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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-01-09 Bicycle Advisory Board Minutes BABAB Minutes July 1, 2009 Members Present: Guests Present: Elizabeth Bird, Co-Chair Paul House, paul@bozemancottage.com Bill Cochran Gretchen Hooker, greenasmsu@montana.edu Zac Collins Jason Delmue Baker Lyon Molly Pickall Joseph Szasz I.Public comment & introductions – each member introduced themselves to the guests. There was no public comment. II.Elizabeth asked for an update on the thank you letters for Bike Week. Baker reported that they are almost done. Zac offered to address the envelopes, which he did during this meeting. III.Review and approval of June minutes – the minutes were passed, however Elizabeth will seek clarification from Rebecca on the sentence: “The CIP is still flexible on budget.” Rebecca’s clarification: As I recall from the meeting, this meant that the CIP budget is not yet set in stone for the upcoming year. In other words, there may still be opportunities to change the proposed budget – for example-requesting funds for bicycle- related work is not out of the question. IV. Gretchen Hooker, Sustainability Director for the Associated Students of MSU Sustainability Center (ASMSU) gave a presentation to the board about the program and possibilities for collaboration: ? The ASMSU’s primary program is MSU’s recycling program funded by a “sustainability fee,” however, the ASMSU is in the process of developing a more comprehensive program for students to get more involved with campus sustainability – cooperating with campus sustainability advisory council, facilities services, trying to impact infrastructure, but also events and info to foster green culture. ? Gretchen would like to explore the possibility of collaborating with BABAB to offer bike safety courses. She has talked with board member Bill Cochran about offering a safety training to students and board member Rebecca Gleason about doing an educational program in the fall on bike commuting. Both city biking safety, etiquette, and resources for bikers (routes, places to avoid etc.); extending bike commute into winter season or wet season (bike modifications, safety etc.) ? Gretchen is also interested in starting a Bike Share program or Free Bikes for Freshman program and hopes that BABAB and the Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club would be partners, along with MSU’s Bike and Ski Workshop (part of MSU Outdoor Recreation Group). ? Elizabeth asked Gretchen about plans for a fall Bike-to-School week/day at MSU. At this time, no events are planned. However ASMSU and possibly MSU’s BABAB Minutes July 1, 2009 Network of Environmentally Conscious Organizations (NECO) may work on putting together events. V. Zac and Elizabeth provided a summary of the recent Safe Routes to School event planned for the fall. ? Planning so far includes walking and biking education and events planned around th October 7. BABAB could put on a bike safety workshop (perhaps on the th evening before the bike event – Tuesday, October 6) and lead “bike trains/school buses” on 10/7 along specified routes to Bozeman area public schools. Zac will check with the Safe Routes to School Day organizers about BABAB conducting a th safety workshop on October 6. Another question to be resolved is, could students participate in the “bike trains” if they don’t attend the safety workshop the evening beforehand? ? The “Bike Trains” would involve at least nine routes (to the 9 elementary and middle schools in Bozeman) requiring 18 volunteers to have someone leading each train and another acting as the “caboose.” It is also possible that both a morning and afternoon “train” would be organized. ? The Board discussed the issue of liability. The Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club has insurance for group rides, but requires a signed waiver for each participant, which could be tricky to organize. Baker relayed his conversation with the City’s Attorney Office. He reported that the City does not have appropriate insurance for an event like this, however, the board needs to modify its bylaws (and have them approved by the City Commission) to include activities like Bike-to-Work Week and other events so they are covered under the board’s scope of activities. As well, Elizabeth will inquire with Safe Routes to School event organizer Cathy Costakis about insurance for the day’s events. ? Elizabeth asked Bill for an update on League of American Bicyclist safety instructor training. Bill reported that, unfortunately, the possibility of holding a local training has evaporated. Instead Bill will travel to Seattle or another location th for a certification course. Bill is confident he will be certified by October 6 for the Safe Routes to School safety workshop. ? The board discussed advertising and volunteer recruiting efforts. It was suggested that the board piggyback on the Safe Routes to School efforts to get the word out within the schools. As well, BABAB members could visit schools in the morning as children are