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March 10, 2012 Belvedere E-Notifications

Introducing... "Belvedere...Let's Talk!" Visit the City's website and along the left hand side you will find a column of quick links.  New on the link list is "Belvedere...Let's Talk!"  Belvedere...Let's Talk! is a community voice tool designed to generate ideas and thoughts from the community on new projects, events, community activities, fundraising ideas, and more!  Use Belvedere...Let's Talk! as a forum - you can add topics, make suggestions, generate new ideas for community groups and the City. The site will be moderated by the City but is designed as a free-form forum for your thoughts on how to make Belvedere a better place! Belvedere...Let's Talk! Planning Commission Special Meeting on Flood Zone Land Use Amendments On Wednesday the Planning Commission met to discuss potential land use amendments for properties in the FEMA Flood Zone.  If you missed the meeting, you can catch the audio podcast online via the City's Meeting Audio link on the website.  In brief summary, the Commission opted to continue discussion on amendments that would be consistent with the expectations set out in the City's General Plan.  The Commission will be deliberating about changes for several months as they work to craft an ordinance to recommend to the City Council.  The City is still awaiting the final numbers from FEMA for the flood zone as their 2009 Flood Insurance Map provided data only factoring in "still water" calculations.  This is anticipated to change in early Fall.  The Commission will be setting out quarterly meetings to focus on the flood zone land use changes as well as changes to the Design Review Ordinance.  Subscribe to the City's E-Notifications or visit the City's website often for details as they emerge.   Sincerely, George Rodericks City Manager

Table of Contents
Senior Access Caregiver Connection Changes to Marin County Public Health Laboratory		MMWD Proposes 6 Percent Increase MMWD Proposes Extension of Fire Flow Fee Marin Village - Volunteer Opportunity
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Senior Access News Caregiver Connection Saturday, March 10 - 10 am to 2:30 pm 70 Skyview Terrace, San Rafael Do you care for a friend or family member who lives with chronic illness or cognitive impairment?  Then back is where it's at!  Back to school that is!  Caregiver College, designed by Family Caregiver Alliance, is a FREE half-day workshop with experts on a variety of topics. Topics will include: Caregiver Self-Care Understanding New Behaviors Hygiene/Grooming Incontinence Dental Health Sign-up today - by RSVPing to Mimi Schreiber @ (415) 491-2500, extension 19 or via email to mschreiber@senioraccess.org.  The program is FREE of charge and takes place on Saturday, March 10 from 10 am to 2:30 pm @ Senior Access, 70 Skyview Terrace in San Rafael.  Senior Access and its programs are a grant recipient of the Belvedere Community Foundation in support of their site at St. Stephen's Church where they operate a social club for folks with memory loss.  The "club" is available to clients with memory loss who live Marin. Back to Top
Changes To Marin County Public Health Laboratory Public Forum Tuesday, March 20 - 6 pm to 8 pm The Marin County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is evaluating whether Marin County should participate in a regionalized public health laboratory service. The department is seeking comment from the public, community practitioners, state associations, employees, neighboring counties and laboratory professionals as one step in the deliberations. “A regional lab will allow Marin County to have the full resources of an experienced lab available in times of disaster and disease outbreaks even though the day-to-day demand for Marin County alone is relatively low. It would take advantage of the current regional relationships being developed among Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake Counties and follow the path set by other neighboring counties, such as Napa and Solano,” said Craig Lindquist, M.D., PhD, Interim Public Health Officer for Marin County. The proposal will be addressed at two upcoming public meetings: The Department of Health and Human Services will conduct a forum on the proposed regional laboratory on Tuesday, March 20, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Marin County Office of Education, 1111 Las Gallinas Avenue San Rafael The Marin County Board of Supervisors (BOS) will discuss the proposal during the BOS March 27th, 2012 meeting At both of these meetings, staff will present their findings and recommendations with opportunity for public comments.  