Minutes from the Feb. 13th, 2003 Meeting of The Mayor's Bicycle and
Pedestrian Task Force- West Windsor Township, NJ
Meeting Attendees: Roger Alig, Peter Bilton, Ken Carlson, Susan Conlon, Bruce Ellsworth, Myra Hochman, Daryl McMillan, Alison Miller, Ken Naglak, Mame Reynolds, Don Smart, Brian Vogel
This was the first combined meeting of the Mayor's Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force and the FOWWOS Recreational Trails Committee.
Mayor's Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force
- Sidewalk Scoping- The group discussed how to proceed with the sidewalk inventory. It was decided that the initial approach would be to perform an inventory of sidewalks around the main destination areas in town (schools, parks, and shopping). A list of these destination areas was created and task force members volunteered for specific areas. We will ask Jim Parvese to print out maps for the task force members that will be distributed at the March meeting, and the inventory will be completed for the April meeting.
- 2nd Annual Mayor's Bike Tour of WW- The group discussed this year's Mayor's Bike Tour. The date will be held like last year, on Arbor Day, which is April 26th this year. It was agreed that like last year, there should be two rides, one for children and one for adults. Brian Vogel volunteered to come up with a proposed route.
- Rouse Presentation- The mayor has invited all members of the township volunteer committees to attend a Feb. 25th presentation by the Rouse Company on the Wyeth Development (7:30 PM at the Municipal Center). We need to RSVP as a group to the mayor by Feb. 21st.
- Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program- Ken C brought the group up to speed on the NJDOT's Bicycle/Planning Assistance Program. This Program provides municipalities with a paid, private bike/ped consultant to help in mobility planning. Ken contacted Sheree Davis of the Bike/Ped office and asked about the application process. All that is required is a resolution from the town in support of the application and a letter describing what we are looking for- it is not a very competitive program and approval is straightforward. Sheree put us on the list and said that a consultant should be available for us in about six months. Daryl volunteered to draft the resolution and Bruce volunteered to write the proposal letter. Ken C told the group that Sam Surtees recommended that the assistance be focused on the new development occurring between Route 1 and the train tracks. The task force felt that this should be part of what we ask for but that bike/ped planning in the rest of the town should also be included. This is of course dependent on how much time we will have with the consultant.
- Penn's Neck EIS- Susan Conlon recommended that we bring Jon Carnegie in to talk to the group about bicycle/pedestrian mobility issues wrt to the Millstone Bypass
Recreational Trails Committee
- Ken spoke of the Wide Open Spaces Concert held on Feb. 8th. This concert was held to raise money for FOWWOS. During the concert, the mayor, Mike Schuit, and Ken spoke on various open space topics such as the role and accomplishments of FOWWOS and Recreational Trail development. The mayor specifically mentioned the excellent work done by the Bike/Ped Task Force. Ken made up new RTBC fact sheets for distribution at the concert. Mame Reynolds picked up a flyer at the concert, learned of the committees efforts, and came to our Task Force meeting tonite.
- It was suggested that we come up with an alternate name for the Dinky Trail to dissociate it from the Dinky Rail line.
Action Items
- Propose a route for the 2nd Annual Mayor's Bike Tour- Brian
- Invite Jon Carnegie to speak to the Task Force about the Penns Neck EIS and bike/ped issues- Susan and The Kens
- Obtain maps from Jim Parvese for sidewalk inventory- Myra
- Find out more details about the Bicycle/Planning Assistance Program- Ken C
- Draft a resolution for town council in support of our application for Local Planning Assistance program- Daryl
- Draft a the proposal letter for the Local Planning Assistance Program- Bruce
Upcoming Events
- Feb. 25th- Presentation on Wyeth Development to township's volunteer committees by the Rouse Company (7:30 PM at the Municipal Center)
- April 26th- 2nd Annual Mayor's Bike Tour of WW
Future Bike/Ped Meeting Dates:
- March 13th
- April 10th
- May 8th
- June 12th
- July 10th
- August 14th
- September 11th
- October 9th
- November 13th
- December 11th
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