HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-05-2023 Pedestrian and Bicycle Meeting Minutes
Fairhope Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee Meeting Minutes
Date: 9/5/2023
Committee Member Attendees: Gary Gover; Jack Graves; Bill Hall; Chris Riley; Katie Bolton;
Chris Knight; Rosalie Stromme
Committee Member Absentees: Mike Walker; Morgan Russell
Guests in Attendance: Bryan Flowers; Charlene Lee; James Watkins of the Fairhope Times
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Meeting called to order at 4:00pm.
Motion carried to approve 8/1/2023 minutes.
Administrative Items: Bryan Flowers and Johnny Prewitt submitted applications to the City of
Fairhope to become members of this committee. Motion was carried unanimously to recommend
to the city council that both of their appointments be approved. One of these new members shall
replace Rosalie Stromme whose last meeting will be 10/3/2023. Chris Knight announced that at
the end of his committee term in December 2023, he will also be resigning so one of these new
members will replace him at that time.
***Action item: Bill Hall will submit to city council via Jenny Wilson these two
applications for committee membership to be approved. Chris Knight will submit a written
resignation letter to Jenny Wilson detailing his intention to not renew his term at its expiration.
City Representative: Since no city councilperson or any city employee attended September 2023
meeting, motion was carried to request formally a permanent appointment of a city employee to
attend this meeting on a regular basis.
***Action item: Bill Hall will submit written request to ask Mayor Sullivan to appoint
Nicole Love to attend Pedestrian & Bicycle Committee meetings in the future whenever
possible.
Bike Repair Station and Additional Bike Rack Installations- The 6 bike racks and the bicycle
repair station have been received and are currently being stored at the City Warehouse. These 6
city-purchased bike racks will be installed as follows:
2 each at the Soccer field complex
2 each at the Volanta football field complex
1 each at Knoll Park
1 each at Butterfly Area.
The bicycle repair station is to be located along the Jill Hall Trail at Pier Avenue. George Ladd,
assistant director, confirmed to Rosalie Stromme that Public Works Department is setting up a
schedule to implement installation of these 7 items. Through Katie Bolton, 3 additional bike
racks (i.e. 1 at Nix Center, 1 at Civic Center and 1 at Arts Alley when it is completed) could be
ordered using Fairhope Cycling Project grant monies once Richard Johnson confirms whether
Public Works will be responsible for installing these 3 gifted bike racks but Richard Johnson has
not yet responded to Katie Bolton’s repeated requests for confirmation of this information.
Mobile Street at American Legion/Elks Club Crossing-There are currently two traffic studies
being conducted by the Police Department at the request of the Traffic Safety Control
Committee; when those results can be evaluated, further discussion about designing a sidewalk
crossing can be discussed by the Pedestrian & Bicycle committee if such a crosswalk is
warranted.
SHARROW markings installation on S. Mobile St between Fels & Pier Streets-Markings have
been installed onto the road surface however northbound/southbound signs have not been
installed yet directing bicyclists to this roadway.
****Action Item: Rosalie Stromme will follow up with Public Works to determine
when/if these signs will be installed. .
Blue Island & Fairwood Blvd Sidewalks Projects- No update as there was no City Representative
in attendance.
****Action Item: Gary Gover will contact Richard Johnson to determine if this sidewalk
project is currently out for bid and when bid openings will occur.
Triangle Property development project-Katie Bolton who is also on the Triangle steering
committee stated that there have been no new developments that she is aware of because the
steering committee has not convened in the past month.
Baldwin County Connectivity Plan – Plan has stalled at the municipality level because design
standards have not been established and agreed to by all the affected cities. The goal is to have
standards agreement between all affected cities to be completed by January 2024.
BCTB Bike to School Workshops-Roundtable discussion ensued on the best way to prepare for
Bicycle Safety Instruction during the 2024-2025 school year directly to students. It was agreed
that before allocating $500 per School Resource Officer (SRO) to be trained in liability and legal
issues, it was best to determine if each of the 4 principals in the Fairhope schools would
authorize one 10-15 minute segment of a Physical Education class at the beginning of the school
year to cover Bicycle Safety Instruction. If any/all of the 4 principals would agree to allocating
times for this instruction, then arrangements for SRO training seminars could be discussed
further in conjunction with The Trailblazers.
****Action item: Katie Bolton will contact Jasmine Hodges so that they may work
together to contact each of the principals to see if this first organizational step will be approved
at the schools onsite during school hours.
Safe Streets & Roads for All (SS4A) grant application- Grant award recipients will not be
announced until October 2023.
Working Waterfront project: No city representative was present therefore no further information
was available during committee meeting.
New Business:
1. Charlene Lee provided a statistical recap of the Walking School Bus program’s success
over the past 11-12 years; there is to be an International Walk & Roll To School Day
sometime in October 2023 but the date here in Fairhope for its observance has not yet
been set. Charlene asked that this committee promote the Walk & Roll To School Day
when it is announced via promulgation, physical observance of kids walking to school
(i.e. cheering them on), social media, etc.
2. Chris Knight opened up the discussion to the membership present recommending that this
committee change their meeting time from once per month to once every quarter.
Membership discussed alternative options such as once every 2 months starting in
January 2024. Motion was carried by members present (6 to 1) to recommend that by-
laws be changed to reflect meeting change to once every 2 months starting in January
2024.
***Action item: Gary Gover as Parliamentarian will redraft the existing committee
bylaws to reflect this change and will submit them to Jenny Wilson to be forwarded to
city council for final approval.
Next scheduled meeting: October 3, 2023 at 4pm in the Library’s Second Floor Boardroom.
Meeting adjourned at 5:08pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosalie Stromme, Secretary