Mill Valley council prepares ambitious two-year work plan

The Mill Valley City Council has nearly 60 projects it wants to accomplish or launch over the next two years.

The to-do list includes building a public works complex and multimillion-dollar renovations at the golf course clubhouse and library. It includes cataloging and clearing scores of encroachments on its steps, paths and lanes. It includes creating a recurring “Miller Nights” where streets would be closed for music, dining and kids’ activities.

The list also includes extending local taxes and raising new revenues, developing affordable housing, updating traffic signals and transit options, making progress on sea-level rise and wildfire protection, further streamlining the permit process and expanding neighborhood and communitywide events.

“It’s an extremely ambitious work plan, but it’s one that hopefully encapsulates all of our priorities,” Mayor Max Perrey said after a 40-minute city manager presentation at the City Council meeting on Feb. 2.

“I think we can make great strides in the next year on some really transformative projects,” said Councilmember Katherine Jones, who noted that the council received almost 90 emailed comments to launch a Miller Nights series.

“We’ve been talking about Friday evening in June, July, August and September, a kid zone, some live music,” she said. “Not tied to a holiday anniversary, not centered on a single organization, just a recurring predictable gathering.”

City Manager Todd Cusimano said the to-do list emerged from a daylong retreat on Jan. 12.

“Since last year we started to move to a two-year outlook,” he said of the planning process and agenda. “If I’m being honest, this is more of a five-year strategic plan for any other city.”

Eleven categories of initiatives were listed: critical infrastructure; fiscal sustainability; affordable housing/land use; traffic/congestion; emergency preparedness and climate adaptation; public safety; climate mitigation and sustainability; community vitality/quality of life; cost of living; council requests and education/schools.

The infrastructure section also included moving ahead with a five-year paving plan, creating a five-year capital improvement plan and renovating the community center pool this year.

Under fiscal sustainability, the most pressing item is extending the municipal services tax, which will go before voters in November. The council will also pursue an additional 10-year measure to raise $12 million to $15 million for the public works, library, golf course clubhouse and other projects.

Under housing, the city must move state-mandated projects along, such as Bayview Terrace, where the city is donating the land for apartments at 1 Hamilton Drive. The Planning Commission has identified 23 “priority projects,” Cusimano said.

On the traffic front, there are numerous projects to improve bike and pedestrian routes, improve and better-synchronize traffic lights, and assess and address congestion along major thoroughfares.

Under community vitality, there are efforts to better brand Mill Valley as a destination, develop better signage throughout the city, stand up a farmers market, expand the range of events at the Depot Plaza and continue beautification efforts.

“It’s more like a five-year plan,” said Councilmember Urban Carmel. “The question I have for the council is, are you comfortable saying this is basically an outline for what we plan on doing for the rest of our term?”

“I do think this work plan is ambitious. It’s still the same way when I first came on council,” said Vice Mayor Caroline Joachim. “I think it’s really important to put something down on paper. And I think that naturally there can be things that rise to the top that are going to be opportunities for us.”

“When I’m looking at this, I’m really focused on a few things that we execute extremely well,” she said. “I think this council can do that.”