01/23/2018 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting Adopted 02/27/2018 MINUTES OF BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, January 23, 2018
1.CALL TO ORDER
6:05 pm
2.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3.ROLL CALL
Zachary Hilton, Chairperson (Present)
Chad Reeder, Vice Chairperson (Present)
Leonardo Gonzalez (Present)
Lionel Gonzalez (Present)
Sean Reedy (Present)
ALSO PRESENT
Gary Heap, City Engineer/Transportation Engineer
Bryce Atkins, Senior Management Analyst
4.COMMISSION SECRETARY’S REPORT ON POSTING THE AGENDA
The agenda for the Bicycle Pedestrian regular meeting was posted on Friday,January 19,2018,at 3:42 p.m.
in the City Hall announcement window near the Council Chambers and online in keeping with provisions of
the California Brown Act.
5.CEREMONIAL ITEMS
None
6.PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS TO COMMISSION
A.PUBLIC COMMENT BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA BUT WITHIN THE
SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OF THE BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION
None
B.Valley Transportation Authority Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (VTABPAC)
1.Report: Notes have been sent by Carolyn, but not in packet. Silicon Valley Bike Festival will be
happening Sunday, May 6th. Roads Commission regular meeting open house on 29th, 12:30 pm
at roads and airports department.
C.South Valley Running Club (SVRC)
Manuel Hero, President of SVRC, gave a presentation providing an overview of the SVRC and the
activities they conduct in the area. The goal of the organization is to promote healthy, safe, and active
lifestyles and provide a network for people seeking to do running activities and live very athletic
lifestyles. Activities include Saturday runs along various locations in the South County region (Gilroy,
San Martin, and Morgan Hill), Mt Madonna Challenge to help fund scholarships for local high school
kids pursuing a college education (last year awarded $3400 in scholarship funds), 5K races to donate
money to organizations such as St Joseph Family Center, and the couch to 5K race. They love to use
Gilroy trails and Mt. Madonna trails and are on board with any support for trail improvements.
Information to join the club is available online, on Facebook, other media channels, and flyers. The
organization is a recognized member of the Road Runners Club of America. Annual membership costs
are $30 for individuals, $45 for a family, and $10 for students under 18. Membership includes race
discounts and promotions from local running shops. The club is currently comprised of 65 members,
half from Gilroy and half from Morgan Hill.
7.APPROVAL OF MINUTES
11/28/2017 minutes pulled from agenda because it was not in packet. Will be moved to vote on at
2/27/2018 meeting along with 1/23/2018 minutes.
8.OLD BUSINESS
A.Strategic Plan Update - Downtown Bicycle Racks: Grant Opportunities: Chairperson Hilton provided an
update on this item. Approval for 4 racks downtown, at last minute when Tony heard it was in front of
Pinnacle Bank, bank wanted to purchase it, so now 5 racks are being installed. Order placed in middle of
December, should arrive by end of January. Gary and Jessie Bristow have scoped locations and will do a
final walkthrough that the site is good, installed shortly after delivered. Once installed, will ask Reid
Lerner architects to update the bike map with the new spots. At same time approach the businesses
that do get bike ridership to advertise the new racks. Also request to be added to the downtown map of
all the bicycle mapping locations. Once installed, Chairperson Hilton will be walking around to provide
details of the cost of them, including pinnacle bank bought them, but they were able to choose the
color. But also invite those that would want to buy a rack with downtown Gilroy, or put their logo on it.
Can bring it back to the commission, and see what interest there is, and request that Council amend the
code to accommodate. Currently can install a small sign on it, but anything larger will require a code
amendment. Two lists to judge the interest of businesses in these opportunities. Donation program for
plaque, donation is $500, but racks in bulk were $700. May be able to get this program to fund a full
rack, and then get more racks.
9th and 16th of February is the strategic plan meeting of Council. There we can gather notes on what
their strategic priorities are and align our goals with City Council.
Grant Opportunities: E-mailed Gary. 4 opening up with a potential 5th. Bikes for people funding bike
racks, call for interest currently. Maybe still accept it. Last year it was not a high enough grant that they
wanted to fund. Also active transportation grant from CalTrans to increase use of active transportation.
