October 10, 2016

Meeting held at the State College Borough Building

Present:

• Anna Nelson, President
• Paul Rito, Vice President
• Joan Potter, Secretary/Treasurer
• Courtney Hayden
• James Read
• Mark Davison
• Tristan Avelis
• Andrew Artz
• Chip Mefford
• Jim Serene
• Bill Goffe
• Nate Geiger
• Allan Stoekl
• Brian Dempsey
• Cecily Zhu
• Michele Chernega
• Ed Jenkins

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

Treasurers Report

The cash balance is $8,044.01. There were 5 new individual/family memberships and 1 corporate membership since last meeting, totaling $205. Expenses paid out included $179.78 for website hosting fees and $223.47 for the Bike-Friendly Business event.

 

Bike-Friendly Business Event

A Happy Hour was sponsored by CentreBike on Thursday, Oct 6^th at Videon to celebrate current BFBs and encourage more local businesses to become bike-friendly and apply for BFB status. Providing this informal opportunity to meet and learn the various ways current BFBs went about becoming bike-friendly created some interest, and we hope to see an increase in the number of BFBs in the community in the coming year. There were 24 attendees representing 19 organizations. Mt Nittany Health and Blue Mountain Quality Resources indicated they are planning to submit a BFB application next round, and Erik Scott from The Bicycle Shop announced that he would complete the application this round, and then confirmed the next day that it was sent!

Anna moved to authorize up to $500 over the next year to support BFB application fees or supplies to help organizations become more bike-friendly and apply for an award. A preference will be given to non-profit organizations, and up to $100 per organization can be given. Paul seconded; motion passed.

 

Bike Map Project

With the goal of creating an updated bicycling map for State College and the surrounding area, Paul Rito brought examples of maps from other cities to look for ideas. Discussion followed on what would be good to include on the map. Input is welcome, and Anna asked for volunteers to help with this project. Paul will contact map publishers for pricing, and next step will be finding community partners to share in the cost.

 

Upcoming Committee Member Election

Nominations will be accepted at the next meeting in November, and the election will be held in December. The 9 current members are:  Anna Nelson, Paul Rito, Joan Potter, Brian Dempsey, Jim Serene, Mark Davison, Courtney Hayden, James Read & Allan Stoekl.

 

Cycling Classes & Education

The Biking 101 Class had 8 attendees, and Trish is planning to offer the class again in the spring. The Cycling Skills class had 3 participants. At the BFB event, attendees were encouraged to offer the Cycling Skills class to their employees.

A suggestion was made to offer a Bike Maintenance 101 class this winter, and in the spring offer an Intro to Group Riding class. Another idea was a mentor program for new commuters in May.

Autumn Busbee will be teaching the bicycling education program in the driver’s ed class in the high school this year.

 

Fall/Winter Event

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Warner Blvd shared use path will be held on Oct 20^th at 10:30am. CentreBike members are encouraged to attend and show support for this project, as College & Harris Township were willing to collaborate and accept input from CentreBike during the design phase.

 

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

 

Respectfully submitted,

Joan Potter, Secretary

September 12, 2016

Meeting held at the State College Borough Building

Present:

• Anna Nelson, President
• Paul Rito, Vice President
• Joan Potter, Secretary/Treasurer
• Jean Bemis
• Courtney Hayden
• Autumn Busbee
• James Read
• Mark Davison
• Brian Dempsey
• Cecily Zhu
• Melissa Bopp
• Brian Helf
• Tom Gesell
• Ed Jenkins

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

Treasurers Report

The cash balance on Aug 31, 2016 was $7,426.44. There were 7 new memberships in July/August. Expenses paid out included $321 for bike lights to use as prizes for the Slow Bike Races at LION Bash and future events, $37.10 for signs for donated bike racks, and $122 for annual post office box rental.

Bike Racks Update

Three bike racks have been purchased from Penn State Salvage for $10 each, and “Donated by CentreBike.org” signs riveted to them before distributing to Park Forest Elementary School, Grays Woods Elementary School and Millbrook Marsh. When additional racks are available, they will be distributed as per the growing list of interested organizations.

Lion Bash

There was a great turnout on Tuesday, Aug 30^th for the 2^nd annual LION Bash. CentreBike’s Slow Bike Races were a big hit and about 40 bike lights were given as prizes. Many people also stopped at the information table to chat and pick up ride maps.

Fall PSU Info Table

The information and bike registration table at the Allen Street Gates on Thursday, Sep 8^th was well attended. Maps continue to be popular and discussion followed on getting the Centre Region map updated with bike shops and repair stations noted. Also discussed ways to improve our display of table information, with better signage and possibly a custom tent canopy.

Biking Classes

The Biking 101 Class has 10 registered and the Cycling Skills class has 3 at this point. CRPR will be a good partner going forward for biking classes and activities. For winter classes, Bike Maintenance and Riding in Cold Weather are possibilities. It was noted that the deadline is October for posting activities in the winter CRPR Active Guide. A “Kiddical Mass” community ride was suggested for spring/summer. Courtney also mentioned Schlow Library might be willing to promote May Bike Month with a display and space for a class.

Fall/Winter Events/Projects

A “BFB Happy Hour” sponsored by CentreBike is tentatively planned for Thursday, Oct 6^th at Videon to celebrate current BFBs and encourage more local businesses to become bike-friendly and apply for BFB status. The next application period opens in October and closes in January with awards announced in March.  Providing this informal opportunity to meet with current BFBs and learn of the various ways they went about becoming bike-friendly will hopefully be an effective way to create more interest and increase the number of BFBs in our community. The invitation list includes representatives of 45 organizations, and the proposed budget for beer & food is $300. Anna moved to support the event; Courtney seconded; motion passed. It was suggested that any business applying for BFB status could be put in the queue for a bike rack as an incentive.

A suggested project is advocating to get the gravel path on Orchard Road extended along Park Road (in front of the the Visitors Bureau). CentreBike could help facilitate with grant applications.

Anna announced she is leaving in January to return to Minneapolis. She encouraged everyone to start thinking about the December Board election and identify new candidates for President.

Melissa mentioned she’ll be on sabbatical in the spring, but her interns will be available to help with projects and write grants.

 

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

Respectfully submitted,

Joan Potter, Secretary