Meeting Minutes

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

Meeting Minutes - December 6, 2001

In Attendance: Kris Talley, Tim Athan, Scott Koll, Bruce Fields, Bob Goodsell, Ken Clark

Kris, acting as Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:05pm.

Tim moved to approve the November 1st 2001 meeting minutes. Kris seconded. Minutes were approved unanimously.

Scott, acting as Treasurer, reported that the WBWC has $352.50 in the treasury.

Officer Elections
The members in attendance elected the following people
unanimously as officers:
Bob Krzewinski ­ Chair
Scott Koll ­ Treasurer
Kris Talley ­ Vice Chair
Ken Clark ­ Secretary

Old Business
Membership- Lots of Discussion on membership. Bob left in his notes that he continues to check for membership at local bike shops. Jim Nieters is checking on the status of the Velo Club membership.

Agenda item 5a: no update on a bicycling column in the Ann Arbor News

Agenda item 5b: Note from Bob: "As stated in my e-mail, this meeting was short but beneficial. The Sheriff requested help with requests for safe bicycling talks by elementary schools. Thank you letter went out to the Sheriff for meeting with our group." There was some discussion of things we could do to help with education efforts.

Agenda item 5c: There was some general discussion of the events surrounding the ticket Ken Clark received for biking on Plymouth Rd. Ken gave a status update. The hearing that had been scheduled for December 7th was cancelled, to be replaced with a formal hearing on a date TBD. The only things people can do are write letters to the newspaper and talk to other people about the problem. The new Ann Arbor Police Chief has indicated that he would like to discuss the situation with the Bicycle Coordinating Committee and other groups when the court hearing is over.

Agenda item 5d: There was some general discussion of this topic, but no motions or votes were made. We agreed later in the meeting that we should work with member organizations to encourage better turnout at key meetings and for educational efforts.

Agend item 5e: The members present voted unanimously to "endorse" the Pittsfield Charter Township Heritage Hike and Bike Tour. There was some discussion about the difference between "endorsing" and "co-sponsoring" as described in the letter from Jan BenDor to Bob Krzewinski. There was agreement that Bob should ask for some clarification as to what we would be expected to do as a "co-sponsor".

Agenda item 5f: The members present voted unanimously to have the WBWC join America Walks.

Other business:
- Leukemia Association "Team-in-Training"­ There might be an opportunity to work with this group to further mutual goals.
- Discussion of Jackson/Huron Reconfiguration ­ The Jackson/Huron neighborhood has been working for over a year
to achieve recognition of traffic problems through the neighborhood. They are strongly considering and working
toward a 4-lane to 3-lane plus bike lanes configuration change, as originally mentioned by MDOT. There was a great
deal of discussion about the relative merits/drawbacks of bike lanes as opposed to wide curb lanes, both in general and in this project in particular.
- Discussion of the Ann Arbor 2003-2007 Capital Improvements Plan. Ken noted that there are a number of pedestrian improvement projects and the Bicycle Master Plan isscheduled to be revised. However, most of the pedestrian projects are funded from special assessments and very little is projected to be spent from Act 51 funds. This means that while the City is producing pedestrian improvements, they are not spending City dollars to do that, but forcing adjacent property owners to pay for them. There will not be an opportunity to comment on this, since both the City Planning Commission and City Council appear ready to approve this plan without serious consideration. Most of the plan is now available on the City’s website.
- Discussion of the Ypsilanti "Bike Path" and opposition. A copy of a news clipping was submitted for the files. The
path is being re-routed to Cornell Street in the area to avoid the opposition of nearby residents.
- There was brief discussion of the Stadium and Broadway Bridges in Ann Arbor. Both of these sets of bridges will be
redone in the next few years.
- There was some discussion of "Bicycling Street Smarts". The Ann Arbor Bicycle Coordinating Committee is considering recommending this booklet as the official Bicycling Manual for the City of Ann Arbor at the BCC’s December 13th meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9pm.