:25:03.55 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:25:04.66 | Ray Withy | Any other questions? At this time, do you have any questions from the public? Comment? Okay. Ray? |
| 02:25:23.16 | Ray Withy | I don't have a question. I want to give you some comments. You heard during the presentations this evening from both your city staff and from us a phrase called inflow and infiltration. Thank you. You probably know what that means. You may not know the significance of it. this happens to mean storm water that gets into a sanitary system that ends up ending up at the treatment plant. Now that storm water can get in either through leaking pipes or through things like a downspout that sends water into a sanitary system instead of into the gutter. Now that inflow and infiltration is extremely significant. to give you an idea of how significant it is During summer months, our treatment plant receives roughly about 1.3 million gallons of water a day. in a heavy storm that same water flow coming into the treatment plant can go up to over 10 million gallons. and that's only from inflow and infiltration. Just figure out what the factor is there. |
| 02:26:55.90 | Ray Withy | It's also an unfortunate fact that most of that inflow and infiltration does not come in from the public source or from our main trunk line leading to the treatment plant. Approximately 90% of that storm water comes from another term you've heard many times this evening, laterals. And those laterals, as you well know, or emanate from private properties. So that's the root of our problem, inflow and infiltration, and unfortunately, most of it from laterals, over which we have no direct control. we have to find some way to alleviate it in that from you from that source, but it's extremely difficult. And you have to appreciate that. Thank you. |
| 02:27:52.87 | Ray Withy | Okay. Thank you, Ray. |
| 02:27:55.64 | Ray Withy | Okay. |
| 02:27:56.32 | Ray Withy | Any comments here? |
| 02:27:57.97 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:27:58.81 | Ray Withy | Well, |
| 02:28:01.33 | Ray Withy | Sure. Earlier in the evening it was mentioned that Bob Simmons has retired and I just wanted to take a moment to really thank Bob and the work that he's done on behalf of our community. Your partnership, your effort, your commitment to work with us has set the bar that we've used over and over now with other partners like Golden Gate Ferry, the park services you saw come earlier. But really want to appreciate all the efforts that you've did for our community. and your cooperative spirit. Jonathan Goldman, myself, Todd Teachout, we'll miss you very much, and we hope that you come fishing off of our waters here and come stop by often. |
| 02:28:50.33 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 02:28:56.02 | Ray Withy | And I want to thank Ray, Bill, and Ann for serving on that board representing Sausalito. Norman, once again, thank you for all the years of service, not only in our city, but representing on the board. And Bob Simmons... We will miss you because I think you've really brought this along. The one thing that stands out in all All the communications with you has been fairness. Okay? You've been very, very fair with this city, and we really appreciate that. So hopefully when we build a new fishing pier next to the Trident, You'll be there. So thank you. At this time here, we're going to take up to a five-minute break. |
| 02:29:56.70 | Ray Withy | We are back. Next item on will be the 2012-13 mid-year budget review. Charlie Francis, thank you for bearing with us time wise. |
| 02:30:11.45 | Jonathon Goldman | I'm sorry. |
| 02:30:11.92 | Ray Withy | Esteemed Charlie Francis. |
| 02:30:13.71 | Thomas Theodores | Good night. |
| 02:30:13.71 | Jonathon Goldman | Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council. The agenda item is the mid-year budget message. And the message of the mid-year budget message is, I'll be telling you tonight, is that the city's near-term financing is in good condition. In other words, we can pay our bills. The city's financial condition is measured in terms of growth in net assets and growth in fund balance. It's increasing and this means to the layman that our ability to pay our bills is improving year over year. And finally, the message tonight will also focus on that the outlook for the future is very favorable, that the financial strategies that started the policies legislated and promulgated by the City Council through the Finance Committee and implemented by staff are improving our financial condition and will continue to improve our financial condition so that we can move beyond sustaining our levels of service but actually become resilient for our levels of service. I'm going to be trying to portray that message tonight through this agenda, an agenda that will first look at our general fund, finally do a SWOT analysis, and then there's an action that I'll be asking you to take tonight, and that will be making a supplemental appropriation, a small supplemental appropriation, but that supplemental appropriation is more than covered by increased revenues. First, I just want to take a quick moment to say that this is a, we're in the beginning of a two-year budget cycle. It starts by preparing the two-year budget, adopting it, and then having an annual financial report, which I distributed to you in the past couple of months. But that's not, in between all that activity, there's a lot of other activity that goes on. We monitor monthly budgets. We do day-to-day analysis, week-long analysis, monthly budget analysis. We analyze quarterly treasury reports. Those monthly and quarterly reports go through the Finance Committee and onto the City Council as progress reports. And we're continually calibrating our financial projections and analysis so that we can make real-time adjustments if need be or bring real-time recommendations back to the City Council if any need to be made. Then tonight we have a midterm budget review, how we stand, and then the next step in the process will be adopting the second year of a two-year budget, which would be the fiscal year 14. But that's not to say we don't take other things into consideration. Between now and next year's budget, we'll be doing another priority calendar and maybe some strategic planning, and that will also feed into the second year of the two-year budget. We'll produce another annual financial report, which will be another midterm budget review. |
| 02:32:58.72 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. In your faith, Goldman, he just cooked you. |
| 02:32:59.91 | Jonathon Goldman | Old man, he just cooked you. Thank you. |