March 2018 call for projects. Received from Smart Growth Council for active transportation Urban
Greening grant program, infrastructure including bike and pedestrian paths. Opens January 26th, info
not known at this time. 4th one is BAAQMD funding bike facilities. Competitive grants, bikeways, secure
parking, etc. Gary’s experience in grant writing, and board supporting him in grant writing
Gary Heap: This process works fine. IF there is an opportunity for grant funding, let us know. Usually
pretty on top of grant options, but bring up anyway for new ones. Michael Fisher didn’t want to
dedicate staff time to small grants, so will evaluate benefit versus cost of the grant, as well as
consideration of matching funds. Lock yourself in to a large match for large funding, as well as reporting
on the grants and that burden that is generated by the grant requirements. Not all grant funds are that
way, but some are. All 4 will be evaluated, but will analyze and present projects and if grants can be
used for it.
Public Comment
Gary Walton: Are you getting e-mails from design committee? Answer: No. Some interest on bike racks,
can they put plaques on repair station? Answer: Yes. Where is it going? Answer: A corral where there is
a congregation of bikes, but need a business interest. But LimeBike says they can put their name on a
corral, and that is where the fix-it station can go, but funding is an issue. Gary Heap regarding funding
for hoop racks for fix-it station: Funding for decorative racks, but will have to see if there is funding for
other racks. Maybe fund through capital improvement program, but anytime dip into funding, but
needs to be run through the process. Identified potential location, north end of town open space that
would lend itself to it, but having outside at end of downtown didn’t make sense, but maybe a middle
bulb out.
The point is we want a voice on bike rack location. We know the downtown. On the agenda, we meet
the first Friday of every month at Reid Lerner’s office at 8 o’clock. Want to stay informed of what is
going on, mutual information sharing and overlap. Also miller red barn association, pro bono grant
writing. Small grants are out there; don’t want to lose out on it.
Chairperson Hilton: Non-profits can go after these grants. Recommend that when non-profits are going
after grants, they could use a letter of endorsement from the City.
Gary Walton: Need to be talking to determine the grants. Appreciate all the work of the commission,
and makes downtown more bicycle friendly, and helps the local businesses. Want someone at the
meetings to provide information and input. Will put everyone on the mailing list. Maybe even have a
downtown 5K. Need the discussion. Locations of the decorative racks were discussed.
B.Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Monthly Award Nomination: Chairperson Hilton contacted Alicia Arci,
school representative from Santa Clara County Public Health, who is nominating Francisca and Juan
Garcia, parent coordinators at Las Animas Elementary School, for improved safety and health for kids
biking to school. Promotes 2x per month walk and bike to school, including walking busses. Add themes
to make events fun for participants. Seen an increase of 50+ students participating. Others are asking
them how to start their own programs.
Vice-chairperson Reeder nominates, Commissioner Leonardo Gonzalez seconds, vote is unanimous in
favor.
C.Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Growth and Sustainability: Commissioner Sean Reedy provided an update.
action plans, strategic plans, becoming a monthly update. Background: county public health giving a lot
of support to Gilroy schools to make routes to school safe, one of the grants is ending, and another
ending in June of 2019. Need to form a task force of school and City officials and community leaders to
ensure things don’t fall apart when the funding ends. Has seen it before in other communities. Alicia
Arjay spoken with and other communities meetings. Latest update is that county public health is getting
national level SR2s staff to meet with local groups. Need funding for June meetings, 2-3 meetings, can’t
start until March. Finding out when the meeting might be possible. Waiting to see when first meeting
can start. Need to interview key stakeholders about what is happening, challenges, etc. want an action
plan ready to go so when the task force continues, the groundwork is already done.
Commissioner Reedy went to Sunnyvale, and Chairperson Hilton went to Campbell, both similarly. Sat
on the task force with different stakeholders, and they meet quarterly or so, and an update on what
each had going on, who needed help, etc. This is a great program and good to get action plan down.
Whatever we can go to get the right people there.
Keeping item on the agenda for the foreseeable future. More updates provided next month. Need a
member of this commission to be on the board ongoing.
Bike Coordinator. Girum talked about using some of SB1 funding for a bike coordinator.
Big part of this program is public safety. Sunnyvale runs it through public safety.
Gary Heap: Challenging to have funding for position just for SRTS, combined hat in most communities,
Gary H serves in that role as well. Has been participating with SRTS staff, had them on site, shared
information, requested public improvements in work plan, attended school on-site assessments, also a
grant application being worked on for schools. Currently pretty active, and responding to SRTS.
