Bird watchers are blasting the Highway 101-Petaluma River Bridge construction project, saying contractors hung a net that is supposed to protect birds but is instead killing them.

A Petaluma man locked in a dispute with the SMART commuter rail system is hoping to draw track-side neighbors from all along the route to a meeting tonight to consider how to work together.

The Petaluma City Council Monday night approved an amended contract for City Manager John Brown to remain on the job through June 2019.

The Petaluma Planning Commission on Tuesday roundly criticized the draft environmental impact report for a large housing subdivision proposed for the western outskirts of town, with one member calling it ‘completely confusing.’

Petaluma’s Planning Commission on Tuesday will take public comment on the draft environmental impact report for a proposed 93-unit housing subdivision on the western edge of town, adjacent to Helen Putnam Regional Park.

The project, proposed by Davidon Homes of Walnut Creek, is returning after having been shelved in 2007. At that time, the City Council indicated it wanted to scale down the proposal but stopped short of setting a cap on the number of homes that would be allowed.

Petalumans for Responsible Planning has been coordinating opposition to the project, as it did in the mid-2000s.

Financial stability, healthy growth and finding new revenue sources are top goals for Petaluma city leaders in the next two years.

Dave Albaugh was waiting to hear if his wife’s car was repairable after a collision when he got an unexpected call from his insurance agent. She asked about a $550 bill to reimburse Petaluma for sending emergency personnel to the crash. Albaugh, a retired Coast Guard lieutenant commander, was surprised, thinking his taxes already pay for such public services.

Petaluma city leaders are hoping a regional water agency grant can turn a small section of a creek into a more effective flood control channel and a heartier riparian habitat.

The Petaluma City Council election is almost two years away, but three candidates already are on the campaign trail raising money.
Three council seats and the separately elected mayor’s position will be on the Nov. 4, 2014 ballot.

Petaluma’s mid-year budget review again is one of those mixed-message scenarios. The city’s general fund reserves are projected to be about $1.4 million by the end of June, which is a far rosier projection than just a few years ago when the fund had been drained to a few thousand dollars.