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03/24/2015 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting Adopted 04/28/2015DRAFT MINUTES OF BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISION REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, March 24, 2015 CALL TO ORDER 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Tony Marandos (Chair), Libby Lai (Vice-Chair), Leonardo Gonzalez, Thomas Muniz Absent: Eldon Chappell ALSO PRESENT Henry Servin, City Transportation Engineer Zinnia Menchaca-Navarro, Office Assistant COMMISSION SECRETARY’S REPORT ON POSTING THE AGENDA The agenda for the Tuesday, March 24, 2015, Bicycle Pedestrian regular meeting was posted on Friday, March 20 2015 at 3:52 pm in the window of the foyer close to the Council Chambers and online by Susan Johnson keeping with provisions of the California Brown Act. PRESENTATIONS TO COMMISSION - None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Approved: Minutes were moved for approval by Commissioner, Lai, Second by Commissioner, Muniz. OLD BUSINESS A) Police Department Report on Safety Grants: Sgt. Ashley provided us an update. The Gilroy Police Department will be hiring their 3rd traffic officer who will be starting at the end of month making it a total of 4 traffic officers. Sgt. Ashley wrote a grant for the 2015-2016 requesting $300,000.00 in support of additional traffic officer bringing the number up to 4 traffic officers. This will support the size of Gilroy providing an impact on safety. He conducted 2 presentations within the last 3 weeks: Gilroy High School with a speaker from M.A.D.D. and the “Every 15 Minutes” program at Christopher High in which all of the high school seniors attended, impacting a total of 650 teenagers. On May 9, 2015 he will be working on the Bike Safety Rodeo, providing bike inspections, free helmets, and bike licensing to children. In the upcoming weeks, there will be 6 officers at various intersections looking for violations to include bike violations and pedestrian jay walking. Due to donations, Sgt. has recently built 2 dual sport motor cycles adding to the motorcycle fleet. They will be utilized for parks, and creeks looking for illegal activity. A recent helmet survey held at main streets and levees resulted in the usage of helmets by 25%. A second survey will take place at a later date to see if an improvement has been made. In order to raise the percentage of helmet usage among kids, Sgt. Ashley would like the City of Gilroy to adopt what other cities have done in the past and that is to promote and encourage good behavior. An idea is to offer certificates for ice cream, yogurt or burgers, possibly like McDonalds or Baskin Robbins, constantly keeping this going at the very least, a year, need to think long-term. Sgt. asked the committee if interested, take this work on to solicit local establishments. Overseeing the DARE program, Sgt. Ashley stated there will be 1 additional class added to the school curriculum expanding from cyber bullying, drug resistance to traffic safety (pedestrian/bicycle and safety class). Every 5th grade student in Gilroy Unified School District will be attending a 45 minute presentation from this point on. Sgt. Stanford will be replacing Sgt. Ashley as Traffic Sergeant upon his retirement. B) Election of Officers: Votes were made by paper ballot. Chair Elected: Commissioner Lai; Vice-Chair Elected: Commissioner Chappell. C) Bike to Work Day, Thursday, May 14, 2015: The tax ID letter prepared by Staff person Henry Servin is ready to distribute to those individuals or establishments wishing to donate. City Council has agendasized declaring the Month of May, as Bike to Work Day. The tents and tables have been reserved. A proclamation needs to be filled out and provided to the City Clerk to have in place for the City Councils May 4th meeting. Almaden Valley Cycling Club was nominated. Commissioner Marandos will reach out to The Almaden Cycling Club for representation at the City Council Meeting. It was nominated, Second by Commissioner Lai. Over 2 years ago, The Almaden Valley Cycling donated over $1,000.00 to have sharrows painted along 6th street and organized the Tierra Bella Annual Bicycle Tour to be held on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Motion for approval by Commissioner Marandos, Second by Commissioner Muniz. D) Development Review Form: Staff person, Henry Servin stated the Planning Department is taking interest and would like incorporate onto a checklist. Needs more time to receive their input and will report next month. E) Annual Report to City Council Preparation: Staff member Henry Servin stated City Council has not yet set in stone all of the remaining available dates. We are asking for late July, September and/or October to present set of accomplishments. Staff person Henry to secure date and report back to Committee. NEW BUSINESS A) Residents Guide to Safer Walking and Biking: The guide provides 100’s of ideas. Staff person Henry Servin will make a copy of the guide and recommends everyone read a chapter or two and study together and apply what’s applicable to the City of Gilroy. Traffic Safety through the Santa Clara County offers an excellent summary pamphlet on Bicycle Pedestrian for parents and youth, it offers bike rules, and safety. First level of distribution by marketing and sharing. The pamphlet is simple and easy to understand. Commissioner Marandos mentioned the Bike Shield App, which can be activated on cell phones; establishing communication between cars, motorcycles and bicycles . Awareness is key, suggested option to promote on City’s website. B) Pending Grant Applications: Staff person Henry Servin, aggressively applying for bicycle and pedestrians grants. Seeking Advanced Transportation Grant to fulfill bike lanes along trails of Lyons Creek and Bicycle Trails Master Plan to pave one shoulder of Lyons Creek from downtown proceeding to northern edge of city. Also seeking 2 grants under a variation of the ATP grant to finish Uvas Creek trail to Gilroy Gardens south of Gilroy Sports Park. Partnering with TSCN community to submit and ask for over half a million dollars to serve and work with children and deal with the issue of Gilroy’s highest number of child onset diabetes. Encouraging youth in walking and activities. COMMISSIONER’S REPORTS A. Commissioner Lai: Appreciates everyone who attended the “Coffee with Mayor” great turn out and input from community. This was the first time an event like this was held between the Mayor and the Bicycle Pedestrian Committee. B. Commissioner Muniz: Provided an update on the General plan. Last couple of weeks, defined land use directly promoting pedestrian and bicycle usage. New housing designation, neighborhood district, smart housing minimizes vehicle usage, with pedestrian routes. Glen Loma is a prime example. Concerned about the following streets: Eigleberry and 6th street. People are currently speeding, perhaps installing stop signs. Cross walk on Monterey and 3rd street; needs to be repainted. C. Commissioner Gonzalez: No report D. Commissioner Marandos: No report E. David at VTA: Report by Mr. David Almeida of Santa Clara County Transportation Agency and Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Discussed the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and Great Street Corridors study. Recommendation- pedestrian corridor. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING – None discussed ADJOURN – 7:43 p.m.