The Ark

The Belvedere City Council has approved a conceptual design for a multimillion-dollar plan to strengthen the city’s seawalls, making way for the next phase of the project: more than a year of environmental review and feasibility studies aimed at producing solid cost estimates and a more detailed design. The council at its Dec. 14 teleconference meeting voted unanimously to authorize a deeper study of the plan, which features short, exposed seawalls and shoreline pathways alon...g San Rafael Avenue and Beach Road as well as flood fixes on stretches of West Shore Road and Main Street in Tiburon. Estimates show the project will cost about $20.1 million, not including a necessary piece in Tiburon that could cost anywhere between $60,000 and $4.3 million. HANNAH WEIKEL HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

The Belvedere City Council has elected Vice Mayor James Campbell as the city’s new mayor, marking his second mayoral term, while the role of vice mayor was given to colleague Sally Wilkinson, who was appointed to the council in July to fill an unexpected vacancy. The council at its Dec. 14 teleconference meeting also welcomed two newly elected members, Steve Block and James Lynch, into their ranks and bid farewell to councilmembers Bob McCaskill and Claire McAuliffe, who have each served on the council since 2012 but decided not to seek third terms, as is customary in Belvedere. HANNAH WEIKEL HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

A $20.1-million recommendation to shore up Belvedere’s seawalls is on the City Council agenda for discussion and a vote on Dec. 14. Approval would trigger the next steps in the process, which includes a feasibility study that would produce reliable cost estimates and a more detailed design. The approval would also set off a lengthy environmental review process, which involves a public comment period. Altogether, the next phase of the project would take 12-18 months, officials... say. The plan cleared its first hurdle last week when it earned the backing of a city subcommittee that’s spent the past year and a half helping to shape the project. At its Dec. 9 meeting, the Committee to Protect Belvedere’s Seawalls, Levees and Utilities voted 7-1 to recommend the city authorize funding for a deeper study of the design concept, which emerged as a favorite among the committee in August and features short, exposed seawalls and improved pathways along San Rafael Avenue and Beach Road. The City Council discussion and vote will take place after The Ark's Dec. 14 press deadline. To review the agenda and participate in the meeting and discussion, visit https://www.cityofbelvedere.org//View/Agenda/_12142020-541 Hannah Weikel

Two Tiburon doctors working at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Terra Linda were among the first in Marin and across the U.S. to get vaccinated against the coronavirus last week, marking a new milestone in the nine-month pandemic. Dr. Jason Bateman and Dr. Shideh Shadan received their first of two doses of the Pfizer vaccine Dec. 17, the day after Marin received an initial shipment of 1,950 doses, initiating the local rollout of what will be the largest inoculation effort ...in U.S. history. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK (Photo provided by Kaiser Permanente)

The Southern Marin Fire Protection District is holding its annual holiday toy drive through Dec. 18. To participate, bring a new unwrapped gift for kids age 18 and younger to the Strawberry fire station at 308 Reed Blvd. between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Place the gift in the bin or on the doorstep, then ring the doorbell to notify the station’s firefighters, who will retrieve the present. The fire district asks that anyone dropping off a present wear a face covering and maintain p...hysical distance. Deirdre McCrohan

Blue & Gold Fleet is seeking to discontinue service between Tiburon and San Francisco, a move that would eliminate the ferry as an option for travel between the two cities during weekday non-commute hours, in the later evenings and entirely on weekends. Though most and sometimes all trips have been suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic, Pier 39, which owns Blue & Gold Fleet LP, filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission to end the service, citing d...eclining revenue and increased operating costs. The utilities commission held a pre-hearing on the application in November but has not advanced the request any further because of COVID-19-related slowdowns in workflow. A final hearing date had not been set by The Ark’s press deadline. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK To submit public comment, visit arkn.ws/BGtiburon-feedback

The fifth annual One Day of Giving donation drive returns to the Belvedere Community Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 13. The rain-or-shine event, organized by Pamela Dunn of Tiburon, makes it easy to give by bringing in nearly a dozen nonprofit groups to accept donations of clothes, toys, nonperishable food and more. Curbside drop-off is available for anyone who wants assistance. For more information, visit onedayofgiving.net or contact Dunn at [email protected].... DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

The Tiburon Police Department has rolled out a voluntary program allowing residents to register family members with special needs, such as dementia, Alzheimer’s or autism. The program aims to more quickly identify people with special needs who are found lost or wandering in town and who may have problems communicating with officers. It would also better inform officers when responding to a call for service at the individual’s home, according to Tiburon police spokeswoman Laurie Nilsen. HANNAH WEIKEL HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

