Morgantown Municipal Bike Board

 

Regular Meeting

 

Public Safety Building

 

September 07, 2006

 

Meeting Minutes:

 

The first monthly meeting of the Morgantown Municipal Bike Board was called to order at 6:35 p.m. at the Public Safety Building by chairman Frank Gmiendl with the following members attending:

 

Greg Good, Bruce Summers, Betsy Shogren, Nancy LaRocque, Nick Hein, Marilyn Newcome, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Bill Reger-Nash,  Jim Rye, Chip Wamsley, Don Spencer, John Lozier, Rick Martin, and Sonitt Bhatt (Youth Commission representative).  Members missing were Don Dickerson, Anita Mayer, and a representative from the WVU Cycling Club.

 

A ground rule was established that late members to the meeting will catch up on already discussed items outside the meeting, so as to not waste meeting time. 

 

à Agenda Item 2 (agenda):

-All members present agreed to follow the given agenda each week. 

 

à Agenda Item 3 (action items):

At the beginning of each meeting, updates to open action items will be given by whomever took responsibility for the item. 

-The minutes from last week were reviewed and accepted by all.

 

à Agenda Item 4 (MPO transportation plan- non-motorized connector trails)

Discussion of “Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS)” included the following points:

-After membership reviewed the intent to apply form and information,  Chip Wamsley gave a summary of the highlights, with Nick Hein supplying some additional information.  Important points include:

      • deadline for letter of intent = 11/15/06
      • 70-90% of funds are for infrastructure-related projects; 10-30% may be for education.
      • each project may have a maximum cost of $75,000
      • Rebecca Davidson = WV state coordinator
      • information packet sent to superintendents in 55 WV counties
      • money is available for K-8 only

-Rich Martin stated that his bike club at South Middle School already has a firm plan in place for applying for funding for their school.

-It was confirmed that all members present understood the funding availability and the requirements to get it for the SRTS program. Further, all members agreed that the Bike Board should pursue this funding in some capacity.

-Members of the Bike Board brainstormed about ways to get involved in obtaining funding for SRTS.  Ideas included the following:

·        try to get gym teachers to act as facilitators in obtaining funding for their school

·        Rich- apply for own school through bike club

·        create a “geographical package” for funding for South Middle School, Mountaineer Grade School and Marjorie Gardens (all in same vicinity)

·        use Rich’s application as a template for other schools to mimic in their application process

·        try to get endorsement by city council/Bo-Parc/school board for a unified front

·        post inquiry on SRTS mailing list about the best approach to application for a certain area

·        send letters to the Parent-Teacher Groups (PTG) and Local School Improvement Committee (LSIC) to garner support for SRTS

·        find ways to bolster adult enthusiasm for biking in hopes that it will trickle down to kids

·        include an education component to the proposed bike plan, to incorporate modern technology, such as GIS and GPS mapping

·        ask the city if they would be willing to match funds won by a school for SRTS

·        “shot gun approach”-city-wide plan for all schools to receive funding

·        “model approach”- start small with a pilot project, then expand upon success

            -Volunteers were requested to follow-up on several tasks:

      • Rich Martin will continue with his plans to have his bike club apply.  He will provide his application for an example for other schools.
      • Nick Hein volunteered his service learning students to take a generic copy of the application (based upon Rich’s) to promote to schools.
      • Nick Hein will post an inquiry on the SRTS list for ideas.
      • Greg Good will make a request to the city for the possibility of matching funds to schools that have received a SRTS grant.
      • Nick Hein and Jim Rye will work together to find out information regarding incorporating an educational component to a SRTS application.  Nick has a university contact that is involved in GPS mapping. 

 

It was decided that volunteers for specific tasks related to the SRTS should have a separate meeting to pool and flesh out certain ideas to create a comprehensive plan to present to the Bike Board.  If the Bike Board approves, the plan will be presented to city council.

 

à Agenda Item 5 (MPO Transportation Plan – remainder)

The 25 year plan for the motorized component of roadway improvements in Morgantown seems to fail to take into consideration safe routes for cyclists.  Specifically, Frank mentioned the advent of right turn lanes off 4 lane roadways that would be particularly treacherous for cyclists.  As the final meeting for the MPO is 10/4, swift action must be taken to draw attention to the need for consideration to bicycle safety issues on the improved roadways.  Suggestions for action included:

  • referencing previous research on safe bikeways, including walkable community pamphlets
  • researching how to stripe intersections so that it is clear bicycles have the right of way
  • increasing education of new drivers so that they are more respectful to cyclists
  • attend the next Citizen’s Advisory Board to the MOP meeting (9/19)
  • have a pre-meeting before the next Citizen’s Advisory Board meeting to review the MPO plan for violation of standards and prepare to make concerns heard

 

It was decided that Frank would send out an email to determine a meeting time for members of the Bike Board that can review the MPO plan and attend the next Citizen’s Advisory Board meeting. 

 

à Agenda Item 6 (Bike Board Plan)

The Board needs to develop a long term (3 year) plan.  Frank has a proven vision for long-term planning and would like to present the model for implementation to the group.  This presentation will take approximately 1 hour, and will be on the agenda for the next meeting. 

 

à Agenda Item 7 (New Action Items)

1)      Safe Routes to Schools: Nick, Greg, Rich, and Sonitt will meet to develop a comprehensive planning statement to share at the next Bike Board meeting.  If received positively, the statement will be presented to the city council.

2)      Frank will email the group in order to set-up a meeting time for the MPO planning meeting.

 

à Agenda Item 8 (Meeting Evaluation)

Positives comments regarding the conduction of the first regular Bike Board meeting included the following:

  • response orders were appreciated
  • good respect of assigned time frames to each item
  • prioritizing of certain issues is good for alleviating  pressure (urgent issues 1st)
      • subcommittees are helpful

Areas that could be improved included the following:

  • agenda needs to be sent earlier, with a date and version #
  • needs to be periodic polling of the quieter members of the group

 

 

The next regularly scheduled meeting is October 5, 2006 at 6:30 pm, location to be announced. 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.

 

 

 

Betsy Shogren

9/13/06