At Monday’s meeting, the City Council will consider one of the most--if not the most--important recurring items: the City’s budget. The budget is the City’s fiscal plan that sets out anticipated revenues and expenditures for accomplishing a variety of services over a fiscal year. Basically, it’s our financial plan. This item is presented as a...
Also on Monday evening, the City Council will consider a resolution supporting the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act. In response to the housing crisis, in the fall of 2017 the California State Legislature and Governor Brown passed a series of new bills, including new measures to increase financial support for housing creation. Senate Bill...
On Monday evening, the City Council will consider a response to the recently released Grand Jury report, Sexual Assault in Marin: Evidence Collection, Processing and Backlog. The report finds that while Marin County has taken a positive direction in its handling of sexual assaults and support of victims, there are areas of improvement. The proposed response...
The City of San Rafael is proud to announce the launch of its new online business permitting portal, OpenCounter, which includes two new tools centered around business development. The first tool, a Zoning Portal, will allow users to explore where different businesses are permitted throughout the City. The second, a Business Portal, is designed to...
Last Thursday, the City of San Rafael - in partnership with the County of Marin, Downtown Streets Team, the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, and Homeward Bound of Marin - hosted Marin's 1st Annual Community Job Fair. The results are in - it was a huge success! According to Job Seekers .... ...
The City hereby requests proposals from qualified consultants for providing various professional services related to the San Rafael Vision Zero Program development (Project). Proposals shall be submitted by firms that have a capable and demonstrable background in the type of work described in the section entitled “Scope of Work” of this notice. In addition, all...
The fire on San Rafael Hill is now contained and does not pose a threat to any structures. Those concerned about smoke exposure should shelter in place. No specific shelter in place orders are currently in place. First responders will remain on site through the evening to make sure not additional concerns arise. Remember,...
We received a phone call stating that the water heater was leaking. DPW went on site and found that the 26-year-old water heater had ruptured internally. During the removal process of the old unit, we found that it also needed some sheetrock repairs. We repaired the wall and leveled the new water heater adding the...
Annual Pruning of Freitas Parkway Easement Clean-up Public Works crews have begun the annual pruning of Freitas Parkway. The work will continue for the few weeks. During this time, please note that there will be intermittent lane closures along Freitas Parkway as we trim the overgrowth. Frietas Parkway (between Montecillo Rd. and Del Ganado) Terra...
The City’s annual street resurfacing project is underway. Several streets have already undergone a full grind and contractors began the asphalt overlay. In total, this year’s project will include resurfacing of 4 miles of roadway and the installation of 13 ADA-compliant curb ramps. The project is funded through Gas tax revenues and the local Measure...
To combat over-parking in East San Rafael, the City Council took action in December to create a parking ordinance that allows the city to limit the time allowed for cars to park in this overused area of San Rafael to a maximum of 24 hours. Since that time, staff has been developing the signage and...
On Monday night, the City Council approved a resolution to construct a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path along the soon to be constructed SMART rail path from downtown San Rafael to Larkspur. On Wednesday, the SMART Board agreed to incorporate our project into their larger rail segment. The path, designed by BKF, will be incorporated...
SMART’s contractor anticipates finishing up the work at Andersen Drive and Francisco Blvd West by the end of the day on June 29th, 2018. Prior to completing this work, the intersection, and rail crossing will need to ground and resurfaced. This work will take several days to complete and will require full closure of the...
Intersection of Laurel Place and Wilkins Street: Streets Maintenance Crews installed a new crosswalk ladder and STOP Sign on the Wilkins side. Laurel Place has been a hotspot for speeding, so these new intersection improvements will provide increased safety for pedestrians. Fire Station 54 got new KEEP CLEAR in front of the station to prevent...
As we've seen, over the last 20 years a huge number of Americans have stopped participating in the labor force. We've also seen that for the average worker, wage growth has stagnated for over 40 years. The final piece to the puzzle of how employment affects homelessness is the way these trends impact personal savings/wealth....