Changes to county and safety net clinical services in Marin have significantly reduced the volume of services provided by the Marin County Public Health Laboratory. Public health laboratories, including Marin County’s Public Health Laboratory, conduct laboratory tests and analyses for communicable disease outbreaks; screen for agents of bioterrorism in the event of a disaster; and serve as a reference lab for local hospitals. The labs also test for environmental risks and foodborne illness outbreaks, tick identification and the detection of respiratory viruses. There are 58 counties in California and 33 county public health laboratories. “For 58 years, the Marin County Public Health Laboratory has provided excellent service to the community,” said Larry Meredith, PhD, Director of Health and Human Services. “We appreciate the ongoing work of laboratory staff to protect and serve our community,” said Meredith. Like many counties, Marin has been faced with the challenge of limited resources. Marin County first conducted feasibility studies on joining with a nearby County along with careful analysis of its Public Health Laboratory. The March 20th and March 27th discussions will outline the proposed regional relationship. A public health laboratory regional relationship would meet all state and federal statutes, licensing requirements and performance standards along with continued provision of all laboratory and clinical tests currently available at the Marin County Public Health Laboratory. Testing services would continue with substantially the same turn-around times for test results, and in compliance with all testing time requirements. The regional relationship would provide assurance of continued “surge” capacity for a disaster. Marin County could take advantage of the current regional relationships being developed among Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties with annual savings of approximately $300,000 a year. Back to Top
MMWD Proposes 6 Percent Rate Increase First Hearing - April 19 Customers and property owners in MWMD's service area will soon be receiving information in the mail from the district announcing two public hearings set for this spring. At the first hearing, scheduled for April 19, the MMWD Board of Directors will consider approving a proposed 6-percent rate increase. At the second hearing, on May 17, the board will consider approving an extension of the $75 per parcel annual fire flow fee (see article below for more information on the fire flow fee). The rate increase, if approved, would apply to meter readings taken on or after May 1 and would be reflected in water bills issued on or after July 1. The average customer's bill would go up by a maximum of $5.63 per two-month billing period, increasing from $94.44 to $100.07, or slightly less than $3 per month. Even though MMWD has cut costs considerably in each of the last three years, expenses are going up starting July 1. In addition, the district can no longer tap into reserves. Since 2006 MMWD has been spending down reserves to minimize the impact of higher costs on water rates; however, reserves are now at a minimum level and need to be restored to keep the balance from dropping lower and to fund current and future capital improvement projects. MMWD is holding a public workshop on the rate increase proposal on Thursday, March 29, 6:30-8:00 pm. The board proposed the rate increase at the February 16 board meeting. The original rate increase proposal was for 6.5 percent; the board reduced that to 6 percent at the meeting. Back to Top
MMWD Proposes Extension of Fire Flow Fee At a public hearing scheduled for May 17 the MMWD Board of Directors will consider approving an extension of the $75 per parcel annual fire flow fee. The Fire Flow Fee is dedicated to capital improvement projects that improve the fire-fighting capacity of the district's water system. The fire flow fee funds raised since the program began in 1997 have supported the investment of approximately $70 million for the replacement of more than 60 miles of fire-flow deficient (undersized) pipelines, the installation of 750 hydrants and seismic retrofits of the water treatment plants, critical storage tanks and pump stations. But there is still more to be done, which is why the Marin County Fire Chiefs Association (MCFCA) formally requested last November that MMWD extend the fire flow fee and program beyond 2012. The extension would allow MMWD to replace 12 miles of pipe from the original fire flow program that were not funded due to inflation and would also fund an additional 40 miles of fire-flow deficient pipes as well as other related projects.   MMWD is holding a public workshop on the fire flow fee extension proposal on Thursday, April 26, 6:30-8:00 pm. The board proposed the extension at the February 16 board meeting.  Back to Top
Marin Village - Opportunity for Volunteers Our Tiburon Peninsula Village (TPV), part of the Marin Village network which consists of neighbors helping neighbors to age gracefully, keep active and keep socially engaged, is growing and needs volunteers to share the tasks (and rewards!) of serving on the TPV steering committee and/or being available to provide rides, do errands, and share conversation with members.  To learn more, contact a TPV co-chair: Fran Wilson, (415) 789-8945, fhwilfly@gmail.com Marilyn Goldeen, (415) 435-6166, mrgoldeen@gmail.com Susan Wilkins, (415) 435-1121, solarus@gmail.com