In anticipation of the new time-limited parking changes coming to East San Rafael, the City recently sent over 4,000 letters to residents, businesses, and property owners in the area. Public Works spent the past few weeks marking locations of poles that will be installed to hang the new signs associated with the parking changes. These...
On Monday evening, Lauren Davini, Traffic Engineer, brought the San Rafael Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan 2018 Update to City Council, where they approved the Plan and the Negative Declaration unanimously. Updating a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan is no easy task; it was a year and a half of gathering and mapping existing conditions,...
Two years ago the City of San Rafael - in partnership with St. Vincent de Paul, Homeward Bound, the County of Marin, Buckelew, the Marin Housing Authority, and the Ritter Center - launched the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT Team) to house long-term, chronically homeless individuals in our community. Fast forward to earlier this year, and the...
Pre-construction inspections were completed on June 18th. Staff is now working on finalizing the data for inspections of the 366 private properties that applied for the Sidewalk Repair Program. Depending on the work required, some homeowners may see white spray paint on their sidewalks. Due to the Fourth of July holiday week, and double the...
The San Rafael Age-Friendly Task Force is happy and grateful to announce that we have received a matching grant from the Marin Community Foundation (MCC) and the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The City of San Rafael made the grant possible by matching the funds that were available through MCF/HHS. The grant funds will be...
During the month of June, Alten Construction completed the excavation of all footings and spread footings. Rebar installation for strip and spread footings were completed, inspected, and poured in place. Contractor also erected, formed and poured all basement columns. The installation of the shotcrete forms began by erecting all the forms along C-Street and 5th...
Project Progress During the month of June, Alten Construction completed MEP and fire protection rough- in at the Fire Station building. Framing activity continued on the 1st and 2nd floors as well. At the Classroom building, insulation, drywall and exterior plater were completed. TPO roofing and flashing were substantially completed as well. Site CMU was completed...
Project Progress During the month of June, Alten Construction completed the CMU installation for the Apparatus Bay. Steel elements (in conjunction with CMU activities) were completed for the Living Quarters. Embedded MEP elements were completed and the concrete slab was poured for the Apparatus Bay and Living Quarters. Shop fabrication for remaining steel commenced. Potholing...
Downtown Streets Team has helped 100 people experiencing homelessness in Marin County regain employment. Since 2013, Downtown Streets Team has been a critical resource for helping the City accomplish its goals relating to homelessness, including ending chronic and veteran homelessness, decreasing the overall number of people experiencing homelessness, improving the quality of life for all...
On Monday evening, the City Council will consider adopting an update to the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. This plan helps guide improvements and set priorities to make it safer and more comfortable to bike and walk throughout San Rafael. Since the last update in 2011, over 7 miles of bike routes, bike lanes...
Also on Monday, the City Council will consider approving three agreements relating to the Grand Avenue Pathway Connector Project: a construction contract for a 12-foot-wide bicycle/pedestrian bridge east of the existing vehicular bridge along Grand Avenue over the San Rafael Canal waterway; an agreement for inspection services to review contractor work and manage coordination between...
On Monday evening, the City Council will consider a response to the recently released Grand Jury report, Body-worn Cameras and Marin Law Enforcement: Follow Up Report. Body-worn cameras became standard equipment at the San Rafael Police Department in October of 2014 and our officers have embraced the technology. We recently upgraded to a new generation...
Also on Monday night, the City Council will hold public hearings for the Baypoint Lagoons Landscaping and Lighting and the Point San Pedro Road Median Landscaping Assessment Districts. The proposed assessment for the Baypoint Lagoons Assessment District is $759.61 per parcel and supports the maintenance of various infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks, storm drains, landscaping, lighting,...
At their last meeting, the City Council discussed and approved several employee labor agreements with various bargaining groups. At their meeting on Monday, the City Council will consider approving the employee labor agreement with the Public Employee Union Local 1 bargaining group. For more information, read the staff report.
