Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) Approved August 16, 2016 Meeting Minutes Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: City Council Chambers, City of Urbana, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL Members Present: Brandon Bowersox-Johnson, Annie Adams, Susan Jones, Jeff Marino, Lily Wilcock and Barbara Stiehl (Craig Shonkwiler) Staff Present: William Gray, Kevin Garcia Members Absent: Cynthia Hoyle, Audrey Ishii, Elsie Hedgspeth, Michele Guerra Others Present: None 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Brandon Bowersox-Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Roll call was taken. It was noted this meeting was Brandon Bowersox-Johnson’s last meeting as Chair and Member. Roll call was taken and it was noted that a quorum of members was present. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Susan Jones moved to approve the agenda for the June 21, 2016 meeting. Lily Wilcock seconded the motion. The motion was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Annie Adams moved to approve the meeting minutes and brainstorming session from the April 19th meeting. Jeff Marino seconded the motion. The motion was approved. 4. PUBLIC INPUT William Gray, Director of Public Works with the City of Urbana, recognized Mr. Bowersox- Johnson for his commitment as Chairman of the Commission. He thanked Mr. Bowersox- Johnson for his service to the community and wished him well in his new home. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Urbana Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Bylaws Page | 1 Barbara Stiehl highlighted some of the revised sections of the draft bylaws that had been reviewed with the City’s legal division. Commissioners received copies of the bylaws as edited versions with track changes and as final draft versions. As a side note, Barb Stiehl stated that the bylaws could be amended at any time. The following items were highlighted: Article II Section I added more specific information regarding other duties. This addition was based on input at the last Commission meeting regarding what to include in the Annual Report and when it should be reported to City Council. Article II Section II was recommended by the City’s Legal Department to be moved to this section from Article IV to flow better with the content of the bylaws. In Article II Section II 2B, the language included in the draft came from the ordinance that created the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, since it was found that there was no section about conflict of interest in the bylaws and thus it was added. In Article II Section II 3B, the wording was changed to reflect that decisions were to be made by the Commission, as a whole, not by the Chair. Article IV Section I talked about General Procedures of the Commission meeting. It specifically addressed the suggestion of agenda items to be presented to the Chair and Traffic Engineer, so that they could prioritize and better manage the Commission’s meeting time. The Emergency Meetings section was removed from Article IV Section 3 based on the Legal Division’s suggestion that the Commission would have no need to hold emergency meetings. It was confirmed that the discussion about meeting notices in Article IV Section VI was already included in the Open Meetings Act and was not necessary for this section. The item in Article IV Section IX B was added to clarify that any member could vote on a topic discussed at a previous meeting regardless of whether or not that member was in attendance since the member had access to the minutes and recording of the meeting. As for Article IV Section IX C, Barb Stiehl asked for a consensus on either a 2/3rds or 3/4ths majority vote should be required to amend the bylaws. Susan Jones and Brandon Bowersox-Johnson offered their opinion that for the size of the commission, the 2/3rd majority vote should be required on any changes to the bylaws. Commission members unanimously voted in favor of the required 2/3rd majority vote to amend the bylaws. The next item discussed was Article IV Section IX E, which gave the Chair the option of requesting a roll call vote when the outcome of a voice vote was difficult to determine. Barb Stiehl explained that Article IV Section XIII dealt with the definition of conflict of interest. Ms. Stiehl explained that a conflict of interest would be a situation in which a person making a decision could benefit either personally and/or financially. In such cases, Page | 2 it was suggested that the Commission member recuse themselves from participating in the discussion where that might occur. Ms. Stiehl recommended removing Article V Section II, stating that the section made it difficult to amend the bylaws by requiring a five (5) day notice. Based on earlier discussions, if a Commission member felt that they hadn’t have enough time to review or make a decision on a topic, the topic could always be postponed and need not be acted upon at that meeting. Brandon Bowersox-Johnson asked the Commission if a vote should be taken on the bylaws or if they should wait until the next meeting for absent members. Lily Wilcock moved to approve the bylaws brought before the Commission. Before a vote was taken, Jeff Marino and Annie Adams asked for further clarification on the definition of what was considered personal benefit in relation to the conflict of interest language in the bylaws. Barb