Citing the need to upgrade aging pipes and equipment and keep up with inflation, the Marin Municipal Water District is proposing a four-year rate increase starting in July as well as a new fee that would add another $163.50 or more to the average customer’s property tax bill each year.

MMWD's board is set to vote on the rate and fee increases at its May 14 meeting, preceded by a public workshop on Thursday, April 25 at the Mill Valley Community Center (6-8pm). The board is expected to discuss the rate and fee hikes at its next meeting, set for March 19 at 7:30pm at its offices at 220 Nellen Ave., Corte Madera, CA 94925.

Customers' additional annual fees, which will be levied on their property tax bill, will be determined by the size of their water meter, as district officials say a larger meter has the capacity for significantly higher water demand than a smaller meter. Most customers in Mill Valley a 5/8-inch meter and and thus will incur a first-year fee of $163.50 (which can be increased by the MMWD board by up to 4 percent each year after that).

Fifty-two percent of non-residential (mostly businesses) in Mill Valley have a 5/8-inch meter, according to MMWD data, and another 23 percent have a 1-inch meter, for which those customers would pay a $409 fee in the first year.

The district is planning at least $208 million in capital improvements in the next decade that would be paid for with the new fee revenue, according to the Marin IJ. The projects funded by the additional revenue include $18 million in seismic upgrades to its three water treatment plants, $27 million in maintaining and replacing storage tanks and $103 million to replace aging pipelines and pump stations, among other investments, according to district officials. About $1 million of fee revenue is proposed to go to fire fuel management and firefighting equipment.

District officials told the Marin IJ that the fees are meant to "shift the district away from borrowing money to pay for infrastructure to a cash-based system instead," resulting "in lower interest payments being passed on to customers, ultimately saving each customer an estimated $90 per year."

In addition to the new fees, the proposed water rate increases are meant to increase by about 4 percent annually to address costs of inflation.

An 2017 IJ editorial pointed out the turbulence of water policy in recent years: "Ratepayers have been whipsawed by the (MMWD)’s mixed messages. While following the district’s push for conservation, by cutting back on their water use ratepayers have reduced the district’s income. That led to last year’s approval of a two-pronged increase that boosted rates 27 percent, including fees for water, service and managing the district’s watershed. Then complying with the state’s emergency order to reduce water use during the drought, the district came back with another round of increases. Ratepayers have been using less water, but paying more for each drop."

The Mill Valley City Council is set to make a final decision on March 4 on how best to configure a section of Miller Avenue, and it's got plenty to consider: parking, safety, emergency access and a quintet of possible choices.

At the conclusion of the 18-month Miller Avenue Streetscape Project in 2017, the City Council decided to create a pilot project around how best to configure the roadway's Parkway section between Millwood and Willow streets, the area between the Mill Valley Lumber Yard and Mill Valley Music and Critterland Pets.

While the Miller Avenue Streetscape Plan, which the Council adopted in 2011, called for two car lanes in each direction through the Parkway, the segment was re-striped to one lane on each side during construction to allow for additional parking in the area. That decision was driven by the significant impact on available parking during construction, and the extra space on the road for bicyclists with one less lane for cars. The one lane pilot project provided 65 parking spaces in the Parkway, counterbalancing the overall loss of 65 parking spaces on Miller as part of the Streetscape project.

In weighing all of the options, City staff is giving the Council five choices for the Parkway configuration, ranging from turning the road back to two lanes in each direction and completely eliminating parking on both sides to keep it exactly as is. Staff's recommendation seeks to split the difference, maintaining one lane of travel on each side but eliminating all of the outbound parking – 37 spaces – gained in the pilot setup.

The City's environmental analysis has determined that there are no significant impacts associated with the one lane configuration, and its transportation study concluded that, for daily use of Miller Avenue, the one lane configuration has not negatively impacted traffic congestion, safety, travel speeds or cut-through traffic. The City public safety officials have advised that the one lane roadway configuration accommodates emergency and potential evacuation operations, and that the one lane configuration is wide enough to accommodate two streams of traffic in the same direction.

The city's study of parking within the Parkway section concluded that parking in that section is occupied 82 percent during the day and the outbound curbside spaces that would be removed by the recommended option are occupied 73 percent during that time.   

The Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors weighed in on the issue, encouraging the Council to maintain the existing configuration for a variety of reasons, including the potential unintended consequence of driving employee parking into the local neighborhoods and discouraging consumers from coming to lower Miller Avenue and downtown.

"Additionally, we encourage you to consider restricting most of the 37 outbound spots to those with Employee Parking stickers, whose owners we can track if necessary," The Chamber noted in its letter to the Council. "We note that at this time neither the former funeral home/childcare center on Miller nor the restaurant at the Mill Valley Lumber Yard are open.

