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04/24/2012 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting Adopted 05/22/2012City of Gilroy Preliminary Minutes Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Meeting 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, 2012 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Scott Francks at 6:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Scott Francks (Chair), Libby Lai, Conrad Lather, Tony Marandos (Vice -Chair), Thomas Muniz ALSO PRESENT Don Dey, City Transportation Engineer Theresa Hernandez, Recording Secretary, Recreation Department COMMISSION SECRETARY'S REPORT ON POSTING THE AGENDA The agenda for the Tuesday, April 24, 2012, regular meeting was posted on Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 2:50 p.m., in the window of the foyer by the Council Chambers in City Hall by Lynne Conrotto, 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 Please limit your comments to 3 minutes (This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons desiring to address the commission on matters not on the agenda. The law does not permit Commission action or extended discussion of any item not on the agenda except under special circumstances. If Commission action is requested, the Commission may place the matter on a future agenda.) PUBLIC PRESENT None present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Two corrections were made to the March 27, 2012 minutes: Page 1—Roll Call — should say Scott Francks - Chair Page 3- New Business - Item A— 15t paragraph, Should read Jen Brecheen. With these two corrections made Libby moved to approved and Tony seconded to approve the minutes of March 27, 2012, as written, hearing no objection it was so ordered. BPC Meeting Minutes April 24, 2012 Page 2 OLD BUSINESS A. Introduction to Safe Cycling 101 Class/Recreation Department (attachment) —update-Scott Don told the Commission that only one person has registered for the class. Scott said that he is very disappointed that more people have not signed up for the class. Scott asked for suggestions on how to get the word out to the community Several suggestions were made, such as having the flyer available at the grand opening of the new library and to put the class information on the Recreation Department Facebook page. Don reported to the Commission that he told several fellow employees about the class. Don suggested that the Commissioners follow up with the bike shops. Scott will ask Monica in Recreation about placing this class information on the Recreation Department Facebook page. B. Complete Intersections— Update of SR 152 Investigation by VTA — Thomas/Don Thomas told the commission that he sees this initiative going forward in two parts. One is for the Commission to request support of the City Council in approaching Caltrans. Libby asked what is the initiative? Thomas explained that the initiative is to address concerns regarding SR 152 (First, Monterey and Leavesley) in the City of Gilroy. The two parts are 1) to address maintenance issues directly to Caltrans through the City Council and 2) to make an assessment of improvements that the Commission would like to see on this corridor. Thomas would like to have these improvements prepared in order to be ready to take advantage of any future grant funding. Thomas would like to see the Commission have a discussion on this item in order to prepare a plan of action on moving forward with this initiative. Don reminded the BPC that in previous correspondence Caltrans has stated that they do not have money for improvements but there is some money for maintenance. Don told the Commission that the first item should be the refreshing of striping on the roadway. Don stated that he will approach Caltrans about the repainting the striping on First St. Don will report back to the Commission on the Caltrans response to his request. BPC Meeting Minutes April 24, 2012 Page 3 C. Share the Road Signs Based on LAB Next Steps — Tony Tony reported to the commission that he received a donation of $1,000.00 to purchase some Share the Road signs for the City of Gilroy from the Almaden Cycle Touring Club. The money has been deposited into an account to be used for the purchase of the signs. The next step for the Commission would be to make decisions on locations for the signs. Conrad suggested on Welburn from Wren to Church. Scott suggested where there is a high volume of bicyclists and Libby suggested Sixth St. going over the US 101 bridge. Scott would like to see "sharrows" painted on the pavement. Don believes that Sixth St. is a nice east/west city corridor. Don agrees that Sixth St. is a good place to start installation of the signs. Libby suggested that a nice thank you letter be sent to the Almaden Cycle Touring Club. Tony stated that this is on his list of things to do. The Commission suggested that the installation of the first sign would be a good public relations opportunity that will let the community know about BPC activities. The Commission will work on putting together a small event to recognize the installation of the first sign, inviting the Almaden Touring Club, the newspaper, City Council and the Community. COMMISSION MOVED TO NEW BUISNESS TO ALLOW FOR SGT. KURT ASHLEY'S PRESENTATION NEW BUSINESS A. Police Department Safe Cycling Routes — Sgt. Kurt Ashley Sgt. Ashley introduced himself to the Commission and gave them some background on his work