Marin City stormwater, lighting projects awarded $2M

More than $2 million in funding has been secured to develop a stormwater plan for Marin City and upgrade exterior lighting at the Golden Gate Village housing complex.

Marin County supervisors, acting as the board of the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, has signed off on a plan to pay the San Francisco engineering firm Schaaf & Wheeler more than $784,000 for services required to develop the stormwater plan.

The allocation, approved Jan. 24, comes in addition to $10 million in state funding approved to plan defenses for recurring flooding on Highway 101 that blocks the only road in and out of Marin City. The money is available because of an amendment to the 2022 state budget requested by state Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Sonoma County who represents Marin.

“This watershed study looks at the whole Marin City bowl from top to bottom,” Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters said during the Jan. 24 hearing. “Our Caltrans improvements focus on Donahue Drive and the highway. We’re approaching it from both angles.”

In addition to the work being done to curb flooding, $1.3 million will be spent to replace more than 500 exterior light fixtures at parking lots, structures and paths at Golden Gate Village.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat from San Rafael, secured $650,000 of that amount by making it one of his earmarks in the 2023 federal budget. The other $650,000 is coming from the county’s general fund.

Rosemarie Gaglione, the county public works director, told supervisors the contract with Schaaf & Wheeler will build on watershed studies done in Marin City in 2017.

That study, which cost more than $400,000, was commissioned after flooding on Dec. 3, 2014, forced a Highway 101 interchange closure that cut off access to Marin City and closed three lanes of southbound highway traffic for several hours.

The highway separates Marin City from Richardson Bay, and the interchange provides the only way in and out of community. The 2017-18 study was focused on evaluating the cost effectiveness of flood reduction measures on traffic and road impacts.

The Marin City watershed is a relatively steep and bowl-shaped area encircled by a ridge. Water flows downhill through residential areas into a series of storm drains that go to a 3-acre detention basin at the Gateway Shopping Center.

“Some of the smaller local drainage facilities, mostly pipes and ditches, are found to be inadequate to convey flashy hillside flood runoff which often carries high sediment or mud,” the 2017 report said.

Stormwater is released from the basin through a manually controlled tide gate that empties water into a culvert flowing beneath Highway 101 into Richardson Bay.

The 2017 report also noted that “flooding typically occurs around the detention basin during intense rainfall events that are coupled with high tides in Richardson Bay.” It said the flooding was worsened “by a leaking slide gate in the US 101 culvert connecting the basin to the Bay, which results in high backwater levels and reduced storage volume for rainfall runoff.”

Gaglione told supervisors that the contract with Schaaf & Wheeler “will help to inform the larger suite of improvements that could be made.”

“Many of them could be smaller projects, but they could have a large impact,” Gaglione said.

According to the payment schedule included in the contract, nearly half of the money the company will be receiving, more than $312,000, will be for community outreach.

“Flood risk reduction efforts are complex in general but it is especially so in a geographic location such as Marin City,” said Julian Kaelon, a public works spokesperson. “The effort requires a solid understanding within the community about what needs to be accomplished.”

The contract states that “the communications and educational needs for this project extend beyond conducting a robust stakeholder and community engagement process, and that there is an opportunity to work closely with Marin City’s People Plan project.”

The “People Plan” is a community effort to design and implement nature-based adaptation solutions that address flooding. The contract sets aside $30,000 to hire a part-time community coordinator or to provide stipends for a select number of community organizations to encourage participation in public meetings.

“This is distinct from prior studies, because it will result in a public stormwater infrastructure plan, co-created by Marin City-based residents and organizations in partnership with the various public agencies with responsibilities in the watershed,” said Berenice Davidson, a public works assistant director.

On the Golden Gate Village lighting, Adrian Chorley, a Marin Housing Authority official, said during a board meeting last week that the new lights are shorting out the electrical system.

“It’s because the underground utilities are old,” Chorley said. “How old, we don’t know, but we’re pushing through to get them all changed because it is necessary.”

Michael Cutchin, a member of the housing authority’s maintenance team, noted that none of the lights were working in Parking Lot 1.

“We had our electrician come out and do some emergency repairs, but they’re Band-Aids,” Cutchin said.

Cutchin said the wires providing the power to the lights are not protected by electrical conduit.

“They’re just buried electrical wires,” he said. “Some of those have failed over time. The wet conditions have exacerbated that. We’re hoping to also submit for a plan that will increase the amount of lights around the back side of the property where it has never been adequately lit.”

Supervisor Eric Lucan suggested that the housing authority consider preparing Golden Gate Village residents for the increased brightness that will result when all the lights have been installed and are working properly.

“Certainly that could be a visual change,” Lucan said.

It is hoped that installation of the lights will increase safety in the complex for residents walking to and from parking lots at night.

Homer Hall, a housing commissioner, raised questions about the authority’s plan to re-install security cameras at the complex.

“I think we need to know a little bit more about how they’re going to protect the privacy of the tenants,” Hall said.

Cutchin said the cameras would only be used retroactively if an incident occurs at the complex. He also said that the cameras could be set to black out areas around apartment doors and windows to protect privacy.

“We are just looking out for the safety of our tenants,” he said.