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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-04-20 BABAB MinutesBozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Meeting Agenda for March 4, 2020 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. City Staff liaison: Taylor Lonsdale, John VanDelinder Bozeman Police liaison: James Lusby BABAB board members: Candace Mastel, Danae, Jason Delmue, Jason Karp Absent: Andrew Brechbuhler, Chrissy Pepino Members of the Public: Matthew Bell (WTI), Rob Ament (WTI), Matt Marcinek (GVLT), Meg Murphy, Kate Shupe, Rosalie Lynch, Kelsey Dzintars, Rebecca Spear, Jocelyn Funderburk, Marilee Brown (GAP, PTSC, Safer Bozeman), Ralph Zimmer (PTSC) City Council liaison: Terry Cunningham A. Meeting called to order at 6:06pm B. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes: 5 minutes Matt Marcinek asked if things were corrected properly: Matt says everything was correct Motion by Jason Delmue to approve, seconded by Jason Karp C. Public Comment Kelsey Zintars: Has lived in Bozeman for 15 years. Older sister to Alexa who was killed on bicycle at Rawhide Ridge Rd and N 19th Ave. Issues identified: drunk driving, lack of a good route, and it was noted during a roadside memorial that the sidewalk was not cleaned properly to allow transport by an individual in a wheelchair. The cyclist was in the correct place on the road w/legal requirements for lights/reflectors. Requesting safer routes for cyclist. Candace: requests further public comment on the issue. Bike board is committed to continuing work on and discussion to improve bike routes in Bozeman and the surrounding area. E. FRP Bridges Presentation – Informational (20 minutes, Matt Bell and Rob Ament, WTI) Matt: here to provide information based on his research into bridges made from fiber- reinforced polymers (aka carbon fiber). It is similar to reinforced concrete. - Benefits: high strength-to-weight ratio; reduced transportation and construction costs; 100+ year lifespan; minimal maintenance required. - It is quite easy to make unique/specialized shapes - 3 types of bridges o Pultrusion: 124 ft was longest mentioned; can be made of 100% recycled materials; hours to construct o Hybrid-Composite Bridges: 75-100 ft; skeleton of structure made of concrete filled FRP tubes; weeks to construct; made of both concrete and FRP; can be made of steel beams w/FRP bridge surface o Uni-mold Bridges: 200 ft is largest, but could be longer; technology just came to US; installation in hours; can be made from natural fibers but do degrade faster - WTI is looking at how these bridges can be used, especially to function as overpasses. The material can be used for many purposes. Candace: discussed how these could be used to increase connectivity and avoid need for use of culverts. MSU just put in a bridge that she thinks this could have been used for. Matt: upfront costs can seem high at this point, but if you look at the long-term studies, there are fewer upkeep costs. Forest service is utilizing the pultrusion bridges. Danae: do the upfront costs take into account the time saved and decreased need to reroute traffic for extended periods of time, etc? Matt: no Danae: Is there training being offered to communities new to using these technologies? Matt: training is offered through the companies producing the bridges. The items that are similar to other items already in production/being used in construction can be used in the same fashion as the older products (rebar, etc). There would be place specific considerations. For example, California would have seismic Matt GVLT: Parks, rec, and trails department will be involved in bridge replacement and maintenance. Recreation trails has a “made in America” requirement. Likes the fact that they would be made in the US and the sustainability of the product. What about having a presentation at the bike, walk Montana conference? Is there a slip-resistant ability? Matt: there are many different coatings like sand coats. We are looking at a grant for bike/ped bridges that we would be focused on those types of surfaces. Rob Ament: We will have a design team at WTI to assist groups trying to make decisions. US Highway 97 was mentioned; first site-visit mid-May. WTI would love to help the Bozeman government make informed decisions. Hybrid-composite bridges have been referred to as “bridge in a backpack” and can stand vehicular weight Jason K: could these be used to extend the width of bridges or provide safer walkways on streets such as 7th over the highway? Matt: yes, they can be made to connect to it via anchor method. Jason K: does MDT know about this? Matt: there is pushback, but we have been talking to them. It is great to have California interested; it is great to have a champion interested in utilizing this technology. Marilee: Alexa could have utilized a bridge as she was biking near a wetland. Can there be a test project in that part of town to find a solution? Is there funding from the city? Can 19th in Bozeman be a test site for these bridges? Rob: we can’t pay for the structure. If this could fall into a research category, we can find funding to cover our (WTI) time. Since it would be state money, WTI could match with federal dollars 1:1. Cost of bridge itself falls outside of what WTI would be able to match. Jason K: has Yellowstone looked into this? Matt: not yet per his knowledge. Candace: will you email the powerpoint and share your contact information? Matt: will send powerpoint and provide cards. Candace: we would love to be involved and utilize this technology to increase connectivity. We would love to have Bozeman, MT on the WTI, FRP powerpoint. F. Update from City Transportation Engineer - Informational (10 minutes, Taylor Lonsdale) Taylor: construction season will be starting again. N 7th will be a big project. Finishing Rouse around April 1st. Intersection of Main and ??? will be closed for a couple months. G. Front Street Connector Funding – Action Item (10 minutes, Taylor Lonsdale) Taylor: can we put some funds towards the project? Matt GVLT gave