March Meeting Minutes

Omaha Bikes

Monthly Meeting Minutes

March 2011

At the awesome Side Door Lounge HHH last night, Julie and I realized we never posted the March minutes. Thanks to the 30+ that showed up to support the OB HHH.  All had a great time and many $3 beers were drank.  Kudo's to Steve Jamrozy for opening up early and being a gracious host. 

Now to the Minutes:

In attendance: Bob Brindamour, Kurt Goetzinger, Joe Simoens, Shari Thompson (PACE), Craig Kelley, Chris Wolff (Trek), Sean Licari (Bike Way), Michael Grube, Robert Shaw, Mark Seipker (OPBC), Sarah Johnson (Greenstreet)

News

Matt, Tammie, Julie and Carlos are in Washington DC for the National Bike Summit.

Website project is on hold. The committee is reviewing the new direction in conjunction with the iRide website www.iridebecause.org. The website will include an online membership component.

The Race2reCycle event coming up on May 14. The big ride is a 174 tri-state challenge with a turnaround in Rockport, MO. A kids trike ride and a family ride are also part of the day. Start/finish at Midtown Crossing. The Landmark Group is putting on this event. There is an online sign up at www.omaharace2recycle.com, they are also on Facebook.

Aksarben Cinema is hosting the movie “Ride the Divide” on March 15 at 7pm. Tickets are $10 pre registration and $15 at the door; 10% of proceeds will be donated to Omaha Bikes! The club is working on a bike corral and having volunteers hand out Omaha Bikes information.

Omaha Health Expo is on April 30 and May 1 in the Omaha Civic – Mancuso Hall. The ride is Sunday morning and volunteers are needed to man a booth for the Saturday and Sunday event.

Existing Business

THOR Annual Meeting was held on Saturday, February 26, at the National Park Service on River Front Drive. Roxzanne Feagan was elected President. Committee leads were selected and breakout sessions brought some attention to the key areas, including social THORsday rides prior to the Psycowpath Saturday races, DEVO mountain bike development for kids, and maintaining trail systems.

Community Outreach is still on the move, with a couple places interested in becoming Bicycle Friendly Destinations. Sarah is looking for a one-page signup sheet for businesses to identify their discount/benefit agreement in writing. This can also be used as a mail-in form that any member can drop off a local businesses.

Advocacy: Emails and blog updates have been targeting the legislative moves around cuts in recreational trail funds. Also mentioned is the 3-foot grace rule being discussed for Nebraska, that law already exist in Kansas and Colorado. Craig also mention that Bellevue has passed the bill for Complete Streets. Michael reported that the UNO Advocacy group has met a couple times and is working on ideas. He also mentioned that UNO is interested in hosting a Bike Summit in the September timeframe, in conjunction with the wrap up of the Commuter Challenge.

Social Events committee is working on the first HHH of 2011, scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, details forthcoming. Sarah is checking on the Side Door Lounge. Also in March is the next Ladies & Gentlemen’s ride, slated for Sunday, March 27, pending Jolene’s plan. Check the Omaha Bikes calendar for more details. Local rides can be found on multiple blogs, the newest being www.grouprideomaha.blogspot.com posted by Mark Savory.

Education: The Traffic Skills 101 classes slated for Feb 26 in Lincoln were postponed. The rescheduled date is March 26. Plans are in place to offer adult bike education classes through Metro Community College, with tentative plans for a LCI Certified class later this summer.

Membership plans have moved out, along with the Website review, to the April/May timeframe. Along with the new Website, online membership will be available, with hardcopy forms also available to be hand carried to bike related events. The plan is to have a ‘more information’ form at the ‘Ride the Divide’ movie and hard copy membership forms available at the Health Expo.

Communications: Discussions included what to put on our Blog vs. Facebook. Sharing information via FB can include anything from sales, charity, rides, info, but our Blog needs to have an extra level of consideration. Events that promote shops, teams and clubs need careful consideration before we ‘promote’ it on our blog. If there are any questions, please contact our president or one of the committee leads.

