Morgantown Municipal Bike Board

 

Regular Meeting

 

Public Safety Building

 

April 12, 2007

 

New Action Items:

Due date

Responsibility

Action Item

 

Gmeindl

1.    Finalize vision statement

05/03/07

Hein et al

6.  Update the report on commuting for the Traffic Commission (TC)

05/03/07

Wamsley et al

8. Detail the PR Committee proposal to the TC with a budget and event details

05/03/07

Infrastructure Committee

9. Pick one pilot project for the TC to consider

 

 

Meeting Minutes:

 

The April monthly meeting of the Morgantown Municipal Bike Board was called to order at 6:35 p.m. at Allen Hall (WVU Evansdale campus) by chairman Frank Gmeindl with the following members attending:

 

Betsy Shogren, Nick Hein, Jim Rye, Don Dickerson, Chip Wamsley, Bruce Summers, Greg Good, Tyler Pearson, and Frank Gmeindl.  Absent members were Bill Reger-Nash, Jonathan Rosenbaum, John Lozier, Sonitt Bhatt, and Marilyn Newcomb.

 

à Agenda Item 2 (agenda):

All members present agreed to follow the given agenda. 

 

à Agenda Item 3 (Open Action Items):

Ø      Closed Action Items:

o       #7- Gmeindl communicated to Ron Eck regarding the “Bike on Road” signs for the university and the city.

Ø      Open Action Items:

o       #1-Gmeindl: Bike Board vision—no more changes made, but it is not to be called “finalized,” yet. 

o       #6-Hein, et al:  Commuting Report to the Traffic Commission (see Agenda Item 8)

 

à Agenda Item 4 (Ripe Banana Issues):

Comments regarding the proposed WVU Transportation and Parking Plan are due by 4/19.  In order to formulate a BB response, Pearson, Gmeindl, Hein, Wamsley, Good, and Rye will communicate comments and suggestions via email amongst themselves.  A version will be sent to the entire BB email list, with email consensus from all members of the BB hopefully being received, before the document is submitted to WVU.

 

à Agenda Item 5 (Traffic Commission-4/11):

Pearson, Gmeindl, Wamsley, Good, and Hein attended the previous night’s Traffic Commission (TC) meeting.  While it seemed BB issues were a bit squeezed for time, Gmeindl updated the TC on the latest education developments (i.e. March Road I training and LAB certification), as well as the fact that this component is on schedule and “under budget.” The TC readily approved the proposed $2300 to support certification, and also agreed to pass forward the city manager the BB’s recommendation to apply for a $10,000 grant to cover education materials purchasing, tailoring and delivery. Four members of the TC said that they would come to a May 19th offering of the Road I course, as taught by Gmeindl.  Good gave a very brief presentation of the Infrastructure Committee recommendations.  The TC, while very supportive and enthusiastic of the BB’s mission, requested that perhaps the BB could suggest just 1 pilot project, as all the pilot projects posed may be a bit overwhelming for the TC.  An additional meeting of the Infrastructure Committee is needed to pick one pilot project for the TC to consider. 

 

à Agenda Item 6 (Replacement BB Members)

The list of possible replacement BB members is now in the TC’s hands.  There was some discussion as to the commitments and requirements of the members of the BB.  Gmeindl reminded the Board that our minimum commitment to the Traffic Commission is to attend one meeting/month and doing that is sufficient to retain membership.  It was agreed that this issue will require further discussion at a future meeting.  Much to our chagrin, Bruce Summers has decided to pursue his dream of traveling the country by RV, and will shortly have no fixed address (good for him, bad for the BB!).  Best of luck to Bruce and his wife. 

 

à Agenda Item 7 (March Road I Training):

On March 10-11, the majority of the BB took the Road I course from the League of American Bicyclists.  All members passed, and the general consensus was that the course was beneficial, even to highly experienced cyclists, in many ways.  Perhaps most importantly, it made members aware of their entitlement to “take the lane,” whilst riding in traffic.  Congratulations to Nick Hein and Frank Gmeindl on their certification as League instructors, after taking the League seminar in Bethlehem, PA on April 7-9. 

 

à Agenda Item 8 (Commuting Committee Recommendations):

See attached document that outlines Nick’s research.  After last month’s discussion that the Commuting Committee needs to limit their recommendations to one actionable item, Nick suggested that 2 full rings of horizontal lockers would be the most efficient use of space and resources, as well as be the most handicap/elderly-accessible solution for bicycle storage in Morgantown.  Other options include vertical lockers and a Bike Tree.  Discussion followed Nick’s presentation, and touched upon topics such as usage price, and different types of lockers for different locales in Morgantown.  Nick will update his presentation (attached document) to reflect the discussion.         

 

à Agenda Item 9 (PR Committee Status/Product):

See attached document that outlines the PR committee’s strategy. While this committee has numerous excellent ideas, an initial proposal is to promote a “Tour de Morgantown” bike ride through city neighborhoods to promote bicycling as a family recreational activity and to expose Morgantown citizens to local bicycle opportunities.  (See document for more details.)  Ultimately, it would be wonderful to implement a more diverse PR program, but time and resources are limiting factors at the moment.

 

à Agenda Item 10 (BFC Committee Status):

The Bicycle Friendly Community Award application is in progress. Greg, Nick, Don Spencer and Frank have completed it as far as they are able and have made a list of people who may have supplementary info.  They have planned interviews with these people.  A rough draft should be finished by the next Bike Board meeting.

 

à Agenda Item 11 (Remaining Goals):

This topic will continue to be held in abeyance until the on-going committees complete their recommendations to the Traffic Commission.

 

à Agenda Item 12 (Plan to Plan):

This topic will also be held in abeyance.

 

à Agenda Item 13 (New Action Items):

6. Hein will revise and resend the Commuting Committee recommendations.  Confirmation by email will be all that is required to get the Bike Board’s approval before presentation to the Traffic Commission. Also, Nick and Frank have already planned to schedule a meeting with Tom Arnold, during which they will get Tom’s support for the Commuting Committee’s recommendations.

 

8. The PR Committee will finalize the proposal of the “Tour de Morgantown,” in addition to proposing a budget for this event. 

 

9. The Infrastructure Committee will pick one pilot project for the TC to consider.

 

à Agenda Item 14 (Meeting Evaluation):

While this meeting was rather “off the norm,” in terms of time and location, meetings could be improved if attendance by Bike Board members is improved. 

 

The next regularly scheduled meeting is May 3, 2007 at 6:30 pm, at the Public Safety Building.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm.

 

Betsy Shogren

04/018/07