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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-05-19 BABAB MinutesBozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Meeting Agenda for June 5, 2019 6-8 p.m. City Hall, Commission Room BABAB’s purpose is to recommend safe bicycle practices throughout Bozeman in regard to enhanced bicycle circulation and design, community-wide bicycle education and safety programs, and other matters relating to bicycling in the Bozeman area. Public in attendance: Ralph Zimmer Board Members and Liaisons in Attendance: Danae Giannetti, Chrissy Pepino, Rachel Rockafellow, James Lusby, John Vandelinder, Andrew Brechbuhler, Candace Mastel, Jason Delmue, Kristin Davis, Jason Karp, Jeff Krauss A. Meeting called to order at 6:04pm B. Approved Previous Meeting Minutes C. Public Comment Ralph Zimmer – 1. One of the main points of the most recent PTSC was discussing separated shared use path along Huffine (west of Bozeman). 2. Reminded the board to be aware of matters outside of city limits. A Planning Coordinator Committee made up of elected officials and staff members from Gallatin county and the cities of Belgrade and Bozeman met this week to discuss the “Triangle Plan” which focuses on the area between Belgrade, Bozeman, and Four Corners. a. The Triangle Plan is a draft proposal of policy statements. Minutes will be made available online by Gallatin County Planning as they handle the minutes. b. Additional comment regarding the Triangle Plan from Jason Karp: Huffine trail was mentioned specifically in the draft plan. The new high school wasn’t mentioned but connectivity to schools was a topic. Also, the Frontage Road Path was requested to be in the plan. 3. Regarding revisions to the Complete Streets Resolution, city staff have said that if there are any moves to modify it, they will be requesting input from PTSC on changes. D. Welcomed New BABAB Member Kristin Davis E. Letter to City Commission: Recommendations for Annual City Budget Process – Action Item, Candace Mastel and Rachel Rockafellow The intent is to provide written communication to the Commission with BABAB updates and to help prioritize what the board thinks is important. The goal is to provide letters on a quarterly basis, beginning this month. A draft letter will be provided to board members soon for review and comment. Current core ideas to convey in letter: 1. Reiterating BABAB mission to Commission 2. Show support of CIP list 3. Show support of other projects that may not yet be on CIP list 4. Recommend a bicycle transportation consultant for the City a. Current position with city is no longer filler. City needs full time FTE bike coordinator 5. Review snow plowing routes and winter maintenance plan with respect to bicycle facilities 6. Support the Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan a. Especially the Babcock cycle track and connectivity of Main street to the Mountains 7. Share the board’s upcoming goals for next year, currently consisting of: a. Better communication with updates from city staff, reviewing Complete Street Resolution, Drivers Education for high school students, expanding town & gown relationship, and updating bicycle map Danae: Valley Unit Neighborhood Association has expressed interest in weighing in on Fowler project. John: Reach out to neighborhood coordinator if neighborhood wants to be involved and BABAB can write a separate letter regarding Fowler so that it can be shared with design consultant. Jeff: regarding a letter to the commission – can use general language describing best practices and then specifically cite Fowler corridor design in letter. It is better to not wait until city revises Complete Streets Resolution to comment on Fowler design. CIP information from Jeff and John V.: Every December is when CIP is adopted. If BABAB wants to make suggestions on connection projects, then November or December suggestions to commission would be well received. If a project is over $10,000 it must be on CIP. Chrissy: Would it be worthwhile to attend commission meetings once letter has been provided? Jeff: Yes, show up at 6pm and provide public comment on behalf of BABAB. Winter snow plow maintenance: Initially recommend two primary north-to-south routes and two east-to-west routes already designated as bike routes that could be better maintained for bikes in the winter. Candace will send out recommended routes to BABAB board for review and then work on getting routes to John in the next month. Routes were identified based on collaborations with Linda DuPriest and Taylor Lonsdale. The routes are also based on TMP recommendations and prioritizing connectivity. A vote was put forward to send two separate letters to the Commission: one letter for Current CIP projects (items 2 and 3 above) and