Zone 5 Advisory Board Meeting: June 5, 2025

 Flood Zone 5
Advisory Board Meeting

32 Belvedere Ave, Stinson Beach 94970  

June 5, 2025 

6:30PM-8:00PM 

 The Marin County Flood Control & Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors encourages a respectful dialogue that supports freedom of speech and values diversity of opinion. Advisory Board members, staff and the public are expected to be polite and courteous, and refrain from questioning the character or motives of others. Please help create an atmosphere of respect by not booing, whistling or clapping; by adhering to speaking time limits; and by silencing your cell phone. 

Draft Agenda 

Before the meeting, new advisory board member(s) will be sworn in.

 The agenda shall generally follow this structure unless otherwise determined by the Chairperson 

 Item 1. Call to Order  

The vice-chairman, Howard Schecter, may call the meeting to order once a quorum of members (3) are present and after newly appointed member, Charles Higgins, is sworn in by District staff. 

Item 2. Roll Call 

District staff will conduct a roll call and ask for a round of introductions by board members and staff. 

Item 3. Elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson (Action Item) 

Article VI of the Advisory Board’s bylaws stipulate that officers of the Advisory Board be elected to a two-year term by a majority vote of the Advisory Board. There are two officers – chairperson and vice-chairperson. The chairperson will conduct each meeting following Robert’s Rules of Order.  The bylaws can be found on the District website: https://flooddistrict.marincounty.gov/documents/flood-zone-5-advisory-board-bylaws/ 

 Recommended Action: Elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson for the advisory board.  

Item 4. Summary of Action Minutes: May 9, 2024 (Action Item) 

Draft minutes are available for review on the website: https://flooddistrict.marincounty.gov/meetings/zone-5-advisory-board-meeting-may-9-2024/#/tab-minutes 

Recommended Action: Approve minutes 

Item 5. Open Time for Items Not on the Agenda (Information Item)  

Comments will be heard for items not on the agenda (limited to three minutes per speaker). While members of the public are welcome to address the Advisory Board, under the Brown Act Board members may not deliberate or take action on items not on the agenda and generally may only listen. 

Item 6. District Staff Reports (Information Item)  

A. Agenda Setting Procedure  

A guidance document has been prepared for advisory board reference related to procedures for setting agendas for meetings: https://flooddistrict.marincounty.gov/documents/advisory-board-agenda-setting-procedure/ 

B. Vegetation Maintenance 

Environmental regulatory agencies that permit creek maintenance require pre-notification in the spring of specific sites anticipated for work in the coming summer. Although we don’t always know what will be required later in the summer due to continued vegetation growth, we anticipate minor tree trimming, and associated removal of garbage and invasive species for mitigation and flow conveyance, between Arenal Ave and Highway 1. 

Advisory board members expressed concerns about vegetation growth in the creek near the Calles and a desire for Flood Zone 5 to do something about it. Currently, the Zone has flood control easements to maintain the creek from the Parkside Café upstream to the Community Center, so this is the focus of maintenance. If the advisory board wants to conduct maintenance downstream of there, permanent easements from private property owners will be needed.

C. Sediment Removal  

Sediment removal is not anticipated this summer. This is because the channel between Stinson Beach and the Parkside Cafe, where sediment is designed to accumulate, is close to design elevation. It’s critical for endangered fish that use this creek that it is not over-excavated as it could overwise become a hot isolated pool that sensitive species can’t survive in. The creek will be monitored between major storms through next winter in case emergency sediment removal becomes needed. 

D. Programmatic Maintenance Permit Status 

At the last meeting, board members and District staff shared concerns around increasingly burdensome maintenance permit requirements, such as: 

• Limitations on how much work can be done in each year. 

• Requirement to mitigate (e.g. plant trees, remove invasive species) for perceived temporary impacts caused by trimming vegetation in the creek. 

• Requirement for ongoing monitoring and reporting on mitigation. 

To address to these concerns, District staff have been collaborating with the Bay Area Flood Protection Agencies Association (BAFPAA) to streamline maintenance permitting. Staff attend quarterly Environmental Permitting Committee meetings which is sending a representative to meet on this topic with the manager of the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, one of the state agencies that permits creek maintenance. 

 E. National Park Service (NPS) Beach Parking Lot Design Update 

The NPS Stinson Beach Parking Lot Rehabilitation Project is still in the environmental review phase and is slated for completion in 2027. NPS held a public meeting to kick off the environmental review in July of 2024, which Howard Schecter attended representing the advisory board. More information on that meeting can be found at this archived press release: https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/news/golden-gate-national-recreation-area-requests-public-input-on-stinson-beach-parking-lots-rehabilitation-project.htm 

Part of the environmental review for this project is assessing a potential overflow bypass from Easkoot Creek to the ocean to reduce future flood damages of the parking lot while minimizing flooding to adjacent neighborhoods and businesses. The environmental impacts of such a facility are complex to evaluate so it takes time. 

An Environmental Assessment document will be posted on the project website when it is ready for public review: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=101674 

Item 7. Business (Action Item)

A. Budget

No budget actions are required of the advisory board at this time. The advisory board recommended a 2-year budget for fiscal years beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2025 (current), and beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026 (next), at the May 9, 2024 advisory board meeting. The Board of Supervisors adopted the next fiscal year budget at its May 20, 2025 budget hearing.  

The Zone is financial in better shape than anticipated. For the current fiscal year, revenues are exceeding the budget by $89,000 due to higher interest rates and and FEMA funding received for a previous Easkoot Creek emergency sediment removal. Additionally, expenditures are coming in under budget. This is primarily because there hasn’t been a need to remove sediment in Easkoot Creek since the prior fiscal year (January 2024). 

B. Program

The advisory board may consider taking actions related to exploring easement acquisition along Easkoot downstream of the National Park Service property at Stinson Beach for the purpose of maintenance.

Recommended Action: Reach out to Easkoot Creek property owners along the Calles to determine interest in providing a permanent easement to the District for maintenance.

Item 8. Schedule Next Meeting 

Item 9. Adjourn                                             

A copy of the agenda can be faxed or emailed upon request by calling (415) 473-6528. Agendas and related material are also available online on the Marin Flood District website.  

All public meetings and events sponsored or conducted by the County of Marin are held in accessible sites. Requests for accommodations may be made by calling (415) 473-6528 (Voice), CA Relay 711, or by email at FloodInquiry@MarinCounty.org at least two workdays in advance of the event. The County will do its best to fulfill requests received with less than two business days’ notice. Copies of documents are available in alternative formats upon request. 

 How to Provide Public Comment 

 Before the meeting: email comments to FloodInquiry@MarinCounty.org no later than 2pm on the day of the meeting including your name, meeting date, and item it is in reference to. 

 At the meeting: comments can be provided during each agenda item following these procedures and time limits. 

1. Flood District Staff report – typically less than 30 minutes 

2. Advisory Board questions to staff – no defined limit 

3. Public Testimony to Advisory Board – 3 minutes per speaker. If written public testimony is brought to the meeting, it is not necessary to read the entire text into the minutes, it will be attached to the minutes automatically. 

4. Deliberation by the Advisory Board – no defined limit 

5. Decision by Board – no defined limit