Salem Bike Path Committee
Minutes of Meeting
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A regularly scheduled meeting of the Salem Bike Path Committee was held on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 7:00 PM in Meeting Room 312 at City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street.
Members Present: Dan Shuman, Will Peck, Ernest DeMaio. David Hallowes, and Will Peck. Also present was Staff Planner/Harbor Coordinator Frank Taormina
Members Absent: none
Public in Attendance: Steve Tgettis (Salem resident, Aborn Street)
Chairman Shuman called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. He acknowledged those members absent and present for the record.
J. Bellin made a motion to approve the January 11, 2012 Meeting Minutes, seconded by E. DeMaio and approved unanimously.
F. Taormina brought to the Committee’s attention that Jamie Metsch resigned from the Committee affective February 8th and Dave Pelletier also resigned affective March 9th. The Committee is now down to five members. He has asked the Mayor’s Office to appoint at least two more members as the Committee was established to have between 7-10 members and current quorum for meetings is at least 4 members present (based on at least a 7 member committee). He mentioned that he put in a request to have the Mayor’s Office appoint at least two new members to the Committee. He asked the Committee if they know of any Salem residents that would be interested in joining and if so to have them contact the Mayor’s Office.
Chairman Shuman acknowledged Steve Tgettis in attendance and asked if he had a public comment at this time. S. Tgettis stated that he did not have a comment at that time.
J. Bellin asked if the Committee would be interested in hosting another Safety Day Event like the Committee held in the summer of 2008. Discussion ensued.
S. Tgettis stated that he worked as a Safety Manager for a Railroad Company and in his experience thinks that holding a safety event doesn’t always reach the target audience. He believes that education is important but doesn’t always work in the form of an event. If the Committee does a safety event it would need to be more comprehensive and well advertised in order to reach out to as many people as possible.
F. Taormina stated that the City of Salem hosts an annual Public Safety Day Event at the Moose Family Center and perhaps the Committee could be a part of that larger safety day event which has a built in audience, instead of hosting and advertising for their own stand alone event.
J. Bellin went to that event last year and he believes that the Moose is not a good location and that it was poorly attended, but he understands that joining forces with another established City event could work.
Chairman Shuman asked that F. Taormina get more information about the annual Public Safety Event hosted by the City and add the item to the next agenda for further discussion.
Review Final Draft of Bike Safely in Salem Pamphlet
Chairman Shuman opening up the item and then turned the floor over to Committee Member D. Hallowes. D. Hallowes passed out copies of the final draft of the safety pamphlet for the Committee’s review.
J. Bellin stated that the pamphlet may be simple but there is information in it that is not obvious to all people. The bike safety pamphlet may not reach our whole target audience, but if it can change even a few people’s biking habits then we may be saving lives.
Chairman Shuman asked if the URL links could be simplified. D. Hallowes explained why it cannot be done for the hard copy but a hyperlink could be added to the electronic version.
W. Peck asked if the sentence regarding helmets and Massachusetts State Law could be bolded or enlarged. D. Hallowes suggested that the sentence be moved from under the pictures to directly beneath the heading and bolded, so that it stands out more. The Committee agreed.
F. Taormina mentioned to the Committee that when the final edits are made, he will forward the pamphlet to the Police Department for their endorsement. He also suggested that the Park and Recreation Department review the pamphlet and endorse it and that D. Hallowes insert on the front cover under Brought to you by: add the Park and Recreation Department, the Committee agreed.
F. Taormina asked the Committee how many pamphlets should be printed once finalized and endorsed. The Committee was thinking around 1,000 as they would like to make them available for the entire Salem Public School System and have extra copies available for distribution at local bike shops, the Park and Recreation Dept., YMCA, Chamber of Commerce, etc. Also the Committee would like some copies available to them then they attend various events.
S. Tgettis asked if the pamphlet will be available in Spanish. The Committee stating that that is a goal of theirs. Once the pamphlet is finalized and endorsed the Committee will work on translation.
F. Taormina stated that once the map is revised and endorsed he will work with Committee Member D. Hallowes to prepare the printing specifications, so that he can get quotes from printing companies in the area.
Chairman Shuman asked if there were any other edits the Committee would like to make. There none being, he asked for a motion to approve the Bike Safely in Salem pamphlet as revised. Motion was made by J. Bellin, seconded by E. DeMaio, and approved unanimously.
Salem Bike Path Committee Logo
D. Hallowes informed the Committee that he has been working on a logo for the Committee. He passed around 11 different variations of the logo. The Committee reviewed each logo and discussion ensued. Following discussion, the Committee narrowed the selection to 2 logos that they liked best and agreed to have D. Hallowes refine them a bit more and review them at the next meeting.
Creation of User Friendly Bike Routes Map (backside of map)
F. Taormina showed the Committee all the different biking resources and useful information he thinks should be placed on the backside of the map. The Committee review the material
and agreed but wasn’t sure how it would all layout on the back of the map.
F. Taormina let the Committee know that he and the GIS Administrator have taken it as far as they can, and now need a professional to assist in refining the map and laying out the backside information. He reminded the Committee that FST Engineering offered to perform that work pro bono, and only wanted to place their logo on the map somewhere. The Committee agreed that the City should take advantage of that.
F. Taormina stated that he will speak to Gary Hebert from FST Engineering and confirm that they would still be willing to do that for the Committee and if so, he will forward everything to FST and once they have a draft map in place he will invite them to a future meeting to review it with the Committee. The Committee agreed.
Salem Bike Path Extension Update
Chairman Shuman opening up the item and then turned the floor over to F. Taormina.
F. Taormina updated the Committee on the current status of the Salem Bike Path Extension Project. He informed them that the City and its Consulting Engineer, AECOM, have made some alterations to the bike route and he walked the Committee through the revised plans. He said that initially the City obtained a lease agreement from the MBTA to utilize an unused portion of a railroad right-of-way but now the City is interested in utilizing more of their active railroad right-of-way. Accordingly, the City sent the MBTA a letter and revised plans detailing their new request. He informed the Committee that the MBTA received the correspondence and will be meeting with the City and AECOM in the near future to discuss the proposal. After that meeting, F. Taormina said that he will let the Committee know
if the MBTA was receptive to the chance and outline the process moving forward.
Other Old/New Business
Chairman Shuman asked if there were any other old/new business items the Committee would like to discuss tonight.
F. Taormina informed the Committee that he submitted a Bike Friendly Community Application to the League of American Cyclists for the City of Salem to be potentially recognized as a Bike Friendly Community. He let them know that there are only three communities in the entire Commonwealth that are recognized to date: Boston, Somerville, and North Hampton, and less than 200 recognized in the whole county. He believes that the City and the Committee have accomplished a lot in the past 6 years and believes that the City should be recognized for those achievements. He believes that the League of America Cyclists will render a decision in the next month or so. He will inform the Committee once he hears back from the League.
W. Peck asked about the MBTA Parking Garage and the bike accommodations we requested. F. Taormina stated that they MBTA will be installing a secure indoor bike parking facility, similar to Alewife Station, but it is unlikely that they will be constructing the at-grade crossing across the tracks to Jefferson Station Apartments, as the MBTA has shrunk the budget for the project. He told the Committee that he will continue to notify them of future public meetings the MBTA will hold.
Chairman Shuman asked if there is any further old or new business to discuss tonight. There being none, he asked for a motion to adjourn. J. Bellin makes that motion, seconded by E. DeMaio and approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM.
Respectfully submitted by:
Frank Taormina,
Planner/Harbor Coordinator
Minutes approved by the Salem Bike Path Committee at their April 11, 2012 Meeting
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