Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board

Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board

Regular Meeting

Public Safety Building

March 6, 2008

New Action Items:

Due date	Responsibility	Action Item
4/3/08	Rosenbaum and Vernon	28. Develop a plan of action for speaking to the principals of both University High and Morgantown High about covered bicycle parking at the high schools
4/3/08	Good	29. Plan a meeting of the Infrastructure committee to pursue the chevron project
4/3/08	Wamsley	30. Plan a meeting of the PR committee to work with Hugh on WVU’s Options Program
4/3/08	Spencer and Selin	31. Assist Newcome in contacting Dan Boroff
4/3/08	Hein et al	32. Meet to discuss Bike Month
4/3/08	All Members	33. Email suggestions for Autumn’s replacement
4/3/08	Newcome	22. Update on Max’s Challenge
4/3/08	Hein & Spencer	24. Specifics regarding addition of a question to WV driver's exam

Meeting Minutes:

The March monthly meeting of the Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board (BB) was called to order at 6:35 p.m. at the Public Safety Building by chairman Frank Gmeindl with the following members attending:

Chip Wamsley, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Nick Hein, Greg Good, Don Dickerson, Tyler Pearson, Don Spencer, Nick Hein, Bill Reger-Nash, Alice Vernon, Betsy Shogren, gunnar Shogren, Hugh Kierig, and Frank Gmeindl. Absent members were Sonitt Bhatt, Marilyn Newcome, Autumn Bryson, Sam Stone, and John Lozier. Also in attendance was Jenny Selin of the Morgantown City Council.

Ø Agenda Item 1 (Agenda):

The agenda was approved by all.

Ø Agenda Item 2 (Action Items):

Open Action Items:

o #13- closed. B. Shogren finished the annual report and goal summary.

o #15-open. At the 2/25 meeting, it was decided that before the Campus Connector can go further, property lines must be properly delineated, and a definite plan of action developed. Thus, the BB will sit tight for the time being. Interested parties should attend the next meeting, which will be on Earth Day (4/22) at noon. There will be a hike to review the area of the proposed Campus Connector; meet at noon in the parking lot by the Laney House (near water tower).

o #19-closed. Vernon contacted the principal of MHS and he agreed that the old bike rack would be restored once construction is complete. However, Vernon and Rosenbaum have some ideas to pursue this further, so another action item will be assigned to them.

o #22-open. Hein reported on Max’s Uphill Challenge (MUC). They have asked for endorsement by the BB. A discussion of endorsement vs. sponsorship ensued, with the outcome being the MUC committee should meet with Dan Boroff to ask him about legal liability issues pertaining to the practice events and actual event. Questions arose regarding police escorts/release forms/insurance were also raised. Don Spencer and Jenny Selin both agreed to assist Marilyn Newcome in contacting and meeting with Dan Boroff. It was also decided that Marilyn Newcome (in absentia) would be the one and only official point of contact for this project.

o #24-open. Spencer and Hein have not yet worked on a question regarding bicycles for the WV Driver’s License Exam.

o #25-closed Gmeindl gave Spencer all the information pertaining to the chevrons.

o #26-closed. Hein gave Kierig a packet of information on bicycle storage.

o #27-closed. All members were prepared to discuss a goal of utmost personal significance (bicycle related).

Ø Agenda Item 3 (Ripe Banana Issues):

o Hugh Kierig mentioned that WVU will be promoting “Options Week” in September to highlight to students alternative forms of transportation (other than single-occupancy vehicles). He was hoping that the BB would be able to help somewhat with the bicycle aspect of it. Chip Wamsley and the PR committee will help Hugh with this endeavor.

o Don Spencer reported on the chevrons. He and Jenny Selin traveled to Charleston for a lengthy meeting with Bill Robinson et al. While the DOH approved the application of the chevrons, there were a number of stipulations that will create some huge obstacles. For details, please speak with Don Spencer. Don will continue to pursue this goal of the BB, and will speak to the DOH about a compromise. Also, Greg Good and the other members of the Infrastructure structure will meet to review this project. Gunnar Shogren is now a member of the Infrastructure committee.

o Hein reported that May is Bike Month, with 5/16 being Bike to Work Day. A committee of the BB will meet to discuss ways in which the BB can promote Bike Month. This committee is composed of Nick, Hugh, Alice, Jenny Selin, and Betsy Shogren.