9.NEW BUSINESS
A.LimeBike Citywide Bike Share Program: Sam Dreiman, Business Development Representative from
LimeBike, performed a presentation to the BPC on LimeBike potential Bike Share Program. In his
presentation, he stated instituting dock-less bikes encourage people to get off cars, in between walk
distance and car distance hope to use transportation modes to move into mobility options such as train
and bus systems.
Traditional systems have gaps, such as cost. It gets expensive to install docks into communities. Usually
must be grant funded, or find a title sponsor. Costs are usually transferred to the user. Can be
inconvenient if docking stations are in locations where you want to go. Docking stations cannot cover
all areas where residents may want to use a bike, and cannot be in every neighborhood.
Key distinguishing features include 1) does not cost the City any investment, 2) US based company with
generous supporters that allow it to be sustainable and long term, 3) actively working in cities to
compliment mobility objectives, traffic congestion, air quality goals by sharing data of bike riders and
movement, as well as strategic deployment locations.
Use of bike is app driven, registered with a credit card. When map is opened, it identifies where bikes
are located. Once a bike is found, scan the plate number into app and it triggers GPS to unlock the bike
for riding. When done, lock it up manually, and then app provides a summary of route, bike, cost, and
fun facts.
Bike features include international and consumer safety features. Front light under the basket, less
likely for rip-off. Back light reflector, activates when bike starts working. Adjustable seat. Bikes come
with various features, 1, 2, and 8 speed bikes. Solar panel powers the battery and GPS. Three locking
locations. Scan the code and triggers the locks to disengage. Cell phones mount. Front and rear brakes.
Maintenance is extremely low, airless tires cannot be punctured or flat. Tools are tamper resistant
which prevents theft. Bike is designed to be sturdy and durable but as comfortable as possible for
everyone. If lock is not engaged when getting off the bike, the last user’s account will be charged for
use.
Pricing is as affordable, $1 per half hour. Average distance is a mile, so between 12 and 15 minutes, so
basically a dollar a ride. Frequent users can purchase a number of rides with some opportunities for
reduction. Will have production codes for discounts. Works localized. Team in San Jose, and will be
expanded to Gilroy. Patrol to check on the bikes and spot check the bikes. Rebalancing of the bikes into
communities and hubs, based upon the ridership statistics. Also handles any maintenance issues.
Report in the app or call a 1-800 number that is open 24 hours a day to issue a complaint or problem
with bike or the service. Team receives the message and then contacts the complainant within 2 hours.
If maintenance needed, he bike is placed in maintenance mode, locked out and will not appear on the
map
Parking: good parking behavior is encouraged through tutorials and other means in the app to
encourage best parking locations as recommended by LimeBike, which are collaborated with the cities
regarding locations that bikes are being parked by users.
Core of LimeBike is to share data with cities. Quarterly updates with heat maps of bikes, and hope that
cities use the data to make a more comprehensive mobility plan and to integrate it into their existing
transportation systems.
Presented maps that were used as data for updates with local cities. Bikes kept out of walkways and for
those with accessibility concerns, but kept aesthetically. New products coming out this month that will
broaden availability. Electric assistance bike that increases distance with limited effort. Range is 60-80
miles. Other option is electric scooters meant for short distances but also to encourage people to not
get in a car. 30 - 40 mile range distance. Products designed so that when launched, it is as seamless as
possible. Operational efficiency on the new products, and battery exchanges and equipment swap
based upon when they run out.
Team at LimeBike comes from diverse backgrounds. Understand it is capital intensive product, but
based on the model it is sustainable and great experts and sponsors. Strong government relations
professionals help in collaborative manner with cities, as well as mobility experts from other
businesses.
Questions from the Commission
Vice-chairperson Reeder asked if someone can apply their own lock to the bike. Dreiman answered that
they’re not supposed to and that if LimeBike staff sees a bike with a personal lock on it, they will break
the lock. Once you complete the ride, the bike is open to the public for use. Ideally you would open the
app and find a bike nearby. Having data to analyze and track how far away bikes are make it more
appealing for use. That is what the operations team does. Track and monitor bike locations to
strategically locate bikes in ideal locations. Vice-chairperson Reeder also asked what happens if you
forget to lock the bike. Dreiman answered that you would receive notifications on your phone
reminding you to lock your bike.