The 411: For more info on this issue, read the staff report here. Send your comments to cityclerk@cityofmillvalley.org.

Despite ongoing North Bay concerns around issues like workforce housing and long commute concerns, and unhelpful “federal zaniness,” Marin County’s economic outlook looks healthy through 2020.

That’s the word from Dr. Robert Eyler, professor of economics at Sonoma State University and the Marin Economic Forum’s chief economist. Eyler was among the speakers at an MEF event that centered on “Workforce Challenges and the Future of Work,” drawing more than 300 local business leaders to the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael.

“How many of you are looking at your stock market portfolio everyday?” Eyler asked the crowd, urging local business leaders to avoid letting market volatility dictate their business decisions. “Don’t do that. It’s very tough not to get sucked into that vortex, but if you do, you’ll make an emotional decision – think and plan forward.”

Eyler acknowledged that global and national themes, from trade wars and the UK’s Brexit from the European Union to the recent government shutdown and the fight over building a wall across a portion of the southwestern U.S. border, impact Marin and the North Bay from a macroeconomic standpoint.

But with a solid labor market – Marin’s unemployment rate is at a whopping 2.2 percent – the local impact of a recession won’t likely make its way here until 2021, Eyler said. That said, the continued impact of fires in Northern California and throughout the state, as well as the seemingly ubiquitous struggle to create workforce housing and reduce commute times, remain the biggest blow the regional economy must sustain, according to Eyler.

Hiring, from hospitality and food service to life sciences, medical technicians and web developers, remains Marin’s biggest challenge because of the aforementioned housing issues, he added.

Eyler was joined on the dais by a number of people at the forefront of the effort to train and attract the future workforce of the North Bay. “Those communities that figure out the talent pipeline are those that will win and the take the next step forward,” said Bruce Wilson, the executive director of the Workforce Alliance of the North Bay.

Elizabeth Pratt, the dean of the career and technical education and economic workforce development at the College of Marin, said a broad cross section of businesses and institutions are focused on stocking that pipeline.

“To have a thriving workforce, it’s important that all of these programs are working in lockstep,” she said. “We’ve made great strides toward creating more opportunities for our students  and helping your business.”

“Workforce development is not a social service – it is a service to economic development,” Eyler added.

Craig Nelson, board chair of the eponymous hiring and staffing giant, encouraged companies to combat the tight hiring market through a variety of strategies, from improving their employer brands on sites like Glassdoor.com and creating internal referral programs to providing flexible work schedules as needed and, of course, paying competitive wages.

The 411: MORE INFO on the Marin Economic Forum.

NOTE: Speaking of the hiring crunch, the MV Chamber and the City of Mill Valley are co-hosting a Mill Valley Job Fair on Tuesday, April 23, 3:30-6:30pm at the MV Community Center, 180 Camino Alto. Interested in participating as an employer? Email us here.

It was a tale of two evenings: On Wednesday, Jan. 16, inside the Sweetwater Music Hall, dozens of Mill Valley Chamber members and friends gathered for the debut of EMV After Hours in one of Mill Valley's most gorgeous spaces to catch up after the holidays, talk about the exciting year ahead, meet some friends and potential colleagues and celebrate the vital institution that is the Sweetwater. Delicious food was eaten, tasty beverages were consumed, fantastic raffle prizes were doled out and laughter abounded.
Once it ended, however, attendees were reminded of the colossal storm we'd forgotten about as we enjoyed this fine evening. As we walked out into the night, the swirling rain and howling winds that had sent trees crashing to the ground all over town, much of which was without power, got our attention. Thanks to all of you who came out despite the weather, and most importantly, to Madison Flach, Gordon Drysdale and their excellent team for hosting such a fantastic event!!

CHECK OUT GARY FERBER'S PHOTOS OF THE EVENING HERE!

Noticed the bright pink and blue markings all over the roadways in downtown Mill Valley?

They're a harbinger of big infrastructure upgrades to come over the next two years. The City of Mill Valley currently has $4.3 million dedicated to upgrading sewer systems, sidewalks, roads, and utility infrastructure downtown, an area that spans part of East Blithedale and West Blithedale avenues, Corte Madera Avenue, Throckmorton Avenue, Sunnyside Avenue, Bernard Street, and Miller Avenue.

The multi-colored markings on the sidewalks and streets are part of an effort to develop the base map for the downtown project, providing proper elevation of the streets, sidewalks and other features, according to project engineer Michael Hanlon. Poster told the Council that so many of the downtown features – streets, sidewalks, crosswalks – varied significantly in terms of height, thus making an effort to bring them all in line with one another both necessary but also complex.

