Meeting Minutes

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

Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition Meeting

August 4 2005, 7 - 8:50 pm

Present: Kris Talley, Ana Iacob, Tim Athan, Erica Briggs, Rita Mitchell, John
Hritz (and his wife) and Robert Klinger

1. Approval of previous meeting minutes

2. Treasurer's report - $778.09

3. New member/attendee intros and interests - 4 more envelopes came in

4. Actions/News

A. WBWC 2005 bicycling/walking projects

  - AA Bike-friendly city designation (Van Dyke, Talley) - Kris wrote the
  mayor about a officially presented him with the prize at the City Council
  meeting; waiting for his reply.

  - Huron River Drive (Alman) - Erica will talk with the mayor in the next
  two weeks or so about the possibility of closing Huron Drive to car traffic
  on Sunday mornings. AABTS tried it in the past. Jim Nieter would be a good
  person to contact about this.

B. Local Cyclist Deaths - Charlotte Marcotte was hit by a car last Saturday
  during the Ann Arbor Dexter Ride.

C. Explain to what audience "how to break auto-dependency"?

  Following a thread on the e-mail list. Tim suggested to open discussions like
  this one to the whole list, not just the WBWC board.

  Which audience is more likely to be convinced to use alternative
  transportation?

  Students? What arguments would work better: guilt? challenge? What would
  work:

  the Safety Campaign, driver's ed? "Appreciate bikers and what they do for the
  environment" campaign/posters/etc?

D. Upcoming Events - Cancer Center's kickoff event ....

5. WBWC General Business

  A. Membership report/outreach

    - Membership report (Schwende)

    - Renew current bike shops and get new ones (Alman, Schwende)

    - 2005 Board/officer elections--need nominating committee

      Bob Krzewinski is asking around (AABTS, Sierra Club) for possible new
      board members

B. Newsletter/blog (Krzewinski) Deadline for next issue is 8/10.

  Need to expand e-mail list? need addresses for Eli Cooper, WATS, ...

  Include the stats for increase in bike ridership since the AATA buses had the
  bike racks installed.

C. Reports from other groups

  Friends of AA Greenway (Mitchell)- City Council approved a modification of
  the DDA's Three Site Plan that directs the DDA to look at using Two Sites for
  housing, businesses and parking. The goal will be in create more underground
  parking at the Klein's lot on Ashley/William, and add a floor or two of
  parking to the Fourth/William structure. The council proposal was silent on
  the First/William space which the Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway have
  proposed as a park that would be part of the longer Greenway from Stadium to
  the Huron River, generally following the Ann Arbor Railway tracks. The
  proposal was also silent on the issue of a Greenway. Of note, the results of
  the July 28 workgroup session run by Calthorpe consultants on city zoning
  with city residents was that at least 19/21 group presentations included a
  greenway in their designs.

  Washtenaw Area Teens of Tomorrow--Youth Mobility (Athan) - Tim was at the
  kick-off meeting; teens with no access to cars are advocating for alternative
  transportation; will write proposals and look for funding them; a few ideas
  were: (i) a bike route to Ypsilanti High, (ii) recycle-a-bike program, like
  the one in NYC, (iii) new WATS survey, (iv) make school buses look 'cooler'.

  GetDowntown program (Briggs)- Erica is working on three projects for
  nextyear: (i) GetDowntown month. (ii) Summer Safety Campaign and (iii)
  Encourage people to ride bike all year round.

  AA Environmental Commission Transportation Committee (Clark)

  U-M Non-motorized Transportation Committee (Talley) - afraid she alienated
  them with her insistence to meet quarterly as planned.

  League of Michigan Bicyclists (Clark)

  AABTS Safety Committee (Alman)

  Non-Motorized Transportation Planning Committee (Hritz) - "things are
  happening" although the report was not approved yet (?)

  Parks and Recreation (Krzewinski)

  Thunderhead Alliance (Talley) - they released a report on safety (?)

  Washtenaw County Non-motorized Steering Committee (Van Dyke, Talley) -
  transportation bill passed; walk to school/safe route to school programs
  would be funded. The principals' support is important for these to succeed.

6. Adjournment - Next meeting: September 1, 2005