information at last month’s meeting. Storm-bridge work completion on Rouse will allow this project to move forward. Street maintenance funds would be used up to $13,000 would be eligible. This $13,000 would come from a pool of $50,000. This would make a more direct route for bike/ped traffic from Oak St paved path to Story Mill Spur Trail. There could be other resources, but this money is appropriate for this type of project. Street maintenance fund dollars: ADA improvements, street infill, 6 feet of sidewalk for every 100 feet of sidewalk; paths not associated with a street at all cannot utilize these funds. Danae: We used these funds for striping, crosswalks, and sharrows in 2019, correct? Taylor: In 2019, these funds primarily went for additional striping, crosswalks, and sharrows. I think this is a great project. There is broad support from other community groups, and it is a project that has a solid plan in place. Candace: Can we get input from Marilee? Marilee: This was a hard decision for us to make. Marilee read from PTS minutes. Marilee: everyone loved it at PTS. Jason D: This is a great project that BABAB has always supported. Ralph: is Kenyon and Noble contributing to this project? Taylor: there is no knowledge of contributions from K&N. No knowledge of the details. Matt GVLT: the city legal department worked with K&N for over a year. Move off one half of the right-away and paid city $1,000 to continue to occupy the land. Danae: Spoke in support of separated facilities that can accommodate all levels of abilities/needs Jason D: I move that BABAB recommend to the city that $10,000 of the $50,000 street maintenance funds for fiscal year 2021 be utilized for this project. Candace: ask for approval of motion from the board. Approved by all voting members H. Draft Climate Solutions Plan BABAB Letter – Action Item (15 minutes, Danae Giannetti) General discussion on whether or not BABAB would be interested in sending a letter. It can be sent tonight to the city commission. How would this normally be done? Taylor: There is a time constraint. John: it may or may not get on the agenda based on the last-minute nature. Taylor: discusses -- how does BABAB best use their time to have the most impact? Candace: will write a letter tomorrow personally. Thinks this could be a good place to do some relationship-building. Jason D: This would be us trying to influence the rules in our favor. What makes sense in terms of actions BABAB should take? Terry Cunningham: this is not a commission action. The concern is if the city commissions comment is limited, then it would maybe signify there is limited interest in other issues in the plan. The plan has been fully vetted by staff. Candace: any input from BABAB would clearly be about issues that are related to the interests of the board only. Therefore, the other categories would clearly not be a place BABAB would comment based on the first paragraph of the draft letter. Terry: there was some question as to whether or not BABAB would have the authority to send a letter to the governor. John: read from the bylaws of the board. Candace: the letter was written with the mindset that the city commissioners might include the letter in a response. Jason D: expressed understanding the city’s viewpoint on this. Danae: these issues align with a lot of BABAB discussion. How can we do a better job with intergovernmental affairs? This warrants a bigger discussion. Can the city present the bicycle advisory board’s view on this as coming from BABAB specifically? John: bylaws can be changed with a majority vote James Lusby: this is time sensitive. Does it hurt to give information to the city and let them do what they will with it? Ralph: PTS portfolio includes bicycles. I would hope the city would solicit input from both boards if bicycles are involved. No draft of the letter has been distributed to the public. Danae: What is the proper method for sharing items such as the letter? Taylor: it is possible it should be distributed with the agenda. Jason D: we as BABAB do not have the same set up as other committees. Taylor: will dig into this issue since this is the second month in a row that we have had this issue. Candace: it sounds like we should not take action on this item tonight. We will have to ensure this changes so such items can be included in the future. General discussion continues on topic to ensure this is fixed. Jason D moves to just vote to approve sending the letter. John: you can send it, but it might not get on the agenda. Then talk to John Henderson. Taylor: bylaws of PTS and BABAB are very different. Candace: talks to sending the letter to the commission, not directly to the governor. This letter is addressed to the commission. Jason K: we are just communicating with our commission, which is what we are supposed to do. Candace makes some quick edits to decrease length to 1.5 pages rather than 2 pages. Kristin: motion to send a letter that will be drafted by BABAB to the city commissioners containing our recommendation so they are aware of this opportunity and how it might support the city of Bozeman climate plan update. Candace: yes, this letter should be a recommendation directly to the board. Jason D: motion to send this letter that Danae drafted to the city commission with the revisions suggested. Candace: seconded. All in favor. I. Election of Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary) – Action Item (20 minutes) Candace: proposes to table this until the board is filled. Terry: the commission will be making recommendations by March 9th. Jason D: seconds motion by Candace. All in favor J. Old Business (10 minutes) 1. Work Plan Subcommittees Post-pone until next meeting Danae: implementation will be a challenge. What time can you commit? What are your personal preferences? If we can have this information squared away by the next meeting, that would be great. K. New Business (10 minutes) No new business L. Meeting adjourned at 8:10pm 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. 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