Local Bike Shop info: The Bike Way is hosting a Swap Meet at their location on March 20, 11am-5pm. $5 for table space and all are welcome.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 12. We will have an update from the National Bike Summit!

February Meeting Minutes

Omaha Bikes

Monthly Meeting Minutes

February 2011

In attendance: Patrick McAtee, Mark Siepker, Craig Kelly, Kurt Goetzinger, Bob Brindamour, Peter Lieben, Matt Martin, Julie Harris, Mike Wagster, Sarah Johnson, Mark R, Tony Wilderwing, Joel Zimmerman, Peter Pellerito, Carlos Morales, Sloan Dawson

News
Jolene Holland sends a report that the next Ladies and Gentlemen’s ride will be at the end of February – watch the blog/Facebook page for more info.

Race2reCycle is a new event coming up on May 14. It will include a kids trike ride, a family ride and a 3 state, 170 mile bike relay. Start/finish at Midtown Crossing

Activate Omaha’s urban adventure race will be June 4. Start/finish at Aksarben Village.

Aksarben Cinema will host the movie “Ride the Divide” on March 15 at 7pm. Tickets are $10 pre registration and $15 at the door; 10% of proceeds will be donated to Omaha Bikes!

Existing Business
Membership Committee: Mike Wagster presented the proposed Omaha Bikes membership model. The goal is to get the model/website complete by March 31, do a soft campaign targeting current Omaha Bikes participants during April, and then do a “Charter Member” campaign May 1 – July 31. Great work, guys!

Website: The committee is moving forward on the project using a website package that includes a membership component. More info coming soon.

Andy Clarke from the League of American Bicyclists will be making the rounds in Omaha on Friday, Febrary 11. All are welcome to attend a special Handlebar Happy Hour at the Brazen Head at 4:30 on the 11th.

Bike to the Ballpark: Plan is almost complete, pending official approval on bike corral location. We are working with the city, Metro Transit, and others. Many, many volunteers will be needed to help staff the bike corral during the CWS (June 18-29). Please plan to plug in if possible!!

Advocacy: Matt reported that he and Julie attended the Iowa Bicycle Summit in Des Moines. There were good sessions on Safe Routes to School, IMBA, etc. It was good to see their model as we think to the future and planning a similar event ourselves. A “Nebraska State Capitol Day” was discussed – similar to what we do at the national bike summit when we visit Capitol Hill.

Bike/Ped Coordinator Update: Carlos encouraged everyone to get involved in the Transportation Master Plan update process via the public workshops coming up in March and April.

Communications: Kurt reports that he expects news coverage for Andy Clarke’s visit. Please keep Kurt in the loop with all events so that he can get information blasted out in a timely and effective manner!

Education: Julie reports that a group of Omaha LCI’s will be going to Lincoln on Feb 26 to help teach Traffic Skills 101. Matt, Julie and Kay Grant are teaching a bike ed class at Western Hills Elementary school this spring on Tuesday afternoons. Plans are being put together to offer adult bike ed classes through Metro Community College starting this summer. The courses can be taught off campus, instructors will be paid, and the courses will be listed in the quarterly course catalogues mailed to the community!

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 8. Several of us will be en route to Washington DC for the National Bike Summit! We will be blogging/twittering frequently during our time there.

Omaha Bikes Meeting Minutes - January

Omaha Bikes

Meeting Minutes – January 2011

In attendance: Bob Brindamour, Joe Simoens, Mark Siepker, Julie Harris, Jason Alter, Tammie Dodge, Steve Herbermann, Tony Wilderwing, Chris Wolf, Tony Todd, Robert Shaw, Joel Zimmerman, Kurt Goetzinger, Sarah Johnson, Mike Grubbe

Updates:

No Ladies & Gentlemen’s rides will be scheduled for January and February. The next ride will be Sunday, March 13. Jolene will update the blog with details in March.

