Fire chief outlines expanded fuels‑reduction program, says town now receives far more funding

Chief Ruben Martin of the Central Marin Fire Authority on Tuesday told the Corte Madera Town Council that the town’s vegetation‑management approach has moved from sporadic, firefighter‑led spot inspections to a coordinated, funded program that combines local Measure F dollars with the countywide Measure C (Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority) funding.

Martin said Measure F created an early pilot program in 2018 that funded chipper days, outreach and a handful of nuisance abatements. After Measure C passed in 2020, the town’s annual investment combined with MWPA allocations rose “from about $150,000 to approximately $1.9 million annually,” Martin said, allowing more consistent inspections, evacuation‑route clearance and targeted projects such as the Quarry Meadows fuel reduction area.

The presentation outlined three funding buckets created by MWPA — core projects, local defensible‑space projects and local hazard mitigation — and described a regional staffing model. CMFA contracts with a Marin Defensible Space Alliance to hire seasonal inspectors; Martin said inspectors performed roughly 4,494 inspections in Corte Madera last year, with more than 2,000 re‑inspections focused on persistent or ‘egregious’ parcels.

Martin highlighted operational improvements: MWPA‑funded door‑to‑door or scheduled green‑waste pickups (rather than resident drop‑offs), expansion of chipper pickups from occasional weekends to multi‑week schedules, and targeted removal of high‑hazard vegetation along critical evacuation corridors. He said CMFA picked up green waste from 151 Corte Madera properties in 2025, equivalent to about 606 cubic yards of chipped material (roughly 4,200 cubic yards of unprocessed green waste).

Council members asked about getting Corte Madera a “fair share” of MWPA resources; Martin said town representatives sit on advisory and operations committees that recommend work plans to the MWPA board. Members also pressed on seasonality — inspectors now start training in April to reach properties before the driest months — and on the requirement to avoid nesting‑season harm. Martin said MWPA retains environmental consultants and uses a vetted contractor list trained to spot and avoid active nests when work would disturb potential nesting habitat.

Several residents praised the earlier neighborhood pilot chipper days (2018–2020) and urged the town and CMFA to relaunch neighborhood‑based events in targeted areas such as Christmas Tree Hill and Chapman to boost participation. Council members suggested one or two pilot neighborhoods this year and asked staff to work on a focused communications push to improve sign‑ups and awareness.

Martin and staff said a remaining statewide policy question — mandatory near‑home clearance or "zone zero" standards — remains pending at the Board of Forestry; towns are awaiting clearer state rulemaking before drafting local ordinances. Martin urged private‑property participation for ‘house‑out’ home hardening because much of the hazard vegetation sits on private land and public agencies have limited reach.

The council accepted the CMFA report and asked staff to continue coordination and consider neighborhood pilot chipper programs and improved outreach as short‑term next steps.