Meeting Minutes

January 11, 2016

Meeting held at the State College Borough Building

Present:

• Anna Nelson, President
• Joan Potter, Secretary
• Kelly Doyle, Treasurer
• Jim Serene
• Brian Dempsey
• Allan Stoekl
• Mark Davison

The meeting was called to order by Anna Nelson at 5:35 pm.

Liability Insurance

Board approval needed to renew the insurance policy through the League of American Cyclists. The cost for 2016 is $189 which covers 26 rides or less per year. There is also optional officers liability insurance at a cost of $550 for $1M in coverage. Jim Serene moved to only renew the basic coverage at $189; Brian Dempsey second; all in favor. Note that waivers will be required to be signed by all ride recipients. Jim offered to design a new waiver form.

Centre Foundation Endowment Fund

Thank you letter will be sent to Blake and Linda Gall for their generous gift of a $50,000 endowment, with an acknowledgement that CentreBike will host a ride/event in their honor. A story and photo will be posted to the website.

Open Streets Initiative

Melissa Bopp with ActiveLions is applying for grant for Open Streets. If received, CentreBike will be a partner, along with Mt Nittany Health System. Note that Melissa’s students are available to intern on projects.

Winter Bike to Work Day

Scheduled for Friday, Feb 12^th with a coffee station on Old Main steps. A group photo will be taken just before 8:00am.

Focus for 2016

• Encourage and support implementation of the Regional Bike Plan accepted by COG. This is a wish list with no time requirements and will require citizen support. Suggest targeting one township a year and work with citizens to address issues.
• Community Rides: Jim Serene and Mark Davison will start off by organizing an easy family ride which connects bike paths and routes around town.
• Commuter Benefits: Encourage local businesses to incentivize biking to work, i.e., PSU, Hospital and businesses that pay for employee parking downtown. Brian Dempsey & Allan Stoekl will follow up with PSU on the potential for commuter benefits.
• Offer support to businesses to apply for Bike Friendly Business (BFB) status with the League of American Cycling. The next deadline is March 31^st for awards announced in May, and June 30^th is the deadline for August awards. Jim Serene will reach out to the Hospital and Joan will follow-up with Minitab on their status.
• Bellefonte-State College Rail Trail support: Paul Rito will take the lead on this effort.
• Revamp bike registration process and incorporate student education. Anna will be the lead.
• Improve website, email and social media communication. Joan and Anna will focus on this.
• Quarterly OpEd in CDT for various issues, i.e., closing Allen Street for pedestrian/bikes only.
• Bike awareness campaign using local people, i.e., “I’m the Mayor. I’m a Cyclist.” (I’m a Teacher, I’m a Firefighter, I’m a Business Owner, etc.) Also, “Bicyclists may use Full Lane” campaign and “Lights at Night” campaign
• Notify Transportation & Land Use Committee (TLU) about bike lane issues.

Reminder:  When working on improvement projects, take before and after photos and write a story to share on the website.

There being no further business to come before the meeting, it adjourned at 6:55 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Joan Potter, Secretary

November 9, 2015

Meeting held at the State College Borough Building

Present:

• Anna Nelson, Vice President
• Joan Potter, Secretary
• Paul Rito
• Kelly Doyle
• Jean Bemis
• Brian Dempsey
• Sue Barsom
• Irene Hicks
• Courtney Hayden
• Michele Chernega
• Cecily Zhu

The meeting was called to order by Anna Nelson at 5:30 pm.

PSU Alternative Transportation Program Coordinator

Introductions were made for Cecily Zhu, Penn State’s new coordinator for the Alternative Transportation Program. She mentioned a few projects she is working on, including a car/ride share program, a bike share program, expanding the bike repair stations system in coordination with the Borough of State College, and renewing the Bike-Friendly University status in the spring.

 

Centre Region Bike Plan

Meetings to present the regional bike plan to Township Supervisors are in progress and going well. Trish Meek is doing an excellent job presenting the plan and answering questions. She also asked for bike touring routes to be noted.