Stiehl stated that it was her understanding that personal interest was not a financial gain, but that one would receive a favor from someone i.e. political appointment. William Gray explained that an example of personal interest would involve a case where a commissioner requested a change that would solely benefit the commissioner, not the general public. He added that if a Commission member felt that they may have a conflict with an agenda item, they should contact city staff or the Legal Division for confirmation. In addition, a commission member would be free to recuse themselves from any discussion where they felt they might have a conflict. Brandon Bowersox-Johnson reiterated that each situation must be taken case by case and agreed that staff or the Legal Division should be contacted. Brandon Bowersox-Johnson reminded the Commission that a motion was on the floor to approve the bylaws by Lily Wilcock. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. 6. NEW BUSINESS a) 2016 People on Pavement (POP) Annie Adams presented an idea of an open street event called People on Pavement. She expressed her interest in getting downtown spaces active with people by having a back to school event for bike riders, pedestrians, skateboarders and all other users. Ms. Adams stated that she had discussed the open street event with Cynthia Hoyle prior to this meeting and mentioned that Ms. Hoyle was planning a similar event. Annie Adams suggested having the event at the Boneyard Creek on west Griggs Street between Race Street and Orchard Street. Another possible location she suggested was the Lincoln Square Mall parking lot due to the low volume of traffic. Page | 3 Lily Wilcock stated that the University wanted to be involved and several people had brought similar ideas to the University. William Gray agreed that it was a good idea to start on a small scale and grow. He gave insight on the planning involved in closing streets and obtaining a Special Event permit. He suggested working with the Operation staff, specifically John Collins, for coordination. However, William Gray recommended avoiding the weekend of the Sweet Corn Festival due to the congestion in that area during the event. In addition, William Gray suggested contacting the Urbana Business Association for future planning. Annie Adams also suggested a fast POP event could be held on a Sunday in Lincoln Square Mall with food trucks, yoga and other activities. William Gray stated it would be an ideal location, however, the Lincoln Square parking lot was leased from the City and the mall manager would have to agree with the event planning. Jeff Marino stated that there was a partnership with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to host a similar event which was initiated two years ago and reminded the Commission of the importance of advance planning. William Gray stated that there were two events coordinated among the City of Urbana, City of Champaign and the University of Illinois: the Illinois Marathon and the July 4th Parade. Jeff Marino discussed the issue of cost of staff, which could turn into an expensive event and would warrant the need for planning ahead to secure revenue sources. Lily Wilcock voiced concern about how closing streets might affect the University traffic. William Gray stated that the MCORE project on Green Street in Urbana would begin this fall with the expected completion of the first phase being December 2017 and then the next phase on Green Street between Busey Avenue and Race Street being completed in 2019. He mentioned there might be a window in 2018 to host the event. Kevin Garcia discussed his experience with a group led by the public health district that had planned a similar event. He stated that they had met for 8-9 months, but their event was derailed because he believed they were missing a dedicated overseer. Mr. Garcia stated that the process had been overwhelming and believed that it would be beneficial if the group started with a smaller event. He suggested contacting a graduate student who had been involved in planning a similar project in Los Angeles for consultation. Annie Adams asked for suggestions on what streets would be ideal for the event and if linking the event to another event like the marathon, which had an infrastructure in place would be doable. William Gray suggested contacting Mr. John Collins to preplan the event. Page | 4 Commissioners recommended other large events held in Urbana that might want to include the POP concept as part of their celebration. No further discussion occurred. b) Future Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Goal Brandon Bowersox-Johnson asked the Commissioners to brainstorm further on the topic of Public Engagement and holding public hearings to get public input. Commissioners suggested using social media and other methods of communication to increase public involvement in meetings and decision making. 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS • June 22 – Cunningham Avenue Sidewalk Ribbon Cutting (2 p.m.) • League of American Bicyclists certified Lily Wilcock and Kevin Garcia as League Cycling Instructors. 8. FUTURE TOPICS a) 2016 Urbana Bicycle Master Plan b) Bicycle Registration - University of Illinois Program c) Parking Bicycle Lanes d) Safe Routes to School (SRTS) 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m. *** Respectfully submitted, Leslie Cross Recording Secretary Page | 5