Tag: City of Martinez

Laws of Nature

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers August 20, 2010

So last night the beavers got a pretty special visitor in the Who’s Who of environmental education. John Muir Laws (‘Jack’) drove out from San Francisco for a special beaver viewing and introduction. He brought his sketch pad and board and sat under the willow trees on the bank to draw the beavers as they swam about obligingly. Jack is a firm believer that seeing and drawing nature is the best way to truly understand it, and he dismisses the commonly held belief that artistic ability is a ‘gift’ rather than a pursuit.

He heard the ‘epic tail’ of the beavers salvation and the story of the exciting sheetpile vista that greeted him. Then he was treated to a tour and the remarkable sighting of GQ strolling over the beaver dam in all his attractive prowess. While he settled to watch the constantly unfolding story of three kits navigating the waters on their own, families with wide-eyed children poured down to watch Jack shared his excitement with them by passing along his expensive binoculars for a closer look. Jacks illustrations are the last word of Bay Nature Magazine and his drawings of our beavers will appear in the October issue.

Every now and then as he worked and watched he would pause and then exclaim “this is SO COOL!!!” a doxology with which certainly none there would object. Jack was invited to see the beavers by some friendly docents at the Audubon Canyon Ranch who had attended my talk at “Close to Home”. He asked my thoughts about what to emphasize and I stressed two things: the impact of the beavers on the habitat (green herons and pond turtles provided backup for that argument) and the impact of the beavers on the community (for which the hushed bright faces of appreciative children provided ample proof.)

All night he remarked on seeing beavers in Tahoe and Montana or Wisconsin but never seeing them like THIS. He enjoyed my observation that these were ADA accessible beavers, which of course they are, but I pointed out the flow device and stressed that any city who is willing to use creative tools could have local beavers of its very own. At the end of the evening he agreed that this was truly a special wildlife viewing opportunity saying that “Everyone in the Bay Area should come here, watch these amazing animals, buy a burrito and visit this town!” – which I’m sure the Chamber of Commerce would love. He also remarked that this was an essential opportunity for teaching stewardship, since people don’t learn to love nature because of what they saw on the discovery channel: they love first what is in their own backyard.

For their part the beavers were in top form and brimming with artistic merit. Just look at the photo Cheryl took last night.

Beaver Kit: Cheryl Reynolds

Before you go, your help is desprately needed by the poor city of Martinez which can’t possibly think what to name the park where 2000 people have attended the beaver festival over the last three years. Gosh, maybe you have a suggestion? Unless we’re calling it “Sheetpile Vista Plaza” or “Drinking-in-the-daytime Park” I can really only think of ONE name that makes sense, and it starts with a ‘B’. But why don’t you write and let them know yours?

Down the Rabbit Hole

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Tile Bridge November 20, 2009

Have you ever had one of those dreams where find yourself back at your locker in junior high only now you’re an adult and have a car and a job but still only a few minutes to get to English and you notice that everyone else seems really, really different than the last time you were there? Smaller and less intimidating?

Last night didn’t in any way resemble one of our familiar earth-nights. Everything had been transformed, mutated, or turned into something else. I gave the bridge art presentation to an enthusiastic council, (yes, you read that right) who loved the idea and couldn’t wait to support it. There was much oohing and aahing about the general cuteness of the children’s art work and I believe Ross actually thanked Worth A Dam for its continued hard work. I’ll have to see the video, because I was feeling too surreal to notice.

(Gazette page 1) (Gazette page 2) Our student helpers from Rona Zollinger’s ESA class came early to walk through their role in helping the project and were fantastically motivated and savvy. One had made a tile at the festival, another already had the Worth A Dam shirt, and a third was the son of a contractor who had helped lay tile and granite in the past and wanted to assist installation. The fourth was interested in writing about their role in the upcoming Worth A Dam newsletter. All were very smart about the visual impact their presence was going to have on the council, and volunteered to carry tiles and stand at the front during the presentation.