with the Traffic Unit. Approximately one year ago the City of Gilroy obtained an Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grant to create a Traffic Unit as part of the Safe Routes to school program. This traffic unit consists of 3 full time motorcycle officers, as well as himself, plus one reserve officer that helps out on special events. One of the requirements of the grant is to track statistics for accidents and citations. Sgt. Ashley reported that they have tripled the number of citations they have issued and the rate of accidents has been reduced on an average of 25%. The enforcement is focused on the morning hours around the high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. The PD Traffic Unit is also able to get to the schools sometimes in the afternoon. Sgt. Ashley used some of the grant money to fund overtime hours provide extra enforcement hours around the schools. Sgt. Ashley makes a concerted effort to focus on safe routes to schools. When on duty at the schools the PD officers usually park and watch the arrival and departure of pedestrians and vehicles. The PD officers are looking for infractions and behavior that can cause an accident. BPC Meeting Minutes April 24, 2012 Page 4 A. Police Department Safe Cycling Routes — Sgt. Kurt Ashley cont'd Scott asked about bicycle traffic violations. Sgt. Ashley told the Commission that they really don't see a lot of bicycle traffic violations. Sgt. Ashley reported to the commission that in a recent survey he discovered that the City of Gilroy does not rank very well in the State of California when it comes to statistics of bicycle and pedestrian accidents in comparison to other cities the same size. Last July 2011 the traffic unit conducted a cross walk safety enforcement that lasted for 4 hours at Monterey/Howson and 8th St./Church St. The police officers had someone dressed in regular clothes crossing the street in the crosswalk and they videotaped the vehicles that did not stop while a pedestrian was in the crosswalk. The unit gave out 20 citations in 4 hours and if Sgt. Ashley had more officers available they could have given out more citations. Sgt. Ashley told the commission that not one person who was cited fought the citation in court. Sgt. Ashley told the Commission that they will be doing this exercise again in a month or two. Thomas suggested the crosswalk at Monterey and I.O.O.F. Sgt. Ashley told the Commission that the PD announces in advance in the newspaper and on Facebook when crosswalk enforcements will occur. On March 3, 2012 the school district held a bicycle rodeo at Antonio Del Buono School. Sgt. Ashley reported he felt the rodeo was a success. The School District is looking into their budget to see if they can provide some funding to the Police Department to be sure that the bicycle rodeo program continues. The Police Department is no longer providing bicycle helmets. Sgt. Ashley would like to have some kind of "coupon" or gift certificate that the Police Office can give out to children who are riding bicycles and wearing their helmets. Sgt. Ashley asked the Commissioners to let him know if they have any connections in the community to get some free coupons for the Police Department. Libby asked Sgt. Ashley what he considers to be safe routes for bicycle travel in the City. Sgt. Ashley told the Commission that Don probably knows better the safest routes to travel by bike, however, Sgt. Ashley did recommend Sixth St. as a safer route to the outlets than traveling on Leavesley Rd. Libby asked Sgt. Ashley if he had heard about the Safe Cycling Class. He had heard about the class. Sgt. Ashley asked staff to send him the flyer for the class and he will put it on the Police Department's Facebook page. Staff will send the flyer for the Safe Cycling class to Sgt. Kurt Ashley BPC Meeting Minutes April 24, 2012 Page 5 Libby asked if a police officer could come to the class even forjust a little while. Sgt. Ashley said that he would do his best to get someone to attend the class. The Commissioners thanked Sgt. Ashley for coming to the meeting and for the report. RETURN TO OLD BUSINESS D. Bike Month Update — May 2012 — Don Scott thanked the Commissioners for showing up to the Council meeting where the Proclamation was read for May being Bike Month. E. Bike Month Banners — Tony To carried over to next year. Tony stated that he will continue to work on this for next year. F. Bike to Work Day/Energizer Station Update - Conrad Scott asked Conrad to give an update on the Bike to Work Day Energizer Station. Conrad asked Don to request the use of a canopy from the Recreation Department. Conrad has asked students at the continuation school to make a sign for the Energizer Station. Staff recommended that Conrad ask Joe Kline, Jacqui Carrasco or Monica about making signs for the energizer station. Conrad will be in touch with staff regarding the sign for the energizer station. Conrad reported that he does not think there will be a lot of people attending so he is trying to decide how many "give away" items he will need to have on hand. Conrad will make contact with Nob Hill for donations of food items, such as energy bars etc. Staff asked Conrad to email what he wants on the sign. Scott will bring paper and clip boards for sign in sheets. Conrad has two volunteers to help out the day of the Bike to Work Day. Conrad is working on getting some items to give away to participants. BPC Meeting Minutes