Reconstituted Bike Committee Is Off And Running

MOST MEMBERS ATTENDED
The Costa Mesa Bikeway and Walkability Committee, re-configured following the last election, met for the second time last night and tackled a full agenda.  All the members attended except one.  The three liaison members - Mayor Katrina Foley, Dr. Kirk Bauermeister and Brent Stoll - were also absent. 

ERICKSON AT THE HELM
The committee met in the cozy confines of Conference Room 1A at City Hall, a new venue for them and one that might prove to be problematic if everyone shows up for future meetings.  New Chairman, Jim Erickson - a hold-over from the previous group - took charge of the group with skill and time-awareness, keeping things moving throughout the evening.  Cynthia McDonald continues as Vice Chair and former Chairman Ralph Taboada remains in the group, so the continuity of the process is retained.

SMALL AUDIENCE, AGAIN
The audience attendance continues to be small - a maximum of six people showed up, with only a couple of us remaining through the full two-hour meeting.

OCC IMPACT
During Public Comments Marc Perkins provided a handout to the committee to add emphasis to his request for better integration of Orange Coast College into any future bikeway plans.  His contention was that the large concentration of bicycle riders at the college does, and will, have a significant impact on traffic and public safety as the campus continues to grow.  He cited the on-campus housing planned to provide for an increase in foreign students, whom, he postulated, would be mostly bicycle riders.

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM PROJECTS
Director of Public Services, Raja Sethuraman, guided a discussion of the Active Transportation Program projects that are part of the budget.  A budget study session apparently will be held next Tuesday evening, also in Conference Room 1A, and members were encouraged to attend to observe that process.

INPUT ON BIKE RACK LOCATIONS
Committee members were asked to provide input on their perception of the need for bike racks around the city, so the discussion went around the room with most members providing specific locations for the needs at both public and private locations.  There was the presumption that every public park in the city needs a full compliment of bike racks.  Emphasis was placed on the situation at Wilson Park, a venue that is under siege from homeless individuals.  Other areas of focus included the business corridors of 17th and 19th Streets.  The City has budgeted $50,000 for bike racks around town, so the staff will take the input provided and come back to the next meeting with a list which the committee will prioritize so the installation of new bike racks can commence - most likely being done by City maintenance workers with oversight from senior staffers as to placement.

BICYCLE MASTER PLAN
There was a discussion of the Bicycle Master Plan Project, HERE, and the new members were encouraged to go online to familiarize themselves with the document.

NEXT AGENDA ITEMS
Items planned for the agenda at the next meeting include:

• A discussion of prioritizing installation of bike racks
• The Bicycle Master Plan
• The feasibility of a "Walking Audit" - a tour of sites around the City
• A discussion of possible sub-committees to focus on specific ideas/areas.

PERSONAL BIKE RACK ASSESSMENT
During Committee Member Comments members Rick Huffman and Cynthia McDonald provided a handout describing their own recent drive around town to assess the need for bike racks.

BIKE PODS
John Merrill described a recent conference he attended at which Santa Ana's installation of "bike pods" - locked bike storage units accessible only via membership - and suggested that kind of infrastructure could be discussed by the group in the future.

DANGEROUS SITUATION AT NEWPORT BLVD/INDUSTRIAL WAY
A member of the public, who had arrived late with her son, asked to be heard as a "public comment" regarding a dangerous situation she and her son faces.  She apparently lives in the new condo units near Newport Boulevard and Industrial way and her son rides his bicycle to Ensign Middle School, being forced to cross both Industrial Way AND Newport Boulevard to do it.  He apparently had an accident where a car knocked him off his bike.  He spoke, describing his situation.  They asked the committee to pursue some kind of safety measure - a signaled cross walk, for example - to make it safer for folks traveling that route on bikes, or walking for that matter.

REVIEW THE OPEN SPACE MASTER PLAN
Member Flo Martin referred the group to the Master Plan of Open Space on the City website, HERE - all 384 pages of it.  She referred to several excerpts from that document for their enlightenment.  McDonald reminded us that the cutoff date for written comments on that document is next Wednesday, May 10th.

TWO PROBLEM AREAS
Member Bob Graham provided a short presentation on areas of concern - cables that complicate bike riding across the street from Estancia High School and what he described as a growing junk yard at the Costa Mesa Golf Course.  He showed slides of each and asked the staff to investigate solutions.