one for all other items listed above. Rachel made a motion to approve, Chrissy seconded the motion. All approved. F. People for Bikes City of Bozeman Scorecard – Action Item, Jason Delmue Bozeman was given 2.2 out of 5 rating. Category “acceleration” is what is brought down the rating but their assessment was missing data such as Bozeman’s bike week, connecting to the “M” trail, and future bicycle facilities that are being planned. The purpose of this discussion is to see if anyone is interested in providing the missing data to People for Bikes. Also discussed as part of this item was submitting a new application to the League of American Bicyclist for Bozeman’s “Bicycle Friendly Community” rating. Bill Cochran handled application before and it was a lengthy process. The League’s designation for Bozeman is expiring soon. MSU used the League’s evaluation for goals and objectives to go from “Honorable Mention” to “Bronze” so the intent is to use it as a feedback loop/guide to upgrade and improve. People for Bikes is not an application process. Jeff: this would be a good public comment opportunity for commission meeting to request a staff person to review and correct the People for Bikes information. This decision would be up to the city manager but Commissioners could request the City Manager to decide if staff is available for task. This is an example of a duty for a bike/ped coordinator but that position is not in the 3 year staffing plan. There likely will be one on staff after Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) status, possibly 2023. Andrew: Who is going to educate BABAB on what is happening in the area and within the city now that Linda’s contract is up with the City? John & Jeff: it will be them. Can always email with questions, too. Conclusion of this agenda item: Candace will find out from Amelia Neptune what the League’s application deadline is as well as get an idea of the time commitment to get this updated. G. Old Business 1. Bicycle Map – Andrew Brechbuhler and Jason Delmue Received working files, all links are there. John recommended that the GIS department have possession of files. Andrew will coordinate with John to get it updated. It will need to have GIS and legal review before publishing. GIS department can give data but not graphical design and will verify accuracy of info. Chrissy suggested that upcoming/proposed routes be included with anticipated completion dates. John and Jeff: Yes, use dashed line with dates to indicate location. 2. Rachel: requested update on driver’s ed discussion Danae: No updates at this time but discussions are still being had; will hopefully provide updates in future. 3. Rachel: Can a presentation be provided on the League’s best practices for bicycle advisory boards that was brought up at a previous meeting? Danae will provide one at next meeting. H. New Business 1. RADAR trailer – Candace Mastel RADAR trailer in bike lane on Oak St. Candace contacted Captain Knight with Bozeman Police Department. He explained that when community has issue with speed, a volunteer coordinator will put it where it makes most sense, sometimes on lawn/grass boulevard is not the best place (concerns with driving on grass and/or sprinklers). Candace requested that in the future to please not put in bike lanes due to safety concerns. John will talk to volunteer coordinators to try to avoid this in the future. 2. MSU update – Candace Mastel Parking removed on east side of South 7th between Grant & Kagy to create a buffered bike lane; will also allow for more efficient plowing. Intersection improvements based on NACTO design made at Grant & 7th. Sharrows being installed as interim solution on west side of South 7th. Grant will be closed sometime in August between west side of sub loop all the way to 11th for fitness center reconstruction and Romney Hall improvements. 3. Jason Karp: The path on Jackrabbit from Belgrade to Four corners is now completely done; T’s into Valley Center path. Be careful when biking it because there’s a lot of driveways and intersections but it is still a great ride. 4. James: Bozeman Police Department & Gallatin Valley Mall have partnered to have a bike safety rodeo on Wednesday, July 17th from 9am to 12pm. It will be in the parking lot near Macy’s. All ages welcome. Cones will be set up and there will be people to talk about bike safety. BABAB representative(s) welcomed – contact James if interested in participating. I. Meeting Adjourned at 7:54pm For more information, please contact John Vandelinder, Street Superintendent. This board generally meets the first Wednesday of the month from 6pm to 8pm. BABAB meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability that requires assistance, please contact our ADA Coordinator, Mike Gray, at 582-3232 (TDD 582-2301).