Meeting Summary, January 11, 2017

Attending:  Waldburger, Palmer, Gosselin, Hultgren, Yakovleff, van Zelm

The meeting was begun at 6:30 pm in the Nash Zimmer Transportation Center.  The meeting summary for the December 14. 2016 meeting was reviewed and approved by consensus.

Hultgren reported that the 501(3)c tax exemption had been received from the IRS and that Bike Mansfield was also now registered with the CT Dept of Revenue Services, as required by the state.  He said he had edited the email to go out to the mailing list to reflect this, and as soon as the website is set up to receive memberships (via PayPal), the membership program can begin.  Palmer is working on adding this feature to the website.

Hultgren also said he had begun to fill out the Bicycle Friendly Community Application to the League of American Bicyclists for re-submission this year, but that the form had changed considerably since the earlier Town submission and it would take a lot of effort to get it appropriately filled out with much more detail required.  He said he would definitely need help in completing some of the sections in the application.  He also said that having the Town’s bicycle/pedestrian plan written and adopted would be needed for this application and he was now going to concentrate on assembling a draft of this plan prior to the March 8th workshop (help with this effort may be needed as well).

For the March 8th workshop, in addition to the updates on the master plan and the BFC application, Hultgren said he needed to put together a power point presentation that included screen shots of the GPS bicycle apps for Manizza to speak from.  He asked for information on how to obtain screen shots of a phone app, and received some help from Waldburger and others at the meeting.

Waldburger presented a concept for a Spring workshop on bicycle commuting, which will be submitted to the Town’s Recreation Department for inclusion in the spring program brochure.  (The workshop is now confirmed for May 11th at 7PM in the Community Room of the Community Center —  see below for the workshop details).

The two surveys that are going to be sent to the email list were briefly discussed (one on a possible swap meet, the other with general questions about our organization/expectations).  Hultgren suggested that these be held until the membership program was well underway, so as not to overwhelm people on the list.

Waldburger noted that the Thread City Cyclers Board of Directors was considering a contribution to Bike Mansfield, and the TCC annual meeting and elections were coming up on January 28th.  Yakovleff reported that he had been working with the NECOG planner to make a more detailed map of the Hollow to Hollow bike route proposal and he had 4 rides scheduled for his scout troop this year.  He continues to speak with regional and state officials about the H to H project.

Hultgren said that there was a possibility that any events between March 20th and June 21st could be publicized through the Last Green Valley’s “Spring Outdoors” initiative, courtesy of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership. He will send the May 11th workshop/ride information to Paterson at the MDP.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm.  The next meeting is scheduled for February 8, 2017 (2nd Wed).

Lon Hultgren, Secretary-Treasurer, info@bikemansfield.com

 

Commuting by Bike and Safe Riding in Traffic 

Presenter: Dave Waldburger, Certified League of American Bicyclists Instructor, assisted by other local LCI’s and other experienced cyclists will talk about commuting by bike for work and daily errands. This workshop will describe ways to use your bike for commuting to work, shopping, and other daily tasks.  It will also focus on safely riding it traffic, proper lane positioning, when to “Take the Lane”, and other important skills taught by the League of American Bicyclists. Time for questions/discussion will follow the presentation.

May is Bike Month and we will have a no-drop ride from the Mansfield Community  Center prior to the presentation.  Everyone is welcome on the ride starting at 5:00 PM from the MCC, but all riders must sign a waiver.  We will ride at an easy pace for about 15-20 miles so we can get back in time for the presentation at 7:00 PM.

Presenter:       Dave Waldburger                           Time:                7:00-8:30 pm

Date:               Thurs., May 11                             Fee:                  $5 for residents; $15 for non-residents

Location:        CC Community Room                      Activity #:         410080-A

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