Two years ago after our dynamic November meeting, I left full of elevated hopes for the council’s role with the beavers. The sky was the limit. I dreamed big. 18 months ago, their refusal to vote on the subcommittee report turned me more wary and suspicious. I learned how to expect the worst but appear to hope for the best. One year ago their decision to put sheetpile through the lodge left me devastated and betrayed, and I honestly felt all bets were off. Last night, their reaction was again entirely unexpected. i would call it almost genuine enthusiasm with an element of quasi-amnesiac disconnect from their earlier cautions.

(If it hadn’t been for the fact that council woman Kennedy pointedly was the only member to say nothing whatsoever about the project, I would have thought I was in the wrong zip code. Thanks for making me feel at home.)

Yesterday in Beaverland…

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports September 10, 2009

We had some nice surprises. I started the morning with a visit to the dam and saw a few yearlings mudding about. At one point there looked to piece of dark hard debris on the secondary dam- right in the gap the beavers use to cross over. How surprised was I when the trash sprung legs, a head and a tail and proceeded to crawl over the dam, using the depression the beavers provided. It was a western pond turtle! He musta’ been moving fast or I would be able to share a picture of my walking waste.

Later a couple of very nice emails arrived, sent to the beavers (care of me), one from a supporter in Oakland and one from the Orange County couple we met at the dam last week. The woman from the EPA that included our beaver photos in the curriculum of every first grader in the state wrote to get updates and addresses. And we heard from Worth A Dam member Lory (on vacation in alaska) that she was in Denali park excitedly watching beavers swim around.

At the meeting there were more beaver supporters in one place than I have seen since the festival. Robert Rust (the kayaking creek cleaner) was there, along with a bunch of beaver supporters I had never met but who wanted to thank me. Ken Dothee came to tell me that his performing son (Nick Dothee) was wearing one of our 2008 beaver t-shirts on a youtube video and we should check it out. Of course I came straight home to investigate.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=96lnu7q3yOI]

Oh, and what happened at the meeting last night? Here’s the short version:

Sometimes Goliath wins.

Once Upon A Time…

heidi08 City Reports, Environmental September 6, 2009

In a town by the river, there was a bitter man with a great deal of money, who was allowed to make decisions that affected the lives of a many residents. Whatever he wanted done, was done — whether it meant installing an entire wall of sheetpile through the homes of beloved vegetarians, or building a massive 4 story structure on a site filled with toxic waste to block the view of an historic neighborhood.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=O4ne13Zft9Q]

The wealthy man was very powerful, and very accustomed to getting what he wanted. Whenever a council member or ordinary citizen dared to oppose them, he would use his persuasive financial powers to quickly move them back into accord with their goals. In these private meetings great things were promised, and Faustian deals were made. Political campaigns got funded and stubborn roadblocks got nudged surprisingly out of the way.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=hGYTqwzJt6w]

Maybe you’re familiar with this story. I mention it because this wednesday night the city council will consider the appeal to the planning commission’s decision to allow the Berrellesa Palm’s project. In case you aren’t familiar with this senior housing complex, it will allow 50 section 8 units to be built in a four-story building downtown. The project will produce no property tax revenue, no sales revenue and will significantly change the feel of the neighborhood. It will also put roughly a million dollars in “Mr. Potter’s” pocket.

Can you be there wednesday night to support a better vision for our city? Maybe the wheels of justice in Martinez are too rusty to be exercised, but we need at least to see the faces of our representatives when they continue to lie to us. They’re spending our money to pay their attorneys to misrepresent the downtown specific plan they already used our money to pay for. They had to pay their staff to write a 28 page response. So its the least we can do.

Here is a fantastic summary of the issues put forth by Harlan Stricklan.

I would ask that you reconsider the approval for this project. I view a vote for this project, as it stands, as a vote against the downtown.