Commissioner Leonardo Gonzalez: How many bikes are you starting off with? Answer: 200-300 bikes.
However, they are not all clustered together, but will be distributed. This amount won’t serve when
usage begins, so it is scaled to the size to fully meet the demand.
If you don’t own a credit card, can you still use the bikes? Answer: We understand there are 2 main
barriers to accessing the bikes, lack of credit card and lack of smartphone with data plan. There is a low
income equity program where you register in person, create an account, and make a cash deposit to
use the system, call in the plate number you want to use, and the team will internally unlock it for you.
It has rolled out slowly in larger communities, and leverage partners to further develop the system.
Work with libraries, etc. to be a good resource for accessing these bikes.
For the initial deployment of bicycles, how do you determine where to start them off in the first place?
Answer: Operations team created a map for initial deployment. Area includes denser areas, schools,
main arteries of traffic, and heavy residential areas. Can share map with commissioners, however, it
should be noted that these are not fixed areas as bikes will move as they are being used, the LimeBike
team moves them as demand dictates, or if the City does not want bikes in certain areas.
Can the Gilroy Bicycle Map be integrated to be included in the LimeBike app map? Answer: We could
certainly put that into our priority list, but it is hard for me to say when that will be rolled out. It is
certainly something we want to do in cities across the country.
Smaller bikes for kids at school programs? Answer: That speaks to the age requirements of our bikes. 16
and older for bike usage. If between 13 and 16, you can agree with parental consent to use the bikes.
How often are the handlebars cleaned? Answer: With the nature of our operations we will touch every
bike in 2-3 days with wipe-downs and spot checks. Local team will also expand based on use and need.
Chairperson Hilton
What is LimeBike’s social media, email, and other outreach material for the business community,
particularly for businesses that don’t want the bikes parked in their area and vice versa promoting local
business and tourism? Answer: We are very active with Chamber of Commerce and Business Groups to
inform them that these bikes are coming and give them the opportunity to let us know where bikes
should be parked. Will work with their best on a timeframe to bring bikes off as it cannot be monitored
every day and to prevent removing a bike that a person needs to get back. Most of the time this is
really driving the traffic to downtown businesses, eliminating the traffic and parking issues. Very easy
and convenient. Different creative ways to offer rides for employees, discounts for using the bike, etc.
looking at ways to collaborate. Local staff on the ground will be the ones fed to respond to issues.
Tourism: partner with tourism agencies, such as Tour Dallas, would partner with garlic festival, hotels,
etc.
What sort of typical launching party would LimeBike do to promote to the general public? Answer: As a
grand kick off we try to work with City officials to have symbolic rides around key areas. On a more local
level we do everything from attend farmers markets and similar events to table. We have the bikes
there to demo them. We also work with the City and community to learn about local events so that we
can attend and sponsor those events.
How often does LimeBike do helmet give aways? Answer: That is something more on the local
operations team level where you work with them to coordinate such promotions. We target middle
school and high school riders as they are the more active riders. They do demos of their bike to middle
and high school kids.
Public Health purchased a Bike fix-it station at library, want to do seminars there. Has limebike done
something like this? Answer: Yes, Sunnyvale also did safety training, and provided limebikes. Can do the
same for safety or mechanics, but they are quite specialized, so training may have to be tailored.
Commissioner Lionel Gonzales
Do you track nuisances on bikes that people report? Answer: Yes. Our customer services center logs
and categorizes every contact they have and receive, and breakdown is provided to the City.
Commissioner Leonardo Gonzalez
How much theft of these bikes are you seeing in other cities? Answer: It is actually quite low. Across the
whole country it is less than 1%. We expect it to happen. Our operations team is responsible when it
comes to tracking them down and working with local law enforcement.
Gary Heap
Will you be working with City staff on the deployment map with finalizing those locations? Answer:
Certainly. I can send it to Zach tomorrow morning or send it to you directly.
Would we see a mix of the 3 types of bikes (e-bike, scooter, pedal bike) or just one bike initially?
Answer: We will start off with the 300 regular pedal bikes and then phase in the mixture of other
products.
Could we work with you to bring in more bikes for special events (ex. Garlic Festival)? Answer: Yes and
we don’t see 300 being enough for a slow season, but we are doing what is comfortable for City
Officials, but we know once we launch we will have to scale up as ridership goes up.
