Burlington Walk-Bike Council

AGENDA - Burlington Walk / Bike Council December 7, 2022, Wednesday 6:00 – 7:00 pm MEETING OPTIONS: 1. In-person - DPW conference room at 645 Pine Street, Burlington 2. Virtually - using Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88225473951?pwd=YzFFQ1Q3Y3J4bzcwR2VNYWRFWnhtUT09 Passcode: 091788 (See other remote access options below) AGENDA: 1. Introductions, Announcements, Updates and Public Comments (15 min) 2. BWBC formalization (45 min) We will discuss the idea of formalizing the Burlington Walk-Bike Council to make it more official - what form that might take, advantages and disadvantages of the concept, and what next steps should be. We’ll start with a review of some of the proposals that have been made previously. Previous Meeting – At the meeting on November 2 we got brief updates from DPW on the Railyard Enterpise Project and on the proposed Plattsburg Ave bike lane (which has since been approved). We then discussed the BWBC workplan for 2023, with the main takeaways being to focus more on identifying and prioritizing new projects and investigating formalization of the BWBC. Next Month: BWBC Meets Wednesday, January 4, 2022, 6:00 – 7:00 pm The BWBC is an all-volunteer advisory council to the City of Burlington. We work closely with and advise the Department of Public Works and the Department of Parks, Recreation, & Waterfront on infrastructure improvements and policy changes for walking and bicycling. The council also leads advocacy efforts and organizes events and activities that promote and celebrate walking and biking in Burlington and beyond. See www.burlingtonwalkbike.org (under construction) and BWBC Minutes and Agendas . BWBC Community Liaisons Erik Brown Brotz*, Ward 5, erik@burlingtontelecom.net, Chair Greg Hostetler, Ward 2 Faith Ingulsrud*, Ward 6 Peter Keating, Ward 6 Karen Sentoff, Ward 4 Jason Stuffle*, Ward 1 Kerry Swift, Ward 4 Allegra Williams, Ward 3 * = BWBC Coordinating Committee Remote access options for non-ZOOM participation: Phone one-tap : US: +13017158592,,88225473951#,,,,,,0#,,091788# or 13126266799,,88225473951#,,,,,,0#,,091788#. Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 6833 Webinar ID: 882 2547 3951 Passcode: 091788. International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdoOfuotqF  Burlington Walk-Bike Council Meeting Notes December 7, 2022, 6-7 pm The monthly meeting took place 6:00- 7:15 pm via Zoom and at DPW Office AGENDA: 1. Introductions, Announcements, Updates and Public Comments (15 min) 2. BWBC formalization (45 min) We will discuss the idea of formalizing the Burlington Walk-Bike Council to make it more official - what form that might take, advantages and disadvantages of the concept, and what next steps should be. We’ll start with a review of some of the proposals that have been made previously. Attendees: In person: Erik Brotz (chair), Daisy May, Jak Tiano, Taylor Adams, Ryan Thornton, Julia Ursaki (DPW) Virtual: Jonathan Weber (Local Motion), Karent Sentoff (Ward 4), Jason Stuffle (Ward 1), Bonnilee Hooper, Grey Johnson Notes: 1. Public Comments/Announcements a. Karen - commissions/council update i. Pearl/Prospect/Colchester Ave realignment in PWC and TEUC we’ll want to keep track of: VTRANS will be funding design and construction, starting in FY24?, Karen noted maybe a recent pedestrian crash there recently? ii. In TEUC - link to Pedestrian Crosswalk Device Agreement - available to neighborhoods - not new (included in TEUC agenda by mistake) - identifies process for a neighborhood to get a barrel to put in crosswalks - requires a volunteer to bring it in and put it out as specified in the agreement iii. Shelburne St. Roundabout evaluation metrics at the TEUC - will be opportunity to provide feedback on walking/biking infrastructure - at 6 month mark - April 2023 b. Re Pedestrian Crosswalk Agreement: We can promote to neighborhoods. Details on regulations on when the sign needs to be removed - winter?, at night? Those are conditions when most needed. Could the removal be lined up with parking bans instead of by season? Provide feedback and determine if guidelines can be clarified or changed. Erik asked Julia who is the owner. - Phil Peterson at DPW c. Ryan - Screening of “The Street Project” 12/8 7pm at Old Spokes Home 2. BWBC formalization a. Jonathan introduction and history - add timeline/documents here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dmw_28uyb7RUOFLjI1Q-ZGX7qzcs2lb5U DN12dcJfXc/ b. Erik noted that the 2012/13 proposal for city council to appoint BWBC members was dropped, no follow up happened. Erik himself not enthusiastic about idea because less of an advocate role if formalize, not interested in following Roberts rules of order c. Julia - liaison structure? Erik: started in 2019 as a way to reinvigorate the walk/bike council, 