Ø Agenda item 4: (Autumn Replacement):

Autumn has accepted a position in Alaska, so we will probably not be seeing much of her in WV. Have fun cycling in AK and best of luck, Autumn!!!

We ran out of time to discuss this item. Please email any suggestions for Autumn’s replacement to the BB list to be discussed at the next meeting. Please keep in mind that it might be nice to have someone affiliated with the Transit Authority on the BB.

Ø Agenda Item 5 (Goals)

Each BB member wrote down his/her heartfelt goal on a post-it note. These goals, as listed below (word for word), were then categorized into the following groups:

WVU:

· Getting more students out of cars and using bikes as a means of transportation

· Work with regional wellness council to enable, promote, and reinforce active commuting among employees

· Help WVU promote bike commuting and promote administration support of alternative transportation by faculty, staff, and students

· All goals that pertain to WVU

ENCOURAGEMENT

· Make cycling more available and inviting to youth and public for fitness as well as transportation

· Generate signed bicycle routes throughout the city connecting various destinations in the city

· Influence one person to commute by bicycle

· Bike route maps for commuters online and/or in print

EDUCATION

· Our education recommendations to the Traffic Commission are implemented

· Children in schools-teach safe riding on roads, streets, and trails

INFRASTRUCTURE

· Maintain and improve roadways for safer bicycling (especially shoulders and grates)

· Traffic calming everywhere

· Neighborhood connections:

§ For instance: Krepps à Star City Trail

· Woods along the ridge just off the highway above the park OR through the park so families and others don’t drive to the river trail to bike

In the interest of time, this discussion will be continued at the next BB meeting.

Ø Agenda Item 6 (New Action Items)

· #28. Rosenbaum and Vernon: Develop a plan of action for speaking to the principals of both University High and Morgantown High about covered bicycle parking at the high schools. They will email this plan to the BB list for feedback.

· #29. Good: Plan a meeting of the Infrastructure committee to pursue the chevron project. Good can no longer serve as chair of this committee, so a new chair will have to be chosen at this committee. Also, G. Shogren has volunteered to be a member of this committee.

· #30. Wamsley et al: Plan a meeting of the PR committee to work with Hugh on WVU’s Options Program.

· #31. Spencer and Selin: Assist Newcome in contacting Dan Boroff

· #32: Hein et al: Meet to discuss Bike Month

· #33: All Members: Email suggestions for Autumn’s replacement.

Ø Agenda Item 7 (Meeting Evaluation)

We still need more chairs.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is April 3, 2008 @ 6:30 pm, at the Public Safety Building.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.

Betsy Shogren

03/16/08

Attendance:

Jan-07

Feb-07

Mar-07

Apr-07

May-07

Jun-07

Jul-07

Aug-07

Sep-07

Oct-07

Nov-07

Dec-07

Jan-08

Feb-08

Mar-08

Apr-08

May-08

Jun-08

Jul-08

Aug-08

Sep-08

Oct-08

Nov-08

Dec-08

Bryson, Autumn

Dickerson, Don

Gmeindl, Frank

Good, Greg

Hein, Nick

Kierig, Hugh

Lozier, John

Newcome, Marilyn

Pearson, Tyler

Reger-Nash, Bill

Rosenbaum, Jonathan

Shogren, Betsy

Shogren, gunnar

Spencer, Don

Stone, Sam

Vernon, Alice

Wamsley, Chip

X=Present

Blank = Absent