April 24, 2012 Page 5 OLD BUSINESS Cont'd G. Safe Cycling/Bike Month Press Release — Libby Libby reported that the announcement for the Safe Cycling Class was in the Chamber's Focus Magazine. Libby also got the Safe Cycling Class on the Calendar in The Dispatch. Libby shared a letter to the editor of the newspaper that she wrote and Libby would like to get the Commission's approval. The Commissioners read the letter and are in agreement that Libby should submit her letter. Staff recommended that in the letter Libby should use the exact name of the class. Thomas told Libby that the telephone number in the letter was incorrect. Libby did make the change. Don told Libby that she should include the City of Gilroy Public Works Department for recognition as a sponsor of the class. Scott would like Libby to give Don the final draft of the letter so that Don can do the final proof read. Staff asked if the letter should be in City Letterhead since it does have the BPC name on it. Don will check to see if this is necessary. RETURN TO NEW BUSINESS B. Selection of a VTA/BPAC Representative from the BPC (attachment) - Don Thomas stated that he has been the representative for the past 10 years and he is interested in passing this duty on to another member of the BPC. Thomas feels it is very important for Gilroy to have an advocate at the County Level. Thomas told the Commission that the commitment would involve a once a month meeting on the 1st Wednesday of each month. This Committee is focused on Bicycle transportation but does advocate for pedestrians as well. The VTA/BPAC has cut back on the number of meetings for budgetary reasons. Scott asked if the person has to be a member of the BPC and Don told the Commission that it does have to be a member of the BPC. Don told the Commission that it is very important to have good representation at these County Level meetings for two reasons. One reason is the technical level where you become aware of what other cities are doing and the second reason is to become acquainted with funding that allows both Don and Thomas to advocate for monies for the South County area. Thomas stated that Gilroy is the furthest away in the County and he feels that he has been instrumental in bringing awareness of the needs of Gilroy and South County. BPC Meeting Minutes April 24, 2012 Page 7 Thomas told the Commission that Gilroy is considered a Community of Concern because of the income level here in Gilroy. Don told the Commission that having this Community of Concern helps him and Thomas to advocate for funds for Gilroy. After some further discussion Tony volunteered to become the representative for the second year of the two year term if Thomas would continue on as the representative to VTA/BPAC for another year. All members were in agreement with this compromise. C. Wren Ave./Church St. Paving Project — Don Don told the Commission that there are two road sections in the City that have received grant funding from VTA for a pavement overlay project. This project involves grinding away two or three inches of old pavement and laying new asphalt pavement. This project will give us the opportunity to stripe new bike lanes on these two roadway sections. The first project section on Wren Ave. goes from Mantelli in the north to Uvas Park Dr. in the south. Don shared copies of the plans that showed the scope of work. Bike Lanes will be striped on Wren from Mantelli to Uvas Park Dr. in the new design fashion that is a double line. Don believes this new design gives more space for the bicyclists. The other project section is Church St. from Farrell Ave. to Welburn. This roadway section does not currently have bike lanes. This project will begin the process of installing bike lanes on Church St. This roadway section will also have the new bike lane design. Don explained that thermal plastic striping will be used on this project and that thermo plastic should last 3 or 4 years. These overlay projects should begin in the next week or two. CORRESPONDENCE A. None COMMISSIONER'S REPORTS A. VTA-BPAC — Thomas Muniz There was no meeting in March so there is nothing new to report. BPC Meeting Minutes April 24, 2012 Page 8 COMMISSIONER ANOLINCEMENTS Libby- Libby would like to see the Bike Map on the Agenda. Libby reported that cities are given Walkable Scores and she would like to see some discussion on Walkable scores for Gilroy. She reported that New York was rated the #1 most walkable City and San Francisco is the #2 most walkable City. Libby would like to see this on the agenda. Conrad — would like an update on the sidewalk improvement program. Conrad would like to see this on the agenda. STAFF COMMENTS None BPC PLANNING CALENDAR Don told the Commission that there is nothing new to change on the calendar but he would like to highlight the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Lyon's Creek Trail at 10 a.m. on Wednesday,.May 16, 2012. The Commissioners will be invited AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING — May 22, 2012 at 6 p.m. Old Business: Items A thru E New Business: Items A thru B Update on the sidewalk improvements in the City. Walkable Cities information - Libby Update on Bike Map - Don Update on attendance/registration for the Bicycle Training 101 Class Banners Adjournment to the regular meeting of May 22, 2012 at 8:04 p.m. Adjournment: 8:04 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, MM Theresa Hernandez Recording Secretary