Andy Clarke, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, will be in town on February 11! Activate Omaha and Welcom (Wellness Council of the Midlands) will be planning a luncheon for business leaders that day, and a Handlebar Happy Hour is being planned for that evening. Watch the blog for more details.

Iowa Bike Summit is January 28- 29. Matt and Julie will be driving to Des Moines and attending Saturday’s session; others interested in attending can get ahold of Julie (jharris at activateomaha dot org) and we’ll coordinate travel plans.

The National Bike Summit is March 8 – 11. Activate Omaha staff are planning to attend, as is Matt Martin, Kent McNeill (Trek Bicycle Stores), Jim Carveth (Bike Rack), Carlos Morales (City Bike/Ped Coordinator) and some other local business leaders. Anyone else interested in attending and being part of the Nebraska delegation is welcome!  Get in touch with Tammie or Julie for details.  We’ll plan again this year to tweet, blog and post our little fingers off while we’re there!

PACE (People Aspiring to Cycle and Exercise) is a new organization in Omaha looking at helping people with physical disabilities gain access to adapted bicycles and cycling opportunities. It was agreed that their mission fits well with that of Omaha Bikes and we look forward to having them join us in our quest to get more people on bikes.

Moving Forward: Omaha Bikes/Community Bike Project/Activate Omaha partnership
The leadership has been discussing the best way to organize and manage our resources in the most effective way. The following structure has been proposed:

1. The creation of an Omaha Bikes “SuperBoard” consisting of reps from Omaha Bikes, CBPO, Activate Omaha and the Mayor’s Bike/Ped Advisory Committee. This group would meet quarterly during the transition to help guide the organization. Omaha Bikes would remain under the Live Well Omaha umbrella for now.

2. The “staff” of Omaha Bikes would be Tammie Dodge, Julie Harris, Matt Martin – continuing the work they are already doing behind the scenes, but coming together to organize themselves and the work more formally.

3. The focus areas/committees identified during the Omaha Bikes strategic planning session would be used moving forward. Each committee would be co-chaired by one person from the membership of Omaha Bikes and a designated staff person. Each committee would continue to use volunteers from the OB membership to accomplish the goals that have been established. We encourage all Omaha Bikes members to get involved with at least one of the subcommittees!

4. The Chair position of Omaha Bikes will continue to be needed: this person will be a part of the “SuperBoard” and will help chair the monthly meetings. Bob has done an extraordinary amount of work as President the past year, and the new structure will take a large load of work off the shoulders of that position. It has also been suggested that a Chair Elect be selected to serve with the Chair and help with transition from year to year.

5. The actual Community Bike Shop at 33rd/California will serve as a branch of Omaha Bikes for classroom space, outreach opportunities and potentially satellite office space for staff. The CBPO board is in discussions about their vision of the partnership with Omaha Bikes as well.

December Meeting Minutes

We had an awesome Omaha Bikes meeting yesterday.  Great turnout, great ideas, great things coming in 2011! 

Omaha Bikes

December Meeting Minutes

Tammie presented the “I Ride” campaign that EmSpace has put together for Douglas County/Live Well Omaha CPPW grant. The goals are to increase bike ridership and to educate on share the road issues. Local cyclists will be used as the “face” of the campaign, and it will begin rolling out soon. The campaign will feature messages in various form: posters, give aways, website, messages at the DMV, Safety Council traffic classes, etc., and will last for 18 months.

Committee Updates

Mark S: Holiday Handlebar Happy Hour will be held on December 28 at the Nebraska Brewing Company in Papillion. We have some space reserved, and all are welcome. The committee has decided to cancel HHH events until March. Cyclists will be surveyed to determine preferred locations/format; our Bike Friendly Destination locations will be featured when possible.

Sarah J: We are up to 19 Bike Friendly Destination locations with more on the radar screen! Sarah will work with Bob to get blog BFD info updated. The Road to Roubaix movie night fundraiser raised $109 for OB. The next Ladies & Gentlemen’s Cycling Club tweed ride will be December 19 around Lake Zorinsky. Mark & Becky Siepker are hosting; see the blog for details.

