Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition
2011 Board Retreat
January 9th, 2011
Center for Independent Living
Chair Pete Hines
Vice Chair Jim Nieters (Elected Today)
Secretary Tim Athan
Treasurer Karen Moorhead
Board Members: Paul Alman (new), Joel Batterman (new)
Larry Deck, Kris Talley, Carolyn Grawi, Jim Nieters
Erica Briggs-Whitacre (new)
Kris Talley was not in attendance.
A) Operational Issues
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Treasurer's report
Karen submitted the report prior to the meeting:
“Beginning Balance (December 2010) 3218.61
Deposits 362.98
Interest 2.20
POS 12.23
Ending balance (January 2011) 3571.56
I refilled the state of MI document for non profit corporation today.”
In addition, Karen handed out an array of financial data summaries. The WBWC Worksheet displayed finances on a monthly basis. The Financial Summary showed year by year numbers, along with a 2011 projection. Paul Alman spoke in favor of making such projections.
Erica noted that the budget for the pedestrian grant is still being worked out.
Erica said that if we create artwork as part of this grant program, it will be owned by WBWC and its project partners.
Karen offered to mail the Excel spreadsheet with this data to anyone.
Meeting with a CPA is a financial goal for this year. Also Karen will do research about electronic documentation for cash donations.
Paul noted that in August there will be a two day meeting in Lansing for advocacy training by the Alliance for Biking and Walking (the former Thunderhead Alliance). He will be attending as an LMB representative, and he urged us to send another WBWC board member.
Paul is submitting the WBWC for an LMB award for Outstanding Community Organization.
Paul noted that there is an LMB bike summit planned for March, and he urged that we pay for board members to attend. Karen suggested that she could have a line item for such training expenses.
Carolyn asked about providing scholarships for others to attend. Erica suggested that we should do this with care; only for very engaged activists. Pete thinks it should be regarded as a leadership development program. Paul said that it should be for WBWC members only.
Jim thinks that training should be a line item separate from money for attending events. Scholarships should be a third, distinct item.
Erica noted that we could ask other organizations, such as the DDA or GetDowntown, to sponsor WBWC attendance at useful events.
Erica noted that there aren’t many sources of funding for us, and it might be good to track what we get from each. She said we shouldn’t lump the funding from all events together. There was discussion about whether donations should be separated from sales at each event.
Tim said that a rule among engineers is to collect data only when it will answer a specific question. Also, he noted that one data point can be more misleading than enlightening. If we start tracking events’ donations with the intent of drawing conclusions about their relative worth, we might be confusing many factors and draw false conclusions.
Our bank is Commerce Bank of Michigan, at State and Eisenhower.
Karen noted, to give us an idea of magnitude, that her last deposit was about $40, and that was the “take” from 2 or three events.
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New vice-chair
Lily had to leave the board for the duration of the pedestrian grant (which she is in charge of), to avoid a conflict of interest. She can attend board meetings.
Should we replace her as Vice Chair? Erica believes that we are required to always have officers.
Jim Nieters was elected to the Vice Chair position for 2011.
Larry noted that Lily has contributed a great deal in goal setting and in meeting planning; he would like to see these activities carried forward as Vice Chair responsibilities.
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Newsletter editor
Erica says that it is great to have a newsletter, but it doesn’t have to be as substantial as it is. She thinks that having a newsletter makes us look like a more credible organization.
Erica has been helping with layout and is willing to continue in that role.
Pete suggested we form a newsletter subcommittee, and that they have a brainstorming session to determine what the newsletter should be.
We send the newsletter to members, supporters, media, government, other organizations, and miscellaneous interested others.
Jim noted that we could have contributors from outside the group, such as the mayor. Other groups might provide contributors.
Karen subscribes to the newsletter from a Columbus advocacy group.
Everyone considered what they could contribute to the newsletter. Larry can summarize his activities. Joel can report on the activities of his newly formed group. Karen can describe the changes she has made to our web presence. Carolyn can report on Center for Independent Living (CIL) activities that overlap WBWC interests, and also she keeps track of AATA activities. Pete can summarize his activities. He talked of contacting other local bicycling advocacy groups for updates. Jim could try to conduct interviews with instrumental transportation people. Tim can monitor bicycling news.
Karen noted that we would benefit from having a photographer document our activities.
Karen thinks we should have a Flicker account.
Paul is nominating Bob Krzewinski as the LMB advocate of the year. We resolved to support this nomination as a group, and designated Paul as the letter writer.
Jim suggested that the website calendar include a deadline for newsletter contributions.
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Contract for grant support to Erica
Erica will follow-up on liability insurance questions. Karen thinks we should get board insurance, and she will contact insurance companies, and will check with Bob about what he learned when he contacted insurance companies a year ago.
Larry said he believes that we are all protected already as individuals due to our incorporation, but that we probably want insurance beyond that.
A draft of a contract for hiring Erica for the pedestrian grant was circulated.
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Web site updates
Karen reported that the new web site is progressing well. WBWC.org/devy/
is the address. At this point Karen, Erica and Kris have administrative privileges. Karen welcomes feedback. She would like to assign each of the board members a page to review.