OC MARATHON THIS SUNDAY - BE PREPARED
Before Erickson closed the meeting at 8:34 p.m., Sethuraman reminded the group of the upcoming Orange County Marathon on Sunday, which will snarl traffic in several parts of the City, beginning with the far Eastside and including areas in the north and northwest sides before concluding at the Orange County Fair and Event Center.  You can read more about it HERE, which also includes links to specific road closures.

ANOTHER GOOD GROUP - DOING GOOD WORK
My impressions of this new group is very positive.  The new members bring new energy and I'm encouraged that they will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and continue to make Costa Mesa a much more bikeable and walkable city.  Thanks to them all for volunteering to take on these challenges ahead.

NEW Location for Bikeway and Walkability Committee Meeting!

 TELL YOUR FRIENDS...
The Costa Mesa Bikeway and Walkability Committee will meet again on Wednesday, May 3, 2017 beginning at 6:30 at a NEW LOCATION!  This meeting will be held in Conference Room 1A at City Hall instead of the Senior Center.  Unfortunately, one of the links on the City Calendar still shows the Senior Center as the meeting site.  Please advise your friends who normally attend of this very significant change.

THE AGENDA
The agenda for this meeting, HERE, doesn't do much to provide detailed information on the individual items to be discussed.  However, here's the roster of items planned for discussion:

• Active Transportation Program Projects in Budget
• Bike Projects Prioritization
• Bike Rack Program - List of Locations
• Items for the next agenda

NEW GROUP, PLENTY TO DO
I missed the first meeting of this new committee, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this new group - a homogenization of the previous committee and some new folks - goes about doing their work under the guidance of new Chairman Jim Erickson.

HERE'S THE TEAM...
Thanks to this committee for their volunteer spirit:

• Jim Erickson - Chairman
• Cynthia McDonald - Vice Chair
• Alan Engard
• Michelle Fay
• Robert Graham
• Michael Habitz
• Richard Huffman II
• James Kane
• Dan Leibson
• Andrew Levins
• Flo Martin
• John C. Merrill
• Kari Nieblas Vozenilek
• Scott Porterfield
• Ralph Taboada

PLUS
Liaisons:
Mayor Katrina Foley
Dr. Kirk Bauermeister - Newport Mesa Unified School District
Brent Stoll - Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce

See you there - AT THE NEW LOCATION!

Two Committees Off And Running

TWO MORE COMMITTEES GOOD TO GO
As mentioned in my earlier post, the new Finance and Pension Advisory Committee and the re-constituted Bikeway and Walkability Committee both met yesterday, elected leaders and have launched themselves off on their assigned tasks.  Although I attended neither meeting, sources who were in attendance provided some insight for us.

FINANCE AND PENSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHOOSES FISLER AND TABOADA
The Finance and Pension Advisory Committee chose former Planning Commissioner and current Mesa Water Board member Jim Fisler as Chairman and Ralph Taboada as Vice Chair.  Members Wendy Leece, Taboada, Robert Juneman, John Hinson and Anna Vrska were selected to become members of the Pension Working Group, a sub-committee that apparently will be charged with examining the pension issues and providing information to the broader group.  Although the information was a little fuzzy, it seems that Taboada will act as chair of that group.  It's unclear when they will next meet.

BUDGET SHORTFALL PROBABLE...
Among the issues discussed were the current year budget - apparently all signs indicate a slight budget shortfall by the end of the fiscal year in June.  I'm told Interim Finance Director Steve Dunivent provided a series of options for the council to consider.

NEW FIRE PLAN NOT DISCUSSED
There was a plan to hear from Fire Chief Dan Stefano on the latest iteration of his deployment plan, but that didn't happen.  This item is on the agenda for the City Council meeting on Tuesday.

So, this group is organized and ready to operate.  Thanks to the volunteers who formed this group.  They meet next on May 10th.

*****

BIKE COMMITTEE CHOOSES ERICKSON AND MC DONALD TO LEAD THEM
The Bikeway and Walkability Committee met at the Senior Center last evening and chose Jim Erickson as Chairman and Cynthia McDonald was selected to continue as Vice Chair.  All members, as well as Chamber of Commerce liaison Brent Stoll, attended.  Mayor Katrina Foley and NMUSD liaison Dr. Kirk Bauermeister were absent.

ALL BRIEFED AND READY TO GO
According to Public Services Director Raja Sethuraman, the committee was briefed on important procedural issues - the Brown Act, etc., - and were oriented about recent accomplishments and discussed issues they would like to address moving forward.  Again, another good group, willing to work for the betterment of the of the community.  Thanks to them all.  They will next meet on Wednesday, May 3rd.