Bike DeLights was a huge success – perfect weather, and approximately 65 festive cyclists attended. (About double from last year!)

Tammie: The bike education committee has been meeting and honing a strategy to begin offering classes in 2011 that will be taught by our new LCI’s! The group is currently researching best practices from other communities (Columbia, MO, etc.) and will report more at the next meeting.

Matt: Advocacy…. Just got back from a personal trip to Washington DC, but took time to visit the LAB offices and some other folks on the Hill. Andy Clarke, Exec Director for the LAB will be in the Lincoln/Omaha area in February, and we’ll do what we can to get a meeting with him and OB.

Julie: Bike to the Ballpark planning for the CWS is coming along. The goal is to get a basic plan in place by January so that the info can be included in the publications & website. The group is working with Metro Transit, the city’s special events traffic consultant, OPD and others. We will need volunteers to help with bike corral duty during that time.

Sean Licari: A new kids mountain bike development club is being formed. There will be an opportunity for kids to just learn skills and ride for fun and also a track for more formal coaching/racing for those who would like to go that route. Sean will be the liaison between the group and Omaha Bikes. The next organizational meeting for this group will be January 7 at 6:30 at the Panera Bread at 132nd/West Maple.

Mike D.: The OPD pawn shop division is revamping their webpage to include information on stolen bikes: how to report, where to report, what to do, how to keep your bike safe. The Omaha Bikes website, OPD pawn division and Activate Omaha will now all point to each other for this so that there is a consistent source of information. The idea of registering bike serial numbers for people was also discussed. (Excellent work, Mike! Thank you!!)

Bob:  Discussions are in the process regarding the potential “merger” of Omaha Bikes and the Community Bike Project. The goal is to look at all of the cycling initiatives going on and see how we can best use our resources and funding opportunities to be as efficient as possible. Any thoughts/ideas/concerns about this idea can be sent to Bob.

The website committee has been meeting and is looking at a couple of options. More work coming in 2011.

October Meeting Minutes

We had a FANTASTIC Omaha Bikes meeting this month - lots of new faces at the table, and lots of great news to report!  Thanks again to the Aksarben Village Courtyard Marriott for being a great host for us!

Omaha Bikes Meeting Minutes

October 12, 2010

In attendance: Dave Kennedy, Bob Brindamour, Tony Wilderding, Julie Harris, Matt Martin, Tammie Dodge, Sarah Johnson, Andy Pedley, Rich Wilson, Jean Duffy, Joe Simoens, Mark Siepker, Joel Zimmerman, Mike Grubbe, Craig Niedbalski, Patrick McAtee, Jolene Holland, Chris Seitzer, Kurt Goetzinger, Mike Wagster, Lamont Spencer, Carlos Morales, Craig Kelly, Sean Weide

News/Announcements:

Sarah Johnson reports that the 10/10/10 ride in Elkhorn resulted in $312 for Omaha Bikes!

Omaha Bikes officer elections will be held in December or January

LCI training class is coming next weekend – have 15 signed up. These folks will be eligible to teach the Traffic Skills 101 classes that will be organized by Stuart Shell for 2011.

Kurt Goetzinger is our Social Media coordinator; please take photos at any/all of the cycling events and meetings you attend and forward them to Kurt so that they can be used!

Omaha Bikes Strategic Planning session will be held on November 6 from 10a-3p
RSVP is required (omahabikes (at) gmail (dot) com
Please try to read the book Pedaling Revolution by Jeff Mapes before the 6th for background info.
Lunch will be provided

The Community Bike Shop will be holding a series of bicycle maintenance classes on Tuesday nights. $100 for 12 classes, or you can take them ala carte for $10 per class. Check http://communitybicycleshopomaha.org/ for more info.

Omaha Bikes will be hosting a Winter Bike Commuting clinic on October 28 at Barley’s in NoDo. This event will be free and will feature several OB members sharing tips on gear, technique and other wise notions.

