Hi everyone! If you're talking about WSMAC having a bike rack subcommittee
meeting...if there was one, I was not informed about it. This is why I'd
like everyone to inform I and/or John when ANYTHING is set up! Friday was
an impromptu meeting with Kristi, Kim and myself because 1. They wanted to
share ideas with me regarding WTD and 2. They live close by.
Be a part of this! Start utilizing sub committee info and people
interested. Again, I have to stress: Communication is a BIG PART of WSMAC
being successful.
I appreciate when people say why they couldn't attend, but don't feel you
have to go overboard with personal details. Simply saying "I was at another
meeting" "I've been sick" "I was helping a friend"...that works for me ;)
Also, regarding email conversations, if it's something that the whole
Committee should know. PLEASE MAKE SURE that you have wsmac@gmail. in the
"To" box! That's the only way everyone will be caught up and on track.
Forgive me if I'm ranting, but as Cary *I believe?* said...time is running
out. We have the ideas, we have materials, we need to keep consistent in
planning and completing tasks, etc. My next email will have updated info on
the Westbrook Together Days parade and festival ideas...the event is barely
3 weeks away!!
Hugs, Leelee
*P S* Hi Cary, nice to kinda sorta meet you ;)
On Sun, May 6, 2018 at 8:41 PM, Dennis Marrotte <
dennis.marrotte1111@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, Cary, a Referral Letter to the Streets Committee is probably
required. A blank Referral Letter Form is available at City Hall.
Dennis
On May 6, 2018 8:38 PM, "Cary Tyson" <carytyson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
No meeting I'm aware of.
I'll put a few sentences together for a 'proposal' for Ann to provide the
Street Committee. Others can as well or add/subtract, if they like
On Sun, May 6, 2018 at 8:34 PM Dennis Marrotte <
dennis.marrotte1111@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello,
I Apologize as I was asked to help a friend remove the winter cover off
of his in ground Pool and totally forgot. I do not know if a Meeting was
held. I did not receive any messages or calls.
I have spoken with Victor Chau a few times. I think Bruce Rairdon is my
Councilor. Councilor John O'Hara and I have a very good relationship that
goes back several years thru my CMP work and the Sister Cities Exchange
with Archangel. He installed The Wood Bird of Happiness from Archangel in
the Airport Arrivals Terminal in October 1995.
Dennis
On May 6, 2018 8:22 PM, "John Brooking" <johnbrooking4@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Was there a bike rack subcommittee meeting this afternoon? As I had
said, I was unable to make it, and Bruce also texted me to apologize for
missing it, if there was one.
Councilors: My councilor (Ward 3) is Anna Turcotte, and we have met,
although I don't know her well. I do know Brenden Reilly pretty well,
Council President/Ward 1.
FYI, if you don't know your councilor or ward, you can find both listed
on the City website: Councilors
<http://www.westbrookmaine.com/323/City-Council>, Ward Map
<http://www.westbrookmaine.com/578/Ward-Map>.
On Sun, May 6, 2018 at 10:26 AM, Cary Tyson <carytyson@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
+1 to everything Abigail said.
I don't think we can do anything until we know what level (if any) the
city is willing to partner. I suggest we meet with the downtown councilors
(and any other elected official y'all think may be of aid) and state our
case.
I know I'm preaching to the choir here but I think we're in a bit of
'chicken & the egg' situation here. We have to build a culture &
infrastructure for bike/ped and then promote it, etc before we just simply
dismiss the three or four bike racks (not placed in the ideal locations)
haven't 'turned around' the culture in Westbrook. Shifts like this are
incremental.
Time is growing nigh so this needs to happen pretty quick. Does anyone
have a relationship with the councilors so we can sit down? I haven't had
the pleasure yet.
On Fri, May 4, 2018 at 4:18 PM Abigail Cioffi <
abigail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I started the conversation on this with Eric. I don't know that he
has official documentation on bike rack usage, it sounded like perhaps he
was just keeping an eye out at different times of day. My issue is that
the
more attractive bike racks do MORE than just give someone a place to put
a
bike - they are aesthetically pleasing and highly visible, so they have a
placemaking aspect, as well. That placemaking is part of what makes
people
- including cyclists - want to come to the downtown. To me, it would make
sense to move the standard bike racks that are currently downtown over to
the Community Center, and install these new ones in the downtown.
It also sounded like there are nicer ones somewhere in the downtown,
but I couldn't recall seeing any. I will look though, and if anyone knows
about this, let me know.
