Wednesday December 7, 2005 Hamilton Cycling Committee Meeting

Attendance: Daryl Bender, Al Horzelenberg, Udo Ehrenberg, Bob Brown, Brian Applebee, Brad Tyleman, Michael Donaldson, Tarquin Adams, Thom Oommen, Chris Gainham, Rob Wazny (wazabike@sympatico.ca)

Regrets: Sarah Veale

Minutes taken by Thom Oommen

1. October meeting minutes approved: Bob Brown approved, Brad Tyleman seconded.

2. Update on November meeting: Poster Board sub-committee encouraged to meet soon, Daryl followed up about the website with Charlie.

a. Burlington lift bridge: Was reported that construction had begun on the Burlington side

Action: Daryl to follow up about details on the Hamilton side with MP Tony Valeri with cc to the local councillor.

b. Cycling routes brochure: Was noted that the contact info on the back cover needs to be rearranged in future printings. Should follow this descending order: name, phone, website.

Action: Daryl will get the digital copy to Sarah for inclusion on the new website.

c. TLC community meeting: Stonechurch bike path is incomplete. Brian reported that Wellington to Upper James link will be complete by 2006 and West Fifth to Garth by 2008. Other members raised the issue of trail maintenance and snow clearing which had been raised at the meeting; unsure who maintains these paths in winter. Al suggested that a representative from the Parks Department (and possibly Public Health) be invited to committee meetings.

Action: Bob Brown to send a note to the Parks Department regarding maintenance and surface issues especially on the Escarpment Trail.

3. Red Hill Creek trails diagram: Brian reported that, contrary to popular belief, there is no hardcopy diagram for the bike paths and that one is being developed for release in the spring. Bob Brown made a motion that HCC should have an active role in the planning of the trails now and not merely when the final is decided. Tarquin seconded this motion and it was passed unanimously.

Action: Bob Brown will contact Mike Marini and ensure that he or another representative comes to the January HCC meeting.

4. Financial Report:

a. Brian presented the numbers to the committee. Okay here goes . . .

2004: $924,500, spent $163,086 and had a commitment of $212,843

$548,570 balance at year end

2005: Received $300,000 from the city budget, spent $13,500 and $22,518 on the York Blvd cycling infrastructure. Ending the year with approximately $260,000 which is added to the $548,570 balance to give our total balance

Future plans: $60,000 for York Blvd and $400-500,000 for the waterfront trail and a yet undetermined amount for the potential CP Rail link

Al confirmed with Brian that the money was carrying over and that our not spending it immediately didn’t impact future funding. Daryl raised the issue that we’ve been stuck at $300,000 annual funding for many years now so should we be asking for more? Brad said that initially the cycling budget was set at 1% of the roads budget; over the years the roads budget has grown but ours hasn’t commensurately.

Action: This discussion was put off for the next meeting. In the meantime members will research other municipalities cycling staffing levels and budgets to see if Hamilton is keeping pace. Daryl will look at Kitchener-Waterloo, Tarquin the Niagara Region, Rob Ottawa and Chris other Canadian municipalities such as Vancouver and Calgary.

b. “Club” budget

Brian reported that our annual budget is ~$6,000. Our spending over the past year was 2 x ~$2,500 for Cycling Routes brochure, ~$1,000 for the Toronto Bike Show and the $300 donation to the Cycle Ontario Alliance in support of the Hamilton conference in October.

5. Brad reminded members about Public Information Centres (PICs) upcoming about York Blvd cycling upgrades:

Thursday December 8, 6-8pm, Sir John A. McDonald (York Blvd Bridge upgrade)

Monday December 12, 6-8pm, Coachouse Dundurn Castle (Valley Inn road bridge)

6. Al presented a Hamilton Spectator article regarding cycling on York Blvd printed over the weekend. He noted that the HCC was not mentioned at all even though we are arguably at the centre of cycling in Hamilton.

Action: Daryl to politely email the reporter in question about remembering us in future and will ask for a response. If we don’t hear anything back then we may consider writing to the editor.

7. Al raised the issue of getting new HCC members recognized by the city. Other members noted that HCC members are initiated with the new council after each election. It may be difficult to deviate from city policy.

Action: Brian will follow up with Clerks Department (Ida?) regarding this issue.

8. The Poster Board sub-committee was reminded that the Toronto Cycle Show is coming up soon and HCC needs to have a new display ready in time for this.

Action: Sub-committee will set a time and place to meet, hopefully before the holidays, and invite other members to attend by email.

9. Transportation Master Plan: members divided into two groups to create their wish list for cycling infrastructure.

Action: Based on ideas, Daryl will write up a proposal for the city.

Meeting adjourned at 7:00 by popular consent.

Next meeting: January 4, 2005

Hamilton City Hall

Room 264 at 5:00pm