| 02:33:03.51 | Thomas Theodores | You know he was mocking you earlier if I had the time to do fancy graphics. Watch him. |
| 02:33:12.45 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. Sorry, Charlie, sorry. |
| 02:33:15.02 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Don't get choked up over that, though, Charlie. |
| 02:33:17.11 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah. |
| 02:33:18.83 | Jonathon Goldman | be a General fund. Why do we look at the general fund? And what is a general fund? You know, it's just a fancy accounting nomenclature for all the resources that come from the community in terms of taxes and fees, and then those resources are used to pay for police services, recreation services, library services, street maintenance, the planning, the building inspections, the engineering services, and eventually it provides a major funding source for capital improvements. What it doesn't provide for is the sewer fund, and we just went through an hour and a a half of sewer funding so we usually don't include that in the midterm budget review. And what we want to point out today is that at the beginning of the year when we adopted our fiscal year 13 budget we anticipated a surplus of $111,000 here at midyear. we're anticipating a surplus of 208,000. We're saying that that growth and surplus is occurring because a couple of our revenues have come in stronger than we had originally anticipated due to the growth in the economy. And our departments have done a great job in managing their budgets, keeping them within their budgets, and there was one extraordinary item, which I'll explain in a little bit, that requires a supplemental appropriation. Real quickly, 48% of our revenues come from taxes and most of those taxes come from property taxes. This is what allowed us to go from 2009 through 2012 and weathering the economy because of the inelasticity of our tax base. You know, the elastic part, the part that responds to the economy with sales tax and TOT but because most of our taxes come from property taxes, we were able to weather the economy without any major cuts in levels of service, without cutting staff. Um, and now, and through conservative budgeting, underestimating our resources and overestimating our expenditures. The sales tax and the TOT have shown growth in this new economy, so we're anticipating added revenues from there. This is a picture of your expenditure budget in terms of departments. We can see where 32% of our budget is police and the rest is spread out in services. If we want to look at this in terms of direct services to indirect services, 52% of the budget is direct services to the community and 48% provides support to all the city, not just to the general fund. |
| 02:35:54.79 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:35:56.73 | Jonathon Goldman | And so this is a summary of the revenues. We anticipated at the beginning of the year 13.749 million. Looks like we're going to generate 13.81 million, which is $132,000 over our budget. Expenditures will come pretty much online with budget except for an appropriation of information technology. I'd just like to take a minute to explain this. Back in when we were building the public safety building, we had two pots of money coming into the Public Safety Building. One pot was from the bond proceeds, and those bond proceeds could only be spent on the facility. They could not be spent for furniture and fixtures. The other pot of money was an allocation from the general fund for furniture and fixtures and the other kinds of expenses that the bond payment by the facility. ordinance could not pay for. At the end of the project, The bond money that we had surplus bond money left over, that was given back and refunded through the bond issues which resulted in lower debt service for our constituents, our taxpayers. So they got a tax reduction. The pot of money that came from the general fund stayed in the capital project fund for one year to pay for warranty items that needed to be addressed in the year following when we occupied the building. At the end of that year we took all that money and put it back into the general fund as was budgeted by the city council. During that process this was a project putting these servers in to meet a state mandate that was recognized, but a purchase order was never written against that remaining pot of money, so it went into the general fund. And your action tonight to provide a supplemental appropriation for this will just be bring it out of the general fund and allow the IT department to install it for the police department. We cannot not do this. I don't like using double negatives like that, but it's a state mandate and rather than wait for next year's budget, the resource was there from the prior year and I'm recommending that we appropriate it. You know, if you wanted to ask clarification questions along the way, it's certainly okay. If you want a smooth presentation and hold your questions at the end, well, that's okay, too. The SWOT analysis is simply an acronym that means let's look at our strength, let's look at our weaknesses, what opportunities do we have in the future, and what are our threats. And we do this through continuous fiscal monitoring and planning. That's one of our strengths. As I mentioned earlier, we're continually calibrating our financial projections and looking at what impact that has on our future. But that's not long-term fiscal planning. That's only long-term fiscal projecting. So the strength is we're continuously doing it. I'm gonna be recommending to the Finance Committee tomorrow and I'm gonna explain it here this evening that we initiate a process of long-term financial planning. But let's look at what we do. and what we do project and how we do How does management analyze? Well, we look backwards a lot. And here we look at the fund balance projections. And the reason we look balance backwards is because trends do tell stories and they do highlight where information could be lurking or where opportunities may be. And we see that when we look backwards at the red columns on your right. Over here. These are our. Uh, unrestricted liquid cash balances. They were negative back in 2005-6. So you can see the continual growth in giving us healthy reserves. Another reason we look backward is to answer two questions, two very important questions that every government needs to answer. Are we doing the right things? And we answered those questions by saying we would be better off if the fire district annexed our fire department. We repositioned the services we delivered and we said yes, now we're doing the right things. The second