What type of regular contact do you have with city staff? Do you have meetings with them? Specific
contacts? Answer: You would be connected to me and our Bay Area manager that will assist with the
launch process and deployment. We also have an operations manager that would cover San Jose area
including Gilroy. Be in touch with each over different things.
Public Comment
Carolyn Schmandel: Question about what cities are being served, no silicon valley on map, but mention
SJ and Sunnyvale. Where else? Answer: We are in Burlingame and South San Francisco and also
speaking actively with neighboring cities. In San Jose, were on certain private properties and on San
Jose State because the City of San Jose has another agreement with a bike share company and were
working on how LimeBike can be an addition to that. We’ve also spoken to Milpitas.
Jane Howard: It would be helpful to hear specifics how destinations are using the product. Not apples
to apples, but some opportunities include major shopping centers and their international visitors, etc.?
Also bikes used on the wine trail possible? Bikes may be far out then, outside of Gilroy. Need specific
examples of what other destinations are doing. Dreiman: Briefly touch on them, work with you to is
what Gilroy wants to promote. San Jose we work with the Westfall mall, can have similar at shopping
center here. Working with lodgings would be better for tourism to promote before they get here. Very
flexible to work with Gilroy. Winery is not too sure, seems difficult, but will be creative and consider the
option.
Mark Turner: Do you bring in an operation team from out of the area, or do you hire locally? Answer:
First from San Jose, but at a certain point, it will be local folks from Gilroy.
There are several local bike shops in Gilroy. How do you work with them? Answer: We do have
experience partnering with bike shops on things regarding operations and maintenance. We view this
as a chance to drive business to local bike shops. New riders may want to buy riding gear from local
shops when they begin to ride.
Where do you see most of the ridership occurring? Answer: Can vary. First is commuters, such as Cal-
Train service area for returning home, then place in areas of people using them where they live to ride
to the station, healthcare improvements, analyze data in residential areas, restaurants, bar areas, etc.
How often is the operations team in the area initially? Answer: Daily patrols throughout the day,
depending upon fleet size and time used, will be monitored, but should be every day. Monitor bikes
that we see as idle in an area, and track idle bike times to recover bikes from the area if not ridden.
Jannely Rodriguez: Good presentation and great information. Thank you to the commission for putting
bike sharing it on agenda. Offo is operating in 200 cities worldwide, travel over 13 million miles. In
effort to expand on services, work with community to expand their service. Competitive spaces is
encouraged to provide services to the community. Pages are provided at the entries.
Fred Harris, VP of Administrative Services at Gavilan College: Congratulate the City and the Commission
for taking the leadership role in making this happen. When is the City Planning on implementing? Gary:
Number of things that are looking to be done. If recommendation is approved, would need to go
through MOU process, then to Council. Maybe in the next couple of months. Fred: Im working locally
through a participatory governance process on the college campus. Not a lot of students and faculty
during the winter term. I’ve been working behind the scenes to advocate this option in tandem with the
City. Want to push it through the groups to get support. Presenting to groups at the school. Exciting
opportunity, and works with other sustainability projects. One area of concern is ways to improve the
trails between city and the college. Gary: Deployment map. Do outreach at outlets and gavilan on
where deployments should happen. Fred: working on bike racks with Sunshine rotary, and can work
together on this. Looking forward to the partnership. Liability assumed by the company, very attractive.
Gary Walton, Chairman of Downtown Association: Downtown is a great place to start it. As an
organization, all in. limited resources as an org, work with LimeBike and commission 10% is all that is
bike able, and downtown is all in it. Reduces cost for users as well as traffic improvements. This is a
plus. Applaud the commission in moving this forward. Encourage you to move forward and move
forward through the City. Commissioner Reeder: Diagonal parking. Back in diagonal parking is safer
than the current diagonal parking. Give serious thought to marking this in downtown.
Chairperson Hilton: No reason to hold up the process for another commission meeting. City Admin
being considered, if no risk to city and no cost, maybe not need to go to Council. Spoke last night at
Council public comment, also at annual presentation to Council. Also in downtown bike racks discussion
in September.
Chairperson Hilton motioned from recommendation, Vice-chairperson Reeder seconds, the motion
carries unanimously in favor.
