In October 2020, the San Rafael Social Justice Community Art Group (Group) formed in response to the community's desire to support the social justice messaging which was embedded in the chalk art mural created over the Summer of 2020 honoring Breonna Taylor’s life at the intersection of Las Gallinas and Freitas Parkway. After multiple discussions, the...
The City Council will consider an ordinance proposed to be adopted on an urgency basis that would enact a temporary moratorium on rent increases (“rent freeze”) for tenants residing in certain residential units through December 31, 2021. The proposed temporary moratorium would solely apply in two designated US Census Tracts, Tract Nos. 1122.01 (Canal Neighborhood) and 1122.02...
The City of San Rafael hereby requests proposals for on-call tree services from a qualified tree maintenance business that is duly registered and licensed with either a C61-D49 or C27-D49 license in the State of California. Services shall include routine tree services as required by the Public Works Operations and Maintenance Manager at various City...
Last Friday, the Bay Area Region met its first three week marker under the Regional Stay Home Order. On Saturday, the State confirmed that the Bay Area will remain under the Regional Order for now. Regular assessments of our ICU capacity projections will be used to determine when changes in the existing orders are warranted. You can view the ICU capacity numbers by region, the state is updating these daily, as well as maintaining a...
The Facilities team was asked to return the former Parking Services office to its original open space configuration. In order to accomplish this, three walls totaling over 40 ft. needed to be removed. Electrical switches were relocated from the wall that was removed and the wall area where the previous walls stood were also repaired. New ceiling...
Facilities team staff Omar Garcia and Anthoney Heaven disconnected four electrical outlets at the corners in the intersection of Fourth St and D St and installed tamper proof covers. This was done to prevent both unsafe tampering and unlawful loitering in the downtown area.
Francisco Boulevard East is an important connection between the Richmond-San Rafael bridge and the Sir Francis Drake Flyover to Larkspur and is used by many bicyclists. The Richmond-San Rafael bridge is expected to reach their 100,000th bike rider in January! Together, the City of San Rafael, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), and the Bay Area...
Construction is moving along for the new signalized crossing on Third Street at San Rafael High School. The south (shopping center) side is complete and the driveway for the delivery trucks is open. The north (school) side is nearly complete. The last phase is the median, which the contractor broke ground on Tuesday January 5....
Streets and Parks Division crews have made a concerted effort to pick up as much of the fallen leaves as possible along City streets. Sometimes it seems like a losing battle as it takes some time for the leaves to stop falling! Different types of equipment are used to aid workers such as rakes and...
Garage Division staff picked up a new electric vehicle that will be used as a Parking Enforcement buggy. We anticipate these vehicles will be more reliable and cost effective than the vehicles that have previously been used. Here you see mechanic Jay Arieta securing the vehicle for transport back to DPW to be retrofitted for...
Along with assisting the Streets Division with storm preparation, the Parks Division continues with regular maintenance throughout the City. Here we see Parks Division Mechanic Jim O'Hagan painting over graffiti on a wall along the Puerto Suello bike path. Any type of derogatory or gang related graffiti is removed immediately as graffiti in this area...
City contractor Maggiora and Ghilotti Inc. recently rebuilt the small timber lagged retaining wall on the Northwest corner of Second Street and Irwin Street that had been damaged. This small project took place over a period of three nights and the City will be reimbursed for the repair work. ...
On the week of Dec 28th, demolition work began on the existing Southern Heights Bridge. Most of the bridge deck has been removed and the remaining supportive structure will be demolished in the coming weeks, weather permitting.
Last week the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) brought their sediment testing plan for the San Rafael Channel to some of the regulatory agencies last week, the first key step in the dredging permitting process. Regulatory agencies involved in the dredging permitting process (yes – USACE needs a permit too!) include the DMMO (Dredge...
The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for General Plan 2040 and the Downtown San Rafael Precise Plan is now available for public review and comment. The City is providing a 62-day comment period on the document, extending from January 7 to March 9, 2021. The Planning Commission will hold a hearing on the DEIR on...