question we asked ourselves is are we doing things right? And then we said, well, our labor costs are getting high. And through the council's action for the beginning of this year through our labor agreements, we were able to negotiate a way to restructure our labor force to bring down the cost of labor from its current 73% projected to be 65% as attrition occurs without hurting our workforce, without losing valuable employees that provide mentoring to the new workforce. So we've managed our costs. We've structurally balanced by answering those two questions. And finally, we have measured growth. So when we put all that together, and comes into trends. And as I mentioned earlier, we're looking at a $208,000 surplus this year, perhaps a $250,000, but the projection right now is in 2014. And then projections positive, revenues exceeding expenditures as we go off into the future. This is recognizing some of the challenges we're facing. But again, it's not long-term financial planning. Long-term financial planning is really a multifaceted process and it has four major phases. The first phase is the mobilization phase where we decide that we're going to undertake planning. The second phase is the forecasting and analysis and then finally comes, not finally, next comes the decision phase. And this is the heart and meat of financial planning. It identifies those strategies that are needed to maintain fiscal health and balance, to sustain our fiscal health and balance, and concludes in the process of creating a financial plan that will make us resilient. And then there's the execution phase. That's where we operationalize the long-term plan through mechanisms such as the budget. Now that's a lot, financial planning. But that part of financial planning won't work unless there's another part to financial planning, and that's the organizational dynamics. We have to be, what I mean by that is we have to address those factors that that aligns stakeholders together through intensive participation in a discussion process and a planning process, results in managing change, the organization's change, and builds credibility so that all the people, all the participants and the constituents will be confident in the results. The four C's on that are communication, collaboration, credibility, and change management. So that's absolutely necessary for long-term financial planning, and that's what we'll be talking about with the Finance Committee tomorrow. A picture of that. This is a preliminary picture. It's just my draft that I'll be presenting. Shows different stages. The mobilization phase, the analysis phase, the decision phase, and the execution phase. And this shows a little chart that says who would be involved, where staff would be involved in the white activities, council and staff working together in the bi-color activities. And finally in the black activities where we bring critical points of public input into the process. Just proposed at this point, but it's an indication of how I plan to build credibility into the process and collaboration. This is a Gantt chart. It's not an easy process, it's a long process. And I've designed this Gantt chart to have the implementation phase be consistent with the next two year budget. So we can go take our time, examine the financial policies, look at the financial plans, look at what our future says, and then by the time we get to the 14, 16 budget, we're able to start implementing some of our policies. So, Let me summarize our smile. |
| 02:44:05.45 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:44:05.93 | Jonathon Goldman | healthy reserves, structurally balanced long-term financial planning. That's going to offset some of the threats we have. And some of our biggest threats aren't threats that we know. Our biggest threats are the ones that we have absolutely no control over. Our climate, the sea level rising, and geotechnic events. But still, we can put some things in play to allow us to consider what infrastructure we need to protect us from that. Our opportunities are to look at our MLK long-term strategy and how can we improve the resources that MLK can help the general fund with either by providing more recreation activities, not either, by both providing more recreation activities for our residents and returning some of the general fund investment in the MLK. Looking at the marinship long-term economic development, really, really important for one of our weaknesses. One of our strengths is the inelasticity of our property tax base, but one of our weaknesses is we don't get a lot of growth from our sales tax and our TOT tax. It's stuck in a band, and that band is growing only by inflation, not because we're expanding our economic development. So the marinship long-term economic development gives us an opportunity to overcome that weakness by nurturing more elastic revenues. It's another long way of saying that the city can pay its bills, our ability to pay our bills is improved, and we're manifesting the results of our past fiscal strategies, and I'm confident under the leadership of the council will continue to do so. So the council action tonight is merely to adopt a supplemental appropriation for $35,000 as detailed in exhibits A, B, and C to the resolution in the staff report. |
| 02:46:03.92 | Ray Withy | Okay. Any questions? |
| 02:46:06.37 | Linda Pfeiffer | Yes, Ms. Mayor, I have a question, just a clarification. So, Charlie, I noticed that on page three it says property taxes transferred to the SMFPD are estimated to be 2.667250. What percentage of our property taxes? That's the annexation chunk, correct? That's the final... |
| 02:46:34.81 | Jonathon Goldman | Bye. Bye. Thank you. That was the agreement that was part of the annexation with that fixed dollar amount. |
| 02:46:35.85 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. Percentage. |
| 02:46:41.00 | Linda Pfeiffer | Oh, so was it a percentage? |
| 02:46:44.59 | Jonathon Goldman | It was a percentage estimate at the time, but the amount was set as the exact amount of $2,667,000, which today is a smaller percentage than was during the annexation. |
| 02:46:57.67 | Linda Pfeiffer | So what percentage is that? I mean, because if we're looking at our total was 5.142. Is that what it was? |
| 02:46:57.69 | Jonathon Goldman | So, I don't know. |
| 02:47:08.41 | Jonathon Goldman | There were... |
| 02:47:09.86 | Linda Pfeiffer | or, No, no, 5.245. It says that's the net secured property tax. |
| 02:47:15.56 | Jonathon Goldman | The total property taxes is $5.8 million. |
| 02:47:19.41 | Linda Pfeiffer | Oh, 5.8, okay. |
