From the City Manager
Mary Neilan


Yellow Bus Challenge 2.0
Last year the City partnered with the Town of Tiburon on a pilot project designed to reduce school related traffic congestion on Tiburon Blvd. by subsidizing the cost of bus passes in hopes of encouraging more Reed Unified School District families to give bus ridership a try. The program launched fairly late in the school year and while there was an increase in the number of bus passes sold, there was not sufficient interest to warrant the program going forward.

As we reviewed the results, both City and Town agreed that the concept had merit, but clearly there were concerns other than price that kept families from using the bus. So we conducted an in depth survey of RUSD parents that revealed a number of other factors that kept ridership relatively low. It was primarily time on the bus (length of the routes) and convenience of bus stops (not close enough to home) that kept many families from riding.

That information informed our discussions over the last few months, and led to a proposal to increase the number of buses, expand the routes and address parents’ other concerns as best we can. Perhaps these changes, along with the same 50% reduction in the price of a bus pass proposed last year, will be the incentive parents need to give the school bus service a try.

A joint meeting of the City of Belvedere and Town of Tiburon will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6:30pm at Reed School to discuss this project in more detail. We invite everyone from the community to attend, particularly parents who might have questions or comments.

Immediately following the joint meeting, the Belvedere and Tiburon Councils will convene separately to consider funding the project (subsidizing the cost of bus passes) for one year. If the project proves successful, we will strategize ways to allow it to continue, absent City and Town funding.

Students that currently walk or ride their bikes to school as well as families that are able to carpool help us all by keeping cars off the road and we applaud you for making that choice. But for those of you for whom that is not an option, perhaps you will be intrigued by the new and improved school bus system and will want to accept the Yellow Bus Challenge 2.0!


Storm Approaching!
Some much needed rain is expected this weekend throughout the Bay Area. Current predictions suggest the storm will begin sometime Thursday night and get heavy by Friday night. The City prepares for storms such as this by doing the following:

• Monitor and compare various weather reports for:
  Wind, Rain and tidal patterns that would affect community
• Clean storm drain inlet grates
• Additional street sweeping to clear debris if necessary
• Inspect and replenish sandbags in sandbag stations located at: Community Rd, West Shore Rd and Lagoon Rd
• Inspect and monitor  “hot spot” areas for potential drainage/flooding problems
• Prepare vehicles and equipment for Emergency deployment
• Prepare Corp Yard Generator for use during power outages

In addition, we work closely with the Town of Tiburon to manage the water that flows from their hillsides and impacts Belvedere. Since the last storm, Tiburon has washed and vactored the box culvert under the bike path at San Rafael Ave, removing six yards of gravel and sediment. The City also worked with the property owner at 6 San Rafael to clear vegetation out of the creek bed that runs through his property, allowing water to flow more easily to the Bay. We are hopeful these efforts, along with our routine storm preparation, will help avoid the kind of backup and flooding that occurred in December.


PG&E and MMWD Projects Ongoing
Circulation around Belvedere is a challenge these days with PG&E replacing gas lines on San Rafael Ave. and Marin Municipal Water District replacing water lines on a number of other city streets. Progress is slow for PG&E; MMWD seems to be moving at a faster pace. Both projects will continue through February and into March.

The contractors are being responsive to concerns about traffic safety and project coordination, and we encourage anyone with questions to call the respective project managers. For the PG&E project, call Ian Chapman, PG&E Field Engineer at 415-716-8409 and for the water line project call Andrew at MMWD, 415-945-1561 or Orlando Viramites with Maggiora & Ghilotti at 415-459-8640.

On December 19, 2013, the CPUC approved an overlay that will add the new 628 Area Code to the 415 Area Code region.  Under the overlay plan, current 415 Area Code customers can keep their numbers, but as of February 21, 2015, all calls made from the 415 Area Code will have to be dialed using 1 + area code + 7-digit telephone number.  This means that all calls in the 415 Area Code that are currently dialed with 7 digits will need to be dialed using 1 + area code + 7-digit telephone number. If customers do not use the new dialing procedure, their calls will not be completed and a recording will instruct them to hang up and dial again.

For more information, please visit: www.cpuc.ca.gov/415areacode