1 or 2 reps from each ward was the idea to represent the interests of that ward for walk/bike concerns/issues. Formed coordinating committee (Jason, Erik, Jonathan, Faith), large meeting at Library fall of 2019. In practice has not been totally successful. Need to clarify liaison roles. d. Jason - Geographic for local contacts concerns vs by “task/idea” someone is passionate about e. Not process heavy at this point, still pretty informal f. Jason - get actual input to DPW meeting, like youth commission members, Erik - how do we determine that person and how do they represent everyone g. Jonathan - without formalization, don’t have to conform to open meeting law when quorum of members meeting outside of formal meetings, can get work done when not in a formal meeting, would have been more challenging following open meeting law to do recent assessment of progress on walk-bike plan. On other hand, want to have more more authority and more impact - what is the role for BWBC that would make formalization worth while. h. Proposals for formalization still mostly advisory i. Jason - as BWBC rep was member of CCRPC/City advisory committee for Colchester Ave with actual vote on outcome j. Karen - important role to be involved in those scoping projects - Battery Street Scoping upcoming - formalization would mean we get representation on those committees easier/be more recognized k. Julia - DPW and CCRPC already have BWBC on the radar for involvement in projects and scoping studies. Erik - there were BWBC reps on advisory committees for Queen CIty Park road, Winooski Ave, Colchester Ave l. Jak - want agility but also legitimacy. Use the right tool to break through institutional barriers - how to shift momentum, so city has more decisive and swift action. Need to provide key input at the right stages of the right project to influence, take advantage of opportunities, get more people into process m. Karen - larger scale projects, main routes, best to be involved as advisory member at scoping project - that’s where decisions are made. Later design stage is about details. Col/Pearl/Prospect advisory was a number of years ago and mostly determined, limited public input at this point. For other projects, ID priority projects for coming year. Those work well with neighborhood-based liaison structure n. Erik - for Queen City Park road - Peter was not from neighborhood but volunteered so representation doesn’t have to be geographic based. o. Jason - how to get more walk representation - often a small percentage of meetings/members main goals p. Jonathan asked Julia about what she would like to see - Julia - you are pretty involved already, DPW takes input seriously but most decisions are fairly public, not many decisions just happen. For the letters about Plattsburgh Ave and Railyard enterprise - was not a clear process to take a formal position - unclear who was represented by letter beyond Local Motion and BWBC chair who signed. q. Jonathan - timeline to respond to a project, hard to write a letter in a meeting, approve it and send out r. Jak - there’s always an assumed default in each situation - some changes are hard to make so default to easier. Need more people involved to have more impact of BWBC, more grassroots involvement. Make it difficult to deny harder projects s. Ryan- Austin removing parking minimums city wide, started from the the Austin walk council letter, what are other things we can be more proactive about t. Julia - looking at ordinances to revise could occur in the spring - Erik - bringing ordinances up to date may have more long-term impact than commenting on individual projects u. Erik success story - BWBC pushed forward law that bikes can cross with crosswalk signals in 2021 - not formalization but persistence and persuading v. Jonathan likes idea of pursuing walk/bike policy - a way to make impact - Julia - no one at DPW is actively thinking about that. Erik - maybe we can get new planners to think about it w. Karen - new and different biking infrastructure that we haven’t seen in the city before - 2 way cycle track, separated bikes lanes, etc - need to make sure ordinances account for that x. Jason - roundabout example, how do we get the BWBC to have more impact on getting more roundabouts across the city y. Erik - next steps? Instead of formalization focus on what are we trying to accomplish and how do we maximize our impact (instead of having to comment at every single project), no formal followup on formalization but put more emphasis on policy, input on main projects, identifying and prioritizing new projects. As we go, consider what about our structure can we change to make this better, consider how to have max impact on policy z. Erik - go to 1.5 hour meeting for January meeting - no objections - 5:30pm - 7pm proposed, assume 6pm-7:30pm for now