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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Citizens Bicycle Advisory Committee - Meeting Date: 11/7/2005 CITY OF GLENDALE CITIZEN BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CBAC) Monday, November 7, 2005 MUNICIPAL COMPLEX 5850 West Glendale Avenue 6:30 PM, Room B-3 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Michael Wood called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. Also in attendance: Brian Kanitsch, Jeff Reid, Keith Cyrnek, Bill Wilkinson, Charles Grosscup, and City staff— Steve Hancock Members absent: Ed Cure Guests: None II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the October 3, 2005 meeting were approved. III. CALL TO THE PUBLIC No guests addressed the Committee. IV. INTRODUCTIONS Members introduced themselves. V. CONTINUANCE OR WITHDRAWAL OF AGENDA ITEMS No agenda items required continuance or withdrawal VI. REPORTS FROM OTHER COMMITTEES AND ORGANIZATIONS Bill Wilkinson said that he was unable to attend the November CTOC meeting and had nothing to report. Jeff Reid said that Valley Metro had selected a tentative date for the Valley Bike Week ride to a Diamondbacks game. He said that the old Bike-to-BOB ride name would be changed to reflect the new ball park sponsor, Chase Bank. The ride name will be "Great Bike Chase." Jeff said that the tentative date is May 7th. Steve Hancock raised the issue of when to schedule the Glendale Family Bike Ride (GFBR) since it is tied to the date for the Great Bike Chase ride. Jeff said that Valley Metro has not yet decided the dates for Valley Bike Week. Brian Kanitsch asked if it would be possible to stage the GFBR at Murphy Park downtown instead of Saguaro Ranch Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes November 7,2005 —Page 2- Park. Steve said that he would be reluctant to make changes to the ride as long as the ride is proving to be successful. Steve did cite remarks he has gotten from citizens about the GFBR being on Sunday and clashing with attending church activities. He assumed that Sunday was chosen because of a conflict with other Valley Bike Week events on Saturdays. Bill Wilkinson confirmed that this was the case. VII. MCDOT BICYCLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM PLAN UPDATE Peggy Rubach introduced herself as the Bicycle/Pedestrian Planner for Maricopa County Department of Transportation(MCDOT). She explained that MCDOT was updating the County's bicycle plan for streets both existing and planned in unincorporated parts of the County. She said they wanted to ensure that their plans were compatible with plans in the various cities in the County. Peggy displayed a map depicting proposed bike "Networks" and arterial streets within the County. She noted that the County put bicycle lanes on most arterial streets and that Cities like Glendale had most of their bikeways on collector streets. She said the County wanted to make sure there was a way to transition from one to the other. She also highlighted the Maricopa County regional Trails System Plan and displayed a map of the proposed system. Peggy pointed out that Glendale had numerous existing and planned pathways that were urban connections to the County's outer loop trail system. Peggy said that a Technical Advisory Committee has been formed for oversight of the plan update and that the tasks necessary to complete the update had been identified. She displayed a list of the tasks. She then asked the Committee if they had any remarks regarding the County's bicycle system and the update of the system plan. Steve Hancock asked if the County planned to adopt ordinances requiring developer to build segments of the outer loop trail system if their developments were adjacent to the planned trails. Peggy said that was something they needed to consider, noting that there were precedents with the desert wash protections now on the books. Jeff Reid asked Peggy if the County had plans to improve the poor road conditions on the Sun Valley Parkway out by the White Tanks Mountains. Peggy said that eventually, as development moves that direction, improvements would be made. VIII. GLENDALE POLICE BICYCLE PATROL Sergeant Kevin Rother introduced himself and Officer Michael Henige. Kevin said that he was on the North Patrol group and Michael was on the South Patrol group. He told the Committee that both bike patrol groups were down in numbers and that the Central Patrol group had been eliminated altogether. Kevin asked Michael to give the Committee an overview of what the bicycle police do on a daily basis. Michael said that they operated in response to a variety of factors including identifying crime hot spots, responding to citizen requests, and doing police intelligence. He said most of their work was at the street level, working within neighborhoods. One strategy they use is saturation of their patrol areas, covering as much territory as possible to deter criminal activities and deal with transient/homeless issues. Michael also mentioned the "Weed and Seed"program for high crime neighborhoods. He said they would be very aggressive in dealing with criminal activities until criminal incidences have significantly decreased and then get involved in positive community activities like home renovations, etc. Michael said that the bike patrol officers relied on all their senses when patrolling. He said they often ride 20 to 30 miles per day. For daytime patrols, Michael said they focused mostly on schools and parks. For c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2005\1105m.doc 04/29/11 Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes November 7,2005 —Page 3- night patrols they focused mostly on apartment complexes. He said that stopping cyclists for traffic violations like riding against traffic often leads to other, more serious offenses and arrests. Michael concluded by saying that the bicycle patrol also do many"PR"things like bike rodeos and safety presentations at schools. Brain Kanitsch asked what had happened to the officers in the Central Bicycle Patrol. Kevin Rother said that the officers in the Central Patrol had been "absorbed" into regular patrol duties. Mike Wood said that his daughter's vehicle was stolen at Arrowhead Mall and that it was bike patrol officers who had arrived on scene and taken the report. Jeff Reid asked if there were many crimes committed by people riding bikes. Kevin said not many because they can't cart off the big-ticket items like TV's and stereos on a bicycle. Brian Kanitsch asked if the Thunderbird Paseo linear Park or the underpasses on the pathway were places where homeless people gathered. Kevin said that they did not see many homeless people on the Paseo, speculating that the number of pathway users probably made homeless people uncomfortable. Brian said that, on his rides to work, he noticed lots of homeless people living in Herberger Park in Phoenix (58th. St. and Indian School Rd.). He said that he had been approached and felt threatened while cycling by the park. Keith Cyrnek said that he thought the squads of bicycle patrol officers assigned to entertainment events were a great idea. Kevin said that bicycles were much more mobile at events where parking and congestion could limit access to motor vehicles. Michael Henige said that bike officers were very effective in crowd or riot control situations, using their bikes as shields and prodding devices. IX. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS The 2006 Glendale Family Bike Ride was suggested as a future item. X. OTHER BUSINESS None XI. NEXT MEETING Michael Wood said the next regular meeting of the Glendale Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee would be held on Monday, December 5, 2005, 6:30 p.m., Room B-3, at the Municipal Complex, 5850 West Glendale Avenue. XII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Committee, a motion to adjourn was made, seconded and unanimously approved. Michael Wood adjourned the meeting at 7:35 p.m. c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2005\1105m.doc 04/29/11