Attending: Rob Wazny, Daryl Bender, Sarah Veale, Steve Begley, Bob Brown, Brian Applebee, Thom Oommen, Brad Tyleman, Greg Ellis
Regrets: Matt Thompson, Udo Ehrenberg, Tarquin Adams, Al Horzelenberg
1) Brian announced that he is leaving the city and will no longer be working as of mid-August. The Cycling Committee wishes him well in his new job. His place with be taken in the interim by Hart Solomon or Ed Swatinky until a replacement is found.
2) Review of Previous Minutes
World Cycling Championship
· Hamilton Public Library special collections does have a physical folder maintained at Central. While they are not accepting any new materials they would take any digital materials for their records.
· ACTION: Thom to steal webpage to give to HPL/talk with Sarah about contacting the current webmaster about getting it hosted on cyclehamilton.ca
Letter Regarding Bike Lanes on
· Daryl drafted letter and presented it to committee
·
ACTION:
Daryl will send to interested parties
Bikes at City Waste Depots
· Bob Brown reported that Waste Management will still not allow bikes into Waste Management locations to drop off waste but now staff will take your waste from the gate and deposit it for you (presumably by car which is ridiculous)
· ACTION: Bob to test this system
Cycling Committee At Events with Public Works Trailer
· ACTION: Thom is still talking with Phil Homerski about this one
Brian’s Items
·
Sent
· Work order submitted for clearing overgrowth from sign
3) Multi-use Pathway on
· ACTION: Greg to write letter back to Minister Fortier, Public Works Canada etc with our concerns
3)
· Daryl announced details of the bicycle park tour which is happening Saturday September 23. They are looking for experienced cyclists to join them for the ride to support less confident cyclists. If you’re interested in volunteering contact Daryl who will give details.
4) Bike Racks on Busses and Daryl’s Presentation to COW
· Daryl presented to Committee of the Whole in Council. Raised the importance of getting bike racks on busses with council which is now going to the Gas Tax Transit task force for consideration. Daryl suggested that this task force already has limited funds and might scrap these racks in favour of other improvements. Daryl suggested the Committee could draw from its budget to fund racks as an alternative. Some members expressed concern about paying for a transit improvement.
· ACTION: This issue will be discussed again following the September gas task meeting.
· Also at the COW, there was an interesting discussion of the cycling budget for the city. Daryl raised the issue of cycling receiving 1% of the roads budget. There was some confusion on the part of city staff present about our budget and they even said that they might owe us money due to inflation.
·
Thom suggested that if we were to receive 1% of
the roads budget ($540,000), with Brian leaving we might be able to secure a
full time staff person for cycling in
· ACTION: Daryl to prepare funding history of the committee related to roads budget to clarify these issues.
5) Recycle Cycles for Low-Income Kids
· Steve Begley is looking to secure some “recycled” bikes for low-income students. Committee advised him to contact Recycle Cycles and Mac Cycle
· ACTION: Greg will work with Steve to get him some bikes from Halton Re-Bike
6) Bike
Rental at
·
In other cities with great cycling assets, bike
rentals are common but not in
· ACTION: Steve to write letter to Hamilton Tourism about bike rentals and speak with Werner Plesel.
7) Facilities Updates
·
· CP: Councilor McHattie to meet with transportation consultants and Hart Solomon to decide costs in two weeks. Lots of issues around pollution and liabilities.
·
8) Minutes on Website
· ACTION: Brian to send link to official approved minutes to Sarah.
9) Website
· ACTION: Sarah to find someone to get increased access to website, develop new emails and get access to stats. Brian will assist.
· ACTION: Thom to send information to Sarah about how to set up an auto-email pop up with a set subject to make life easier for Daryl.
· ACTION: All members to send cycling events to Sarah (Matt this means you!)
10) CanBike
· Still no movement on this issue. Daryl suggested that cycling courses could be held at McMaster because in the past when this happened, participants were insured by the university’s insurance. Essentially insurance covering an event might cover on road travel afterwards.
11) Status of Red Hill Bike QEW Overpass
·
Brian says still a go but they are choosing
between a cheap no frills option and a solid gold, super opulent “Welcome to
12) Regular presentations to Council
· Thom and Daryl reported that councilors appreciated hearing from the Cycling Committee at Wednesday’s COW; they clearly never read the minutes of our meetings. They suggested that the HCC needs to make regular presentations to raise the profile of the HCC and cycling with councilors.
· ACTION: HCC will present to COW or full council twice a year. Once during budget time (January) and once in September to report on successes and improvements. Different members will be asked to speak depending on availability. Would be good to tie in with relevant topics such as climate change and air pollution.
13) Bike to Work Week
· Thom had planned to conduct a new Bike to Work Day in September but is feeling a bit overwhelmed. After encouragement from the HCC:
· ACTION: Thom to contact ACT, City, Dofasco, HHSC to gauge interest in having major employers take a lead and organize their own rides.
14) Media Event for Bike Racks on Busses
· Thom mentioned that he’s probably going to work with TLC to do a media event (i.e. bike up the Jolley Cut) to draw attention to the need to have bike racks on busses and push a bit.
· ACTION: Daryl volunteered to represent the HCC at the event and speak with the media. Thom to invite other committee members when date is set.
15) Biking on the Sidewalk
· ACTION: Deferred to next meeting
16) Car Free Week Events
· Rob is organizing a ride during CFW and wants to see if the HCC is interested in joining and supporting.
· ACTION: Rob to send an email to committee members