Matt and Julie are crafting a questionnaire on behalf of Omaha Bikes for Lee Terry and Tom White to complete regarding their views on active transportation issues. We will provide the information from each candidate so that cyclists can be informed as they go to the polls.

Jolene Holland is organizing a monthly bike ride under the theme of Ladies and Gentlemen’s Bicycle Club – wear your best tweed (no spandex allowed!) for this most civilized slow roll through downtown on October 29. Meet at Greenstreet Cycles at 1pm.

Existing Business:

Bike Friendly Destinations: Sarah Johnson reports that several BFD’s have already been identified and that many of them are willing to offer discounts to anyone who arrives via bicycle! A new tab will be created on the OB website soon with all of the information. It was also recommended that all BFD’s provide (or be offered) a floor pump for cyclists to use if necessary. Please contact Sarah (sarah (at) greenstreetcycles (dot) com) if you have nominations for other BFD’s; the fee is $5 to cover the cost of the decal/sticker.

Bike Parking:  The temporary bike parking racks were used recently at the Emerging Terrain event, where 10% of the 500 attendees arrived via bicycle. Bob suggested that we form an official subcommittee to coordinate 2011 bike parking efforts at community events. Contact us if interested (omahabikes (at) gmail (dot) com)

Youth/School Committee:  Julie and Kurt recently did a bike rodeo at Western Hills Elementary; the school is also interested in developing some bike skill curriculum for their students. Several schools in the Benson area are currently being mapped for safe routes to school, and we anticipate more rodeos/skills sessions in that area in 2011.

Handlebar Happy Hour:
October 26, 5:30pm, Daily Grub. See the website for more info on upcoming events.

"A Very Special Episode of Omaha Bikes"

Coming soon to an Omaha Bikes meeting near you:  Carlos Morales, the city's new Bike/Ped Coordinator! 

The September Omaha Bikes meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 14th at 11am at the Courtyard Marriott in Aksarben Village.  Although we will have a couple of short items to discuss, we'll be clearning the agenda so that we can have a dialogue with Carlos on how we can best work together to move the city forward on bicycle and pedestrian issues. 

All cyclists are welcome to attend the meeting.  The Courtyard allows bike parking on the back patio.  If you are going multi-modal, check the 15/55 route on Metro. 

I know we are all anxious to make Carlos feel welcome and let him know that there are plenty of people who will be supporting his efforts!

Omaha Bikes Meeting Minutes

Omaha Bikes Meeting Minutes
August 10, 2010

In attendance: Sarah Johnson, Bob Brindamour, Joe Simoens, Jean Duffy, Mark Siepker, Jake Rasp, Tammie Dodge, Kurt Goetzinger, Ananth, Julie Harris

News/Announcements:
OB has had some good press lately, with mentions in OWH articles and KETV interviews. Check the blog for links to archived stories.

Keystone Connector Trail: A public meeting was held to discuss the potential plan to route the keystone connector to the Field Club trail via D Street. Julie, Matt Martin, Ananth and others attended. The consensus from the neighbors along D that they are in favor of the trail, but have safety concerns with the D Street option. All parties seemed willing to work together to find the best solution for this critical connector.

OB Vinyl Window Decals: We have some! We can begin distributing them to those who support our cause and also sell them for $3 or 2 for $5 at events. We discussed getting a new version made that can be given to places nominated as bike friendly merchants.

Existing Business:
The Bike Comedian event at Tip Top made $230 for OB.

LCI training: Traffic Skills 101 will be held at RDG on Aug 21 and the Bancroft Street Market is also hosting one on 3 consecutive Saturdays in September. This class is a prerequisite for the LCI Candidate Seminar, which will be held October 15-17. You must register for the October class prior to September 15. Check the blog for more info and updates.

Bike Friendly Merchants: The group discussed what requirements should be in place for a bike friendly merchant designation. It was decided to have a flexible list, but some informal guidelines might be: adequate bike parking, drive up window access, allowing cyclists to refill water bottles, allowing bicycles inside. We will ask cyclists to nominate those they deem worthy via the blog and social media, and eventually add a google map to the blog showing the locations of all BFM locations.