| 02:47:26.39 | Linda Pfeiffer | Okay, so I guess what I'm asking is there was some confusion after annexation with respect to percentage or, you know, going forward every year. And I frankly heard two different answers from LAFCO and another source. So is it a percentage of our property tax or is it the number? |
| 02:47:28.30 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:47:28.32 | Michael Rex | I haven't calculated it. |
| 02:47:38.76 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 02:47:49.19 | Jonathon Goldman | No. The amount of money that's transferred from the city to the district the first year was $2,667,000. That amount will grow by the lesser of inflation or 2% every year. |
| 02:48:03.59 | Linda Pfeiffer | So it's the number. OK, thank you. |
| 02:48:07.26 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 02:48:07.97 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:48:07.99 | Jonathon Goldman | the question. |
| 02:48:08.61 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:48:08.68 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:48:08.89 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:48:09.85 | Unknown | So... |
| 02:48:10.07 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:48:10.20 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:48:10.39 | Ray Withy | you Thank you. |
| 02:48:10.84 | Unknown | come. |
| 02:48:11.82 | Unknown | Well, I had a question on the camera. You had 35,000 on here, and on the memo it says 24,660. |
| 02:48:11.96 | Unknown | I'M GOING TO BE ABLE TO |
| 02:48:22.05 | Jonathon Goldman | Oh, the memo that was attached to the staff report was, there was a hurry because I was attending a conference, and so the memo was attached to the staff report was without the necessary redundancy that's needed for a backup server. So the $35,000 provides the additional resource so that they have what this request is for plus a backup server. And if Rhett were here, he could explain it in more detail. I don't know if John, if you have more information on it. But the number is 35,000. |
| 02:48:22.06 | Unknown | Not sure. |
| 02:48:56.45 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you. |
| 02:48:56.47 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:48:57.00 | Jonathon Goldman | Any other questions? |
| 02:48:59.31 | Ray Withy | Does Knightmere any comments, public comment? Thank you. Okay, let's bring it back up here for comment. Thank you. |
| 02:49:07.42 | Unknown | or move to |
| 02:49:08.57 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:49:08.59 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:49:09.30 | Thomas Theodores | I'll just say one thing to thank Charlie for his continuous evolution of our both reporting and planning for the city's finances. We're lucky to have. him on our team, and looking forward to this next stage, which he just wanted to get to many years earlier. We hit the basic stuff first, and now we're hitting the long-term planning for a longer, longer future than just the next few budget cycles. And I want to thank you for leading us down that path. It's going to set the city up. for a long period of time after probably we're ongoing. I don't know about you guys. But it'll certainly give people a lot more to work with who are coming in new to start that, hey, this path is laid before you. You can choose to change it, but at least there's a path to walk on rather than just stepping off a step into midair. So... Thanks, Charlie. |
| 02:50:13.81 | Ray Withy | you |
| 02:50:14.01 | Thomas Theodores | Okay. |
| 02:50:14.37 | Ray Withy | Thanks, Charlie. I think the presentations since I got on this council from you have been better and better. And I think next year we'll try to do it a little earlier so we can send you down to the Oscars on a nomination. |
| 02:50:14.54 | Thomas Theodores | Right. |
| 02:50:29.39 | Ray Withy | Right. |
| 02:50:29.72 | Unknown | Thank you. You know, I think it's worth everybody here and at home remembering that, or at least I acknowledge that Our city finances are extremely well run. And I think it's one of our great strengths, and we should acknowledge that. So Charlie, to you, your department, and all the staff, thank you. I'm also particularly excited that we're embarking on long-range financial planning. It's so important, it's going to be such an important tool to be able to an extra tool to make decisions and also an extra tool to help inform our residents what's going on and how the hydraulics of the budget, this complex budget works. So well done. |
| 02:51:17.90 | Unknown | it. |
| 02:51:21.60 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:51:22.04 | Unknown | Thank you. If you compare that to what's Thank you. |
| 02:51:23.88 | Thomas Theodores | Park Service was saying earlier tonight, where Friday they might have 25% of their budget wiped out, we're doing a reasonably good job here and we're going to keep pushing ahead. |
| 02:51:28.58 | Unknown | 25%. |
| 02:51:29.02 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:51:29.16 | Unknown | your wife. |
| 02:51:31.27 | Unknown | It's a very good thing. |
| 02:51:36.62 | Unknown | leading us through. Okay. All right, so let's see what we're asking here for a motion. Mr. Mayor, if I may. You may. |
| 02:51:42.20 | Ray Withy | Mr. Mayor, if I may. You may. Just for the public and ask the council for their consideration is to move item 6D and 6E. So 6D is status update on FEMA and 6E is review and discuss the council policy on paperless agenda. Move that to the March 5th meeting due to the lateness of this evening and have item 6C. Council direction from City Council regarding the Butte Street property as our last business item of this evening. So my recommendation is for Council to move 6E and 6E. So moved. |
| 02:52:25.55 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:52:25.59 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you. |
| 02:52:25.64 | Unknown | Thank you. So moved. |
| 02:52:26.77 | Ray Withy | Okay. |
| 02:52:26.78 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:52:26.82 | Jonathon Goldman | Okay, second. Before you move off on that, we have to receive it. We have a motion, you need a motion to adopt the resolution for the supplemental appropriation and the budget item. |
| 02:52:27.65 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:52:27.66 | Ray Withy | All right. |
| 02:52:27.70 | Unknown | I'm going to go. |
| 02:52:31.02 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:52:31.06 | Thomas Theodores | We have. |
| 02:52:31.53 | Unknown | motion to |
| 02:52:33.43 | Unknown | Yeah, I see. |
| 02:52:33.97 | Ray Withy | I'm sorry. |
| 02:52:36.40 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:52:36.59 | Thomas Theodores | Okay. |
