Marin County denies plaza plan for condemned San Anselmo bridge

To the dismay of San Anselmo officials, Marin County has rejected the town’s proposal to reopen a deteriorating creek bridge as a plaza.

“It wouldn’t work or be a good investment timewise,” Rosemarie Gaglione, the county’s director of public works, told the San Anselmo Town Council on Tuesday.

Gaglione was among the county staffers who gave the town a project update that included a summary of the latest budget estimates, work hurdles and timeline.

The county closed the bridge in September, saying it is structurally unsound and poses a danger to the public. But when the county recently delayed plans to demolish the bridge until 2024, it raised hopes among San Anselmo officials that the plaza could be reinstated in the interim.

Gaglione said the county doesn’t have original plans for the bridge, which is estimated to be 80 to 120 years old. A time-consuming forensic investigation would be required to determine how to reinforce it. Additionally, adding any sort of brace to the structure could worsen the flood risk by blocking even more water, she said.

“We’ve had warnings from civil engineers and we are going to do the best thing, take the most conservative course of action, and that’s what we’re doing,” Gaglione said.

Berenice Davidson, assistant director of public works, said the county incurs the liability and that she agrees with the conclusion of the civil engineer reports that prompted the bridge closure.

“I understand there’s lots of disagreements with our conclusion, however, it is the district’s responsibility to make a determination,” Davidson said. “We deem that bridge unsafe and therefore the recommendation to close for public use.”

Vice Mayor Eileen Burke said she understands that position, but said “all of our citizens have been paying into Flood Zone 9 for years.”

“And it seems like it would be money well spent to do that forensic analysis so that we actually have some current data about the structural integrity,” Burke said.

She said San Anselmo appears to have gotten little out of its investment into the flood zone district so far.

Removing the bridge has become the linchpin of the San Anselmo Flood Risk Reduction Project. The Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District purchased the bridge in 2018 with the intention of tearing it down. The bridge’s removal would allow San Anselmo Creek to flow more freely, thus reducing the likelihood of flooding in the downtown and upstream areas.

Initially, the flood project called for the creation of five floodwater detention ponds, including one in San Anselmo’s Memorial Park. Because of opposition from neighbors and other factors, only one pond — at the former site of the Sunnyside Nursery growing ground in Fairfax — has been built.

An environmental impact report prepared for the flood project in 2018 determined it would increase flooding at 20 parcels during 25- and 100-year floods. The same report determined that the project would reduce flooding at 635 parcels during a 25-year event and 480 parcels during a 100-year event.

The findings have blocked the county from moving forward with the project because the Federal Emergency Management Agency prohibits any work that would increase flooding before mitigations have been completed.

Last year, the public works office considered tearing the bridge down and replacing it with a $200,000 concrete baffle that would duplicate the bridge’s effect on water flow to avoid increased flooding downstream.

Regarding the 20 parcels that could be affected, Davidson said property surveys are expected to happen in the coming month. Then officials can determine which properties need mitigation, to what extent they need mitigation and how much it’s going to cost.

County officials said so far the county has spent $18.7 million on the flood project and anticipates needing to spend another $7.4 million. Because it’s unclear how much private property mitigations will cost, officials built the budget with a $3 million placeholder for that.

Additionally, the flood-impact model will need to be rerun because the planned Winship Bridge project in Ross has been delayed over budget shortfalls. The flood model will have to take into account that the Ross bridge won’t be replaced before the San Anselmo bridge is removed.

The council grilled the county officials after their presentation. Council members asked why the bridge hasn’t been torn out already if it was so urgently closed, and why there is a delay to 2024 when in January county officials were confident it could be done this summer.

The county officials said the rainy season and staffing and communication issues at FEMA have slowed the project. The county received an extension on its grant, allowing planners to safely push the bridge removal to 2024. The baffle is now considered a backup option, county officials said.

Residents said they’re fed up with what they perceive as a continuously changing narrative of the project. They said the county has been inconsistent in communicating a project budget and plans.

“After that presentation by the county, my faith in them has flatlined for this to be a successful outcome to this project,” said resident Fran Farmer.

Jeff Kroot, a former council member, said “everything is just moving all over the place.” Kroot said residents could raise money to place the issue on a 2024 ballot for the taxpayers to decide what to do.

After years spent digging into the details and feeling dismissed, Ross Asselstine said he’s getting ready to recommend that the Marin County Civil Grand Jury, an independent investigative body, take a look at the issue.

“I hate to do it,” Asselstine said. “I’m done. I’m done of 13 years of writing. I’m done with no answers. I’m going to help stop the madness.”

Resident Ann Politzer said it appears that the county is attempting to sidestep floodplain regulations set by FEMA.

“You have no actual plan for physical mitigation and you have no funding for it,” she said. “You are in a pickle and you need an offramp, and there is one: All the engineering reports say (the bridge) is in no imminent danger of collapse, that it can be fixed and you can repair it for $355,000.”

Burke said she’s heard that there is a group of residents talking about petitioning to remove the town from the Flood Zone 9 district over frustration with this project. She said the presentation raised more questions than provided answers, and asked that the county produce more frequent reports that summarize budgets, timelines, mitigation and options. She agreed with Politzer’s comment.

“If we have a good offramp, let’s take it, and I think we may be at that point,” Burke said.

Councilmember Brian Colbert, who has led the effort to create a public space next to the creek, said there is a link between the flood mitigation and economic vitality of the downtown. He said protecting downtown is critical for the tax base that pays for schools, roads and other amenities.

“I encourage the county to move as expeditiously as possible so that the community of San Anselmo can move forward,” he said.

Councilmember Alexis Fineman said she is skeptical about the timeline and cost because of the lack of information. Fineman said there was a town resolution in 1943 condemning the bridge for immediate removal because it was causing flooding, but it was never removed.

“To me it’s a little bit of a cautionary tale: We need to address things as they come before us,” she said. “Because the longer you punt it, the more complicated, the more expensive, the more fraught and contentious it gets.”

Mayor Steve Burdo said neither the town or county has made enough progress on flood prevention.

“That’s something I’m going to be looking to really drill down on Flood Zone 9,” said Burdo, who represents the town on the board.

When it comes to the plaza, he said, the bottom line is that the town doesn’t own it, the county does.

“They are the owners of the parcel, and they are the ones that are determining what happens or doesn’t happen with it,” Burdo said.