Fairfax Update
News From Around Town...
August 16,2021
Marin County Covid Update

Preparing Kids for Returning to School 
The beginning of a new school year brings excitement, aniticpation
and sometimes anxiety, especially in these uncertain times. Here are some tips from Marin Behavioral Health and Recovery Services to manage back to school anxiety:

  • Listen to worries. Listen to your kids when they express anxiety about the new school year, acknowledge and validate their feelings and demonstrate confidence that they can handle the situation
  • Be excited and mindful of your own feelings. Younger children base their feelings on the emotions of those around them. If they see parents/care takers being nervous about the school year, they will be nervous as well. And if parents act excited, these feelings will help children look at going back to school in a positive light. It is important that you are mindful of your own feelings to make sure positive feelings are what is passed on to your kids.
  • Practice routines. The pandemic has impacted our daily routines significantly. It can be very helpful to set up a school routine which will help your kids understand the day-to day schedule and become more familiar with the rules.
  • Communication. Regardless of the age of your children, communication with staff members is important to give your child the support they need, whether it is virtual or in-person learning. Don’t forget to talk to your child too about how you can best support them during this period.

Skate Park Survey

The Parks and Recreation Committee (PARC) is looking at ways to create a permanent skate park. We are asking for your feedback so that PARC can share what the community would like to see happen in regard to making the current location permanent, at the October Council meeting. The survey will be open until 5pm on September 3rd.
Community Mural on Merwin Update

The speakers at the ribbon cutting on August 1st, spoke powerful words about the history of our community mural, the importance of art, and how the Mural can be a healing place, a place of connection, for artists and neighbors alike.

As we looked around at the 25 people who stayed to paint, we noticed the animated conversations between new and old friends. We are refurbishing the mural, and rebuilding our community in the time of Covid.

We have scheduled four Sundays in a row for painting. Please come on down, and bring your friends. We will start at 10am each day.

Aug. 22, Aug. 29, September 5 & 12.
Merwin Ave. Near Ace Hardware

Great thanks to all cleaning and painting volunteers who have donated 75 hours on this project so far.

Fairfax Volunteer Board - Geo Taylor Jesse Hoffman Georgia Gibbs
Frank Gonzales cuts the ribbon photo credit: Stephanie Mohan
Outdoor Dining Survey

We invite you to participate in our Outdoor Dining survey and share your thoughts about the current use, and potential future uses of public space in the downtown. 

Feel free to be inventive and share your vision for downtown Fairfax! 
The survey will be open until 5pm Friday, August 20th. Your input is crucial and appreciated.
Upcoming Meetings & Events
Parks & Recreation Commission Special Meeting
August 16th - 7pm

Climate Action Committee Meeting
August 17th - 7pm

Planning Commission Meeting
August 19th - 7pm

Volunteer Board Meeting
August 23rd - 6:30pm

Tree Committee Meeting
August 23rd - 7pm

Open Space Committee Meeting
August 24th - 7pm

To view the agendas visit our Public Meetings page.

Fairfax Farmers Market in Bolinas Park
Wednesdays 4-8pm

Free Concert Featuring The Tom Finch Band
Friday, August 20th 
6-8 pm

Join us for another magical night of live music in the redwood grove of Peri Park!. Bring your blankets for seating. All ages welcome!
Town-wide Community Picnic
September 19th
12-5pm
 
The Fairfax Volunteers will be bringing back the Town-wide picnic to the Contratti Ball Field! Music line up will be teen band Banana Soup, the Nick Brown & Friends and Last Chance Summer Dance, which will feature 80’s Motown Dance Music assembled by Jason Minkler. 

More details will be available soon, so stay posted!
Fairfax Recreation
After School Skate Club
Starts the week of September 13th
3:30-5:30pm  

We are excited to start an after school Skate Club this school year. We have 2 cohort offerings over 8 weeks. Club members will be instructed in the basic fundamentals of skateboarding. The primary focus will be to get kids comfortable riding and performing flat ground maneuvers, and small skate park obstacles.
 
Late Summer Music Pod
August 26 – September 23 
Thursdays
10:30am – 11am
Other Town News
Work continues on the Fairfax Housing Element Update

The Planning Commission met last week, on August 12th, to discuss maps and data to be used to determine constraints affecting potential site considerations in meeting the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) housing numbers for the Town of Fairfax. Several maps were discussed, including the Association of Bay Area Governments' HESS (Housing Element Site Selection) tool, which combines multiple constraint layers. A preliminary One Way Out map showed streets and structures in Fairfax where evacuation is limited to one access point, and where it may be desirable to avoid adding housing. Adding in key fire evacuation and other environmental constraints will be an important future step and will further affect the availability of potential sites.Video of the 8/12 Planning Commission meeting will be posted on the Town PC meeting webpage and on fairfaxspeaks.com.

The Town is Offering Vegetation Management Grants

The Town of Fairfax is offering grants to help with clearing brush for senior and lower income residents who might otherwise not be able to afford to do this important work.

The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA) is servicing each home in Fairfax twice between May 17-September 27th. You need to pre-register for the pick-up service on one of the two days available to your neighborhood.

For instructions on how to prepare your materials for pick up visit:
Want to Get Involved? Join a Board or Commission!

Do you want to make a real difference in 2021? Consider joining a board or commission for the Town of Fairfax. There are openings on the Climate Action Committee, Marin County Commission on Aging, Parks and Recreation Commission, Racial Equity and Social Justice Committee and Volunteer Board.

You can pick up your FREE Evacuation Tags at the Fairfax Police Department

The Fairfax Police Department in partnership with the Ross Valley Fire Department is giving away evacuation tags to residents living in the Town of Fairfax, Marin County, California. Evacuation tags are a new tool to help us more quickly ensure that neighborhoods are evacuated during a disaster. Residents affix the tag in a location that is highly visible when they evacuate (mailbox, front door, garage, end of your driveway).

Read more about how Evacuation Tags work here.
Resources
Drought Water Restrictions are in Effect for All of Marin County

With reservoirs at historic lows, Marin Water's board of directors declared a water shortage emergency and adopted mandatory water use restrictions to help preserve our water supply. The goal of the mandatory restrictions is to achieve a 40 percent reduction in water use districtwide. We are monitoring drought conditions carefully and additional restrictions will be added as needed. 

Spray irrigation is limited to one day a week. Each community has a designated watering day. Spray irrigation on Saturday and Sunday is not allowed. The designated watering day for Fairfax is Friday.


COVID-19 Assistance Programs

If you are experiencing financial difficulties due to COVID-19, please contact the programs below.

Marin County Emergency Rental Assistance Program 
For the application and information about the program and how to apply visit the County of Marin's website.

Fairfax Rental Assistance Program
The Town Council has established a Residential Rental Assistance Program to assist extremely low-income Fairfax renters whose household incomes were adversely affected by COVID-19. The program is administered by St.Vincent de Paul and Ritter Center. If you are in need of assistance or have questions, please call 415-454-3303 X11 to leave a message. Calls will be returned in the order they are received.
PG&E Programs to Help Those Impacted by the Pandemic
 
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Town of Fairfax sitio web se puede traducir al español

El sitio web se puede traducir al español usando el ícono del globo que se encuentra en la barra verde de cada página.

Our website can now be translated into Spanish (and other languages) using the globe icon found on the green bar at the top of each page.