HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-04-2021 Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee Meeting MinutesFairhope Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee Meeting Minutes
Date: 5/4/2021
Committee Member Attendees: Gary Gover; Chris Knight; Rosalie Stromme; Bill
Hall ; Chris Riley; John Kavanagh; Jason Small; Katie Bolton
Committee Member Absentees: Michelle Melton
Guests: Corey Martin; Meredith Montgomery; Charlene Lee; Jessica Walker
Meeting called to order at 4:02pm by Bill Hall.
Motion carried unanimously to approve 4/6/2021 minutes.
Ethics Training : All committee members have completed this online required
Ethics Training seminar.
Bike Valet at the Arts & Crafts Festival: Valet service had improved social media
advertising creating 87 stored bikes over the weekend (11 on Friday, 56 on
Saturday and 20 on Sunday}.
Bike-to-School Program : Meredith Montgomery, Program Manager, provided a
short recap of this program's history which began in May 2017. It is a monthly
event on theist Friday of every school month meeting at 7:35-7:45 . Attendance
has ranged from 30-60 children with advertising on its FaceBook page one week
before each monthly event. Meredith has had raffles and gifts to keep
anticipation and excitement levels high. Meredith is moving out of Alabama
therefore this Program Manager position will need to be filled.
***Action item: At the next committee meeting, members will discuss possible
candidates for a new Bike-to-School Program Manager***
Safe Routes to School Program Census Project: Charlene Lee from the Eastern
Shore Trailblazers prov ided an overview of this nationwide project. There are 4
best practices in every area to make this program successful :
a) Paid staff to run the program;
b) Broader community support for various disciplines (i.e. health dept,
police dept, school principals, etc)
c) Effective policies in place;
d) Sufficient funding.
In the 2020 State Report Card for this plan, Alabama scored only 55 out of 200
total points. Charlene is spearheading a new Baldwin County Support Task Force
to expand our county's commitment to the Safe Routes to School Program which
she hopes will include representation from MPO, FEEF, Chamber of Commerce,
Trailblazers, City of Fairhope Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee, Health/Medical
field, Walking School Bus, etc.
***Action item: At the next committee meeting, members will discuss possible
volunteers for this new Task Force.***
Infrastructure Wish List: This Wish List was compiled to address specific places in
Fairhope for recommended P&B improvements; the entire master Wish List can
be accessed on the P&B Google Drive:
https ://d rive. goog le . com/drive/folders/1 OqJ ketWWPva9 H6mF oZPACC4cVzEhyQei .
***Action item: Bill Hall to compile a final list of the top priority items as ranked
by committee member inspections noted on the Wish List and submit the priority
list in one memo to Richard Johnson (rather than individual 311 tickets). ***
***Action item: Chris Riley will contact Richard Johnson to paint pedestrian
striping from Tamara's restaurant to the Provisions store similar to the striping
found in front of Ace Hardware. ***
***Action items: Jessica Walker stated that the following two items on the Wish
List will be completed by Memorial Day:
1. Bike Racks to be reinstalled by Fly Bar on De La Mare.
2. Pier Street Bicycle Repair Station will be installed.***
"I
Bicycle Friendly & Safe Community Application Update:
Bill Hall , Jessica Walker, Michelle Melton and Councilman Robinson met to discuss
this application and it was agreed that it is unrealistic to have this application
completed in time for an August 2021 subm ission . It was agreed that it might be
poss i ble to target a February 2022 or August 2022 submiss ion however Jessica
Wa l ke r i ndicated that the City of Fairhope wou ld first need to develop a Master
Plan regarding pedestrian and bicycle usage. Th is would require three items which
are not currently funded :
a) Outside consultant company to prepare a Master Plan; (sample 2014
Master Plan can be found for City of Gu lf Shores at following weblink ---
https ://www.gulfshoresal .gov/DocumentCenter/View/1539/Master-
Bicycle-a nd -Pedestr ia n-Plan ?bid Id =)
b) Hiring a Fairhope Bike Program Manager or assign this additional
responsibility to an existing city employee 's workload .
c) A Bicycle Safety Law on record for the City of Fairhope is a requ i rement for
this application process; we do not currently have such a law .
Con necting America's Act ive Transportation Sy stem Act S.3391/HR .5696 :
This committee agreed to send written support of this bipartisan me as ure
ded icat i ng $500 million i n federal funds annu a lly for grants to local , regional , and
st ate government entit ies for walking and biking networks .
***Action item : Michelle Melton to prov ide a copy of the letter she sent
suppo rt i ng passage of th is measure from th is committee to Alabam a
cong r essmen . ***
Nicho ls Avenu e Cro ssing: Gary Gover drafted a memo to Mayor Sullivan
recommending further consideration of certain traffic safety aspects of the
"Nichols crosswalk" concept. The committee indicated approval of the message.
***Action item: Gary Gover will sign and send this memo.***
Tr iangle Property Grant : We are still waiting to hear from ADECA re application .
Fels to Pier Sidewalk Expansion: No further act ion taken.
Ro adway Striping : Gary Gover drafted a memo to Mayor Sullivan reporting that
some striping paint on roadways in Fairhope is slippery for traffic when wet and
recommended action. The committee indicated approval of the issue.
***Action item: Gary Gover will sign and send this memo.***
Next scheduled meeting: June 1, 2021 at 4pm -Museum Conference Room .
Meeti ng adjourned at 5 :00pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ro salie Stromme, Secretary