New Downtown Park, Person of the Year Award, Gun Buyback Program, and Upcoming Meetings

A New Downtown Park!

At the meeting of Monday, January 7, the Planning Commission approved the demolition of the vacant building at 535 San Anselmo Avenue (right next door to Town Hall) and approved the plans to build a park on the property.

The park will feature paths, benches and a circular fountain with bronze statues of Indiana Jones and Yoda, two characters created by filmmaker George Lucas.  Mr. Lucas donated the property to the San Anselmo Community Foundation, which was created by the San Anselmo Chamber of Commerce to support the local business community.

On behalf of the Town Council, I would like to offer our sincere thanks to George Lucas for his very generous contribution to the Town of San Anselmo and its downtown merchant community.  It is most appreciated.  

Congratulations April

Congratulations to our own April Hayley, Children’s Librarian.  She was voted as the San Anselmo Fairfax Patch Person of 2012 by Patch readers.  April started with the Town in February 2011, with the charge of implementing a vibrant children’s program in San Anselmo.  She has done that and more, leading toddler and preschool story times, as well as teen programs, several book clubs, a poetry club and the ever popular “Read to a Dog” program.

 I am proud to have April on our staff and glad that her hard work and dedication has been recognized by the community.

Gun Buyback

The Central Marin Police Authority (CMPA) will participate in a gun buyback program on Tuesday, January 15, 2012, from 11 to 8 p.m. at the CMPA station at 250 Doherty Drive, Larkspur.

Individuals surrendering operable automatic, semi-automatic handguns and/or semi-automatic long guns will receive $200 for each firearm. Any individual surrendering any other category of an operable firearm will receive $100 for each firearm.

Documentation showing the person surrendering the firearm is a resident of Marin, San Francisco, Contra Costa or Sonoma County will be required. This is a “no questions asked” program; therefore, no police investigative report will be opened or generated.

The five firearm surrender locations on January 15th will be:
• Novato Police Department, 909 Machin Avenue, Novato
• San Rafael Police Department, 1400 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael
• Larkspur police facility of the Central Marin Police Authority, 250 Doherty Drive, Larkspur
• St. Andrew’s Church, 101 Donahue, Marin City
• Pt. Reyes Substation of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, 101 4th Street, Pt. Reyes.

The hours of operation will be from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. No ammunition should be in any of these firearms when they are brought to the surrender locations.

All funding for the program has been generated locally. The county has committed $10,000, the Marin Community Foundation from two of its administered trusts has contributed an additional $20,000 and the individual contributions from the general community mailing to the District Attorney have added an additional $10,000 to date to support this effort.

A second surrender date has been scheduled for January 21, 2013, at the San Rafael Police Department and the Mill Valley Police Department. Again the hours of operation will be from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The San Rafael Police Department and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office will be jointly operating this location. The Mill Valley Police Department, 1 Hamilton Drive, Mill Valley, will be the second surrender location and will also be open from 11 a.m. 8:00 p.m.

Upcoming Meetings

The Flood Committee is meeting on Monday, January 14, at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers.  Included on the agenda is a discussion regarding the proposed stormwater ordinance, an update on planning for a detention basin, an update on the Bolinas Avenue Advisory Committee work and a discussion of the Town’s emergency procedures.

The Financial Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, January 16, at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers.  Included on the agenda is a discussion of the Town’s budget structure and a report on possible funding mechanisms available to the Town for infrastructure improvement.

San Anselmo News, published weekly on Fridays, is available at the San Anselmo Town Hall, Library, on the Public Notice Bulletin Board. It is also available on the Town’s website, www.townofsananselmo.org, and by email subscription.