[BikeLongmont] March meeting minutes

[Nenad]

We had a very good meeting Wednesday, more people turned out than usual
to hear Ben Ortiz.

Ben showed us the rack similar to the ones that would be made available
under the proposed Adopt-a-Rack program. The rack is the standard-shaped
"inverted U" rack. Durable and powder-coated, it should last 10 years or
so, unless a car runs into it.

We talked about where the plaque recognizing the "adopter" would be
placed and settled on a crossmember about a third a way down. This does
not interfere with the locking of a bike and as an added benefit
prevents bikes to be attached to the rack by pushing a wheel through the
middle, as a lot of people do.

We talked a bit about he plaque and had a good agreement on the size
(not large) and durability (metal). In general the city would put the
racks out as they are being adopted. However, it may happen that it is
more cost-efficient to put some racks out and make them available for
adoption. Those would have plaques with bike-friendly educational
messages, which could be replaced as racks are adopted.

It would be possible to adopt a rack anonymously, where the plaque would
say something like "Provided by a friend of bicycling in Longmont."

The idea is that the sign would be valid for some 5 years or so - if the
rack or sign needed replacement or repair in this warranty period, the
city would do the work. The original sponsorship price would perhaps
include a small extra amount to be put into a trust fund to self-insure
against this cost. After that "warranty" period, the sponsorship would
expire when the rack needed to be replaced or repaired in a major way.
There was a notion that the adopter could renew the adoption at a lower
price in that case.

We also talked about some sort of annual small charge, mostly to weed
out business sponsors who no longer exist. Processing small payments
every year, however, would cost more than the payments brought in, so
this idea would have to be modified to be viable.

There would be an explicit statement or waiver releasing the adopter of
a rack from any legal liability. The racks would be owned by the city
which would be fully responsible for them.

For siting, Ben's suggestions were based on his experiences from the
time when he organized a similar program in L.A. There would probably be
a master list of desirable locations, but the adopter could propose a
location not on the list.

The racks would be located on the city right of way, but city would ask
for permission before siting a rack in front of any business. Ben's
thought was that any racks should be easily visible from, say, inside a
shop, so people could keep an eye on their bikes.

Prime locations for siting would be in front of city sites such as the
Justice Center or the museum, at the major retailers (grocery stores,
hardware stores, etc), also downtown, at strategic locations on our
expanding network of greenways and the list goes on and on - no shortage
of good locations!

The sense is that adopting a single rack would cost in the $100-$200
range. Current plan is for the city to buy racks as they become adopted.
However, this may be revisited if it turns out a significant volume
discount can be obtained.

The racks are all identical by default. Lauren had an idea that it would
be good to turn at least some of them into a public functional art
display. For an extra charge, an artist could decorate a rack, or school
children could be involved - she will investigate the possibilities. One
thing is that the decoration is best done before installing the rack,
since the finish is usually baked for durability - it has to last ten
years, after all! The racks are installed generally by bolting them into
concrete using theft-proof bolts and are thus not easily removed once in
place.

Ben thinks it will take most of this year to get everything set up, so
the program could start early in 2005.

If you have any questions or suggestions about the program, contact Ben
at ben.ortiz at ci.longmont.co.us. You might share your thoughts with the
group as well by posting to the mailing list (just send mail to
bike at bicyclelongmont.org).

In other news, the ground has been broken for a ped/bike bridge over
St.Vrain next to the Pratt Parkway bridge. It will offer a better route
than the current metal slippery jarring "sidewalk" on the big bridge.
This is in addition to the Price Street bridge that is close to being
finished (see Richard Masoner's report from a few days ago).

>From the new bridge, a path will go east along the south side of the
river, pass under the Main and eventually connect to the greenway going
east.

Buzz told us that the Bicycle Longmont T-shirts might be available by
the next meeting - the three bike shops in town pooled resources and are
having them made. Thanks, guys! Buzz will let us know when they are
available - I urge you all to go to your friendly local bike shop and
buy one. Or a few, they won't be expensive.

If you get a group T-shirt, send me a picture of you (or someone you
like) wearing it, and we'll post the gallery on the website. That would
also give us a chance to put faces to all the folks who we know only
through email.

Finally, the new bike map is being drafted, which may take a while
longer due to the workload of the City draft department.

See you in April, and in the meantime happy riding!

Regards,

Nenad
...your friendly Bicycle Longmont coordinator...