B.Elect Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson for 2018: Commissioner
Leonardo Gonzalez inquired if someone needs to nominate first, then come back to next meeting to
vote. Chairperson Hilton stated that process is for changing bylaws and since this item was agenized for
tonight, nominations and voting can happen now. Commissioner Leonardo Gonzalez commented that
he thinks current chair and vice-chair roles are doing an excellent job and that we should keep the
momentum going. Commissioner Leonardo Gonzalez nominates Zachary Hilton for Chairperson,
Commissioner Reedy seconds, vote was unanimous in favor. Commissioner Leonardo Gonzalez
nominates Chad Reeder for vice-chairperson, Chairperson Hilton seconds, vote was unanimous in favor.
C.Specialized Foundation Grant: Identified grant last year, but we were too late in applying for the grant.
Vice-chairperson Reeder gave an update on this item. Can apply in February. Met with Anthony Fuchela
in Solarsano, part of requirements is a place to ride bikes as part of PE curriculum. Ties into ADHD, and
how the riding helps their education. Reached out, willing to run with the program. He would be the
lead person at the school and in charge of running it. Other grants won, 55 kids. That would be a lot of
bikes. Last Thursday 18th, spoke with 3 minutes before GUSD school board. One of the things we want
to work on with Anthony. Need City buy in for bikes being ridden in Christmas Hill Park, also up streets.
Also need GUSD to buy-in. everyone was shaking head yes. May have to buy a container for the bikes.
But can likely do through an organization. Costs can be kept minimal. City needs to say what the
insurances are, and if the kids can bike off of the campus. Need to say that City says it is okay to ride
through the park.
Also, some private property (Filice) allows cross country to go through it. Can City provide insurance
coverage for that to happen. Really set up to get funded by the grant. Specialized foundation closest is
down the street. 15 minutes away.
Needs buy-in and acknowledgment from the City. Going to meet with Anthony again. Send every school
board member what the grant is and get their buy-in. Anthony said it may fall under the curriculum.
Gary Heap: The cost of grants need to be larger to make the grant more economically feasible for the
City to do. If there are other minor grants, maybe some other organizations. Some of the larger grants,
significant time to put them together. Going for larger grants also have matching funds which the City
does not have a lot of money for it. But happy to support other grant applications.
Vice-chairperson Reeder: It is about who is supporting the grant, and what resources can be provided.
Add next month on the agenda to take action to support the grant, maybe also get the City Council to
do likewise. Want to see this growing. Solorsano has CHP and Filice would be a great addition. If we can
do it, it is perfect location for it.
Vice Chairperson Reeder motions to reach out and start applying for the specialized foundation grant to
get bikes into Solorsano. Commissioner Reedy seconds. Vote is unanimous in favor.
10.CORRESPONDENCE
None
11.COMMISSIONER’S REPORTS
A.Chairperson Zachary Hilton: Suggestions in November presentation to come up with a number of how
many class 2 trails, 4 trails, 3 trails, and their miles to have data, and how much more have been added.
Any track ability for this now? Gary Heap: I think it would be in the Bicycle Master Plan.
Meeting with Gary and Jesse Bristow regarding Downtown bicycle parking plan. Coming back in
February for comments and finalization. Also be great to kick off sustainability on the website links to
other organizations, also add a section on safe routes to school to start the conversation and others to
see it. El Roble walk and roll tomorrow. Parent coordinator. Now 2 Wednesdays a month, 2 bike trains
now. Both have increased in attendance over time. Motorcycle officers have been great at attending;
goal is to increase by April 3 times per month, then every Wednesday. America Walks application is up,
accepting applications. Gilroy Restaurant Week this week. Contest through welcome center. Personally
doing all of this by bicycle, and video record it.Start a wishlist for Gary. Get some recording of these
meetings, video or audio on the website. Need some simple upload. Nice way to get more push on the
open government.
B.Vice Chairperson Chad Reeder: E-bikes and bike to the future is a program put on by Silicon Valley Clean
Energy. It provides all pieces of the parts for a high school to design and build their own e-bike. Free to
the school, just need to find someone to lead it. Dr. Sanchez and principals from mount Madonna and
GECA. GECA is interested, put in contact with Kelly Huland, last talked to, only one know for sure doing
it is Gilroy High, talking to Christopher high (Sean) is doing it. Final competition at May 5th, Dan Harney
arranged it at Gilroy Gardens. Need to keep pushing it. Meeting with Barb Gratner with Gilroy Gardens
on SV running club, GG is looking for other opportunities, and land goes up to the ridge and the bay
area ridge trail. 100 mile trail around to San Francisco, and up to North Bay. Connect to Gilroy Gardens.
