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BPC 08-18-04 CUPEIQ1NO MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION August 18, 2004 The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Staff: Fu (arrived 7:25 p.m.), Greenstein, Koski, Paulsen, Walton None Glenn Goepfert, Assistant Director of Public Works ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Letter of Deborah Yvonne Hill Asst. Director Goepfert reviewed the letter in which Ms. Hill expressed concerned with traffic and the attitudes of drivers. He stated that the same letter was sent to the Public Safety Commission; Comm. Caldwell contacted her and visited one of the locations cited. The Commissioners agreed that given the limited funds available for engineering and enforcement, they would encourage Ms. Hill to join together with others involved in grass roots efforts or become involved in the capital improvement budget process. Comm. Koski will attempt to contact Ms. Hill and convey the Commission's suggestions. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - July 21 Meeting Minutes The minutes were unanimously approved as submitted. OLD BUSINESS 1. Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge and Mary Avenue Gateway Updates Asst. Director Goepfert stated that staff is still comfortable with the preliminary estimate of the cost of the bridge even though the cost of materials is rising. The present cost of the project is approximately $7 million. The project study report is complete and type selection will be complete within the next two months. Staff expects to take a status report to the Council during the month of September. Tentatively, the City is looking at holding an open house to show the neighbors how the project is being fulfilled. -1- He stated that one aspect of the project timeline that staff is trying to maintain is going out to bid for construction by the end of the fiscal year 2004-05 (June 2005). Staff would like to award the construction contract by this date and build the bridge during the next year, or 2005-06. Design is moving forward steadily and currently, the project is still in line with these dates. Comm. Walton stated that he believes it is important to inform the community of the status of the bridge. He believes that type selection will be an important factor to the residents of the neighborhood. Asst. Director Goepfert briefly described the types of bridges (cable stay bridge with two pylons, cable suspended, two-arch, etc.) and stated that he will bring pictures to the next meeting. It was suggested that the Fine Arts Commission may want to look at various types of bridges to assist in determining which type might be aesthetically compatible with the location. 2. Regnart Creek Trail Report to Council Chair Greenstein stated that this project is similar to the Mary Avenue Pedestrian Bridge in that anyone who lives along the path seemed opposed to it. As a result, the project seemed totally undoable. Once a feasibility study was done and everyone had a chance to voice their concerns, residents became more confident that there was a solution to those concerns. The difference in the two proj ects is that there are no funds for the Regnart Creek Trail. The next step for the trail is for the Commission to accept the report and make a presentation to the City Council. Essentially, the Commission is asking the Council to approve a feasibility study when funding is available. By consensus, the Commission approved the report with one change: the last two words of the third paragraph of the report were changed from "property loss" to "loss of value." Comm. Koski will make the presentation to City Council on September 7. 3. CUSD Walk/Bike Survey Chair Greenstein distributed a draft presentation of the walking school bus program that he had prepared. He stated that he had sent a summary and synopsis to the Cupertino Union School District for any PTA that may be interested. The presentation explains how the program works, how those interested may put it together, information regarding traffic around schools, the benefits of walking and biking, and the survey results. A suggestion was made to point out that a leader must be designated to make the program work. A copy of the presentation has been sent to the Public Safety Commission and the Senior Commission has been contacted. Chair Greenstein hopes to be placed on their future agendas to discuss their participation. It was stressed that this is only the first phase of the program and there is much more work to be done to make the program a success. 4. Street Smarts Status Asst. Director Goepfert informed the Commission that the advertising and public relations materials for this program should be arriving from the vendor, Liquid Agency, Inc., soon. A rally has been scheduled for the agencies that are involved in the program and he urged -2- Commission members to attend. Discussion followed regarding use of the logo and other types of materials that may be available to generate interest in the program. 5. BPC - PSC Monta Vista High traffic letter to schools follow up Asst. Director Goepfert stated this item was placed on the agenda because the Public Safety Commission wanted follow-up on the communication to the schools and PTA to discuss traffic problems around the schools. There were about six main recipients (principals and PTA members) that received the letter, but only the Lincoln School principal, Deborah Textor, replied. Her questions concerned the agenda and make-up of the task force group. The Public Safety Commission feels that enough time has passed, and it is time to renew the communication to give additional information to school officials and parent groups. They Commission expressed interest in having a Bicycle Pedestrian Commissioner assist them in pursing the contact. Chair Greenstein will contact Nolan Chen, Chair of the Public Safety Commission, to discuss the letter. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Walk/Bike to School Day - October 6 A paragraph will be added to the bike survey results article in the Cupertino Scene to make the public aware of the upcoming event. A reminder will also be sent to the school district's information officer to notice all of the schools. 2. STP Street Maintenance and Rehabilitation Grant 2005-2006 The Transportation Equity Act for the 21't century (TEA-21) is the process of being re- authorized. A part of this act, the Service Transportation Program (STP), will make money available to municipalities for street maintenance and rehabilitation. The City has been approved for the fiscal years 2005-06 and 2006-07 for a combined total of $331,000 in STP funds. VTA accepted a request that all of the funding be available for next fiscal year and has made that recommendation to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, administrator of the federal money. When TEA-21 is re-authorized, the City will have that money in 2005-06. It will be added to $750,000 that has already been earmarked for road rehabilitation, resurfacing, and maintenance. This work includes edges of the roadway, bike lanes, and the travel surface in general, all areas that are beneficial to bicyclists. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Comm. Walton requested an item be placed on the next agenda for a discussion on multi-use trail conflict. Comm. Koski will report on Street Smarts and present feedback on the Regnart Creek Trail presentation to City Council. The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m. ~~~ Carol Shepherd Administrative Asst. -3-