Karen suggested that we have a part of the website for board members only.
She would like our listserve to move off of Google to our web site.
Carolyn noted that the site needs some work to make it accessible to the blind.
Karen created the site using only open source material.
Larry noted that he felt we should have a backup procedure for our documents. He is willing to help pursue that.
B) Strategic planning
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Picking two or three key projects to support this year
Pedestrian Grant
Erica handed out the Building Healthy Communities Work Plan 2011. It includes a Key Strategies and Activities table.
Erica is charged with supplying a monthly update to our board.
Larry, Lily and Erica met on December 9 to focus on the work plan.
Jim suggested considering cities that have good walking environment but wouldn’t be expected to. He suggested Reno as an example.
Erica will regularly attend Alt meetings.
Other Priority Projects
Larry was the sole representative of the project priority committee in attendance.
He would like to get together people interested in improving the I-94 pedestrian passes. Pete suggested that Bike Ypsi is interested in the Washtenaw I-94 intersection.
Larry mentioned other items from the priority list, including the Fuller Road project.
Jim spoke of the importance of the Border to Border trail. Larry noted that the priority list includes many Border to Border trail projects.
Pete said that we should be involved with the Stadium Bridges project.
Erica talked about Bike Fest. She feels that Bike Fest is not a bike festival; it is just a part of Green Fair. She suggested it be handed back to GetDowntown.
It is good for us to be organizing a high profile event, and it helps our contacts with bike shops. But it is a lot of work.
Jim would like to see us link up with the Festival of Cycling, and make it more of a family event. Erica is concerned about the costs, such as the cost of street closures.
Paul reported on a recent Tour de Kids meeting. The city has granted approval, and there is substantial funding lined up. Paul doesn’t think it would be a problem to combine a bike fest with the Tour de Kids. He will keep us informed. A date hasn’t been selected yet. Father’s Day is a possibility.
Joel noted that the Ecology Center Eco Ride was not successful last year when it was run as a “virtual ride.” The Ecology Center would like to restore the ride.
Karen noted that the Tour de Kids could be tied in with the Top of the Park activities.
Jim reminded us of interest in an organized midnight ride.
Jim talked about a dusk walk, an urban hike that highlights our greenbelt. He suggested attempting it once, and then after one year passing it on to another organization. Erica said that she believes that if we start something we should continue to run it.
Jim spoke of a “subflavor” of this: a regularly scheduled women’s’ hike.
Jim suggested that there be an initiative to reduce some speed limits at specific times and places. Others responded that local initiatives won’t work against state code. Pete suggested that Jim prepare a plan.
Larry asked if there is a proposal to change the Michigan code. Erica said that there is nothing yet, but some groups are working on it.
Paul noted that we hadn’t yet spoken today about Complete Streets.
Paul said that there is potential for occasional closings of Huron River Drive.
Joel talked about updating area bike maps. He suggested that the DDA and the city could be interested, and it could be done with student volunteers.
Larry noted that the city has a large back stock of the present maps.
Pete noted that getting the Border to Border trail mapped well is important.
2) Long term plans and goals - 1, 5, 10 years
Erica suggested we review the 2010 Board Action Plan. Photocopies of the document were passed to the Board. Erica suggested we update the document with information from today’s discussion.
Paul will bring to the February meeting the results of LMB’s long term planning workshop.
Lily has an electronic copy of the Board Action Plan at work.
The balance of the meeting was spent updating the Board Action Plan.
The following agenda items were not explicitly visited:
3) Fund raising activities
4) Involvement with other groups such as U of M
5) Maintaining 501(c)3 Non-profit status
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Increasing membership
C) Other issues
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On-line document storage
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Getting more members actively involved
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Outreach meetings
4)
Respectfully Submitted,
Tim Athan
Appendix
Here is the list of potential projects (condensed) from the 2008 retreat
WBWC Potential 2008 Projects
A) Safe Routes to School
B) Supporting the "Same Road, Same Rules" Campaign
C) Written Responses to Issues in the Media
D) Provide Input to the Revision of the Bike Map
E) Prioritize Area Bicycling and Walking Projects for Decision Makers
F) Interact with the Ann Arbor City Council
G) Improve Pedestrian Ordinances
H) Curb Your Car Month
I) Utilize U. of M. Student Orientations for Outreach
J) Advocate the Implementation of High Priority City and County Projects
K) Getting Sidewalks Built
L) Make a Walkability Assessment
M) Monitor Rails-to-Trails Money
N) Bike Fest
O) Monitor the City's Transportation Plan
P) Art Fair Activities
Q) The Bike Ambassadors Program
R) The Car-Free Ann Arbor Blog
S) Sustainability Fair on Campus
T) Acquiring 501-3C Status
U) Determine Organizations We Should Join
V) A Packet for New Bike Owners
W) A Safe Bicycling Flyer that is distributed with the City Water Bill
X) Washtenaw Parks and Rec. Mileage Renewal
Y) Demonstration Projects
Z) Membership Recruitment
AA) LMB Bike Advocacy Summit
