Agenda Item 1

Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board

Regular Meeting

Public Safety Building

September 4, 2008

Open Action Items:

Due date	Responsibility	Action Item
ASAP	Rosenbaum, g Shogren, Kierig, Phillips, & Lozier	37. Develop a concrete plan for bicycle parking throughout the city; explore the applicability of WVU’s planning process and substance to the cities parking garages.
10/2/2008	Spencer and new chairman	38. Schedule a meeting with the new director of the CVB to discuss bringing a large bicycle rally to Morgantown.
10/2/2008	Rosenbaum	41. Ask Jim Hunt if he wants to be a Bicycle Board ex-officio.
10/2/2008	Kierig	44. Contact Chief Roberts to see if a WVU public safety officer could serve as an ex-officio or consultant for the BB.
10/2/2008	Spencer, Pearson & Kierig	45. Have information ready to present at a public hearing regarding bicycle access to the new PUD in the Grand Central Station area.
10/2/2008	Gmeindl, G. Shogren, & Spencer	46. Make recommendation to the TC regarding delinquent cyclists in the downtown area.
10/2/2008	Gmeindl	47. Check with Mark Wise regarding the status of the lines on the RT.
10/2/2008	Gmeindl & B. Shogren	48. Prepare a press release for the TC to distribute regarding the chevrons on the road.
10/2/2008	Gmeindl	49. Send out a reminder 10 days prior to the next meeting regarding the submission of this month’s homework (due 1 week before the next meeting).
10/2/2008	G. Shogren	50. Ask Rob Voorhees, Gabe/Andy (from Pathfinder), and Gary Rodosta if they would be interested in being on the BB.
10/2/2008	Gmeindl	51. Ask Bill Reger-Nash if he can recommend somebody with connections to the wellness community to fill in his spot on the BB.

Meeting Minutes:

The August monthly meeting of the Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board (BB) was called to order at 6:38 p.m. at the Public Safety Building by chairman Frank Gmeindl with the following members attending:

Frank Gmeindl, Don Spencer, Tyler Pearson, Hugh Kierig, John Lozier, Betsy Shogren, and Gunnar Shogren. New member Chris Phillips and renewed member Jim Rye were also present. Welcome to Chris and welcome back to Jim!
Absent members were Marilyn Newcome, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Don Dickerson, Alice Vernon, Derek Springston, and Chip Wamsley.
City Council member Jenny Selin was present at the meeting.
WVU student Danielle attended the meeting to gather information on bicycle theft for the Daily Athenaeum.

Agenda Item 1 (Agenda):

Agenda Item #7 was changed from Officer Election to Membership Back-Fill.

Agenda Item 2 (Minutes of last meeting):

There were no changes to the minutes.

Agenda Item 3 (Action Items):

Open Action Items:

o #37 - open. Rosenbaum was not present to update the BB on this AI. However, because of the urgent need for bicycle parking, and budget requests for bicycle parking, gunnar Shogren, Chris Phillips, John Lozier, and Hugh Kierig will meet the week of September 8^th to solidify plans.

o #38 – open. Don Spencer indicated that the kind of rally he has in mind is the LAB annual rally. He described this year’s LAB rally that was in Maine and that was organized by locals rather than LAB HQ.

o #39 – closed. Gmeindl assembled a document of all Action Items, and brought this list of all present and past action items to the meeting.

o #40 – closed. The BB now has Alice Vernon’s current email.

o #41 – open. Rosenbaum was not present to update the BB on this AI.

o #42 – closed. According to Chief Scott, the city police officers are already extremely overworked and thus not available for membership on the BB.

o #43 – closed. Chris Phillips was present and gave everyone his e-mail address.

Agenda Item 4 (Ripe Banana Issues):

Hugh Kierig reported that 9/15 – 9/19 is Transportation Week at WVU, part of the We Go Program. Each day of the week will highlight an alternative mode of transportation (other than single-occupancy motor vehicles). Monday, September 15^th is Bike-Ped Day, with coupons and prizes being offered to University students, faculty or staff that pass by a University Avenue checkpoint on foot or wheels. A media blitz will commence next week.

Jenny reported she is working to have TIF (Tax Increment Financing) used to complete the Campus Connector all the way to the University line (sometime in the distant future).

A PUD (Planned Urban Development) is in the planning stages for the Grand Central Station area. This PUD would house 500-1000 students, and presents a real transportation challenge. This is a great opportunity for the BB to give input regarding enhanced bicycle access to this site. A public hearing on this matter is planned shortly, and Tyler Pearson, Hugh Kierig, and Don Spencer will work to have information ready to present at this public hearing regarding bicycle access to the site.

