For full notes about last Wednesday's WSMAC meeting, go to
http://westbrooksafemobility.org/ and follow the line in the "Working
Documents" section at the bottom for Monthly Meeting Notes
<https://drive.google.com/open?id=13RvnvIzz7vkuTblwf0yA-8cq-VyJeYT6Og-CrfRMvSk>
.
One topic we need to get right on is submitting a Letter of Interest to BCM
for a small grant that we are eligible for due to our having hosted their
big Bike Maine ride for one night a few years ago. Dennis agreed to do
this, but he will input from us.
Timeline:
- Submit Letter of Interest (LOI), max. two pages, to ride@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
by *Saturday March 31*.
- BCM will review all LOI's and select the top 3 finalists by *Tuesday
April 10*.
- Finalists submit full application by *Thursday May 31*.
- BCM announces winner by *Friday June 15*.
The grant amount is $16,500.
I'm attaching the document I got from BCM with all the details. Dennis, I
recommend you read this carefully to get a sense of what kind of
information they are looking for in a successful LOI.
Those present on Wednesday (Leelee, Dennis, Sarah, and myself) agreed to
adopt the recommendation from Sylvia Wallingford of Ernie's Cycle Shop to
propose using the money for additional bike racks in the downtown area.
There are already a few racks, but Sylvia stresses that they need to be
more visible on the street, rather than out of the way. Bicyclists want to
be able to keep an eye on their bikes. Also, if the racks are out of the
way, it's hard to even know they are around. Visible bike racks also help
to give the impression of bicycling as an expected and normal means of
transportation, which is welcomed by the downtown merchants.
Here is a list of locations generated by those of us at the meeting. I note
that there is already a rack near the front of the Westbrook Commons area,
in the front of Blue Note Park. (There is also one behind the Frog &
Turtle, by the pedestrian bridge, but Sylvia feels that this suffers from
being too out of the way for transportation cyclists.)
- Community Center
- Family Dollar/CSV
- Blue Note Park
- Main Street (Vallee Square area)
- Cumberland Mills Triangle
Please chip in if you have other location ideas.
*Ann* and *Eric*, I think your input is especially crucial because you may
know of existing plans for racks that we don't. I'm also copying Paul
Niehoff of PACTS, because I know they can offer assistance with obtaining
racks. Another issue we know we have to be aware of is whether the desired
location is public or private property.
*Dennis*, please reach out if you feel you need additional information to
write the letter, and feel free to pass it around to this list, or a subset
of us, when you finish a draft. The final version should be proof-read
before we send it.
- John
Attachment:
BikeMaine Grant Application Process 2018.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