The project also calls for safety, bicycle-pedestrian improvements and accessibility upgrades that could range from a shortening of long crosswalks at intersections like Miller Ave. at Throckmorton Ave. up to a "potential reconfiguration" of downtown streets, particularly around Lytton Square, according to City officials. 

A law passed in 2014 to help achieve California’s aggressive recycling and greenhouse gas emission goals moves into its next phase of implementation on January 1, 2019.  

In October 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1826 Chesbro, requiring businesses to compost their organic (biodegradable) waste on and after April 1, 2016, depending on the amount of waste they generate per week. Organic waste is food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste. The law phases in the mandatory recycling of commercial organics over time, and therefore an increasingly greater proportion of the commercial sector has been required to comply in each year since its passage.
 
Beginning January 1, 2019, all commercial businesses and public entities that generate 4-cubic yards of trash per week must recycle their organic waste to comply with new mandatory commercial organics recycling established under California Assembly Bill 1826 (AB 1826). These new state regulations apply to schools, stores, restaurants, businesses, and for-profit or nonprofit organizations located in California. New regulations also require multifamily properties with 5 or more units to have green waste service.

Businesses can meet these requirements by:

• Separating organic waste from other waste as part of trash collection. (See Mill Valley Refuse Service website link for organic waste collection services).
• Recycling organic waste on site, or self-haul organic waste off site for recycling.
• Subscribing to an organic waste recycling service that may include mixed waste processing that specifically recycles organic waste. (See Zero Waste website link below).

The City of Mill Valley is working to educate our local businesses on new state regulations, and will be visiting local businesses in the New Year to provide assistance. Contact Danielle Staude, Senior Planner at dstaude@cityofmillvalley.org for more info.
    
The City of Mill Valley has reduced its Greenhouse Gas emissions associated with waste generation by 26% since 2005. The new organics composting regulations will also work toward the City’s Zero Waste goal, wherein all materials are recycled, reused or repurposed.

You can learn more about commercial organics programs through Zero Waste Marin and Mill Valley Refuse Service's website.

We threw a party, and seemingly everyone we know showed up! Our Holiday Mixer, the end-of-year party like no other at the Outdoor Art Club, was absolutely delightful. The event featured delicious food from Pizza Antica, Prabh Indian Kitchen and Parranga, wine from the Boisset Collection, champagne, beer and soft drinks and live music from the great Mill Valley Middle School Bluegrass Club. It seemed like just about everyone went home with a raffle prize thanks to an incredible amount of donations (thank you!) and everyone who came had a chance to chat with both old and newfound friends. Thanks to our team for nailing every last detail, to our group of Ambassadors for making it all so seamless, and to all of you for coming! See you soon!! Tuesday, Dec. 11, 5:30-7pm, Outdoor Art Club, One West Blithedale. 

GO HERE FOR GARY FERBER'S GREAT PHOTOS O THE EVENING!!

While traffic, parking and construction tend to be the subjects of much of the input the City of Mill Valley gets from the community, 5G – the latest generation of telecommunications infrastructure that promises faster mobile phone and streaming video service – has suddenly elbowed its weigh into the inboxes of City Councilmembers and City staff in recent weeks.

At its Sept. 6 meeting to discuss 5G and potential regulations for its implementation in Mill Valley, the Council faced an outpouring from members of the EMF Safety Network. The group that advocates limiting cell phone towers for fear of exposure to electromagnetic fields that they believe can exacerbate symptoms like fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, anxiety, heart problems, learning and memory disorders, ringing in the ears and increased cancer risk, according to the EMF Safety Network website. A Fairfax activist said 5G would add “another cloud to what we refer to as ‘electromagnetic smog,’ … just say no to 5G.”

Facing those concerns and that of others around the aesthetic impact of new cell phone towers within residential neighborhoods, the Council unanimously backed an urgency ordinance that strengthened its existing regulations around wireless telecom facilities in Mill Valley, “utilizing existing locations in our commercial districts, and other locations when it can be shown that there is a gap in service coverage in a specific area.”

The ordinance would require the provider to apply for a Conditional Use Permit that will be reviewed by the Planning Commission for any new wireless facility and the Zoning Administrator “for smaller amendments to existing Conditional Use Permits.” It also requires annual EMF readings to determine that the wireless facility is within compliance of federal and state laws.

