Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 Source: Martinez News-Gazette (CA) Copyright: 2010 Gibson Publications Contact: http://www.martinezgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5153 Author: Greta Mart, Staff Reporter DISPENSARY TEAM SEEKS TO EXPEDITE PROCESS City Council Preview Medical Cannabis California's most prominent medical marijuana and legalization advocate, Ed Rosenthal, has lent his support to a group interested in establishing a Martinez dispensary; the group plans to attend this week's Council meeting en masse to encourage the Council to move more quickly in approving a reworked ordinance. "Currently, the schedule is such that there is about six weeks between [Council Public Safety Subcommittee] meetings, and it looks like the ordinance won't be passed until after the election in November. For many reasons, this is an unacceptable risk to the patients of Contra Costa county," Michael James Marshall, executive director of the Liberty Patient Collective, said Monday. The next Public Safety Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for July 6 from 11:30 to 1 p.m. at City Hall. "The goal for this meeting will be to complete the remaining revisions to the draft ordinance, which will enable the City Attorney to prepare the updated draft for public review and Council consideration," said City Manager Phil Vince. QUIET ZONE Other agenda items include a presentation on the findings of a Quiet Zone study completed by consultants over the past year. At the Oct. 3, 2007 Council meeting, members unanimously approved up to $60,000 to Wilbur Smith Associates to pay for a "community-based Transportation Plan for Downtown Martinez." In order for the Federal Railroad Administration to approve the establishment of a Railroad Quiet Zone in Martinez, which according to staff would mean a series of "railroad at-grade crossings enhanced with additional safety measures ... that negates the need for train engineers to routinely sound their horns when approaching the crossings," the City would first need to spend millions to add features such as grade separation, medians, quad gates and permanent road closures. On Wednesday, Council will vote on transferring $7,500 in Gas Tax funds to pay for an already-completed addition to the original study, a meeting that occurred on April 12. "A mandatory meeting between Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Railroad representative, Caltrans, City and other stakeholder agencies [was held]," City Engineer Tim Tucker said in a Council memo dated June 8. "According to the FRA, either [installing quad gates at both [Ferry and Berrellesa Street] crossings aE& or Ferry Street intersection improvements plus Quad gates on Berrellesa ... are the only viable options for them to approve a Quiet Zone. The realignment of the north Ferry Street extension will be done with Phase 3 of the Intermodal Parking lot project." The estimated cost on installing new, high-tech gates both the Ferry and Berrellesa Street crossings is $3 million, while a proposal to install a median on Ferry Street and close the Ferry Street entrance to the Amtrak station is expected to cost $1.5 million. The $7500 Council is anticipated to allocated on Wednesday would apparently also pay for the development of schematic drawings, "better position[ing] the City to seek grant and other funding," said Tucker. Residents interested in hearing more about the Prop. 84 grant currently being written by the City for the California Center for Delta Research and Education will learn more at the meeting as a presentation about the process is scheduled. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D