The City Council has been receiving complaints about misbehaving bicyclists in the downtown area. Indeed, since the students have been back, most members of the BB have witnessed some incredibly stupid maneuvers by cyclists. Frank, gunnar S., and Don S. will work together to make a recommendation to the TC.

There has been no word on the RT striping. Frank will contact Mark Wise to see if any progress has been made in forming the committee to address this issue.

Agenda Item 5 (Backup Secretary):

Jim Rye graciously has agreed to be Betsy Shogren’s backup secretary.

Agenda Item 6 (Future Direction)

ATTENTION BB MEMBERS: HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT!!!!!

After some study, it seems that good city bicycling plans all contain the following elements (or some variation thereof):

Engineering

Enforcement

Education

Encouragement

Evaluation

Equality

The BB’s homework assignment for the month is for EACH member to write down the biggest bicycle-related problem in each element that faces Morgantown, in his/her opinion. A solution can also be posed, but the problem posing is most important. Obviously, many problems can fall into multiple categories, but the most dominant category should be chosen.

Note: This homework assignment is somewhat open to individual interpretation. The hope is to generate some ideas for the future direction of the BB. Please email your list to Frank by Sept. 26, 1 week before the next meeting so he can compile the lists and have them ready for clarification, prioritization and selection at the next meeting which is on Oct. 2.

Agenda Item 7 (Membership Back-Fill)

Jenny will speak to the Youth Commission about getting 1 -2 youths to fill the open Youth Commission spot on the BB. There are still two other spots open on the BB. Possible replacements include Rob Voorhees, Marc Glass, Gabe or Andy from Pathfinder, Gary Rodosta, and hopefully a person recommended by Bill Reger-Nash. Because Jim Hunt is a resident of either Fairmont or Clarksburg, he cannot be a BB member, as originally thought. The BB will see if he would like to be an ex officio member, though. Also, Hugh Kierig will check with Chief Roberts to see if a WVU public safety officer could serve as an ex-officio or consultant for the BB.

Agenda Item 8 (Green Team)

Don Spencer reports that the City Comprehensive Plan to conform to the Climate Protection Agreement will begin next July. This plan is being developed by the Green Team, with input from each neighborhood. The BB, along with the Pedestrian Safety Board, and the Tree Board, has also been asked to give their input.

Agenda Item 9 (Chevrons Letter)

After Nick Hein’s interview on WAJR’s talk show, the city council received a letter regarding a South Park citizen’s high concern about pollution and “plans to integrate bicycles into the center lanes of traffic” (via the chevrons). The BB is unsure how this citizen found out about the chevrons, as they were not mentioned by Nick Hein, and have not been presented to the public. While Don S. sent an appropriate email back to the citizen clarifying the role of the chevrons, it was clear from this experience that a public relations campaign is sorely needed to inform the public of the purpose of the chevrons. Frank Gmeindl and Betsy Shogren will work together to prepare a press release to give to the Traffic Commission that will fulfill this obligation.

Agenda Item 10 (New Action Items)

#44 – Kierig. Contact Chief Roberts to see if a WVU public safety officer could serve as an ex-officio or consultant for the BB.
#45 – Spencer, Pearson, Kierig. Have information ready to present at a public hearing regarding bicycle access to the new PUD in the Grand Central Station area.
#46 – Gmeindl, G. Shogren, Don S. Make recommendation to the TC regarding delinquent cyclists in the downtown area.
#47 – Gmeindl. Check with Mark Wise regarding the status of the lines on the RT.
#48 – Gmeindl, B. Shogren. Prepare a press release for the TC to distribute regarding the chevrons on the road.
#49 – Gmeindl. Send out a reminder 10 days prior to the next meeting regarding the submission of this month’s homework (due 1 week before the next meeting).
#50 – G. Shogren. Ask Rob Voorhees, Gabe/Andy (from Pathfinder), and Gary Rodosta if they would be interested in being on the BB.
#51 – Gmeindl. Ask Bill Reger-Nash if he can recommend somebody with connections to the wellness community to fill in his spot on the BB.

Agenda Item 11 (Meeting Evaluation)

Jim Rye pointed out that the possibility of finishing the meeting early was exciting.

Frank Gmeindl reminded everyone that it is a waste of everybody’s good time when people are late to the meeting!

Please make every effort to be ON TIME!!!

The next regularly scheduled meeting is October 2, 2008 @ 6:30 pm, at the Public Safety Building. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm.

Betsy Shogren

09/05/2008

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

Dickerson, Don

Gmeindl, Frank

Good, Greg

Kierig, Hugh

Lozier, John

Newcome, Marilyn

Pearson, Tyler

Phillips, Chris

Rosenbaum, Jonathan

Rye, Jim

Shogren, Betsy

Shogren, gunnar

Spencer, Don

Springston, Derek

Vernon, Alice

Wamsley, Chip

X=Present

Blank = Absent