May 9, 2016
Meeting held at the State College Borough Building
Present: Anna Nelson, President, Paul Rito, Vice President, Joan Potter, Secretary, Jean Bemis, Brian Dempsey, Mark Davison, Melissa Bopp, Austin Keene, Peter Koby, Cecily Zhu
The meeting was called to order by Anna Nelson at 5:35 pm.
Centre Gives Campaign
A total of $1,225 was generously donated to CentreBike during the Centre Gives campaign. Thank you notes were sent to individual contributors, and a complimentary one-year membership given to those who donated $50 or more.
Centre Region COG Bike Map
COG would like to update and post a new biking map online by August. Anna Nelson reviewed the current map key and presented two options to improve the key. Peter Koby offered to provide input, and Anna encouraged anyone else with ideas to email her.
Bike Safety Concerns
- We’re grateful to the Borough, Ferguson Twp and PennDOT who are using their variable message boards in various locations this month with the message: “Yield: Give 4’ when passing cyclists”.
- There have been several recent reports of pedestrians and bicyclists involved in near miss encounters with cars at intersections. Anna suggested approaching municipalities about raising awareness of this issue.
Bike Count Plan
Trish Meek would like to establish a plan for an annual count of bikes at designated intersections and roadways to include in the Bike Friendly Community application. Melissa Bopp offered to provide the protocol used by the Active Lions surveys completed on campus in 2014 and 2015.
May Bike Month Activities
- The CentreBike information table at Allen Street Gates on April 29th had plenty of interest considering the chilly weather. Brian Dempsey thanked all the volunteers who participated.
- Commuter Coffee Fridays are being promoted on Facebook and to the listserv:
- May 6 – Old Main Steps
- May 13 – Freeze Thaw Cycles
- May 20 – The Bicycle Shop
- May 27 – Sidney Friedman Park
- The County Commissioners will have a Proclamation for May Bike Month on Tuesday, May 10th at 10:00am in Bellefonte. Anna Nelson will attend, and encouraged anyone else available for a photo op to arrive a few minutes before 10:00.
- The public Forum: Building a Bike Friendly Community will be held at the Borough Building on May 17th at 5:30pm. Representatives from State College, Ferguson, Patton, College, Halfmoon, Penn State and COG will be there to present and to listen.
- The annual Family Fun Ride is being promoted for Saturday, May 21st. The ride will begin at 10:00 from Sidney Friedman Park on Frasier Street. This leisurely, child-friendly bicycle ride around State College typically takes a little over an hour to travel the 7-mile route through neighborhoods and on shared-use paths. All ages are welcome and bikes with child carriers encouraged. Accompanying the group will be Mayor Elizabeth Goreham, County Commissioner Mark Higgins, and a Bicycle Police Officer, as well as several CentreBike volunteers.
- The Bike to School Day initiative at the two middle schools is scheduled for Thursday, May 26th. CentreBike will provide stickers, bananas and granola bars for the kids to enjoy when they arrive at school.
National Bike Challenge
There are currently 187 riders registered in the community group. Our goal is to have 200 riders and rank higher than we did last year. Keep promoting!
Friends and Farmers Cooperative
F&F reached out to CentreBike to solicit volunteers to deliver to local customers by bike on May 24th in honor of Bike Month. Interested cyclists should email friendsandfarmersmarket@gmail.com.
Circleville Path Completion
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently completed Circleville shared use path is being planned by Patton Township for the end of June. CentreBike has been invited to participate in whatever capacity we can. Further discussions will be forthcoming.
There being no further business to come before the meeting, it adjourned at 6:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Potter, Secretary