| 02:52:40.22 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:52:40.61 | Unknown | I'm just saying, but I have it. |
| 02:52:44.42 | Unknown | I move to approve the supplemental Thank you. |
| 02:52:48.01 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 02:52:48.03 | Unknown | Thank you. the resolution adopting the midyear 2012-2013. budget with the modification of an additional $35,000 for the Um, the Equivision camera server, is that correct? |
| 02:53:03.86 | Jonathon Goldman | You can just have the motion as recommended. The prison resolution is in the mid-year 2012-13 budget modifications. With modifications. |
| 02:53:07.52 | Unknown | in the mid-year 20s. |
| 02:53:09.44 | Ray Withy | So |
| 02:53:11.00 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:53:11.01 | Unknown | with my... |
| 02:53:13.92 | Ray Withy | I second that. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? None. Charlie, thank you very much for an excellent presentation and a positive one, too. |
| 02:53:26.74 | Jonathon Goldman | I just want to thank the city council for their... I just want to... We're just implementing your policies. |
| 02:53:34.07 | Ray Withy | Okay. Thanks. Thanks, John and Jonathan. |
| 02:53:40.53 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:53:40.83 | Ray Withy | See you in the pipeline. |
| 02:53:42.55 | Unknown | . |
| 02:53:45.49 | Ray Withy | OK. All right, the next is direction from the City Council regarding the Butte Street property. And once again, Charlie. |
| 02:53:56.81 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. The Butte Street property is kind of a relation to where the city is. It's highlighted on the map in front of you. It's a parcel that the city acquired ownership in a number of years ago. It has one-half undivided interest in this undeveloped real property, which is located on the south side of Butte Street. It's about two acres, and the other one-half undivided interest owner is the Raymond L. Hunt Trust. The other one half is the Raymond L. Hunt Trust. the Hunts would love to sell this property or to acquire the city's half. And they've been inquiring to do this for the whole four years that I've been here. It's had some controversy around it. And with the seating of the new council, they wrote a letter to the mayor and copied the city manager asking that the city be interested in purchasing their half for a sum of $350,000. This is not on the city staff's priority calendar nor is there money allocated into the budget for it. So staff is seeking directions from the city council on how to proceed. We've recommended four actions that the city council could take. I'd like to take the opportunity tonight to pose one additional alternative that you might have and that would be to, you could refer to Finance Committee, you could refer to OMIT, you could refer to a future closed session, you could reject the proposal and another option for you would be to form a task force and that task force would have four objectives. would be to confirm the intent for the city to keep that as an open space, to conduct an appraisal on that property, to determine this real value, to negotiate terms and conditions with the hunts, and finally to raise funds to purchase the property. So I don't really have anything more to add to the staff report. Staff is seeking direction on how to proceed. |
| 02:55:58.36 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 02:55:58.47 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you. |
| 02:55:58.57 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Thank you, Charlie. At this time here, what I would like to recommend is that we do create a task force. |
| 02:56:00.32 | Jonathon Goldman | Thank you. |
| 02:56:07.66 | Ray Withy | would be made up of seven members. One member would be from the pocket rec department. The other would be a council member and five members from the community. And I'd like to... I would like to open it up for names that I wish you would forward those to Debbie for the March 11th. Uh. meeting. to be, oh, I'm sorry, to be I would like the names so I could appoint these names for the March 19th meeting. So at this time here, |
| 02:56:58.69 | Ray Withy | Okay, any public comment? Okay. |
| 02:57:06.84 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah. |
| 02:57:07.21 | Ray Withy | Yeah. |
| 02:57:07.40 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 02:57:11.94 | Thomas Theodores | Everybody except you, though. Go ahead, Keith. Go ahead. A little bit. |
| 02:57:14.35 | Ray Withy | Hey. Go ahead, Keith. Go ahead. A little humor. Any time after 10 o'clock, anything can happen. |
| 02:57:18.98 | Keith Stoneking | Absolutely. |
| 02:57:19.31 | Thomas Theodores | Literally. |
| 02:57:23.48 | Keith Stoneking | Good evening, Mayor and City Council members. I'm Keith Stoneking. I live at 42 Lincoln Drive, and the last time this property came up under the controversy, I was spearheading along with other people about maintaining this property for open space and not letting it be a multi-development program. I think it's a wise idea to buy this property, but I think we have a couple of constitutional issues because as I pointed out to the city council last time, that since the other half was donated to the city, by Constitution, both of the people have to determine if it can be sold, rented, et cetera. And I think the other half of this property, if we acquire to it, has to fall under the same concept. I think the people at the north end of Sausalito would be very happy to acquire that property as long as we can guarantee by the vote of the people that that would remain an open space. And I think I could convince the people in the north end of town that we would subject ourselves to a parcel tax if that happened. but you're gonna have to have some guarantees. Otherwise, if the city goes ahead and tries to purchase this property, you have on there and without guaranteeing that it's going to stay as open space, I think you'll have a fight on your hands all the way around. And I'm pretty well versed with that north end of town for the last 37 years. So if you have any questions for me, I'll be glad to answer them. Thank you. |
| 02:59:23.28 | Ray Withy | No. |
| 02:59:32.83 | North Stamets | Hi, my name is North Stamets, and I've been living with my wife, Veronique Stamets, since 1982 in Sausalito. |
| 02:59:40.90 | Ray Withy | I can verify that too. |
