Last month this reporter looked into Marin's preparedness in the event of a countywide emergency. Amazingly, that emergency came January 1; the date of the article's publication, when flooding of Corte Madera Creek from Fairfax to Highway 101 caused extensive damage. Homes and businesses in San Anselmo and Fairfax were hit hard and neighbors are making an effort to patronize businesses that have been able to reopen.
What we originally looked at was the backbone of any large-scale emergency response, the Marin Emergency Radio Authority (MERA) system, which connects first responders to each other across agency boundaries. This lack of intra-communications is one main reason Katrina response efforts were such a disaster.

We approached Executive Director Martin J. Nichols for a review of what worked and what didn't. We also questioned Nichols about the new lease for a transmitter tower on the Martinelli farm near Bolinas and how the Tiburon site was coming.

"The MERA system has outstanding capabilities and operated beautifully. The problem we did have was more of training than function. A lot of people complained the dispatch system was overloaded with busy §signals. After getting an original busy signal, responders would click back a couple of seconds later to get an open line. That's where the training problem comes in. If an original call gets a busy signal, the computer logs the call and rings back in less than two minutes. Not knowing this, responders just kept clicking in from everywhere. Each click registered a call back when a channel was available. It was the vast number of clicks that kept overloading the system. Needless to say, we're working on correcting the problem with better training."

Nichols continued. "We could also use more frequencies to accommodate the different agencies. Word is the FCC is considering freeing up more frequencies for MERA type systems. They'll be reassigned from lower priority frequencies such as tow trucks and the like. These frequencies have to be compatible with the system so we've been talking with Motorola officials to make that happen."

We then turned our attention to the three incomplete clogs in the wheel of Marin antenna coverage, two of which are the antenna sites in Tiburon and Bolinas. The third site, the Sheriff's Department at the Civic Center, in order to have a seamless transfer, will come fully on line and shut down its present system when the Bolinas/West Marin are complete.

This "wheel" includes 17 transmitter sites placed around Marin's perimeters in an almost circular pattern with a pole of extra coverage running up the Highway 101 corridor. However, residents shot down two original sites in Bolinas and Tiburon, with unsuccessful attempts coming from San Rafael and Fairfax.

Originally, the Bolinas site was to be located at the fire station. But neighbors complained about the unanswered possibility of radiation poisoning especially to a childcare center next door. Site plans were finally relocated to the Martinelli ranch north of town. In January, the Martinelli family signed a lease for the Bolinas area emergency radio site. In Tiburon, the slope behind the Mt. Tiburon transmitter site suffered damage during the storm. MERA sent in its engineer and the hillside is being repaired.

There are still steps to be taken before everything is finalized. The original authorization must be amended to reflect the new Environment Impact Report (EIR) and the County must vote its okay on the lease and amendments. The County has also authorized MERA to borrow the extra funds required to cover the Bolinas and Tiburon changes.

For those wanting more details about the Bolinas site, a memorandum presented to the MERA Board of Directors January 12, lays out the basic terms of the Bolinas/Martinelli site contract. It includes a lease of 20 years with rental costs of $2,500 a month. Most Marin residents will be happy to know electricity going to the site must be run underground and be taken from an already established electrical pole. Facilities will be contained to a 2000 square foot area, which will include a single story telecommunications shelter, a 35-foot monopole with a 4-foot round microwave dish mounted at a height of 13 feet. There will also be 2 two-way radio antennas on the monopole and a diesel fueled generator. A small PG&E transformer will be placed within the facilities. The perimeter will be surrounded with a chain link fence and eight bushes, planted for "visual mitigation purposes."

Why the drainage improvements made to the Corte Madera Creek weren't successful will be addressed in another article.