DDW would certainly want to see more (particularly, stylized) bike
racks. I spoke with Dan today and he said he thinks it's better for him
not
to be involved on this one (he's not against it, he just doesn't have
anything to add to the conversation).
The biggest concern for Public Services is installing something
additional they have to maintain (Dennis, I think that's likely what Eric
meant by "The new racks are not completely free," unless he was referring
to installation, which I believe can be written into the grant?). I
chatted
with Cary a little bit, and we talked about installing them, for example,
in line with the trees, so it wouldn't really add more work to the
sidewalk
cleaner in the winter (and they mostly wouldn't be used in winter
anyway).
The two downtown councilors are Victor Chau and Gary Rairdon.
As a side note, on Dennis's comment about the WCD / Hannaford
intersection - at the meeting discussing all the issue locations, I think
we talked about this one the most. There are about a million issues, some
of which were mentioned last night, but the biggest of which is that WCD
is
an arterial, so you (by law) cannot stop traffic for more than x amount
of
time (say, to allow an all-way stop for crossings). I'm sure it will
continue to be discussed, but I just wanted to ensure that everyone knows
that we talked about manymany different options and still haven't found a
good solution.
Okay that was a lot! Any questions, let me know.
Abigail
On 5/4/2018 3:25 PM, John Brooking wrote:
Thanks for filling me in on that bike rack conversation, Dennis.
Cary, Ann, were you in on that conversation too? I'm adding some others
into this conversation at this point.
So it does not sound like we have very solid city support for our
bike rack grant, at least in the Public Services office. I'm sure this
will
make BCM much less likely to give it to us, to the extent that they know
about our lack of support, not to mention of course making it more
difficult to carry it through if we do get it. So what should we do?
It's too bad I am unable to make the meeting we had scheduled for 2
PM Sunday at Quill, but perhaps an expanded group of you should meet
without me to hash this out. Sundays or later on weekday evenings are the
only time Bruce or Sylvia are available, but I think that they are
probably
the most important members of this subcommittee, as they have the most
experience of a wide variety of cyclist perspective to bring to the
discussion. (I've been bike commuting for 16 years, but I'm only one
person, riding for transportation with a relatively inexpensive bike, and
don't feel as qualified to speak for the wider group of cyclists as they
are.)
If we elect to keep trying, maybe a next step is to see if Dan
Stevenson and/or Discover Downtown Westbrook is on board with us, and if
so, maybe together we can get a meeting with Eric to get a better sense
of
his perspective and if he can be brought along. At the very least, we
should find out if his office has an official list of locations, and
usage
counts, as he implies he has. That would be great information for us to
have even if we ultimately don't go for the grant.
Another avenue may be through other city-related people, like
councilors. *Ann*, who is the councilor for the downtown area?
Please let me know if you all go ahead and meet on Sunday, or perhaps
there is a night next week everyone could make a meeting. (Any night
except
Thursday would work for me.) It should be soon. Remember that the grant
is
due May 31 (4 weeks from yesterday).
- John
On Thu, May 3, 2018 at 11:10 PM, Dennis Marrotte <
dennis.marrotte1111@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi John, Cary, Bruce, Kristi:
The WSMAC did ourselves Proud at tonight's Meeting. I will only
address the issue regarding the Bike Racks Grant and a couple other
important issues here.
After the meeting concluded, Eric spoke with Abigail Cioffi, me, and
I think, with Kim, the friend of LeeLee. Kim and Eric discussed the
status
of the Main and Stroudwater Streets Intersection and Dunkin Donuts.
Eric, Abigail, maybe Kim Tarbox, (not sure ) and I discussed The
Bike Racks.. Eric is Well Aware of EVERY existing Bike Rack around the
City. And which ones are being used - and which ones that are NOT
being
used. He is " Very leery of expending any $$$ for new Bike Racks and
being
responsible for new ones. " Regarding the Grant, and without further
clarification,
he said " The New Racks are not completely Free. "
One Location that he DID express Positive Support for a possible
new Bike Rack was at the Fred Wescott Community Center, on Bridge
Street,
after I asked him about having one there. He agreed that would be a
Location worth looking at. He also said, the Metro Bus Will NOT be
going
directly into the Community Center but will have 2 Stops, on both sides
of
Bridge Street, at the Driveway Entrance to the Community Center.