| 02:59:41.81 | North Stamets | Yeah. So, I just want to bring up the history of the property briefly. When we first moved there in 1985, we lived in Turning Bonita in 82. But in 85, when we bought the property, we were told that the Butte property behind us couldn't be developed because they had some problems either with 101 drainage or there was some reason they were denied the ability to develop. And then that was in the 70s. Later in, I think, the 80s and the 90s, they tried to develop other means. And we had a problem in 1985 or 86 where we had the heavy rains and up above it flooded and then without the proper drainage it flooded down to on our two properties on 204 Buchanan and 205 Buchanan. We actually wrote a letter to the owners and to the city asking them to fix the drainage. And the city sent like a map to the two families. I think they're the Hunt families, or I forget the name of the families, asking them to build drainage and they didn't. Thank you. And to me, in the event that the city goes to buy the property, they're going to have the same problem as the current owner in trying to develop it. And it's one thing to maybe buy the property for open space. But my feeling is that these people can't develop it. And they're going to be forced to donate the property to the city like the other family. But I think there's a lot more priorities that I've seen tonight when it comes to the sewer and other matters for the city to better spend their money. And with that, thanks a lot for being here. |
| 03:01:44.28 | Ray Withy | All right, thank you. Any other people from the public? Okay, let's bring it back up. What I'd like to do, just to move this along, is this is my recommendation, is to create this task force. The idea of this is for them to come back in a very short period of time to see what options We have or what options are out there. And most of the the five people that will be chosen on that task force. will primarily be down at that end of town. Then not then, will they have Um, where there's something at stake for them. So at this time here, I'd like to go ahead and Let Linda Pfeiffer be the Liaison. not the chairperson, but the liaison to this. Cast for us. And I would appreciate all of you making sure that we get some good names in here to create this task force and try to move ahead with some direction on where we should go. So that's my recommendation. |
| 03:02:58.05 | Linda Pfeiffer | Mr. Nair, I'd like to respond. I'm concerned that knowing the history of this site, knowing that last year the city at one point put the exclusive negotiation agreement from Rotary Housing on a closed session agenda. I am very concerned that a task force would politicize this. I'm concerned, it's no secret, that I am concerned about the sensitive eco-habitat of that location. There's a creek running through it. I believe it's open space. And I just feel like we're embarking down a strategy that frankly has already bias baked into it. And that's just how I feel about this. And that bias is towards high high density development. And that's my concern. And so I also have to, you know, question the funding of this and where the funds are going to come from. We've got the sewer issue we just heard about with the EPA mandates. We've got the pension liability. And so I have several concerns about this. So that's... That's my response. |
| 03:04:38.75 | Ray Withy | There's many options. Let's see what a task force can do. There's many options. This task force could turn around and possibly recommend that a certain group of people in that area are through. some other nonprofit organizations. are able to purchase that property. and then turn around to the city and ask for the other half and make an open space. There's a lot of options there. It isn't, first of all, We don't have the money to spend on this. But still, nonetheless, I want to be able to have people that have a vested interest in that part of town to be able to look at the options and see what they are. and then bring it forward. Now, I asked if you wanted to be a liaison to that, and that's my recommendation. I know you've been involved in it. And no one's, and it's not political. This is not political at all. This is choosing people that live there in that area and let them choose or let them give us the options that are available. Okay. |
| 03:05:50.39 | Linda Pfeiffer | Okay, so I would recommend that we see what the response is from the residents in that area with regards to participation. And like you said, continue this to the next meeting and talk about it. |
| 03:06:03.15 | Ray Withy | Well, I would like to first get some names. |
| 03:06:05.49 | Linda Pfeiffer | Well, yeah, we'll send you names and see. |
| 03:06:06.54 | Ray Withy | Would you be willing to be our liaison? |
| 03:06:11.38 | Linda Pfeiffer | If you're talking about staffing that task force with people who represent the north side of town, then yes. |
| 03:06:20.80 | Ray Withy | I've already indicated. |
| 03:06:21.93 | Linda Pfeiffer | Okay, yes. |
| 03:06:23.03 | Ray Withy | Okay. All right. okay so mr mayor yes i'm sorry go ahead |
| 03:06:27.97 | Unknown | Cut. |
| 03:06:28.31 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 03:06:28.46 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 03:06:28.48 | Ray Withy | That's a good one. |
| 03:06:28.56 | Unknown | So, |
| 03:06:28.65 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 03:06:28.73 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:06:28.80 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 03:06:28.86 | Unknown | Thank you. I think it's, you know, this property is obviously quite controversial and I became really quite familiar with this during the Housing Element Task Force work that we did. in that there was a period of time when this site was being analyzed for um, certainly higher density development, and the task force ended up just taking that off the table because it recognized that this was a very complex site. The residents in that part of town just did not want it built out. They wanted it as open space. So even though I wouldn't want to pre-train, |
| 03:07:00.39 | Unknown | Recognized. |
| 03:07:16.33 | Unknown | Um... predetermine what the task force outcome is, I think it would be a very good outcome if a solution could be found where it could eventually be open space. Because, you know, there's a lot of worries that there's some secret plan to develop it for, and there isn't. You know, there might have been with some residents in the past, but there isn't. And so the more we can sort of work together with all the residents in the north part of town that I've got to know pretty well, and this property which I've got to know pretty well, and find a solution to make it open space. But that means that there's got to be some creative solutions with some residents be willing to actually put up some money. |