The Marin Board of Supervisors is set to weigh in on whether the latest plans to redevelop the former seminary site in Strawberry are ready for environmental review. The board on Nov. 10 will consider an appeal filed by the Seminary Neighborhood Association that seeks to overturn the county’s decision to start the review process, with the Strawberry group arguing the project application from developer North Coast Land Holdings can’t be properly evaluated because it lacks crit...ical details about a 1,000-student school proposed for the site. The supervisors’ hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 10 via Zoom teleconference. For details on participating in or watching the meeting, visit arkn.ws/BOS-Seminary. EMILY LAVIN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

MASTER GARDENER: Some of our local nurseries go all out with holiday offerings. West End Nursery in San Rafael has the mother of all Christmas displays, with rooms full of theme-decorated trees and many other offerings. They have a lot of gray and white pots that might appeal to modernists. Tiburon has a new store in town called Ground, in the Tiburon Boulevard space where Bayside Nursery was. They carry plants, including succulents, some interesting modernist pots and a nic...e selection of Fermob outdoor furniture. There’s a wonderful trellis that comes in many colors and would be great in a children’s garden or anywhere, really, for growing gourds or beans. Inside, there’s a large, eclectic assortment of items, including interesting geometric watering cans and many artisan-made objects, such as beautiful wool fiber art by Yunan Ma, plus a roomful of all sorts of rugs. The mix changes frequently. They currently have several holiday items, including gnome ornaments that I couldn’t pass up. READ DIANE LYNCH'S COLUMN IN THIS WEEK'S ARK (Diane Lynch photos / For The Ark)

One of the first things Jeff Hadley did when he joined his family’s business in 2018 was contact the Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and ask how Hadley General Contractors could help the community. Since then, the firm has completed a variety of pro-bono projects around town. For those efforts, the Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has named Hadley General Contractors under the helm of owner and President Larry Hadley and the recent community initiatives of Gener...al Manager Jeff Hadley as its 2020 Business of the Year. DIANE SMITH HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

The Richardson Bay Regional Agency is moving forward with its plan to protect the bay’s ecologically vital eelgrass, but anchor-outs living on the bay are refusing to participate and stepping up their protests of enforcement on the anchorage. Rebecca Schwartz Lesberg, president of environmental-consulting group Coastal Policy Solutions, briefed the agency’s board of directors at its Dec. 9 meeting, saying she had conducted five virtual listening sessions to solicit opinio...ns from stakeholders including environmental scientists, government agencies, marina operators and city council members from Tiburon and Belvedere with anchor-outs declining to participate. The eelgrass project is part of the agency’s larger transition plan approved last June that envisions a move away from long-term anchoring on the bay and toward its intended status as a 72-hour anchorage open only to visiting, temporary sailors. GRETCHEN LANG HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

The Belvedere City Council is set to hold its annual retreat 9 a.m.-noon Dec. 17 via Zoom. The informal year-end meeting is a forum for the council to discuss timely issues and projects in the city. The meeting agenda had not been posted on the city’s website at The Ark’s press deadline. When uploaded, it will be available at cityofbelvedere.org/95/City-Council, along with connection details. ... The retreat is always open to the public but is often sparsely attended. Last December, the city unveiled designs for Belvedere’s multimillion-dollar seawall project at its annual retreat, though the meeting agenda only called for an update on the seawall program’s status, design opportunities, public outreach and next steps. Hannah Weikel

Residents can learn more about strategies to address the growing need for mental health among older adults amid the COVID-19 pandemic at a free Nov. 5 virtual forum hosted by the Marin County Commission on Aging. COVID-19 and Mental Health: Fresh Perspectives, set for 10 a.m. via Zoom, will feature commission members Chrisula Asimos and Diana López. Members of the public can participate in the forum by using meeting ID 889-9940-5569 and password 286826 or by calling 669-900...-6833 and entering the meeting ID and password when prompted. The commission’s regular monthly meeting, which is also open to the public, will follow at 11 a.m. For more information, visit marinhhs.org/boards/commission-aging. Deirdre McCrohan

The Tiburon Design Review Board has given its conditional approval to revised plans to demolish a one-story home on Hilary Drive and replace it with a new three-level house. The board at its Dec. 3 meeting voted 4-1 in favor of the project at 687 Hilary Drive, but it imposed several conditions, including that the owners eliminate most proposed exterior lighting and a proposed balcony off a bedroom at the back of the house. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

The Tamalpais Union High School District’s proposed nine-year parcel-tax renewal is headed for an emphatic victory in the Nov. 3 election.