Project Progress During the month of May, Alten Construction continued with the excavation of footings, elevator pits / stairs, and underground utilities (storm drain, fire line, sewer, waterlines, electrical and any sleeves required for future plumbing). After review /acceptance of the footing excavations by the geotechnical engineer, the contractor installed all the conduits and rebar...
On Saturday June 2, 2018 we'll be returning Tamalpais Ave (Mission to 3rd Street) to its pre-temporary bike lane condition as a two-way street and on-street parking on both sides. The Tamalpais Bike Lane was a temporary pilot project designed to get feedback and data on usage of the lane and the effect on traffic, pedestrian...
Project kicked off in Summer 2017 This is a Plan Update, not a brand new Plan. Updating policies in the existing plan to reflect new state laws, emerging issues, current data, and forecasts to 2040 Initial tasks were to retain a project manager, form a Steering Committee, and prepare a detailed Work Program Project manager...
Golden Gate Transit has kicked off their environmental and engineering work for the new Transit Center. Which has held three meetings so far; Citizens Advisory group 2/27, Managers Meeting 3/15 and Concept Development workshop 5/4. Golden Gate Transit is evaluating ideas and plans to bring their initial thoughts back to the working group at the...
Pothole on your street? Street light out? Something broken at your neighborhood park? You can text our Public Works department at (415) 993-9797. Tell us the issue, where it is and send us a photo if possible. We’ll let you know once it’s fixed.
On Monday evening, the City Council will also consider authorizing a request to SMART to issue a change-order to facilitate construction of a multi-use pathway from Andersen Drive to Rice Drive. This is a very important north/south bicycle and pedestrian connector that will eventually connect downtown San Rafael to Larkspur. The project would be folded...
We are excited to announce the launch of our new business permitting portal! The portal helps small businesses with their pre-work on researching zoning, fees, and site selection within San Rafael. The tools guide applicants through permitting workflows and estimates permit requirements and costs across all departments so applicants can understand the full scope of...
Also on Monday night, the City Council will hold public hearings to revise the animal control ordinance and update the fees. Proposed changes will incorporate recently approved changes to the Marin County ordinance with regards to potentially dangerous and vicious dogs, veterinarian reporting requirements for rabies vaccinations, and expanding the list of prohibited exotic animals....
Camp Chance is a 5-day residential summer camp with a mix of challenging physical, mental and emotional activities. Over 850 middle school at-risk and underserved youth have benefited from Camp Chance since 1999. San Rafael police officers join with Marin County Sheriff deputies to participate with the kids in all activities; this informal and personal...
Read Part 1 Here Housing "affordability" is often discussed in the context of housing prices, but it is equally dependent on how much we have to spend. For most of us, how much we have to spend is dependent on the wages we earn at our jobs. The Department of Housing & Urban...
Our Public Works crews from our Parks Maintenance Division have been laboriously trimming shrubs and other vegetation on the Las Gallinas median this week. Our Parks Maintenance Division’s hard work has not gone unnoticed. The following compliment on the work came in on our “Contact Public Works” form:
Public Safety Center – Foundation Pour When finished, the Public Safety Center will be the cornerstone of the City’s essential facilities. For now, it’s a big hole in the ground. At the bottom of that hole is a new, massive concrete foundation. The steel and concrete foundation is ready to support the 65,000 sf facility....
Public Works crews from both the Streets and Parks Divisions have begun high weed and vegetation removal throughout the City’s open space and fire trails. Our crews have been hard at work tackling vegetation overgrowth in advance of the upcoming fire season and Marin County Fair.
On November 6, 2017 the City Council accepted a grant award from MTC to modify signal timing to the 54 signalized intersections in Central San Rafael. Synchronization of traffic signals allows for coordination along main arterials, such as Second and Third Streets, to enhance traffic flow, reduce delay and minimize the amount of vehicles stopping at...
Francisco/Bellam to E. Francisco/Tiburon On Friday, May 21, San Rafael Public Works Streets Maintenance Division crews made improvements along the notoriously congested Francisco Boulevard E. and Bellam Boulevard intersection. The work in the area was done to help the backup along Francisco. Along Francisco Boulevard E. from Bellam to Tiburon the center turn lane (previously...