| 03:07:58.74 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:07:59.30 | Unknown | I don't see any other way it can be done because I don't see in our budget where we're coming up with $350,000. So, I would view it, Council Member Fyfer, as an opportunity to actually get the goal of it becoming open space. |
| 03:08:16.44 | Linda Pfeiffer | Well that definitely is my interest is the open space because of the environmental impact that would hit that neighborhood with the high density. |
| 03:08:31.75 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah, Herb, if I may comment, as far as I'm concerned, and I can't speak for anybody else, but I would assume case is There is no conspiracy happening here, and there is no preconceived notion of what the outcome should be. that I may make it easier to be worried about it, but it's not. I have none, and there was none before either. So and you have a bunch of different people sitting here too. So it's, you know, I think we should see what the reality is, see if it's worth actually purchasing, and see if some people are going to come out of the woodwork and, you know, say, hey, if we, this isn't, I agree with you, there are higher priority things to spend money on, though I'm a big believer in open space with our limited resources. Thank you. But let's see if we can actually for once in Sausli, they'll get people out of their, out of the, you know, they came out to do the public safety buildings and everybody chipped into that, frankly. And this is a case where it's a little more targeted and a little more, it's not going to be, you know, a park or anything like that, I would gather. If it goes down, it's not built for that. It's a steep lot. It's going to be more of an improvement to just, hey, peace of mind and protection of some habitat here, certainly. So maybe we can get people to come out and help on a more targeted basis to finance this rather than the city taking it on. |
| 03:09:58.55 | Linda Pfeiffer | And, Mr. Mayor, I'd like to just back that up with I agree that we don't have the funds for this. The city doesn't have the funds for this. And so it is going to be, you know, a creative exercise with the community to, you know, try to seek a win-win. |
| 03:10:17.99 | Ray Withy | Okay, so approval of that direction. |
| 03:10:22.94 | Unknown | Well, I think you're gonna bring it back. |
| 03:10:24.62 | Ray Withy | Well, |
| 03:10:24.64 | Unknown | Well, no. I mean, because there's not, you don't have a |
| 03:10:28.98 | Unknown | Yeah, what do we get up here? |
| 03:10:30.63 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:10:30.85 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 03:10:32.17 | Ray Withy | I think what the mayor was suggesting was to agree to create a task force, bring back on March 19th names, and then for the council to appoint the task force and give them their initial direction. So this item would come back on March 19th, between now and then, return names to the city clerk. |
| 03:10:32.57 | Unknown | I think what the Yes. to lower head and go forward here. |
| 03:10:43.66 | Thomas Theodores | Uh, |
| 03:10:44.08 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:10:54.29 | Thomas Theodores | Thank you. |
| 03:10:54.41 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 03:10:57.58 | Thomas Theodores | All of us. |
| 03:10:58.02 | Ray Withy | Yeah. |
| 03:10:58.31 | Thomas Theodores | Yeah. People can volunteer to be on this as well, so get the word out to folks who are on it. |
| 03:10:59.91 | Ray Withy | Thank you. as well. you As we saw with the Housing Element Task Force that Councilmember Withey mentioned, at their very first meeting they had over 100 people in the audience. That would be a terrific outcome if the community actively participated in these creative as Councilmember Pfeiffer just noted. Okay. |
| 03:11:28.61 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 03:11:28.63 | Ray Withy | So be it. |
| 03:11:29.14 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Okay, all right. Next, we'll go to city manager reports. Thank you, Charlie. Thank you. |
| 03:11:42.39 | Ray Withy | I'm going to defer the city manager report to the next meeting, but just a gentle reminder that the MCCMC meets tomorrow night in Cora Madera. If you have not yet confirmed, please do so with our city clerk. Otherwise I'll defer the rest or answer any questions that you may have. With one note, when you look at the future council look ahead, the three-month look ahead, and moving two items from tonight, you can see that we're going to have meetings that go past 10 o'clock. We'll do our best to try to maintain that as best as possible. |
| 03:12:24.18 | Ray Withy | Thank you. |
| 03:12:24.20 | Ray Withy | Okay. |
| 03:12:24.64 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Public comment? |
| 03:12:30.33 | Ray Withy | Thanks for coming. Thank you. Future agenda items. |
| 03:12:36.39 | Linda Pfeiffer | Um. Mr. Mayor. Thank you. |
| 03:12:39.19 | Ray Withy | Yep. |
| 03:12:39.20 | Linda Pfeiffer | Thank you. First of all, I need to tell Debbie, Debbie, I'm sorry, I can't make the MCC MC tomorrow. I can do cocktails, I can't do the dinner. Sorry, I have a meeting at 8. I don't know if this is a future agenda item, but the bathroom downtown is looking so beautiful. And great. And I'm hoping we can have some sort of a ribbon cutting ceremony or something. |
| 03:13:05.14 | Ray Withy | Yeah, we ordered the ribbon brown and yellow. |
| 03:13:08.01 | Linda Pfeiffer | Yeah, it just looks fantastic. |
| 03:13:12.35 | Thomas Theodores | You've missed his comment. He's lucky that he didn't. |
| 03:13:15.11 | Ray Withy | It was a boil flush anyway. |
| 03:13:15.15 | Thomas Theodores | It was... |
| 03:13:17.26 | Linda Pfeiffer | No, I think it's great. I just really love it. |
| 03:13:22.00 | Ray Withy | Okay. Bye. Thank you. Okay, public comment? I don't think anybody wants to comment on that one. Council member of committees, if it's anything Not important, very important. I'd like to move on with that. |
| 03:13:39.63 | Thomas Theodores | We should make time because we're trying to read one of the things we agreed on is to be better about this. So if anybody has anything they want to share about anything. You're talking to it. Anybody? I'll... |
| 03:13:43.60 | Ray Withy | him. |
| 03:13:51.73 | Unknown | Hello. |
| 03:13:52.05 | Unknown | Yes, sir. |
| 03:13:53.59 | Unknown | I attended my first meeting last month of the Marin Energy Authority. |
| 03:13:58.52 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:13:58.55 | Unknown | The authority. Was that shocking? |
| 03:14:03.04 | Unknown | Um... |