Tiburon Fire Protection District staff are more than doubling their COVID-19 testing to every other week, as officials say surging positive virus cases across the county could mean staff face an increased risk of exposure to the virus while responding to emergencies. The district this month began partnering with Berkeley-based health technology company Curative Inc., which offers mail-in testing with a one- to two-day turnaround on results. The company came recommended by the Marin County Fire Chiefs Association and is used by some schools in the Bay Area, Tiburon Fire Chief Richard Pearce said. Marin itself has now partnered with Curative for mobile testing sites on rotation throughout the county. HANNAH WEIKEL HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

Incumbents Leslie Harlander and Karen Loebbaka appear to have come out on top in the five-way race for two seats on the Tamalpais Union High School District board of trustees.

It’s been hard to find local Dungeness crab this holiday season after the state delayed the opening of the commercial crab season for a third time, to Dec. 23, to help protect humpback whales. While the recreational Dungeness season opened Nov. 7, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has thrice delayed commercial crabbing from Cape Mendocino south to the Mexico border after some 75 humpbacks were spotted feeding off San Francisco and Monterey bays. While inconvenien...t for diners, it’s good news for the whales. Reports of whale entanglements in crab-fishing gear have decreased dramatically this year after several years of elevated numbers. As of this month, 16 whales were reported entangled off the Pacific Coast in 2020, compared to more than 50 only a few years ago. GRETCHEN LANG HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK (Image: NOAA Fisheries MMHSRP Permit #18786-04)

Voters in the Reed Union School District appear to have elected incumbent Liz Webb and newcomer Jacqueline Jaffee to four-year terms on the board.

The officials in charge of the Tiburon Peninsula’s yellow-bus program, on hold this year amid the pandemic, have agreed to reserve five of the program’s seven relatively new buses in hopes of restarting service next fall. The Tiburon Peninsula Traffic Relief Joint Powers Authority will pay $81,000 to reserve the buses as part of a revised agreement with bus company First Student. The joint powers authority voted unanimously to approve the revised contract at its Dec. 10 meeti...ng. The money will be paid out of the bus program’s reserve fund, which is at about $280,000. It’s a show of faith by both parties, Tiburon Town Manager Greg Chanis said. It’s a creative solution. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

In Belvedere, Mayor Nancy Kemnitzer, along with challengers Steve Block and James Lynch, have emerged as the top vote-getters in a four-way race for three seats on the City Council, defeating challenger Chelsea Schlunt.

Jane Ann Ford, who co-founded the global Benefit Cosmetics line with her identical twin sister, the late Jean Ford Danielson, died Dec. 1 at her Tiburon home after a long illness. She was 73. The Ford sisters started their business on a shoestring by opening a small makeup store called The Face Place on San Francisco’s Mission Street in 1976 and built it up to a highly successful cosmetics company known for its creativity and attention to the beauty concerns of the proverbial girl next door. READ THE FULL STORY AT www.thearknewspaper.com/obituaries

Many businesses across the Tiburon Peninsula and the rest of Marin were allowed to further ease coronavirus-related restrictions last week as the county continued to progress through the state’s reopening plan but most local business owners say they aren’t planning any big changes in reaction to the news. The state on Oct. 27 gave Marin the go-ahead to advance to the less-restrictive orange tier-3 status for its management of the coronavirus, indicating moderate spread of t...he disease and allowing local health officials to further relax rules on businesses. Though Marin and California’s numbers are largely remaining steady, the county’s assessment comes as least 31 states set new single-day coronavirus case records in October, the same month the U.S. set new daily case records four times reporting more than 99,000 new cases on Oct. 30. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

Four scenic hiking trails that crisscross 110 acres of undeveloped private property above downtown Tiburon are not open for public use, according to a ruling by a state appeals court. The unanimous decision issued Oct. 23 by the three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco affirms an earlier verdict of the Marin Superior Court, delivering the latest blow to local open-space group Tiburon-Belvedere Residents United to Support the Trails, or Trust, which is now considering whether to take the case to the California Supreme Court. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

