Saturday, May 23, 2020
David P. Donery, Town Manager

Paint the Town Green for 2020 Senior Class!

Help us create a graduation the Drake Class of 2020 will never forget! Paint the town green to celebrate our special seniors. Starting June 1^st, decorate your home in Pirate green – signs, lights, flags and posters. Get creative – anything works. With your help this will be an amazing display of Pirate love!

San Anselmo retail businesses are able to sell curbside!

To let everyone know the town is open for business, San Anselmo’s Economic Development Committee has created a series of lighthearted window posters that will encourage people to support our merchants while staying safe. This poster campaign is intended to appeal to San Anselmo’s sense of community and connection while highlighting that our businesses are ready to serve. Its tone and messaging are purposely upbeat in the face of a very serious situation. We hope you enjoy them. Look for new messages coming as the situation changes and more businesses are allowed to come back.

Support Your Local Businesses at these two sites

Please visit SanAnselmoShops.com and their sister site, SanAnselmoEats.com and support our local businesses as we all work to get through this challenging time.

Help us tell the COVID-19 Story in San Anselmo

The Spanish Flu of 1918 was not well documented locally. We found there were no photographs or other documentation to tell us, 100 years later, what it was like to live through it. We don't want that to happen with the pandemic of 2020. We want future generations to learn for themselves what life was like in the Ross Valley during this time. Help us tell our story by helping to document it.

We invite everyone to send a photo with a short paragraph to pandemic@sananselmohistory.org. Your photo can be of the quiet downtown, your family coping with the shelter in place, lines at the grocery store – pretty much anything that might capture your experience during this history time. Please include the following with your photo in the email submission:

Subject line of the email should be "Submission: Pandemic Story"
Date and location of the photo
A short title (e.g., An Abandoned Downtown, Our Family Under Stress, My Day at the Grocery Store)
Short paragraph (150 words or less) describing why you chose that photo, how your life has changed, or anything that might help future generations understand this unique time
You can choose to include your name or remain anonymous -- just let us know in your submission

Important: Please limit yourself to one submission. Photos should be high resolution (select largest/highest resolution possible when you send it in). Low resolution images will not meet archive criteria.

The Library, in partnership with the San Anselmo Historical Society and the Historical Commission, is building a public archive of our pandemic story. Please evaluate your privacy needs before you send us your content. Your content may appear on our website, in our social media, in exhibitions, and in formats and channels we can't even imagine will be available decades from now.

By sending us content, you represent that you own the content, it is original to you, and you give the Library, the Historical Museum, and the Historical Society the right to copy, display, and adapt the content in perpetuity in any media existing now or in the future.

Author Talk

Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change
Thursday, June 4 at 7pm on Zoom

Just about everyone knows the climate is changing but we rarely hear how climate change impacts the natural world. Plants and wildflowers support most life on land and climate change is significantly affecting wildflower blooms and the bounty they offer wildlife. Marin conservation photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter give us a spectacular view of California’s extraordinary wildflowers, as both a cause for celebration and protection, in Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change.
Enjoy a stunning visual tour of California’s wildflowers on Zoom with international award-winning photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter. Their gold medal book is available to check out at the San Anselmo Library and can also be purchased now at www.wildflowerbook.com.
Email sleyland@townofsananselmo.org to register and get the Zoom link.

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Updated Public Health Orders

New Park Order
Effective May 18^th the County Health Officer has modified the Shelter-in-Place (SIP) Order to allow people to drive to and park at or near many of the Park Facilities within the County for the purpose of engaging in Essential Activities as defined in the SIP Order, including outdoor exercise. The SIP order continued to keep closed those Park Facilities that draw regional crowds from across the greater Bay Area such as Point Reyes and all Marin Municipal Water District lands. However, the order does allow local jurisdictions to continue to prohibit motorized access to any Park Facility.

Curbside Retail
Effective Monday, May 18^thcurbside retail will be permitted. Please to go to the Marin Recovers website for more details.

Click here to read the plan that all businesses need to complete in order to re-open.

This is the link to for businesses to find their industry specific “best practices” to copy/paste into their Site Specific Protection Plan.

Here is the link specific for curbside retail.

Join Mayor Ford Greene along with Town Manager David Donery on a new, biweekly community forum called
OPEN TIME

OPEN TIME provides the chance to hear local information about issues being discussed, projects that are happening and about how our small town is coping during the age of COVID-19. Participants will be able to ask questions and make comments during the 30 minute program. Each forum will include a featured discussion regarding a local subject.