Yesterday, the State provided an update on COVID-19 activity across the state, California’s collective hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) capacity, and the Regional State at Home Order. The Bay Area region will remain under the Regional Stay Home Order until January 8th at the earliest with potential to extend depending on four-week ICU capacity projections. Currently, the Bay Area’s available ICU capacity is 7.5%....
Our key message today is to please keep yourself and those around you safe and healthy. Hunker down at home as much as possible with movies, puzzles, walks, books... maybe some virtual coffee with a friend or an evening virtual storytime with a grandparent! Whatever you do, think about how the choices you make about...
The City of San Rafael is part of a new cross-sector effort to develop a countywide strategic plan to address local internet access and digital equity gaps. The project, called Digital Marin, will look beyond infrastructure needs and identify opportunities for data sharing, efficiencies, resiliency, and digital service improvements. The plan will outline projects and...
Yesterday, health care professionals began administering the COVID-19 vaccine in the Bay Area. Today, Marin County hospitals and skilled nursing facilities received the first of the county’s allocation of 1,950 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Distribution of a vaccine is a huge step in the direction of preventing and fighting the coronavirus. As supplies become available, Marin County will distribute...
San Rafael, CA – This holiday season, The San Rafael Police Department wants to remind the public about the importance of being safe and sober when you are driving. While the COVID-19 pandemic is changing how we celebrate the holidays, SRPD is dedicated to keeping the public safe and urges people to stay at home or...
Monday night’s San Rafael City Council meeting was a historic evening as Kate Colin, “Mayor Kate,” was sworn in as the City’s first female Mayor (since the City was chartered in 1874!). Mayor Kate was the 4th woman elected to the San Rafael City Council, Councilmember Maribeth Bushey was the 5th, and then Monday night Councilmembers Maika Llorens Gulati and Rachel Kertz joined them. Councilmembers Llorens Gulati (District 1/South) and Kertz (District 4/North) are the first to represent...
The concrete has been poured on the south (Montecito Shopping Center) side of Third Street and the contractor is moving on to the north side of Third Street! The south side was the most complicated, given existing utilities for all the development on that side. Construction should go quicker on the north side and in...
The sunny weather has allowed DPW crews to catch up on winter prep. They have made a concerted effort recently to address the autumn/winter leaf fall as well as clearing out some of the major storm water outlets. In the photo you will see Streets Lead Worker Kenny Gatlin clearing cat tails from an outlet...
Playgrounds may remain open to facilitate physically distanced personal health and wellness through outdoor exercise. Playgrounds located on schools that remain open for in-person instruction, and not accessible by the general public, may remain open and must follow guidance for schools and school-based programs.
Parks Division has been busy assisting the Streets Division with winter prep as well as handling many other projects. Along with trying to keep up with the autumn/winter leaf fall in the parks, they recently did some restoration work to the Pickleweed field. This included aerating, fertilizing, seeding, top dressing and dragging. In the photo...
Local City contractor Maggiora-Ghilotti repaired a section of roadway this week at the intersection of D St and 2nd St. A portion of the concrete roadway was buckled in multiple locations due to damage caused by large tree roots. This was causing multiple humps in the roadway and was a safety concern for vehicle control...
The Jacoby Street rail crossing was not included in phase 1 or 2 of San Rafael’s Quiet Zone implementation because the crossing was a private crossing at the end of the line and by Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rules quiet zones cannot begin or end at a private crossing. The City asked SMART to close...
Thanks to the combined efforts of Streamline Builders and DC Electric, lighting has been installed along the multi-use path between Andersen Drive and Rice Drive. These LED lights are mounted to the existing fence between the creek and the pathway and are set to illuminate automatically once the sun has gone down. ...
Last week Public Works submitted a major grant for the reconstruction of Fire Station 54 under FEMA’s new Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) Program. If successfully awarded funds through the BRIC grant program, the City would receive $4.1m in federal funds, with a $1.4m local match, for the $5.5m Fire Station reconstruction. The project qualifies...
Be a part of an exciting new chapter in the City of San Rafael as a member of the City Council. This November voters elected San Rafael’s first female mayor, Kate Colin, and two new council members. The election of Mayor Kate created a vacancy that is now open for appointment by the Council. The...