| 03:14:04.22 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:14:05.79 | Unknown | It was an interesting experience. It went on a long time. It even actually beat our council meetings, some of the long ones. Can I make it? |
| 03:14:11.26 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:14:18.82 | Unknown | A couple of things to I was, you know, I'm just beginning to get my arms around this and, you know, it's a complex set of stuff. A couple of surprises. I was interested to learn that there's actually line items in their budgets for energy savings initiatives, which I didn't even know was in the remit of this. it apparently is. The other thing that I didn't realize is that they're expanding their customer base into Richmond, so it's moving beyond Marin. So these are things that are going on. They're about to, in March, set the annual budget. which is essentially a done deal. And they have a rate setting study ongoing and they'll be setting a new rate I don't quite know how the rate comes after the budget, but apparently that's the way this utility works. And it's going to come in just about a dollar a month more than PG&E. So it's almost competitive, and the dollar swing is in part due to PG&E's surcharge on the future. So the thing is, as I'm slowly getting my arms around it and we'll benefit from Vice Mayor Leon's previous experience on this, that You know, we need to just keep monitoring, I think, and see how this next cycle, this next year cycle goes, the expansion into Richmond goes before one could ask the question, how about stability and so on. So I think it's just to now just keep monitoring and learning. And unfortunately, I'll be missing the next four meeting, which is on March 7th. I don't know if you want to hold for that, but it's, I have pre-arranged travel plans. Oh, okay. |
| 03:16:24.16 | Unknown | Oh, okay. |
| 03:16:27.45 | Unknown | So that's the beginnings of me trying to peel the onion there. |
| 03:16:33.60 | Unknown | No, that wasn't lightning. |
| 03:16:37.29 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 03:16:37.97 | Unknown | While I do it. |
| 03:16:38.02 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:16:38.05 | Unknown | while I do it. |
| 03:16:38.61 | Unknown | . |
| 03:16:38.96 | Unknown | He's in. |
| 03:16:39.64 | Unknown | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 03:16:40.04 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:16:40.45 | Unknown | the, the, We had the MCCMC legislative committee meeting. I'm the man. |
| 03:16:47.57 | Unknown | And, |
| 03:16:48.97 | Unknown | They run that meeting at 8 o'clock, but they get you out by 9. So that's important. |
| 03:16:49.04 | Unknown | They run that meeting. |
| 03:16:55.43 | Unknown | But... It's the new term. God bless you. God bless you. |
| 03:16:57.80 | Unknown | God bless you. Thank you. |
| 03:16:59.94 | Unknown | New term, and I think they have something like 800 or 900 new bills, and they're just coming out with all these new bills. But a couple of interests, and I think if you're really interested in some of the details, is go on either Mark Levine's website or Maureen Evans, because they've come out with all these different bills, particularly Mark Levine. But to a note, one is he's got a bill that seeks flexibility in the housing element requirements for Marin County specifically. Now, there's not a lot of detail with it. And I think it's the way it's going to be measured. And even what he has on his website is just really one paragraph on it. But that's something that we want to follow and pay attention to. And the other one is just more of an interest. the Sausalito houseboats, he's also proposing a mechanism that if the marina owners sell, that the boat owners are allowed to buy the property, I think, as they'd have to combine the way a condo association would do, and they would have the right of first refusal. Again, that one's also somewhat vague, and they're moving on it, but those are two things. And there's a number of them. There's issues on smoking and bags and quite a few items of legislation, so I'd recommend going on the websites and taking the work. |
| 03:17:58.34 | Unknown | Condo Association. |
| 03:18:12.23 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:18:12.25 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:18:12.28 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:18:12.49 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:18:12.50 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 03:18:17.50 | Unknown | You can't. |
| 03:18:19.72 | Ray Withy | Thank you. Any public comment? Vicki? |
| 03:18:25.55 | Nancy Horner | Thank you. |
| 03:18:25.56 | Ray Withy | . |
| 03:18:26.74 | Ray Withy | Okay, next, any other reports of significance? Back with Vicki. Okay, will that move for the adjournment? So moved. Second. |
| 03:18:38.84 | Unknown | So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay. |
| 03:18:40.58 | Ray Withy | of, Thank you. Hi. |
| 03:18:42.27 | Unknown | Amen. |
Barbara Geisler — Neutral: Asked about bike access under the Golden Gate Bridge, receiving confirmation it is accessible. ▶ 📄
Leslie Schoferman — Against: Urged preservation of the tranquility and open space at Fort Baker, opposing increased traffic, convenience stores, or facilities that would disrupt the area's peacefulness. ▶ 📄
Jerry Wynkoop — Against: Advocated for maintaining the area as a veterans' community and recreational therapy center, emphasizing military history and the need for peace for disabled veterans. ▶ 📄
Vicki Nichols — Neutral: Questioned how the existing building footprint would accommodate proposed uses like a cafe, noting the space limitations. ▶ 📄
Johnston Melbestad — Against: Suggested retaining the marine railway and crane for income, opposed water taxis with bullhorns, and urged keeping the area quiet without commercial development to avoid crowding. ▶ 📄
Louie Kanotis — In Favor: Highlighted Travis Marina and Presidio Yacht Club's efforts to increase public access and partnership with RBMA, expressing hope to continue operations and improve facilities. ▶ 📄
Bonnie McGregor — In Favor: Supported revitalization to preserve and maintain historic buildings, citing examples of other military bases lost to deterioration and emphasizing revenue potential without overdevelopment. ▶ 📄
Peter Van Meter — In Favor: Expressed excitement about the historic restoration continuing at Fort Baker's waterfront and endorsed the Park Service's efforts. ▶ 📄
Michael Rex — In Favor: Advocated for preserving the site with minimal changes, proposing a boat builder in residence and marine programs through RBMA to honor the area's heritage while restoring facilities. ▶ 📄