SaltLakeCounty Bicycle Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes from January 7, 2015

Attending: AJ Martine, S. Malone, D. Ward, J. Staley, B. Byrne, K. Sturgeon,

B. Wheeler, P. Mair, R. Topham, I. Scharine, M. Kaller (alt), T. Jackson (alt),

M. Gregory (alt)

Absent: J. Herbert (illness), Bud T. (work conflict), K. Jones, A. Searle

5:30pm- Meeting begins with introductions and AJ Martine presiding as chair for J. Herbert who was ill.

East-West Trails Study: Lisa Benson representing Landmark Design who is contracted by SLCo to conduct the initial survey of the county to determine the best routes for corridors held a presentation. Using a slideshow, she walked through the steps and criteria that contributed designating five corridors of viable east-west travel along the Wasatch Front. Determining criteria included the location of parks, existing bicycle paths, bus routes and pedestrian routes. Additional considerations for infrastructure purposes will include cost per mile implementation, connection or extension of existing trails, access to bicycle/pedestrian resources, public transit routes and acquisition of public owned vs. privately owned lands. AJ Martine asked that the committee be kept on a referral list for the study as well as requested that I. Scharine place the link for the study on the SLCBAC website in the near future.

5:50- Big Cottonwood Canyon Trails Project: Barbara Cameron introduced her group, the Big Cottonwood Community Council, and described their request from the county to conduct a study in BCC in order to assess methods of handling the rising amount of vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic in the canyon. She also requested a volunteer from SLCBAC who would be willing to attend their community council meetings and act as a liaison between the two organizations. AJ Martine and B. Byrne both volunteered to help by attending BCC meetings and informing SLCBAC on developments and news.

5:56- Public comment: Phil Sarnoff announced the Utah Bike Summit on April 10, 2015 which will be held at the Provo City Library at Academy Square. The keynote speaker for the summit will be Gary Fisher.

John Knoblock announced the Mountain Valley Accord Group’s intentions to draft and submit a master plan for off road trail system improvements. The long term plan is to develop a network of trails that will interconnect the canyons and receive long term maintenance as well as signage.

6:01- Goathead/Puncturevine Presentation: Sage Fitch, program director, outlined the County’s Noxious Weed Control program. It is an indirectly funded division of the county which receives the majority of its money through grants. They cooperate with multiple other county and local agencies to deal with weed management and outreach. Currently the county’s list of noxious weeds includes 30 different species, puncturevine is one of them. Fitch hopes to maintain relations with SLCBAC for possible collaboration and strategies in the future to control this invasive species.

Business Meeting

6:16- Minutes approval: B. Wheeler moved to approve December’s minutes, J. Staley seconded the motion. Minutes approved unanimously by the nine members in attendance.

Website update: new member listings and retired members were discussed along with the need to add the links for the East-West Trails Project as well as possibly the Big Cottonwood Coalition. The results of the Emigration Canyon Study will also either be linked or posted on the website.

Budget planning 2015: D. Ward discussed the budget for the upcoming year and the initiative to begin laying out expenses. One of the first allocations is expected to be providing funding for the Utah Bike Summit through Bike Utah. This will be reviewed by the Ex. Comm and presented at the next meeting.

EmigrationCanyon update: B. Byrne reported that the assessment group hired to conduct research into the canyon has begun their process and that the committee has been assured that they will be referred to for opinions and advice.

6:25- Membership announcements: AJ confirmed the Bud T., M. Kaller and M. Gregory have been confirmed by the Mayor’s office as members/alternates to the committee. With the departure of two full members, it is expected that M. Kaller will assume the full-time vacancy left by T. Jackson who will be switched to an alternate. This has not been confirmed by SLCo yet.

6:28- Parley’s Trail update: W. Gilmore confirmed that work will begin on a mixed-use crossing near RC Wiley and a route from Tanner Park will be established stretching to 17th East as well.

CountyGIS project: W. Sommerkorn said that Phoebe McNealy who is heading up the project requested that the maps she gave to SLCBAC a year ago be completed with information regarding remaining trails/bike paths that were undetermined in the survey. The committee had yet to complete this and it will be taken up at the next meeting if not before in order to get the information processed to enter into the overall survey.

6:34- Membership re-endorsement: P. Mair was asked if she intended to remain on the committee as she had been serving unofficially due to an oversight. She agreed to stay on the committee through the end of 2015. I. Scharine proposed the motion to approve her renewal, B. Wheeler seconded it and it was unanimously passed.

I. Scharine was asked to renew his term since it had expired and he agreed. B. Wheeler and R. Topham moved to approve reinstatement and it was passed unanimously.

A motion to approve T. Jackson’srequest to step down as a full committee member and instead serve as an alternate member was made by D. Ward and seconded by B. Wheeler, and was passed unanimously by the committee.

6:40- Strategic Plan and Brainstorming Session: AJ Martine discussed the results of the Brainstorming Session from December’s meeting and how the results might be further developed and integrated with the committee’s Strategic Plan. He emphasized his intentions to involve the community as much as possible not only for input but in development of the plan as well. It was decided that a subcommittee be formed to examine a future summit and plan to re-contact participants for follow-up sessions. Dave Iltis volunteered to assist in these efforts.

6:50- Final thoughts: Phil Sarnoff said that the Utah Bike Summit is still accepting proposals for breakout sessions and that it would close by the end of January.

Several committee members expressed concern that the East-West Survey was focusing primarily on recreational routes instead of general routes for Active Transportation. This might be addressed by inviting some of the Landmark Design Group back to a committee meeting for an advisory session.

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by D. Ward and S. Malone, meeting ended.