The Mayor’s Week in Review (Nov. 11 - 17)

The next big thing  . . .

A very important decision was made at a meeting on Tuesday morning that went virtually unnoticed, yet it involves one of our most vital core services – up there with safety.  We can’t live without it – in fact, it’s so vital to our lives that we just take it for granted.  If I were sticking around, this would be a huge focus for me as a Councilmember (which is why I strongly encourage all of you -- and my colleagues -- to embrace it).  Having given birth to a new General Plan, a path towards pension reform, a new Housing Element, a process for updating our zoning code, advancing our sustainability initiatives, and yes, even steam cleaning some streets, it’s really the next big thing. 

Give up?  Sewage.  Wastewater treatment.  Don't laugh – it’s true.  (Ask the folks in Lyons, CO what it’s like when the service fails.)  Last week I, along with my other colleagues on The Board of Commissioners for the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin, approved hiring Carollo Engineers to spend up to $120,000 on a Master Plan – a roadmap - for long overdue, much needed infrastructure repairs, as well as addressing social, safety and environmental goals for our old plant.  This was a huge decision. 

We wash our hands, we shower, we wash our clothes, and yes, we flush . . . where does it go?  Most of us don't care, or don't want to think about it.  We just take it for granted that it goes somewhere and is taken care of, just like we expect someone to show quickly when we call 911. 

The process is far from simple anymore.  Back in the day -- the turn of the century – life was easy: we just hauled and pushed and dumped our waste to the end of Sycamore into the wetlands.  It didn't matter – that was far away from downtown.  Nobody then could have imagined we’d expand that far.  That’s right: we just grew up around our dumping space. 

The current plant was built in the early 1983 with a then-anticipated 25-year life (because of the beating these places get).  I love the plant and the people who work there.  Unsung heroes who have kept things going.  We do it all here: collect wastewater, treat it, safely discharge it, and reclaim some of it for irrigation. It’s no secret that the plant has been challenged.  It was originally designed to handle about 3 million gallons per day (MGD) in average dry weather flows, and about 25 MGD (over a 24 hour period) in peak wet weather flow conditions (meaning that sustained flows above 25 MGD are likely to result in overflow and flooding).   And today, there’s this nasty little bugger called “I&I” that infects capacity.  That’s “inflow & infiltration” – broken laterals and storm drains, and other deteriorating infrastructure, that cause leakage into the sewer lines.  When you get the perfect storm -- bad rains with I&I – like we did in January 2008 -- you get problems – peak flows in excess of 25 million MGD. 

We are taking the right next step, hiring a high quality engineering firm to develop a roadmap for capital improvements over the next 20-30 years.  The price tag will be steep – I’m guessing around $20 million dollars – but that’s far cheaper than building a new plant, or the infrastructure to collect and pump our waste someplace else to be treated and discharged.  And the issues that need to be addressed in this effort are very real.  Immediate capital improvements are just the table stakes. We also need to look at development and its impact on future flows, ever increasing pollutant loads that need to be mitigated, fats, oils and grease (that we are all guilty of contributing), sludge off-haul, new regulatory compliance (including stricter discharge laws), nutrient removal, odors, new treatment technologies, methane gas recapture, ever increasing demands (limits) on addressing biosolids, getting more recycled water to more places, environmental concerns given the plant’s location adjacent to Richardson Bay, and of course basic safety and health concerns for our employees and yes, our kids, who go to school right next door.  Oh yeah: what about sea level rising that will only make the plant’s job harder?

Please – let’s not duck our heads on this one.  Doing this work is not going to change the way we live.  But it can’t be “out of sight, out of mind” either.  On the contrary, it’s “the next big thing.”

What else?

·      It’s official – our 2009-2014 Housing Element has been certified by HCD (State Department of Housing and Community Development). This is BIG NEWS.  HOORAY!  (PS:  Last week the time within which folks could challenge our General Plan EIR elapsed too – another “under the radar” hooray!) 

