BP Nov 7 17 draft minutes

Bicycle Pedestrian Sub‐Committee Dover City Hall Large Conference Room Dover, DE November 7, 2017 ***DRAFT*** Members Present: Others Present: Chris Asay, Jayce Lesniewski, Fran Riddle, Andy Carolyn Courtney, John Fiori, Kate Layton, Siegel Mike Saylor, Stephanie Rosal CALLED TO ORDER: Meeting opened at 5:00 P.M. AGENDA The agenda was presented for review. With no changes the agenda was accepted as presented. APPROVAL MEETING MINUTES Mr. Asay noted Mr. Aglio did updates on various bike projects. He then noted the following: the West Street project will probably start construction in the early Spring 2018, the Brecknock Park project was out for bid and might be constructed in the Spring of 2018. Also mentioned that the RT 13 expansion he was advocating for bike path on both sides of RT13 from punch and run all the way to Polytech. He expected North Street will be repaved in the Fall of 2017 and the Senator Bikeway was to would go out for bid late this fall and construction could happen next fall of 2018. Currently, do not have design funding for Phase 2 of the Senator Bikeway and also said as part of Phase 1, adding sharrows along Fulton Street. The motion was made to approve the October Minutes as amended. This motion passed without objection. RCD GRANT: BIKE FIX IT STATION Mrs. Layton noted Restoring Central Dover (RCD) has another round of grants out for this year. $35,000 was divided into smaller grants within the working groups of RCD. The Green Space working group applied for a Bike Fit It station outside of the Library. We applied for the station and concrete pad for installation. Now, we are looking to do the next steps. Fielding a question, Mrs. Layton explained that a fit it station is a compact structure that one could do bike repairs. One would put their bike on the station and possibly tighten a spoke or brake line for example. She added that much discussion went into the style of fix it station, one with retractable tools verses those that would hang. Some discussion took place on other locations in Dover that may have these fix it stations. There is one behind DelDOT, on the C&D Canal trail (New Castle), one on the St. Jones trail, Lewes Library, and Breakwater Junction trail were some quickly named places. Mr. Asay thought DogFish Head had a granting opportunity for bike fit it stations in Dover. He felt Mr. Aglio had reported on this some months ago. Mr. Asay asked Mr. Fiori to double check with Mr. Aglio if DogFish Head is offering grants for biking projects. It would most likely be installed in the spring, as we need to order the station and coordinate with the City for installation. AMERICA WALKS GRANT PROJECT Ms. Courtney shared information on a grant opportunity of $1,500 for a walk friendly activity. We are applying for the Dover Treasure Hunt project. This is a community challenge grant to promote walking. This is a nice tie into the program that Mrs. Riddle had previously shared with us from the Walk Friendly Report card follow up. We are looking to get some

