Meeting Summary, May 2, 2019
Attending: Pierce, Clark, Hultgren, Palmer, Taylor, O’Keefe
The meeting was begun at 6:35 pm in the Nash Zimmer Transportation Center. The meeting summary for the April 4, 2019 meeting was reviewed and approved by consensus.
Hultgren gave a brief Treasurer’s report indicating there was about $1070 in the checking account, which after paying for half the cost of the parking symbols for the Town Square will be about $550 (no changes since the last meeting).
Palmer and Clark reported on Bike Mansfield’s participation in UConn’s “Spring Fling” on April 16th. They obtained a page of email addresses for the contact email list and a few names of people interested in helping with the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) effort at UConn. Clark is following up on the BFU interest and Palmer will add the names to the email list (which now stands just over 150 addresses).
Hultgren said he is waiting for a “task list” from the MDP regarding help needed for the June 8th Tour de Mansfield. He said he would email it out to the list when he receives it. For the Bike Mansfield table at the event, he will set up the table and banner in the early morning and it will then be staffed (part-time) by Palmer, Clark and O’Keefe, and O’Keefe will break it down at the close of the event.
Aspects of the BFU effort headed by Clark were discussed. Hultgren circulated a draft letter to the new UConn President asking for his help in legitimizing the BFU effort. Suggestions were made to improve the draft, and he will circulate it to Palmer and Clark for further editing prior to it being sent. Since Clark has already met the new President, the tone of the letter will be changed to be slightly more personal. Clark reported that at the last working group meeting, the existing bicycle-related maps for UConn were reviewed and found to be outdated. She said that the Recreation Dept was planning to get some folks certified as LCI’s and she had been invited to present to the Transportation Advisory group on September 9th. She also said that the bicycle coordinator from the Colorado State University would be visiting this August and offering some perspectives on how to proceed.
Give-aways for the Bike Mansfield booth at the Sept 21st Festival on the Square were discussed. Hultgren relayed some information on logo-ed tire levers, bike lights, water bottles & pants clips he had pulled off the internet. He said he needed more info on the pants/cuff clips which Clark said she would provide from a previous purchasing in her Department. The consensus seemed to favor logo water bottles, as they would be used by more than just cyclists. It was suggested to check with the Steeple Chase sponsors and local bike shops as they may have recently procured these.
Hultgren said that he thought the next grant cycle for the Lions Club community grants was coming soon and he was still searching for a way to continue the grant that Bike Mansfield received last year for education relating to bicycle safety. It was suggested that a grant could be used for training PE teachers and paying for substitutes when they were absent from their teaching posts for this training. Pierce said that there might be a training program given by the CCAP that could be applicable as well.
Business membership renewals for 2019 were discussed, and O’Keefe said he could spend a couple of hours on weekday afternoons visiting business members. Hultgren said he would set up an email list of the members that generally attend the monthly Bike Mansfield meetings and send a listing of the business members and contact information to everyone on this list so that they could do a “reply all” to arrange for and report on these visits.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:35 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday June 6th, but is indirect conflict with the Mansfield Downtown Partnership annual meeting, so most likely our meeting will be rescheduled for later in June.
Lon Hultgren, Secretary Treasurer