·      Typhoon Haiyan:  While the folks in Lyons, CO can attest to what it’s like when your treatment plant is wiped out, we know it can always be worse.  The tragic events in the Philippines remind us of the fragility of the things we reply upon most (food, water, shelter) in the face of natural disasters.  Ask yourself - if a massive wildfire or large-scale earthquake were to happen today, could you provide for yourself and your family for five to seven days?  What if you had to shelter in place but could not enter your home?  What if you were at work or out running errands and could not drive home?  This is what experts ask us to prepare for, and we have an incredible resource to help you plan: Be Smart - Be Prepared.  Also - if you have not done so already, click here to help Typhoon Haiyan survivors: Every dollar helps.

·      JJ & JJ:  There was so much activity two weeks ago around the election that I didn't want my personal congratulations to be lost.  I sincerely want to thank all 4 candidates who ran for the two open Council seats this year – and I want to congratulate John and Jessica on their elections.  

     John has a proven track record of service to Mil Valley, including two terms on the planning commission, Chair of a MV2040 General Plan working group, service on the Miller Avenue design advisory committee, as well as service on the Mill Valley Soccer Club board.  Finances are a crucial skill set for Council service and John’s background in finance will serve us well too.  He‘s been in town for 30 years, put his kids through school here, and his wife Cindy has been very involved in the schools here too.  John’s worked hard for this opportunity.  

     Jessica has also proven herself to be a spectacular young woman.  She’s a Mill Valley native and single mother who put herself through law school – impressive in its own right.  She’s also a founder of two non-profits.  She’s active in coaching soccer, teaches Sunday school at her church, and her background as an attorney makes her the type of person who digs into and learns any issue before her.  Net/net: I see in her the strength of character we need involved in our town.  She will bring much needed diversity to the Council too.   

     My sincere congratulations to you both. 

·      ‘Tis the season:  Our own Marin Theater Company is kicking off the holiday season with JACOB MARLEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL, By Tom Mula | Directed by Jon Tracy.  It will run from Nov 21 - Dec 22 and tickets for those under 30 are only $20 for any performance - a pretty good deal for great theater right here in our home town. 

·      Single Use Plastic Bags:  As you know, Council recently passed an ordinance banning single-use carry-out bags and a 5 cent fee for paper bags.  This ordinance applies to any pharmacy, supermarket, grocery store or foodmart within the City of Mill Valley. I just want to remind everyone that this ordinance goes into effect November 21, 2013 -- with enforcement starting January 1, 2014. 

About town: 

Monday:  

·      City Council Meeting (730 pm at City Hall):  For me and Shawn, our second to last . . .

·      Monday Night Movies -- La Traviata (Franco Zeffirelli, 1982) (730 pm at the Library):  Hailed as the best opera film ever made. 

Tuesday:   

·      Art Commission Special Meeting (6 pm at 401 Miller Ave.):  Click Off judging event. 

Wednesday: 

·      Friends of the Library Book Group (330 pm at the Library):  The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai

·      Art Contemporary Marin Lecture (530 pm at the Library):  Join Art Contemporary Marin as they present a free informal lecture on contemporary art by Roy Forest, an award-winning Mill Valley artist who has contributed a great deal to the local art scene.

·      American Experience Book Club (7 pm at the Library):  How Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent, by Julia Alvarez

Thursday: 

·      SASM Board of Commissioners Meeting (7 pm at the Plant):  We have an interesting agenda item around private laterals, a major source of headaches.  Ultimately, we need to rebuild Mill Valley from the ground up – and under ground are our sewer lines.  As I discuss above, they’re old – like old corroded arteries under our feet.  So are many of our private laterals . . . the lines we each own that take our waste out to the City’s main lines.  Think about what that means if yours is broken:  where’s your waste (not) going?   How does your garden really grow? 

Friday:  City Hall closed.

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Thanks, as always, for reading. 

Andy