OPEN TIME forums will take place every other Wednesday. The forums begin at 5:00pm and are scheduled to run for 30 minutes. The next forum will be on June 3rd.

OPEN TIME forums will be aired on the Zoom Webinar platform

Please click the link below to join the June 3rd webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85265023511

Or by telephone:
+1 669 900 6833

Webinar ID: 852 6502 3511

Downtown Building Demolition Project Nears Completion

The San Anselmo Flood Risk Reduction (SAFRR) building demolition project in the downtown area is near completion. The next steps are to implement measures to make the area safe and usable as a creek observation area until the second phase of the project begins.

Phase Two of this project, which includes the removal of the concrete abutments which are built over and in the creek, is scheduled to take place in the summer of 2021.

You can find more information about the SAFRR along with other flood district efforts by visiting https://www.marinwatersheds.org.

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“Age-Friendly is still offering errand and chore volunteers, and emotional support volunteers for residents.

Age-Friendly San Anselmo will continue running the emergency neighbor to neighbor support program for as long as we are sheltering in place. We have many volunteers who can run errands or walk dogs for those who need some help.
We realize the length of this virus event may be causing some of our residents’ psychological and social stress and loneliness. We have trained individuals who have volunteered to have regular calls with people who need support and assistance with their feelings and anxiety. Please visit the Age Friendly San Anselmo webpage, or use the buttons below to volunteer, or to be matched with a volunteer counselor.

Find a Path Back to Normalcy on MarinRecovers.com

Recovery process outlined with content from local municipalities and experts

Marin County is working with local industry advisory groups, comprised of subject matter experts from various fields, who will provide recommendations about how an industry – from retail to recreation to rental properties – could reopen in compliance with COVID-19 public health orders.

In addition to industry feedback, residents have access to a new online resource that provides step-by-step guidance on the gradual return to normalcy. The website, MarinRecovers.com, connects Marin County residents, business owners, community leaders, and public health professionals to collaborate on reopening the economy and community in a safe manner.

A public comment form allows individuals to provide feedback to advisory groups who are leading the campaign. Group members will work within that industry to educate the community, updating content on MarinRecovers.com and successfully implementing the plans.

There are three stages in the reopening of the local economy and relaxing of sheltering orders. They are:

Slow the Spread
Sequential Reopening Under the Stay-at-Home Order
End of the Stay-at-Home Order

Each stage of recovery has criteria that must be met before moving to the next phase to continue the successful mitigation of COVID-19 while building the infrastructure needed to move forward. To reach the final stage, enough immunity must be present in the community through natural immunity or immunization to allow unrestricted activity across all domains. Given COVID-19’s prevalence with no immunization in existence, it will take time to achieve that stage.

Each municipality in Marin will contribute content for MarinRecovers.com so there is one unified recovery resource for all Marin residents. The Marin County Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website will still remain the authority for local COVID-19 case data and medical information.

Minimize Waste During Stay-at-Home

During this difficult time, moving toward zero waste may not be at the top of our to-do lists. The COVID-19 restrictions present multiple challenges to our usual waste reduction habits. For example, the ban on reusable bags and cups forces us to use more disposables, we may overbuy as we try to reduce trips to the store, and drop-off facilities for household hazardous waste or donation items are closed. But it is still possible—and desirable—to waste as little as possible as we strive to stay healthy and sane. Learn how with tips from Zero Waste Marin at www.ZeroWasteMarin.org/StayAtHome.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT TOWN OPERATIONS

NOTIFICATION OF CLOSURES OF TOWN PROGRAMS AND PUBLIC FACILITIES
Through May 31, 2020

In an effort to limit potential exposure and community spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), the Town of San Anselmo has made the difficult decision to close all indoor public facilities and provide as many services as possible online, by email and by phone.

For specific information about our departmental operations, please visit https://www.townofsananselmo.org/1408/16772/Town-Operations---COVID-19?activeLiveTab=widgets

Opportunities to Get Involved!

Getting involved in the Town is a great way to give back to our wonderful community and meet new friends. There are currently opportunities available on the Town’s Boards, Commission and Committees. Please visit https://www.townofsananselmo.org/175/Boards-Commissions for further information.

Saturday, May 23, 2020 David P. Donery, Town Manager