Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coaliton Minutes

Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition
117 North Division Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan
734/487-9058
www.wbwc.org

WBWC Meeting Minutes – November 7, 2002

WBWC 11/7/02 Meeting
Attending: Kris Talley, Leigh McCue, Jim Nieter, Tim Athan, Scott Koll, Bob Krzewinski, Bruce Fields, Ken Clark. Called to order 6:20pm. October meeting minutes were accepted. Treasurer's report: Currently $214.94 in treasury. Year end tax report work will be needed. Also, the Ann Arbor Democratic Party accidentally paid the registration fee for our website domain name. We need to pay them back and get a receipt.

General Business (Agenda Item 4)
Thanks were given to Kris Talley and Tim Athan on the November election candidate questionnaires. Follow-up will include having a link on the web page of the questionnaires from winning candidates. Initial plans are to repeat the questionnaires in the 2004 elections.
a. Membership Outreach: Bob Krzewinski is sending out membership renewal and will try to attend the AABTS winter potluck to brief attendees on the WBWC. Jim Nieters will be doing the same at the Velo Club. Discussion was also held on possibly bundling a WBWC membership with AABTS/Velo Club memberships (i.e. join WBWC for
an extra $10 with your AABTS membership).
b, c, d: other business deferred for later in the evening.

Actions (Agenda Item 5)
a. Education/outreach: Rebecca Kanner and Bob Krzewinski met last week exploring grant money. Scott Koll would like to see Bike To Work Week banners across streets, such as Huron and Jackson Roads in Ann Arbor and also perhaps on Main Street. Scott is looking into this as banners may require a MDOT permit. Funding could possibly come from the DDA as labor could be a major expense.

b. Non-Motorized Coordinators:
Ann Arbor - Ken Clark update: at Ann Arbor City Council working session last week, staff presented a draft recommendation document, with money spent/available on non-motorized projects. Recommending one existing staff be designated as lead person, with some time devoted to it (unclear how much), gather team from other existing staff. Person is in public services/engineering. Bob/Kris will look into another letter campaign to the Ann Arbor City Council to spur action on filling the Alternative Transportation Coordinator. Points to make in the letter to Council: Ann Arbor City Council created new position, staff not following up, someone outside of City with expertise is needed in this particular area (non-motorized travel), there is more money available than staff says, contrast with City Environmental Coordinator.
University of Michigan - Non-motorized coordinator for the University of Michigan (UM): We sent a letter to the UM President asking about contacting us to discuss possibility of an alternative transportation coordinator. Leigh McCue says Rackham is addressing transportation issues as response to grad student request, e.g. subsidized bus passes. Also working on better housing market for students in Ann Arbor, moving them closer to UM.
Washtenaw County: No new news here really; note that one or two of the candidates on candidate questionnaire make it sound hard.

c. Ann Arbor Bicycle Law Enforcement: Leigh has been talking to Anderson Brown of the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Department about getting a meeting with officers and local bike folks. Ken still waiting on League of American Bicyclists Road I instruction courses. Possible meeting with Brad Hill of the AAPD next week. Member(s) of the Ann Arbor City Council wants to arrange a meeting with local cycling groups and law enforcement.

The Board then voted to approve honorary memberships for Lu Chaney and Reuban Chapman before breaking for the Membership Meeting.

At 7pm the WBWC Annual Membership meeting commenced, with the first order of business being the election of additional Board members. Board members elected in 2001 and serving a 2-year term are Tim Athan, Kris Talley, Ken Clark, Rebecca Kanner and Bruce Fields. The WBWC bylaws allow for a maximum of nine Board members. Nominations were made for Jim Nieter, Leigh McCue, Bob Goodsell, and Christa McDermot to serve on the WBWC Board for a two year term commencing November 2002. All were voted in as Board members by WBWC members present. The position for Christa McDermot was conditional upon her acceptance as she was not present at the meeting.

Richard Kent of the Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Commission was introduced at 7:15pm, giving a presentation on non-motorized trail development in the County. The business portion of the Board meeting resumed meeting at 8:10pm.

On local advocacy issues, the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society (AABTS) is exploring a mass purchase of "Bicycling Street Smarts" to be distributed locally. One approach for the WBWC is to pursue more projects in this vein, educating individuals as much as possible, with or without the law enforcement cooperation. It was also suggested that a letter be sent to newly elected officials in Washtenaw County welcoming them and introducing themselves. There was also a reminder that 2003 WBWC goals would be discussed at the December Board meeting.

Ken Clark and Bob Krzewinski gave a report on October 28th Bike Summit in Lansing, which included a number of people from the Michigan Department of Transportation, who were "on our side", but had a lot of hoops to jump through. Snow removal was discussed with a need for people to do research on local snow removal ordinances and where to register complaints about snow clearing. The Board was also updated about Salem township actively working on non-motorized transportation, concentrating on paved shoulders as well as bike lane planning on US12 between Ypsilanti and Saline.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm Next meeting: December 5th