Public Works outlines staffing, budgets and upcoming capital projects

Tiburon Public Works Operations Manager Patrick Kerslake briefed the Parks, Open Space & Trails Commission on Feb. 19 about routine maintenance, staffing levels, the department’s operating budget and key capital projects.

What the department described: Kerslake said the Public Works operations side comprises roughly eight full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in maintenance and operations, supplemented by outside contractors for larger work. Engineering and administration includes two FTEs. The parks maintenance crew was described as two maintenance workers and one senior maintenance worker; the parks program relies on contractors for larger projects. Kerslake and town staff acknowledged a parks staffing shortfall of about 1.5 FTE that was identified in the parks master plan.

Budgets and programs: The operations budget for day-to-day work is roughly $2.8 million this fiscal year; the capital improvement program is funded at about $4.2 million, with money drawn from grants, local and state taxes and general fund revenues. Ongoing annual programs include bicycle and pedestrian improvements (roughly $50,000 baseline per year), open-space vegetation management (town owns and maintains about 250 acres), pavement maintenance and storm drain maintenance and rehabilitation.

Highlighted projects: Kerslake presented recent and planned work including sewer- or storm-drain lining by trenchless methods, ferry dock replanking completed earlier, a new downtown kiosk with maps and ferry schedules, a regraded Gilmartin Drive fire road, replacement of railroad marsh features under the Richardson Bay Pondsite Acquisition and Remediation Project, and the Black East Pasture beach restoration (design in progress; staff said construction is hoped to begin this summer and the project is grant-funded). Other upcoming projects listed were Moore Street rehabilitation, Main Street seawall repairs and a retaining wall replacement (Old Rail Trail near Lagoon Road) that staff said they will study for a broader fix to ease trail congestion rather than simply replace the failed wooden wall in kind.

Public safety and vegetation management: Staff described an increasing, mechanized approach to open-space broom removal to reduce fire fuels more efficiently. Kerslake said the town uses contractors with on-site fire-watch and biological monitoring when clearing steep, remote parcels.

Communications and next steps: Staff told the commission they will present an updated “low-hanging amenities” matrix to Town Council (anticipated at the council’s next meeting) that lists recommended, lower-cost park improvements and cost estimates for immediate fiscal-year actions. Kerslake and David (town management) said decisions about additional FTEs will be considered in the upcoming budget and capital improvement program retreat, which town staff said typically takes place in April.

Public comment during the presentation touched on citations/enforcement in parks (staff said Public Works does not have code-enforcement officers but coordinates regularly with the Tiburon Police Department), public access and safety on the Old Rail Trail and timing of the fiscal-year budget cycle (fiscal year runs July 1–June 30; budget documents are presented in May/June).