They have some trails possibly, maybe be a trailhead connector. Zach stated a feasibility study is going
to happen. Chad says SV running Club that they can help. They can build trails. Pump track updates:
mountain bikes of Santa Cruz, public private partnership – land of an old skate park converting into a
pump track. Keeping an eye on what they are doing, to help us get such a partnership going.
Intersection crossing to Gilroy high school at 10th and orchard: 3 kids hit within a 1 year period. Not
safe. West of high school. Blind intersection for the driver. Curious to see about blinking lights to make
it safer. When school is out or after hours, school cones are removed, but school still used. Maybe get
flashing indicators in the right location, and then put them in the roundabout. Gary Heap: CalTrans
policy do not allow devices to be identified in their manual if it is a device that is sole sourced,
rectangular flasher is a patent, which makes it sole source. Once patent was applied, oversight agency
says they are no longer allowed in California. Temporary approval for use in California has now been
pulled, and recommend other lighting devices. Maybe install in lieu the signs with flashing LED on the
outside of the signs. Some efforts in place to try to work with manufacturer to rescind the patent or to
change the law to allow patent devices. This location specifically, worked with PD and staff has gone
out there. It is being looked at. First inaugural Police Department/Public Works coordination meeting
was held today.
3 minutes to talk to school board, about bike to the future, 2 members say they support it in an e-mail,
specialized bike program and to keep SRTS program going. Walking audit needed of the Alexander
Station. Need more than 1.7 kids per unit. SRTS: reached out to GECA, Fred Harris with Gavilan,
awkward to get there, but GECA is on there, to see if SRTS can be done at GECA. Thank Gary for the
Luchessa bridge separators was improved quickly once identified. No notification to cars, sharrows
don’t start until other side of roundabout, put sharrows before and signing that bikes must share the
road. West side of Thomas road.
C.Commissioner Sean Reedy: Contacted principal of Christopher high about the e-bike competition.
Nothing has been heard beyond the administrative level. Will have an application available soon. Will
reminder her. SR2S a lot of schools have this in place to do in-class education for K-4, now target is to
catch up to other schools.
D.Commissioner Leonardo Gonzalez: Welcome new commissioner, Gary question. Extra tax for gas that a
certain part is to be allocated to bike and ped improvements.
Gary Heap: indeed there is a portion. The funding is held in lawsuit. Hope resolution by July to apply for
funding. Projects specifically that relate to that likely do. Once available it would make sense to put an
item on this agenda to identify projects and review bicycle plan documents to identify such projects
Leo: Traffic engineer with flashing signs. Only one that had the flashing. Can those that were existing
stay there.
Gary: yes, if already in they can stay there for their life. Of project is already underway, it can be
installed. However, if design and project has not been awarded, then they have to be replaced. Issue is
if one is damaged, can it be replaced
Leo: law change, pedestrian crossing at controlled intersection, combination of either saying you can
walk, flashing hand to stop, and/or countdown. Pedestrian can only enter intersection if sign says to
walk, or enough time on the stop hand to get across on a timer.
Gary: effort is to go to countdown timers to get it.
E.Commissioner Lionel Gonzalez: Fairly new to Gilroy, he and wife entered 2016. She is an avid user of
Nextdoor app, and he joined neighborhood watch Facebook page. A lot of complaints, but not going
beyond the page to make an impact. Left the group, but let me start finding out how to make an impact
in the community. Wants to be informed and contribute to the community. Has two teens, and 1 baby,
and one on the way. No other comments made. First night.
12.STAFF COMMENTS
Commented on Upper Welburn striping being done tomorrow, weather permitting
Discussed development of Parklet Policy document
Talked about the levee improvements by the SCVWD
First St Bicycle Striping. Shared with Caltrans. Will track the Caltrans plans to make sure the bike
improvements are included in the drawings
13.AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
Specialized grant
Zach wants to develop a bike rack plaque program
Downtown bicycle parking plan
SRTS sustainability
ADJOURN: 9:16 p.m. to the February 27, 2018 meeting at 6pm.