Mill Valley Mayor Stephanie Moulton-Peters and City Manager Jim McCann delivered the annual State of the City to a group of Chamber members and friends on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Piazza D’Angelo restaurant.
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Over the course of a wide-ranging, substantive, data-centric and interactive hour, the pair dove into an array of subjects, from traffic and fire prevention to workforce housing and infrastructure improvements.

“We have a great partnership with the Chamber and we gets lots of things done and we always have lots to do and we’re very grateful for this partnership,” Moulton-Peters said at the outset of the event after some meet-and-greet time over coffee and pastries.

“The state of the city is .... busy,” Mayor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, recalling hearing construction trucks driving past her Blithedale Canyon home at the wee hours of the morning in the mid-2000s, and how quiet it got a few years later when the recession and real estate collapse hit. “It’s just like that busy period around here all over again, but more. But 10 years ago, people were adding bedrooms and bathrooms onto their homes. Now they’re tearing those houses down and building new ones.”

Moulton-Peters repeated Mill Valley Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Michael St. John’s oft-used phrase that “in Southern Marin, it just churns.”

One of our jobs is to help you sustain and grow your business. To that end, we've done educational workshops on a variety of subjects over the years, from digital marketing and taxes to hiring and managing the inter-generational divide.

With seasonal swings and an ever-fickle retail climate, the Mill Valley Chamber staff and board has decided to invest in your business, contracting with the Marin Small Business Development Center to have experts in their respective fields teach you how to maximize your business online, running the gamut from a two-part workshop on building an e-commerce store to getting recognized on Google and a master class on SEO strategies.

With the support of the City of Mill Valley and Pacific Gas & Electric, each workshop is on a Tuesday afternoon in the Mill Valley Community Center's Mountain View Room, with easy access and ample parking. You can register for each session below its description.

Here's a breakdown of what we're offering:

​Get Recognized Using Google My Business and AdWords

Have something you want to sell online, but not sure how?
Already have an online store, but know it could be doing better?

If so, then this is the class for you! We broke this workshop up into two parts so you can decide what will be best for you. This one covers the tips and tools for selling online, getting into product sourcing, digital marketing and platform selection. The next workshop is where you get to build your online store using Shopify. This is hands-on, so bring your laptops!

Each participant will leave the workshop with:
- An extended 60-day free trial for their new online store
- A full directory of digital resources to help run and grow your business
- A digital copy of the presentation to reference later

Date: 10/9 | 1-3 PM | MV Community Center (Mountain View Room), 180 Camino Alto 

Instructor Ramin Ramhormozi owns two eCommerce businesses and is a partner at SKU, a premier agency in the Northern California focused on e-commerce strategy, design and development. Ramin has helped many companies successfully strategize their ecommerce goals, taking their products from concept to market. He assists with platform selection, on-site and off-site marketing initiatives, SEO with keyword analysis, social marketing strategies, content curation, product data mapping, dropship and fulfillment set-up.

NOTE: For those that want to get everything they need to build and operate an online store, it is strongly recommended that you take this workshop and the "Create an Online Store with Shopify" session on Oct. 23, as listed below.

With an understanding of how to sell online from the previous workshop, it’s time to put it into practice and build your own online store using Shopify. This is hands-on, so bring your laptops! You will learn the tips to successfully setting up your store and get noticed online.
​

Each participant will leave the workshop with:
- An extended 60-day free trial for their new online store
- A full directory of digital resources to help run and grow your business
- A digital copy of the presentation to reference later

Date: 10/23 | 1-3 PM | MV Community Center (Mountain View Room), 180 Camino Alto

Instructor Ramin Ramhormozi owns two eCommerce businesses and is a partner at SKU, a premier agency in the Northern California focused on e-commerce strategy, design and development. Ramin has helped many companies successfully strategize their ecommerce goals, taking their products from concept to market. He assists with platform selection, on-site and off-site marketing initiatives, SEO with keyword analysis, social marketing strategies, content curation, product data mapping, dropship and fulfillment set-up.

NOTE: For those that want to get everything they need to build and operate an online store, it is strongly recommended that you take this workshop and the "Ecommerce Tips for Selling Online" session on Oct. 9, as listed above.

This workshop will explain basic to intermediate principles of SEO so that business owners can transform their websites into lead-generating machines. Attendees will take away:

• strategies to get their websites ranking with both on-page and off-page tactics
• free tools that deliver the best keyword research and tracking
• low-cost ways to build landing pages that attract leads
• a peek at what's most likely to be included in Google's next algorithmic shift
 
Date: 11/6 | 1-2:30 PM | MV Community Center (Mountain View Room), 180 Camino Alto

Instructor John Sames, principal at Sames Digital Marketing, helps small businesses grow through better internet marketing and online presence. His firm is based in San Rafael.