· It violates the Downtown Specific Plan as regards height, setbacks, lot coverage, massing, usable open space and parking. This not only produces negative impacts by itself, but also sets a bad precedent for future projects. The fact that in the memo to the Planning Commission (Corey Simon, 8-11-09), the 231 Main St (Aiello) project that likewise violated a number of aspects of the Downtown Specific Plan, is cited as a precedent for this project, exactly makes this point. Do we still have a Downtown Specific Plan?

· The violations are severe enough that a Project EIR would seem to be in order.

· It is closer to the railroad tracks than the railroad itself recommends for residential use. Leaving the area adjacent to the tracks as light industrial makes more sense in terms of a safety buffer, where a smaller and more mobile population would be present, and only during part of the day. This would provide other benefits as well (more on this later).

· The authoritative Martinez Historic Resources Survey by Knapp, Kelley and Verplank was not referenced, calling into question conclusions regarding historic and cultural resources and impacts in the documentation for this project.

· Property tax #1: This project will pay no property tax. Assuming that such a prime piece of real estate, relatively close to the downtown and waterfront would ultimately be developed with some other project of similar value (residential or otherwise), this project represents a loss of General Fund revenue, in perpetuity, of approximately $30,000 a year. Assuming some sort of commercial development, if split-roll assessment ever were to come in, that figure would continue to climb.

· Property tax #2: The inappropriate height of this project – what some have called a Taj Mahal with Late Victorian/Neoclassical surface vocabulary (how many Victorians covered an entire city block?) – will block the views of neighboring dwellings, ultimately reducing their market value, and hence property tax revenue to the General Fund. Not only will the project take up an entire city block and not pay property taxes itself, but also will reduce income from surrounding properties that do pay.

· Property values – additional comment: By making adjacent properties less desirable, the typical resident or landlord will be less likely from an investment point of view, or from the standpoint of personal resources, to invest in property upkeep and improvement.

· Sales Tax #1: Much has been made of the aggregate personal income of 49 (50 with manager) residential units being added to the downtown. It should be made clear: this is not a retirement community – it is a Section 8 housing project for indigent seniors. The average weekly allocation per unit for groceries is $42. Parking may actually not be a problem – because many of the residents will be too poor to own vehicles. The small amount of shopping they will do will overwhelmingly be for necessities – something the downtown does not now, nor in the foreseeable future, offer. Downtown business sales depend on disposable income for either professional services or specialty shopping. Similar to the comments regarding property taxes above, an entire city block, close to the downtown, will be taken up with a use that won’t contribute to downtown businesses or the General Fund.

· Sales Tax #2: To the extent that the value and attractiveness of adjacent housing (owner occupied or rental) is diminished by this project, the typical resident will have lower socioeconomic status, lower disposable income, and will contribute less to the downtown in terms of sales and sales tax revenue to the General Fund.

Oh, and if you know three George Bailey types, maybe you could start convincing them to run for city council?

Beaver Matriarchy

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, City Reports, Educational May 28, 2010

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds June 18, 2009

Beaver colonies are discussed as Matriarchies, meaning that the oldest beaver has the central role in colony stability and management. If the female is lost the colony will relocate and start over somewhere else. Female dispersers go farther afield than males for just this reason; they understand a colony will grow around them and they want to make sure they have adequate food supplies. Certainly we observe mom with the most important work in our colony, bearing and nursing the kits and mudding the lodge for comfort and safety.

I remember back when Mary Tappel was first advising the city and the Gazette (now two editor’s ago) reported her saying female beavers produce kits “for 50 years”. I called giggling to point out the typo, and RIchard assured me that it was no typo, but that this was what he had been told by Ms. Tappel directly. Curious about my reaction, he called her back to verify, and with some hemming and hawing she was able to shorten the number to thirty-five.

!!!!!!

For the record, beavers are sexually mature enough to breed sometime after their second year, and their entire life span is about 15 years. I was able to find record of a beaver in captivity living for 19 years, but that was the Rip Van Winkle of beavers. In ideal circumstances, a female may produce kits for twelve (12) consecutive years.

Don’t feel bad, City of Martinez. Your expert was only 76% inaccurate. The other 24% was right on the money.