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11/28/2017 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting Adopted 02/27/2018 MINUTES OF BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017 1. CALL TO ORDER 6:03 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. ROLL CALL Zachary Hilton Chairperson, Chad Reeder Vice Chairperson, Tony Marandos, Leonardo Gonzalez, Sean Reedy – arrived at 6:04 ALSO PRESENT Gary Heap – City Engineer/Transportation Engineer Donna Taft, Office Assistant I 4. COMMISSION SECRETARY’S REPORT ON POSTING THE AGENDA The agenda for the Bicycle Pedestrian regular meeting was posted on Wednesday, November 22, 2017, at 12:51 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 Chairperson Hilton presented an award to Michelle Wexler of Santa Clara County Public Health Department for her role in organizing the ‘Let’s All Go To The Park’ events at Gilroy parks for the past several years which promotes exercise and a healthy lifestyle to all ages. Commissioner Tony Marandos was thanked and recognized for his seven years of volunteer service to the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission. Marandos’ term expires on December 31, 2017. 6. PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS TO COMMISSION A. PUBLIC COMMENT BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA BUT WITHIN THE SUJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OF THE BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION: None B. South Valley Running Club (SVRC): Manuel Hero, President of SVRC, was unable to attend. This item will be moved to a subsequent meeting. C. Valley Transportation Authority Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (VTABPAC): Carolyn Schimandle gave a report of some highlights from her VTABPAC meeting on November 8, 2017. She stated that the committee reviewed the status of Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) funded project in Santa Clara County. Lauren Ledbetter of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority stated that Gilroy used to be active in seeking TFCA funding but that dropped off with city staff changes. Ledbetter suggested that Gilroy Bicycle Pedestrian Commission look at the TFCA program and make recommendations to city staff on how it can be utilized again. Schimandle provided a Measure B update. She said that Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) staff would be leading the Education and Encouragement Assessment. Municipalities will provide VTA with data. Discussion followed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approved: Minutes were moved for approval by Commissioner Tony Marandos, it was seconded by Vice Chairperson Chad Reeder. Motion passed 4-0 as Commissioner Gonzalez was not present at the last meeting. 7. OLD BUSINESS A. Strategic Plan Update – Downtown Bicycle Racks Project Presentation (December 4th City Council Agenda) and Grants: Chairperson Hilton shared that one addition in the Action Plan is the update from December 4th regarding the downtown bicycle racks project which will be presented to City Council. Girum Awoke, Public Works Director, will be handling all of the installation. Kristi Abrams, Community Development Director, will do some funding research as funding from Sunrise Rotary is not available. She will look into funding four racks. Ten locations have been selected by Planning. Hilton believes that they can get funding for all ten racks by next year. Hilton will put together a short PowerPoint presentation to sum up what’s been done with the project and obtain feedback from City Council. Discussion followed. He also shared that the Caltrans Active Transportation Program (ATP) has been added under Grants. The purpose of the ATP is to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation. The call for projects is in March of 2018. Hilton also shared information about two other grants that he found. One is on the VTA website called VERBS. It is a Climate Initiative Safe Routes To School program that focuses on reducing greenhouse gases by promoting walking, bike riding, transit and carpooling to school. Another program is called LimeBike which aims to provide a sustainable solution to the first and last mile transportation problem by helping people move around their cities in an affordable and convenient way while eliminating their carbon footprint. Hilton has contacted both and shared with them how interested the Commissioners are and that they are always welcome to come and talk to the Commission. Commissioner Reeder added that the Commissions number one goal should be to promote and look at projects to promote a free range concept for local people to be able to walk or ride anywhere. He also added that the intersection of Orchard and Tenth Street is terribly unsafe and would like to see what it would take to make it a signalized intersection for pedestrians. Commissioner Gonzalez suggested asking Gilroy Police Department to come to a subsequent meeting to share information about this intersection and incidents that have occurred there. Discussion followed. B. General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) Update: Vice Chairperson Reeder shared an update from the October 26th meeting. At this time they are trying to direct the consultant to study different areas/options and will narrow it down to two and the GPAC will then vote in February. There will be more information to pass along once the consultants start presenting. C. Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Monthly Award Nomination: Chairperson Hilton shared that he did not nominate anyone as the Commission might decide not to have a meeting in December. He reached out to Thi Ngo with Santa Clara County Public Health Department and asked her to share with all the Safe Routes to School parent coordinators that the Commission is looking for people that stand out and wish to recognize them. D. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Growth and Sustainability: Commissioner Reedy shared an article relating to Measure B from the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition pointing out that agencies supporting schools in the county are wanting to see that there is data supporting the education and encouragement sub- program of the bicycle and pedestrian category and if what they’re doing is effective. Valley Transportation Authority is working with the Public Health Department to give the Commission data to be collected and we are waiting on that information. Discussion followed. Last month Alisa Arce, with Santa Clara County Public Health Department, gave a detailed presentation of what’s been happening through the Department to support us and through other agencies and what’s been working in Gilroy. Reedy discussed the details of what has been happening in Sunnyvale and what they see to be working for them and other places and what we may want to have happen in Gilroy to assure that SRTS stays sustainable. Reedy was invited to attend the Sunnyvale SRTS Collaborate Meeting and spoke about topics that were covered. He shared that the Commission together with the police department, city and school district need for SRTS to grow and keep sustained. Sunnyvale has three school districts within its borders and has broad representation. Arce suggested that Gilroy’s Bicycle Pedestrian Commission get a stakeholder group together at one of our meetings so that everyone can be involved and make decisions about what is going to be done to keep SRTS sustainable. Another suggestion was to have a permanent Coordinator. Hilton suggested holding such a meeting one hour before a Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meeting to get facilitation started. Reedy shared that Sunnyvale is working on data collection and mapping to support grant applications and he shared a packet that listed several places the City was looking at getting grants from. Reedy also talked about having a police officer or Lead Certified Instructor (LCI) at bike rodeos. There will be some upcoming training taking place and the Commission has been asked to spread the word that this training will be available next year. More information on the classes is forthcoming. Discussion followed. 8. NEW BUSINESS None 9. CORRESPONDENCE Chairperson Hilton drafted a thank you letter to Reid Lerner Architects for the contribution of creating bicycle parking maps for current Historic Downtown and planned Historic Downtown. Hilton spoke of Caltrans Bicycle Plan webinar on November 30 from 1:00-3:00pm. Details are on their website. Hilton is planning to promote what is in the right of way and also to mention the restriping of First Street and how it is not currently bicycle friendly. Hilton described Cyclo-cross and shared that on Saturday, January 6, 2018 there will be a Cyclo-cross event at Lion Oaks Ranch located at 5255 Hecker Pass Highway in Gilroy. It will offer a traditional course that loops through the ranch with pavement flagstone walkway, grass, dirt and sand as obstacles. This is a free event to fans. There will also be a free kids ride at noon. Event coordinators have asked the Commission to help spread the word about the event. 10. COMMISSIONER’S REPORTS A. Chairperson Zachary Hilton: Suggested that the new Commissioner that comes on board research data on how many Class I and Class II miles are currently in Gilroy and how many are going to be added; He introduced himself to the Youth Commission. He suggested to them that if they ever need help or resources to reach out to the Commission. On November 13th City Council had a traffic study calming session and they also approved the Upper Welburn stripping plan. The Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (BPC) will be involved in the traffic calming policy. The First Street stripping plan will be added to the BPC website and Girum Awoke, Public Works Director, sent the same plan to Caltrans; He shared that Councilmember Tucker inquired about research on the sidewalk gaps in the City of Gilroy; The new Fix- it station at the Library has had some vandalism; He will go in front of Council on December 4 to discuss bike racks and they will be approving the bid for the West Branch Llagas Creek Class I trail; He asked Gary Heap, City Engineer/Transportation Engineer, for any information he can share on Bike Share or Complete Streets; Holiday Parade is on December 2 at 2:30 in downtown Gilroy; He spoke to a resident, who works for the City of San Jose, and he coordinated their Open Streets. He wants to work with the Commission and the City to create something similar in Gilroy; Applications are due December 5 for seats on boards, commissions and committees. Interviews will be held on December 11, 2017. B. Vice Chairperson Chad Reeder: He met with Dr. Sanchez of Gilroy High School and plans to meet with Principal Calero of Christopher High School. He also sent an email to Dr. Rose from Gavilan College and would like to get feedback about intersections near the schools and make them aware that the Commission is here to support them; He made a request for before and after photos of Luchessa Bridge before stripping and addition of the delineators. C. Commissioner Tony Marandos: Spoke of the importance of finding a cost effective way of educating both drivers and bicyclists of following the rules of the road; Since this is Marandos’ last Commission meeting he distributed parting gifts of illuminated bicycle lights. Thank you Tony for your service to this Commission! D. Commissioner Leo Gonzalez: He requested that Carolyn Schimandle address Valley Transportation Authority about the yellow “Safe Place For Kids” signs on buses and suggests that the drivers of those buses have the same credentials as a school bus driver. E. Commissioner Sean Reedy: No report 11. STAFF COMMENTS Gary Heap, City Engineer/Transportation Engineer, thanked the commissioners for welcoming him and he looks forward to working with the Commission to make Gilroy a better place to bike and walk. 12. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING All Commissioners agreed to hold the next regular Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meeting on January 23, 2018. ADJOURN: 7:51 p.m. to the January 23, 2018 meeting at 6pm.