dropped off and recruit parents who are riding bikes with their children to be volunteers for the “bike trains.” Zac agreed to do this at Longfellow, Jason at Chief Joseph, and Joseph at Irving. ? In order to determine the routes for the “bike trains” Elizabeth will send the board the Safe Routes to School maps that have been developed. Teachers and School administration will be consulted to identify the best routes to use. It was suggested that these maps be included on a flyer advertising the “bike trains” event, as well the flyer should include safety tips and logistical information. ? Molly offered to recruit GVBC members as volunteers to lead the “bike trains.” The board wondered if parents and students could be polled ahead of time to gauge the number of participants. ? It was suggested that instead of one day, a school be featured for a whole week so that more children could participate and more “bike trains” could be organized for BABAB Minutes July 1, 2009 all school routes. This option may be too complicated to organize for this year, but should be considered for future efforts. ? Elizabeth asked how ASMSU would be involved with these efforts. Gretchen offered to help recruit student volunteers for the “bike train.” The MSU workshops Gretchen would like to organize don’t have to coincide with the Safe Routes to School event, since it might be too much to cater to elementary, middle, high school, and college students. ? Lastly, Elizabeth polled the board to be sure we could organize to help with Safe thth Routes to School Day on October 6 and 7. Molly thought that by marketing though the schools and piggbacking with the efforts of the Event’s organizers (lead by Cathy Costakis) it would be doable. Zac volunteered to lead BABAB’s involvement with the Safe Routes to School Day. VI.Next the BABAB Board reviewed an HRDC proposal requesting a variance on installing bike and pedestrian options for a new Bus Barn on Rouse and Griffin. After reviewing the plans and considering that Rouse is slated for major improvements in the near future (that would impact bike/ped improvements) the Board decided the variance was ok. The Board recommends that if the facility is adopted for public use in the future, then bike facilities should be installed according to requirements and recommendations in the Bozeman Transportation Plan. VII.Bill Cochran reported on a recent meeting for the Downtown Improvement Plan. ? In summary, the Downtown Business Partnership brought in consultants to make recommendations for revitalizing Main Street and the core of Downtown. At a recent meeting, the consultants shared their findings with the Downtown Business Partnership and its constituents. ? A high-priority recommendation was to change Main Street into three lanes (one each direction and one center turning lane) with bike lanes on both sides and to keep parallel parking. Interestingly, most of the constituents seemed to agree (in contrary to the last time this idea was considered.) ? The consultants also recommended that Mendenhall and Babcock should be two- way streets and that Mendenhall, in particular needed a ‘facelift’ (remove parking lots, combined business and residential development) that would involved both city and private funds. ? A core principle is that Downtown should not be a commuter route. It should have calm traffic on all three streets (Babcock, Main and Mendenhall). ? The Board questioned, would a letter of support for these recommendations be helpful? In particular, should BABAB write a letter recommending that Main Street be taken off designated highway routes to eliminate trucking traffic? Bill will look into writing a letter of support from BABAB. th VIII.August 26 at 12 pm is the County’s Roundtable on its trail system. Joseph agreed to attend and represent BABAB. IX. In the interest of time, the Board skipped other items on the agenda to discuss an outcome of the City’s recent Ethics Training for Citizen Advisory Boards. It was BABAB Minutes July 1, 2009 discovered that BABAB members may be restricted from discussing board business outside of publicized and open meetings, for instances via email. ? Jason pointed out that since the Board has no authority or control of funding, there should be no legal repercussions for meeting without public notification. ? It was suggested that we investigate amending the by-laws to allow BABAB members to convene in person or via email to respond to priorities that arise outside of scheduled meeting times (i.e.: when comment is requested on proposals and the timeframe does not accommodate BABAB’s scheduled monthly meetings.) ? It was also suggested that BABAB’s actions outside of scheduled meetings could be posted on a Board website or message board to solicit public input. ? To begin answering these questions, Baker agreed to forward his emails with the City’s Attorney’s Office to the rest of the Board and Jason agreed to work with Baker to begin amending and updating BABAB’s by laws. X.The meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm. Minutes compiled by Molly Pickall