Another Question I asked him after the meeting concerned the reason
for the Survey Team at the Intersection of Bridge and Cumberland
Streets.
With the construction plans for the development of the former Blue Rock
-
Pike Quarry off Main Street, across from Westbrook Crossing,
Eric said there will be an upgrade of the Bridge and Cumberland
Streets Intersection. I asked " What about all the houses around that
intersection - Eminent Domain ?
He looked at me with a smile.
Pat Adams, of the DOT, at the conclusion said Westbrook has a Very
Active and Positive citizenry and a very active volunteer group in the
WSMAC with lots of great ideas and input. He admitted underestimating
the
interest and turnout.
Another Primary Discussion item was the WCD and Hannaford
Intersection and Crosswalk. A lot of comments about the dangers of
walking
across and being confronted by the two lanes of Left Turn ExitingTraffic
from Hannaford' s.
Dennis
On May 2, 2018 8:30 PM, "Dennis Marrotte" <
dennis.marrotte1111@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thank You Cary. I agree with your suggestion on having a reply from
Eric and Dan first.
Dennis
On May 2, 2018 7:49 PM, "Cary Tyson" <carytyson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi there -
Sorry for the delay. I've reached out to Abigail about making
inroads on our behalf. More when I know it. I think we need this piece
filled in before we meet. I'll follow-up with her tomorrow. I know
she's
swamped from being out of town.
On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 12:52 PM, John Brooking <
johnbrooking4@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I also replied to Eric about this on the thread earlier today
where he replied about the intersection surveying. I haven't heard
anything
back from him either. Hopefully he's at least reaching out to Dan to
find a
time, but I wish he would give us a status.
I noticed on his email this morning that his office is actually
at the Saco Street building, where I pass every morning and evening
on my
commute, so maybe I can stop by and see him in person if need be!
I know about the Portland Wheelers. It's a great idea, and one
that I would love to be involved with, if I had the time. Someone in
our
Northern Lights singing group is also heavily involved, Sue Wall.
She said
that she and another person were going to make a presentation about
it
somewhere soon.
On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 12:37 PM, Dennis Marrotte <
dennis.marrotte1111@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello,
I would be OK with meeting next week, any evening except MONDAY,
MAY 7th.
FYI, have any of you heard of or know of the " Portland
Wheelers? "
www portlandwheelers.org
I found out about them at a Portland Camera Club Meeting Monday
evening. PCC member Raymond Richard is a member of the Portland
Wheelers.
He gave me a 3" x 8" color card that describes what they provide.
I told Ray what we in the WSMAC do and why we established the
WSMAC. I invited him to our May Meeting on Wednesday, May 16th.
By the way, Ray is a U.S. Navy Veteran and about 6' 7" !!
Dennis
On May 1, 2018 1:37 PM, "John Brooking" <johnbrooking4@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Cary,
Dennis reports no response from Eric or Dan, so you said you
would try to follow up?
On a related note, everyone, something has come up which
makes me unable to meet this Sunday. Can you all meet without me?
Or we
could try for some evening next week. My evenings are pretty open
next week.
- John
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dennis Marrotte <dennis.marrotte1111@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, May 1, 2018 at 9:50 AM
Subject: Eric and Dan
To: John Brooking <Johnbrooking4@xxxxxxxxx>
Hi John,
I have not heard from Eric Dudley or Daniel Stevenson.
On another issue, Dan Glover, a friend who has been helping me
clean out the house, told me about a conversation he had yesterday
with a
spry, hearty Lady at Walker Memorial Library. Dan is 71. He said
this Last
looked at least late 70's, maybe 80. She was riding her Bicycle
and
smoking. She as secured her bike to a post at the Front entrance
to the
Library. " I'm just going in for a couple minutes. "
She told Dan " There needs to be a bike rack at the Entrance -
the rack that is there now is too far away."
She also told him " I go to the Wescott Community Center a lot
but I have to leave my bike locked at the Elementary School and
walk over
to the Community Center. "
Interesting !!!
Dennis
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--
*Abigail Cioffi*
Discover Downtown Westbrook
Executive Director
(207) 619-1732
752 Main Street
Westbrook, ME 04092
*We have changed our name! Formerly Downtown Westbrook Coalition, we
revealed our new name on November 9: Discover Downtown Westbrook! And, on
the same day, we received our official Main Street designation from Main
Street Maine, making us an accredited member of Main Street America. Now
is
a great time to get involved and help us shape the future of Westbrook!*