 

December Meeting

Videon Central is available for a meeting/party on Dec. 13, 14 or 15.  Other locations and dates were also discussed. Anna will send a quick survey out to the Executive Committee to finalize where & when.

 

2016 Projects

At the December meeting/party, there will be an opportunity to brainstorm projects to address in 2016.  Initial suggestions are:

• Encourage businesses to incentivize biking to work (i.e., PSU, Hospital and downtown businesses that pay for employee parking)
• Create map of bike routes to historical sites in Centre County, such as Curtain Village Ironworks, Centre Furnace Mansion and Boogersville Schoolhouse
• Bellefonte-State College Rail Trail
• Revamp bike registration process
• Bike lights campaign

 

Election of 2016 Officers and Executive Committee Members

The election of CentreBike officers and Executive Committee members occurred as follows:

• Anna Nelson was nominated as President; unanimously elected
• Paul Rito was nominated as Vice President; unanimously elected
• Kelly Doyle was nominated as Treasurer; unanimously elected
• Joan Potter was nominated as Secretary; unanimously elected

The Executive Committee slate was nominated, seconded, and unanimously approved as follows:

• Jim Serene
• Brian Dempsey
• Allan Stoekl
• Sue Barsom
• Mark Davison

 

Share the Road signage

Sue Barsom suggested a request be made for a Share the Road sign on Fox Hollow Road.

 

There being no further business to come before the meeting, it adjourned at 6:40 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan Potter, Secretary

MINUTES of CentreBike General Meeting

October 12, 2015

Meeting held at the State College Borough Building

Present:

• Jim Serene, President
• Anna Nelson, Vice President
• Joan Potter, Secretary
• Paul Barsom, Treasurer
• Paul Rito
• Kelly Doyle
• Jean Bemis
• Mark Davison
• Brucie Serene
• Allan Stoekl
• Timothy Wheeler

Meeting called to order by Jim Serene at 5:30 pm.  A quorum was present, and the meeting was ready to proceed with business.

The minutes of the September meeting were accepted.

 

Nominations for 2016 Officers and Executive Committee

Anna Nelson agreed to accept Presidency, if elected, and Joan Potter agreed to continue serving as Secretary. Jim Serene stated he would serve on the Executive Committee, as did Paul Rito. Nominees for consideration for the Vice President, Treasurer and Executive Committee positions include:

• Allan Stoekl
• Jean Bemis
• Mark Davison
• Catherine Grigor
• Kelly Doyle
• Mark Higgins
• Dan Stearns
• Henry Margusity
• Ed Jenkins

 

Centre Inspires Grant

Jim Serene and Anna Nelson will attend the Centre Foundation annual banquet on October 28^th for the announcement of the winner of the $100,000 grant. Other members are encouraged to attend, too.

 

4 ft Pass Law

Anna reported there has been a lot of interest in the Ferguson Twp signage on Blue Course Drive promoting the 4 ft Pass Law. Trish Meek has asked PennDOT to consider posting the message on other signs around Centre County, as they are all programmed simultaneously.

 

Regional Bike Plan

The Centre Region Bike Plan has been shared with the public for comments. Trish Meek will be presenting the plan at a meeting at each township over the next month. Notices will be sent to encourage cyclists to attend these meetings via the listserv, other bike organizations, Facebook, and notices in bike shops. http://crcog.net/bikes

 

Centre County Community Super Fair

CentreBike will have a table at the Super Fair, sponsored by the Centre County Council of Human Services, on Nov 14^th from 10:00-2:00 at the Mt Nittany Middle School. This event is to promote local human services organizations to residents and highlight opportunities for volunteering.  http://www.theccchs.org/#!super-fair/c5sh/image_df3

 

High School Driver’s Education Program

Kelly Doyle outlined the 45-minute bicycle awareness program created for the State College High Drivers Ed classes. It’s anticipated to reach ~400 students during the school year.

 

There being no further business to come before the meeting, it adjourned at 6:45 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Joan Potter, Secretary