Minutes of August 2, 2012 San Mateo County Committee meeting

Note: These minutes are DRAFT until approved at the following meeting.

Minutes of SVBC-San Mateo County Committee Meeting, 2 August 2012

Meeting was held at Sabor Colibri in Redwood City

Chairperson: Margaret Pye
Participants: Mike Harding, Adina Levin, Andrew Boone, Bob Cronin, Steve Schmidt, Al Meckler, Clarissa Dusciuc
No Staff available

Guests: Kathy Schrenk, Atherton, Menlo Park Schools; Norna Ross, Redwood Shores; Sabrina Brennan, Moss Beach; Pete Rasmussen, Mtn View, Greenbelt Alliance
Secretary: Mike Harding

Meeting began at 6:30 PM

1) Introductions were made.
2) Mike Harding will take minutes.
3) Minutes of the July meeting were approved.
4) There was no Staff report, with members out of town.

Agenda Items:
5) MTC requirement for city BACs: Anticipating the 2013 selection of bicycle projects for TDA Art.3 and Measure A funding, what can be done about the ignored requirement that cities must have a Bicycle Advisory Committee in order to be eligible? Steve Schmidt, C/CAG BPAC member, will put discussion of this requirement on the Aug 23rd C/CAG BPAC meeting agenda. Action Item: He needs to know which cities do not have a BAC.
Clarissa Dusciuc will inquire about Belmont.
Andrew Boone will take E. Palo Alto.
We will ask John Langbein to determine Redwood City’s status.
Kathy Schrenk will take Atherton.
North County cities need inquiries: Brisbane, San Bruno, Millbrae, Hillsdale, San Mateo.
Sabrina Brennan asked who to contact at MTC for the policy. Colin Heyne would know. We should ask Colin to send an SVBC letter to MTC clarifying the policy.
Unincorporated areas are a problem. They have neighborhood councils of varying authority, and are generally excluded from funding unless the County proposes one. The status of the County itself is indeterminate, with the only advisory group the BPAC itself, which provides no input.
An SVBC campaign for real BPACs, as well as an MTC requirement was requested by Sabrina.

6) Membership in SVBC: Mike Harding asked for ideas on getting new SVBC members. Adina Levin suggested drawing local groups, including BPACs, into SVBC. In the days of our ancestor SCVBC, local groups and reporters provided publicity about their city problems and solutions, giving new members a closer link to the organization. It was pointed out that Corinne would have to be convinced, as there is insufficient staff to “control” more groups.

7) Meeting on Santa Cruz Av, Menlo Park with Supervisor Don Horsley: Steve Schmidt has arranged a site meeting 8:30 AM, Aug. 6th at this stretch of road near San Hill Rd that is hazardous to bikes, due to insufficient width for a bike lane. Diana Shu, of County Public Works and Margaret Pye will also attend. An earlier report by John Ciccarelli also addresses possible solutions. A lane diet with bike lanes is recommended, plus lane striping at the Y-intersection with Alameda de las Pulgas, which is particularly dangerous.

8) El Camino Real & Selby Ln, Atherton. Margaret asked for suggestions on how to make crossing ECR safer at this T-intersection, which has a ped crosswalk, but no provision for bikes.

9) Menlo-Atherton Bike Coalition: Kathy Schrenk is a member of an informal group concerned with bike access and safety through these towns. It is currently connected by a Yahoo Group. She wonders if it could function as a BPAC.

10) Samtrans bus bike capacity: Margaret asks why Samtrans buses only have racks for two bikes, while other transit agencies provide room for three. The answer she has received is that another bike would exceed the overall length permitted, a suspect reason. Another problem is securing funding for an upgrade. There is more to come, as questions are asked.

11) Stanford bike maps, Andrew Boone: Stanford will print more of its popular bike maps that cover an area including Menlo Park and Palo Alto. For a while, it was only available online, but not printable.

12) Meetings to note; Adina Levin: Santa Clara Co. Bd of Supv. will meet Aug 7th to set a timeline for deciding how to spend the $10.5M from Stanford for recreation as a condition of its General Use Plan for campus expansion. -- South SF meeting on its new Downtown Plan is Sept. 7th.

13) Belmont, Ralston Av.; Clarissa Dusciuc: Ralston Av is a good connector, extending from near Portola Valley to Hwy 101, the most important part east of Alameda. How can the road be improved for bikes? She would like suggestions, looking forward to the 2013 TDA funding.

14) BPAC formation, Sabrina: She would like to have a separate meeting on forming new BPACs. Also, there are group rides on the Coast for mountain bikes that meet at Hwy 92 in Half Moon Bay or in Pacifica.

15) Grand Boulevard Initiative, Pete Rasmussen: He is collecting information on problem areas on El Camino Real. Currently, GBI is targeting Daly City. His email address is: prasmussen.intern@greenbelt.org

16) San Carlos, Margaret: There is a Bike Safety meeting at San Carlos Library on Sept. 15th.

Chair for September meeting is Mike Harding. A minute-taker is needed.