Meeting Minutes

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

   WBWC Meeting 2/3/05

   Meeting came to order at 7:05

   Tim Athan conducted the meeting.

   Paul Alman, John Hritz, Ken Clark, Bob Krzewinski, Ana Jacob, Brenda
   Bentley-Goenka , Rita Sell, Erica Briggs, Mitchell Paul Gerard, Ron Sell,
   Will Northrop

   Treasurer reports balance of $474.02

   4. Updates on Actions

   A. WBWC 2005 biking /walking projects

    1. UM has posted a non-motorized transportation coordinator position.

    2. Brenda and Kris talked to MFit, this appears to be a dead end, since
       they have too little time with kids to do any good. John reported that
       the meetings at Bach school went very well in the Fall, but he didn't
       know if the two loops that they planned continued through the winter.

    3. Jack Van Dyke is working on a bike-friendly city application for Ann
       Arbor.

    4. Erica is working on a commuter challenge month and bike to work week
       with Neile Reismiller. She is working on the Observer and Current
       magazine and the County and Ann Arbor. She's going to talk to the
       Mayor about creating some volunteer "Bicycle Ambassadors" like in
       Chicago. If anyone else has ideas for things to do and time to
       volunteer, please contact Erica.

   B. Discussion/decision needed on proposed endorsement of a proposed Hudson
   Mills pedestrian bridge. Bob gave everyone a map of the proposed route
   from the Metropark Authority. Ron Sell spoke in opposition to the
   proposal. He pointed out that the bridge isn't necessary to complete the
   proposed county-wide trail. As shown on the HCMA map, the proposed trail
   stays completely on the West side of the river. The bridge would connect a
   point on the trail to the developed areas of Hudson Mills on the East side
   of the river, including a connection to an existing trail system on the
   East side. Ron also pointed out that this section of the river is
   designated as a natural river under the State Natural Rivers Act.

   Under the previous governor's administration the head of the DNR
   preliminarily approved the bridge proposal, despite the Natural Rivers
   section of the DNR indicating that the proposal was likely to be rejected.

   Paul indicated that he would prefer we have a position that recommends an
   alternative if we disagree with supporting the HCMA proposal.

   We further discussed that the Rails to Trails of Michigan made a statement
   supporting the bridge proposal and the League of Michigan Bicyclists had
   chosen to avoid taking a position at this time.

   Tim asked for any proposals and no one proposed one.

   C. Upcoming events.

   1. Erica reminded everyone that Bike to Work Week is coming in May.

   2. Paul pointed out that Chelsea will be holding a bike rodeo in July.

   3. Booth for WBWC and LMB at Art Fair.

   5. A. Board Retreat report

   Some things discussed at the retreat were possibly moving toward a paid
   staff member and moving minor or routine issues at the regular meetings to
   the end of the meeting. The people there felt that the meeting went well
   but even more time would have been valuable.

   5. B. 2. Paul reported that there are some bike shops that have gotten
   back with him, particularly the Aberdeen bike shop.

   3. Topica says they will make our group available through search on their
   website, but they haven't done this yet, more than a month after they
   agreed to do this. Ken feels that Topica is a good service, but they are
   trying to be more appealing to profitable customers and service for free
   list services won't be a high priority.

   C. Deadline 15th of the month.

   D.1. Bicycle Coordinating Committee - Ken feels that the bike committee is
   quick moving to being defunct. Erica may bring this up at her meeting with
   the Ann Arbor Mayor this week.

   4. Road I course, LCI Course, Bike rodeo

   5. Non-motorized Transportation Planning Committee meetings - the meetings
   for December and January were postponed. The next meeting will likely be
   this month at some time.

   6.

   7. Getdowntown program. Erica was at a conference in Florida last week.
   About half of the bike lockers are rented, and they can really only be
   rented by people coming from out of the downtown to the downtown. Ann
   Arbor is planning to revise the city's bike map. Erica also suggested the
   idea of holding a town meeting during the first week of the sustainable
   transportation month.

   10. Friends of the AA Greenway March 13th walk of the potential greenway
   starting at Bandemere Park. The group is also looking for people to host
   "Greenway Meetups".

   Adjourned 8:57