National Night Out: August 7, 2018 On Tuesday, August 7, 2018, neighborhoods throughout San Rafael are being invited to join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the “35thAnnual National Night Out” (NNO) crime and drug prevention event. NNO 2018 corporate sponsors are Dietz & Watson, Ring, Associa, and Package Guard. This is San Rafael’s sixth time...
Andersen Drive was reopened on Thursday morning on July 5, 2018. The roadway which was shut down for the installation of the SMART rail tracks underwent some significant reconstruction to allow the new rail tracks to be installed. In addition to the rail system new signals, and pathways adjacent to the tracks at the crossing...
SMART is currently working to construct their rail line from downtown San Rafael to Larkspur Landing. Their rail line follows the original alignment which was built in the 1920’s and crosses over Auburn Street. SMART intends to utilize the existing wood trestle that crosses over Auburn Street; however, they need to replace the original track...
The Streets Division pump crew began its 2018 storm water pump maintenance. First off, replacing a 25-horsepower submersible pump located a North Francisco pump station. This sump pump moves 1600 gallons of water per-minute and is one of two pumps that relay back and forth 24 hours day, even during the summer. In the next...
A grand opening ceremony was held on July 2, 2018 at Victor Jones Park to celebrate the installation of the two new play structures. The 2-acre park, which is located off of Robinhood Drive in the Glenwood neighborhood, was originally built in the late 1970s and utilized older play structures and facilities. The construction project...
Point San Pedro Road Streets Maintenance crews spent some time on Point San Pedro Road (PSP) at Loch Lomond Drive extending the existing red curb on PSP from 20ft to 80ft. In addition, the shoulder lane was changed to 100ft of “skips” markings leading up to Loch Lomond Drive for bicyclists. Las Flores at Las...
To help with the annual pump station clean outs, our maintenance crews have been utilizing the new vactor. It collected four loads of trash and other debris that has accumulated in the Montecito Pump Station over the year, equaling 27.3 tons of material.
Please Note: Beginning July, 9th 2018 the AM hours for Building Inspections will change. Instead of 9:00 AM to Noon; the hours will go to 8:00 AM to Noon. The PM hours will remain the same: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
At their last meeting, the City Council discussed several upcoming tentative agreements with various employee groups. At their meeting on Monday, they will consider approving agreements with SEIU, Western Council of Engineers, unrepresented management groups, as well as the elected City Attorney and City Clerk, for 2018-2020. They will also discuss a tentative agreement with...
At the Monday meeting, the City Council will consider setting the rate of a special tax on parcels in “The Strand” development in Loch Lomond. This tax supports the maintenance of infrastructure including streets, sidewalks, storm drains, landscaping, lighting, the playground, and more. Each year, an engineer’s study recommends an assessment to cover these costs....
Also on Monday evening, the City Council will hear an update regarding the process for a planning effort underway to explore possibilities for new and improved library facilities for San Rafael. The research phase of the project has been completed—looking at potential expansion, renovation, or new site locations for three potential library options: a new...
Project Progress During the month of May, Alten Construction work progressed on the Fire Station Building, the Training Classroom and the Training Tower. The Tower erection began the first of May and neared the structure 50’ top out at the end of the period. The Classroom stucco system brown coat was applied and completed the...
Project Progress During the month of May, Alten Construction completed the slab on grade for the Office and Living Quarters areas. CMU installation for the Utility Rooms was completed and continued for the Apparatus Bay and Living Quarters. The installation of steel elements (ledgers and columns) continued for the Living Quarters. Installation of supports for...
To help with the annual pump station clean outs, a new vactor was purchased about 4 months ago for our maintenance crews. A vactor is a vacuum excavating equipment. It is used to collect trash and other debris that has accumulated in the pump station over the year. This week our crews worked diligently on...
On Saturday June 16th, commercial property owners and the City of San Rafael Street Division joined forces to perform a clean-up of the commercial area located on Simms St, Dodie, and Golden Gate Dr. Volunteers from Bellam Self-Storage and other business owners from the area, pulled weeds, swept streets, sidewalks and litter picked throughout all...
