MINUTES of CentreBike General Membership Meeting
June 13, 2016
Meeting held at the State College Borough Building
Present:
- Anna Nelson, President
- Kelly Doyle, Treasurer
- Joan Potter, Secretary
- Jean Bemis
- Cecily Zhu
- Andrew Artz
- Lydia Ferber
- Courtney Hayden
- Valerie Burnett
The meeting was called to order by Anna Nelson at 5:35 pm.
Financial Update
The PayPal account balance of $147.23 for membership payments will be transferred to the checking account this week, and receipt of the $1,382 CentreGives donations is expected shortly. Currently, our PNC Bank balance is $4,114.97.
Bicycle Skills Class
Brian Dempsey and Paul Rito have designed a Bicycle Touring Class for a private group who is preparing for a bike tour this summer. If it goes well, they hope to offer it to the public in the future. Attendees will get advice on how to plan and pack for a bike tour, as well as learn essential skills for long-distance riding.
Courtney Hayden suggested they consider offering a Bicycle Commuting Class for anyone interested in becoming a bike commuter but aren’t sure how to fit a bike for hauling their work stuff, planning the best route between home and work, and need essential road-riding skills.
Videon Central will be hosting a Street Skills for Cyclists class later this summer for employees, and if there’s room available in the class it will be open to the public. There are two parts to this comprehensive program, which include a weeknight of classroom work and a weekend morning for on-bike skills training.
A great suggestion was to offer a discount to CentreBike members for participating in any skills class.
Circleville Path
A ribbon-cutting event is planned for June 30th from 11:30-1:30 for the new shared use path on Circleville Road. Organized by COG, there will be government officials attending and the public is welcome. CentreBike was asked to be present with a table of information. Jean Bemis, Andrew Artz and Lydia Ferber volunteered to represent CentreBike.
Arts Festival Bike Parking
The lack of bike parking has been an on-going issue during Arts Fest. Discussed possible ways CentreBike could provide bike racks at various locations. Cecily Zhu said it may be possible to partner with Penn State to borrow some of their racks, or even purchase their old racks that are being replaced. Suggestions included somehow tagging the racks to identify them as provided by CentreBike, and if we’re able to purchase some we could uniquely paint them so they stand out as being CentreBike racks. The issue of storing purchased racks was also discussed, and an idea was to let local businesses use them whenever they aren’t needed for the Festival or other events. Cecily will look into the feasibility of PSU racks and report back.
Awareness Campaign
Anna outlined the proposed plan and Courtney mentioned the Borough already has a campaign prepared that has never been implemented. Perhaps CentreBike can partner with the Borough to make it happen. Melissa Bopp has applied for a grant that may be a possible source of funding, too. The discussion was tabled until Courtney could look into the Borough plan status.
Board Member openings
Kelly Doyle announced she will be leaving in August, and Sue Barsom has already moved out of the area, leaving two Board seats open. Courtney Hayden has expressed interest in a position. Other nominations will be accepted at the next meeting on July 11th and voting will take place at the August 8th meeting.
Bike Friendly Business Celebration
There is a tentative plan for CentreBike to host a happy hour event in September/October (possibly at Videon Central) for current BFBs to meet with other businesses interested in becoming a BFB. This event will provide a meet-and-greet opportunity to provide information and ideas on how more businesses in the Centre Region can become a League-recognized BFB. Joan Potter will coordinate this event.
Other Announcements
Courtney Hayden asked if anyone was interested in participating in an interview on June 20th with CentralPA Live on the topic of State College as a cycling destination. Recommendations were to invite a NMBA rep (mountain biker), SCCycling (road rider), and a bike commuter from the community.
Andrew Arts announced that he is planning another cycling event next summer and asked if CentreBike would be willing to help organize volunteers again, as was done for last summer’s event.
There being no further business to come before the meeting, it adjourned at 6:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Potter, Secretary