Bike Committee Had A Full Meeting

NOT A FULL TEAM AGAIN
The Costa Mesa Bikeways and Walkability Committee met again Wednesday evening at City Hall and managed to fill the time provided with productive discussions.  The committee membership is down to twelve (12), plus Brent Stoll and Dr. Kirk Bauermeister.  Two members and Stoll were absent last night.  Three positions will be filled with the current recruitment effort for this and several other city committees.  Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m., Friday, February 19th.

TAXING CARS FOR BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE
Member James Kane did more work on an analysis of Senate Bill 1183, HERE, which theoretically provides for up to $5.00 per vehicle annually to be assessed by cities, counties or other park districts to fund bicycle enhancements within their boundaries.  The following slides outline what he found out.

Apparently, there are NO jurisdictions who have taken advantage of this bill.  It would apparently take a local vote to enact the process and there are few politicians willing to impose a new tax.  It's an interesting concept, though.  According to the data Kane provided, it could provide net revenue of more than $400,000 annually for such efforts.

WEST 19TH STREET BIKE TRAIL PROJECT
There was a presentation by Min Zhou, Project Manager for KOA Corporation, the consultants working on the 19th Street Bike Path project.  They gave an overview of the project to the committee and answered several questions.  This plan will be presented as a community outreach effort in the near future, so members of the community nearby or with special interest can attend in a larger venue to hear the plans and offer comments.

 PRESENTATION OF GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND.... "RECOMMENDATIONS"
Chairman Ralph Taboada and Vice Chair Cynthia McDonald briefed the committee members on their presentation of the Goals, Objectives and Policies presented to the City Council at a recent meeting.  Much discussion revolved around the negative reception their work product received, and the demand by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer that the "policies" be modified to be called "recommendations", even though the format is the preferred style for the General Plan update.

I sat through most of the meetings where this committee met and hammered out this excellent piece of work on a rushed timetable.  I, too, was surprised and disappointed with Righeimer's reaction to it.  Yes, there were a lot of words, and, yes, it took some time to carefully craft the document - but that was their charter.

RIGHEIMER'S MOTIVATION
Personally, I think there's more at play here.  I think that Righeimer realizes - although he didn't say it - that the "rules" provided by the "policies" might negatively impact some future developments by his pals.  By calling them "recommendations" the staff can be instructed to simply not enforce those Righeimer finds objectionable.

THE REVISED MAP
There was also a lengthy discussion of the completion of the Bicycle Map for the Master Plan.  An example of a conceptual map was reviewed and, after discussion, it was agreed unanimously to put that map forward.  There was significant discussion about the method of presenting this map, with some members favoring approaching individual members of the council, while others strongly suggested to not use that tactic.  The committee will present the map to the council as a whole.

 NO TAKERS FOR CICLOVIA SUBCOMMITTEE, BUT...
Also on the agenda was a opportunity for the creation of a ciclovia subcommittee.  I wasn't at the meeting where this was proposed as an agenda item, but it seems like the plan was to form a smaller group to move forward with all elements of a possible ciclovia event similar to others held elsewhere.  When it came time for volunteers for this committee nobody stepped up.  The subsequent discussion resolved that it may be too soon for such an effort for this fledgling committee.

...AN OUTREACH SUBCOMMITTEE WILL BE FORMED
So, the conversation then turned to the creation of a broader Outreach Subcommittee, to begin with smaller steps.  Four members stepped up for this group - Chairman Taboada, Vice Chair McDonald, Rick Huffman and Jim Erickson.  The committee will wait until the next meeting, when a couple more members may be present, to fill out the five-person subcommittee and tighten the focus of its activities.  Discussions revolved around creating a presence at currently-existing programs in the city - like the Fish Fry and the Community Run - to launch greater awareness of this group and their efforts to improve bikeability and walkability in the city.

LOCKED GATES ON GREENVILLE-BANNING CHANNEL TRAIL
There was a brief slide presentation requested by Parks and Recreation Commissioner Bob Graham, who was in the audience last night, regarding the possibility of finding a way to open two locked gates on the trail that parallels the Greenville-Banning Channel on the Westside of town to provide access to walkers.

NEXT MEETING IN A MONTH
The next meeting will be held on March 2, 2016 at the Costa Mesa Senior Center, which is undergoing termite treatment.  The meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m. and the 9 members of the public in attendance departed.