STATE PUTS REST OF BAY AREA IN ICU-CAPACITY LOCKDOWN The Bay Area's collective intensive-care-unit bed availability has dropped below 15 percent, triggering a state-mandated stay-at-home order for all 11 counties effective 11:59 p.m. Dec. 17. Though there are no immediate changes for residents of Marin which last week joined four other counties to enact the same order preemptively through Jan. 4 the state's mandate will last at least three weeks, extending Marin's lockdow...n through at least Jan. 7. Even then, however, the Bay Area won't be allowed to reopen until the California Department of Public Health projects the region will be able to return to and stay above 15-percent availability. Marin since Monday has reported it has reached its capacity for staffed adult ICU beds. For its calculation the county says it has 29 beds that are either staffed and equipped or could be within four hours. Of those, 12 are being used by COVID-positive patients, the remaining by noncoronavirus patients. Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis says, however, that this is a "pre-surge" baseline, and that hospitals "have the capacity to expand significantly through planned measures to match surges in cases." "These steps are familiar and well drilled, and hospitals put these plans in place most years at the peak of flu season," he said. Willis said hospitals can adjust by assessing ICU patients to see who could potentially transfer out, to ask nurses to volunteer to work extra shifts or to pull in additional nurses from other non-ICU teams. Kevin Hessel

BIZ BUZZ Blair LaCorte of Tiburon has been named CEO of AEye, which has opened a downtown Tiburon office on the second floor of the building at 14 Main St. AEye has created an artificial-perception system for autonomous vehicles that intends to see, classify and respond to an object like a human, understanding the difference between, for example, a parked car and a child crossing the street. ... DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK (Elliot Karlan photo / For The Ark)

St. Hilary Catholic Church parish volunteers are seeking donations for the 20th annual Giving Tree program, which was created to help local families in need during the holidays. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the group to abandon its annual party and its breakfast-and-gift-giving session at the St. Hilary Catholic School gym, but it’s still planning a drive-by procession for selected families to pick up gifts from costumed volunteers as music plays and Santa waves from the ...sidelines. The annual effort benefits families from Marin City and from Tiburon’s affordable-housing community, The Hilarita apartments, and last year hosted about 250 children. To donate online, visit the church’s PayPal site via arkn.ws/20givingtree, or mail a check with Giving Tree on the memo line to St. Hilary Rectory, 765 Hilary Drive, Tiburon, CA 94123. For more information, contact organizer Robin Mattimore at 415-515-3104 or [email protected]. Deirdre McCrohan

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases that has put Marin under a shelter-in-place order through Jan. 4, Tiburon has seen a 37-percent spike in new cases over the past month alone, with a 30-percent increase in Belvedere and a 60-percent surge in Strawberry. But despite the spike in cases across the county and locally, public officials and law-enforcement agencies say they’ll continue to seek voluntary compliance with Marin’s and California’s virus-management mandates, saying the ...focus will remain on education over enforcement. The continued rise in COVID-19 cases is cause for significant concern, particularly as it relates to the capacity of our medical system, Tiburon Town Manager Greg Chanis said. We have said from Day 1 we’re going to rely on education and people understanding their responsibility. Given the level of staffing in our Police Department, stricter enforcement of the myriad restrictions currently in place is not practical. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

Temporary ordinance changes passed last year to pave the way for more accessory-dwelling units in Belvedere are on the verge of becoming permanent. At its Oct. 20 teleconference meeting, the Belvedere Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend the City Council approve changes to the city’s accessory-dwelling unit ordinance that would ease parking requirements and eliminate the design-review process for certain projects. The new ordinance would include automatic approv...al of so-called statewide exemption dwelling units that have up to an 800-square-foot floor area, 16-foot height and 4-foot side and rear yard setbacks. It also would bar the city from requiring replacement parking if a carport or garage is converted into an accessory-dwelling unit or if the unit is located within a half-mile walk of public transit or within an existing house or accessory structure. HANNAH WEIKEL HAS THE STORY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK

Robert James Bob Rossi, a retired 25-year veteran of the Belvedere and Tiburon police departments who earned a Medal of Valor during his time on the Tiburon force, died Oct. 22 of a heart attack. He was 75. Mr. Rossi was hired as a police officer at the Belvedere Police Department in 1981 under then-Chief Frank Barner and joined the Tiburon Police Department in 1991, where he worked under then-Chief Peter Herley. Even after he retired from the Tiburon department at the rank of sergeant in 2006, Mr. Rossi continued to serve as a reserve officer, routinely working at special events, staffing the front desk of the Tiburon police station on Fridays and filling in when the department was shorthanded. DEIRDRE McCROHAN HAS MR. ROSSI'S OBITUARY IN THIS WEEK'S ARK