Sausalito school officials review designs for creek restoration

By Keri Brenner | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

School officials have gotten their first peek at potential designs for an outdoor education landscape at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Sausalito.
Project consultants offered a presentation during the Sausalito Marin City School District board meeting on Thursday. A key component of the project is bringing Willow Creek up from underground.
“I’m so excited about this creek and the amphitheater plans,” Amy Hale, the school’s new principal, said at

Planners hired for Sausalito school creek project

By Keri Brenner | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

The Sausalito Marin City School District is moving ahead on a much-debated plan to move subterranean Willow Creek above ground.
The district’s trustees voted unanimously this month to award a nearly $800,000 architectural design contract for the project to Prunuske Chatham Inc.
“The scope of the work is the full design package,” said Jason Cave, construction project manager for the district. “This design work is highly specialized, and there’s only a

Marin water projects allocated $9.8M from EPA

By KERI BRENNER | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

Marin County, the Sausalito Marin City School District and the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency have been selected for nearly $10 million in water quality and wetlands projects.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the grants Wednesday at an event in Oakland. The Marin projects are among two dozen in the Bay Area to receive $52 million in grants.
“Restored wetlands in the San Francisco Bay are our first line of defense

Sausalito school construction contract, creek plan advance

By KERI BRENNER | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

On Friday, a day after trustees awarded an $18,000 pre-construction contract for the school to BHM Construction Inc. of Napa, a Sausalito civic leader said he and his team and the district had in recent days created a potential “plan B” for bringing the property’s underground Willow Creek above ground.

Steve Moore, head of Friends of Willow Creek, said the new plan would “daylight” the creek around the perimeter of the

Sausalito council, school board plan session on development

By KERI BRENNER | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

The Sausalito City Council and the Sausalito Marin City School District will hold a joint session next month to review plans for developing a 13-acre parcel owned by the district.
City Council members reacted in favor of the idea after an invitation at their March 7 meeting from Itoco Garcia, the district superintendent, and Bonnie Hough, the president of its board.
A date has not yet been set, but is expected

Sausalito resolution opposes school district creek project

By KERI BRENNER | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

Sausalito officials are preparing a resolution calling for the school district to scrap plans to relocate an underground creek.
The City Council is expected to approve the resolution when it meets on Tuesday. The Sausalito Marin City School District wants to move Willow Creek as part of its project to build a new elementary school at its campus on Nevada Street.
The city wants the district to revise its school construction

Marin environmentalists, district officials debate Sausalito school plans

By KERI BRENNER | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

Leaders of two Marin environmental nonprofit groups are urging the Sausalito Marin City School District to take a  slower pace and a more considered approach to a design for a new $32 million elementary school in Sausalito.
“We’re rooting for the district — we want this to be successful,” said Steve Moore, a leader of Friends of Willow Creek in Sausalito. “We’re just a little concerned on how aggressive the district

Marin environmental groups seek redo of Sausalito school creek plan

By KERI BRENNER | kbrenner@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

Environmental groups and city leaders are questioning Sausalito Marin City School District’s effort to relocate an underground creek as part of a plan to build a new elementary school.

The Sierra Club Marin Group, along with Friends of Willow Creek, the Marin Conservation League and the Sausalito City Council, are calling for a redesign of the district’s plan to unearth the now-subterranean Willow Creek, a process known as “daylighting.”

The district …