City of Princeton Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission met April 9.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
Able to attend: Annette Schnabel, Matt May, and Brian Church
Not able to attend: Angie Thompson, Danielle Saletzki, Rachel Skaggs, and Brenda Roggy Public: Rick Brooks
Minutes from the March meeting were reviewed and approved.
Old Business
Annette reported that the Bike Plan was recently approved by the city council (5-0).
Bike Workshop Feedback - no report. Brian will collect email addresses from participants and follow-up.
Annette indicated that Cindy Olson (Princeton Arts Commission) would like to collaborate with us and help design the bike racks that will be located on Main Street. Ms. Olson’s idea is to place “theme specific” bike racks in our designated locations. Ms. Olson indicated that she will submit a grant application through her employer (Compeer Financial) which, if successful, could generate $10,000 for this project.
Danielle reported by proxy that The Bike and Walk Facebook Page has updated.
“Rachel created a new and hopefully final Facebook page. The group approach was not working and I still am in limbo from the page I created originally. It is connected to her city email this way. You can visit the page at the following link: https://fb.me/bikewalkprincetonil
We should be able to add commission members as admins so everyone can post as they see fit. I’m continuing to update the page as we speak.”
No action was taken on updating the grant application master spreadsheet. However, The People for Bikes Grant Fall 2019 application was reviewed. We learned that this application cycle is geared for bike tracks and that we will not apply this year. The 2020 cycle will fund different projects and an application will be considered.
Annette reported that the Illinois Bicycle Path and Recreation Trail grant application for the proposed City County Bike Path has been submitted. She informed us that Rachel asked to submit three additional pieces of information prior to scheduling a site visit. This feedback was taken as favorable news. It was suggested that the Princeton Park District be contacted and asked to be aware of the site visit should it come to fruition.
No report was provided on the Walkability Study.
New Business
The Commission reviewed the 2019 Bike Rodeo Program for Youth on Wednesday, May 15 from 4:00-6:00 pm in the employee parking lot of Perry Memorial Hospital. In the event of inclement weather, the program will be moved to the Allen Building at the Bureau County Fairgrounds. The program will be held in conjunction with the University of Illinois Extension Office, Perry Memorial Hospital, and the Princeton Police Department.
Danielle has approval from PES schools to distribute flyers for the bike workshop. She will be getting those out to each school this week to continue recruiting youth participants.
Brian has contacted the Princeton Police Department who willingly agreed to assist with the program this year. Clarification is needed on the role of the police officers in providing instruction. We will incorporate a session on basic bike maintenance for the older students this year taught by Steve Graham. Rick Brooks will provide extra bike helmets for the event.
A post-ride meal of hot dogs on a bun, chips, cookies (Annette offered to provide the cookies) and bottled water will be provided. Brian will check to see if any extra Z Tour t-shirts are available for participants as a giveaway. He will also explore the cost of water bottles as a possible giveaway - these bottle would include the Extension and Bike Commission logos.
Upcoming promotions in May 2019: Bike to Work Week and Bike to School Week activities were discussed. Perry Memorial Hospital (Cathy Foes) and the Princeton Chamber of Commerce (Kim Frey) will again be taking the lead on the promotions. Rick Brooks agreed to donate a gently used bike as a Bike Week prize. Expect more publicity on this soon.
Rick Brooks also reported on the status of his non-profit bike shop, The Bike Place. He is moving the location of the shop to East Columbus Street (formerly Mr. John’s Dry Cleaners). Rick is in dire need of volunteers to help with the transition on Saturday, April 27. Clean up and painting will be completed that day. He can be contacted at 608-886-2703.
The Bike Place will also hold a “Give A Bike - Get A Bike” Promotion on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11. This promotion is designed to replace an older updated bike with a refurbished bike. We agreed to share information on this promotion via our Facebook page.
The commission will follow up with Kathy Hermeyer to fill the Rick Menzel’s vacancy.
The next commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 7 or Wednesday, May 8 at 6:30 in the Council Chambers.
https://www.princeton-il.com/forms/meetings/11/M-04-09-2019.pdf
Alerts Sign-up