partners on board to make this happen. This will be a “treasure hunt” kind of event that encourages walking. Mrs. Riddle noted getting a working group together and bringing together a group of varied folks to make this work, such as the Capital School District, BayHealth, Eden Hill, Wesley, Downtown Merchants, Caesar Rodney School District, Arts and Cultural Centers, etc. These are a sample of logical partners. We were thinking anyone that would be on the routes of the treasure hunt would be a potential partner. The grant response is expected in December. We are very early in the planning stages. We would most likely start with a planning group and then consider piggybacking off of another event. OLD BUSINESS ITEMS Senator Bikeway Update Mr. Fiori noted not much has changed since last month, still finalizing the plans. They did meet with Bennie Smith Funeral representatives about losing the parking in front of the business. They did not seem concerned with losing this. We were concerned they would be upset, but they did not oppose the project as they noted the parking in the back of their facility that is used by their customers and staff. They cane line precessions up on Ridgley Street verses Division Street. In the next couple weeks, we are sending out right of way easement agreements to be signed off by property owners. Hopefully, they will be returned in a short timely manner. Jeff Niezgoda and Anthony Aglio met with Jason Lyon on the maintenance on the cycle track, particularly the green paint. Mr. Lyon would go back and check and get back with an answer on the maintenance detail. Mr. Siegel, asked about the auto dealer across the street from Bennie Smith, as he felt they will have issue with not being able to park their cars on Division Street. Brief discussion took place on the car repair/dealer on the south side of Forest Ave in this section of discussion. Mr. Asay asked about the railroad crossing and potential for crossing. He felt Mr. Aglio mentioned there was an issue. Mr. Fiori noted a separate arm would be required for crossing the tracks at Division, however this was not the issue on North Street as the arm is long enough. The question was asked about the difference of a bike lane and bike path. Bike Lane is on the street and a bike path is on the other side of the curb not connected to the street. A bike path is usually a multiuse paved path to be used by multimodal means of transportation. Educational Partnerships Mr. Aglio noted in discussion with Mr. Saylor, we are going to do additional bike rodeos this school year. We have divided them up as three this fall and three in the spring. We have two scheduled, tomorrow is Booker T and Thursday is Hartly Elementary. We are again targeting the fourth grade classes. He is set up ready to go and has some volunteers ready to go, this include DelDOT staff and bike/ped members. North Dover (in April) was a success and we anticipate the same for these. Mr. Saylor stated we can’t thank you enough for all the work that goes into setting this up. Once the teachers brought the kids outside, the volunteers took over. We had students that had never rode a bike and this was an experience they won’t forget. We very much welcome this program. Mrs. Riddle noted she had heard of a bike rodeo with Dover Police and the Elks. Mrs. Courtney noted it was the Dover Elks Lodge 1903 hosting the event with Dover Police and Parks & Recreation as a partners. This was their second rodeo at for the Elks. They had received a grant through their national foundation. The grant purchased 15 bicycles, helmets, bike accessories, and provided a healthy lunch for participants & their families. As well, DelDOT (Mr. Fiori) donated light sets for each of the bikes and the rodeo course supplies. Dover Police had a six bicycles they gave away as prizes. About 50 children participated on the rodeo course all together

Mr. Asay noted this is what they did the year before last. Are they looking to do another in 2018? Mrs. Courtney replied she believed that would likely happen. Walk Friendly Report Card Discussion Covered earlier in the RCD Grant discussion. Delaware Bike Council Grant Update Ms. Courtney reported city officials (Kirby Hudson, Asst. City Manager, Sharon Duca, Public Works Director, Margery Cyr, Parks & Rec Director, Eddie Diaz, City Planner along with myself) and James Galvin of the MPO met with Bike Council members (Mr. Fiori, James Wilson, Fran <last name>) met onsite. We took a brief tour of College Road. Fran noted she rode that area frequently and understood the need for a path. They asked us questions on the scope of work and funding for the project. It was thought the price tag for this project would be upwards of $50,000. The MPO agreed to assist us in funding the uncovered should we move forward as well we would partner with them using their contractors for this project. The city has no money budgeted for this project. Mr. Asay asked if the Council would choose their winners in December? Mr. Fiori responded, yes. Mr. Asay we are finally asking for what you wanted to see. Mr. Fiori noted the cities are taking this seriously and submitting quality projects. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mr. Siegel asked if we had heard back on the Bike Friendly Application? Ms. Courtney noted it should be coming up soon, that as of yet we had not heard. Mr. Siegel noted Delaware dropped to #7 Bike Friendly State. Basic discussion included the state competition had gotten better, our bike plan had not been approved by the time this was submitted. We have very few “commuter” riders and that hurts us. We are going to do a pilot program at DelDOT and then expand out to companies, City of Dover for example to answer the survey as to why they don’t ride to work, is it not safe, is it due to other demands of the commute, lack of dressing/locker room, distances, etc. We won’t have a solution until we investigating and determine the issues. We’ll start small and then hopefully expand out to the county and state wide. Colorado finished #6, our former Secretary of Transportation is now in Colorado, he did call Sec. Cohen to share a few words. Mrs. Layton noted a new executive director of the MPO, Reed McMillian who started Oct. 30. He comes from New Castle County planning and years ago he did work for Kent County Planning, he has history in Maryland a strong military background of 30 years. He is being very thorough and accessing where we are now. He does live in Middletown. She will invited him to join us at future meetings. ADJOURNMENT With no further business the meeting adjourned at 5:53 PM without objection.