Membership: A strategic planning session will be held in the fall to help us determine how we want to tackle the membership question. Julie will contact OVG and see if they have someone who can help facilitate the process and/or provide suggestions.

Bike/Ped Advisory Committee update: a finalist for the city’s new Bike/Ped Coordinator position has been identified and will hopefully be on board soon! The city will take the lead on the formal announcement. This person will be invited to attend OB meetings.

OB Meeting time: We have received several requests to change the meeting time from the lunch hour to after work. The group decided to continue meeting at 11am on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, but then to also plan a standing Handlebar Happy Hour on the 4th Tuesday of the month that will serve as a meeting update for those who cannot attend during the day. Next up: August 24, time/place TBA.

Donations: The PayPal donation button is now live on the blog. OB received a $100 donation from the Bellevue Bicycle Club. It was decided to use that donation to purchase Bike Friendly Merchant stickers. Thank you BBC!!

Offutt Connector: The City of Bellevue and Offutt Air Force Base have developed a plan to put a bike lane connecting the base to the Keystone Trail and also a separate bike gate entry for cyclists. Offutt riders have consistently logged over 30,000 bike to work miles in the annual BOCC challenge…great job Team Offutt for putting in the sweat equity that is paying off here!!

Omaha Bikes July Meeting Minutes

OmahaBikes Meeting Minutes
July 13, 2010

In Attendance: Stuart Shell, Joe Simoens, Jason Niven, Sarah Johnson, Mark Siepker, Bob Brindamour, Kurt Goetzinger, Tammie Dodge, Ananth, Rich Wilson, Jake, Julie Harris

News/Announcements:
1. It’s official, we got the OVG grant! $3700 is in the bank. The Omaha Pedalers Bicycle Club has already pledged $500 as a partial match.

2. LCI Classes: Stuart reports that he is in the process of scheduling the upcoming LCI certification course, which will be held the weekend of October 15. Participants will pay the $200 class fee themselves, but then will earn an honorarium ($125 per class was discussed) for each class taught so that the investment will be recouped. There will also be one more Traffic Skills 101 course offered on August 21 for those who need to get this pre-requisite to the full certification class. Contact Stuart if interested.

3. Bike Parking at Shakespeare on the Green: The initial design and system was tweaked during SotG and seemed to work well. The PVC pipe may not hold several bikes without bending. The volunteers answered several questions about OB and biking in general in addition to parking bikes. The new OB banner looks really good, too.

4. Keystone Connector Trail Update: There will be a public meeting on July 29 at the Kroc Center that will explain the proposed changes to the original route plan. Please plan to attend to learn more and support the most bike-friendly option available.

5. There is an upcoming Pedestrian Safety webinar series. Please see www.walkinginfo.org/training/pbic/dps_webinars.cfm for more details.

Existing Business:
1. OVG Grant money expenditures to date: OmahaBikes Banner (FastSigns), helmet cam, bike parking materials.


2. Tammie is still working on the possibility of adding a PayPal link that can be used for people wanting to make online donations.


3. The OwL ride has 300 registrations and could still use volunteers for bike parking and ride rangers.


4. Bike Friendly Merchants: The BikeDenver model of having people nominate businesses for the “BFB of the Month” award was discussed – easy to implement, highlight these places on the blog, give them a sticker or certificate to post at their location.


5. Bicycle Parking: 20 bike racks have already been installed with 30 more to go. The North Downtown Business Alliance received a grant to install 50 racks in their area, so that frees up several that were scheduled to be placed in that area originally. Please continue to send your suggestions for bike parking to Tammie and she will make sure they get on the list.


6. Youth/School engagement: Julie will need some volunteers to help with the Saddlebrook Elementary Hike and Bike Tune Up (bike rodeo) day on August 14 at 6p. Assignments: help with bike obstacle course, assisting kids practicing locking/unlocking bikes from rack, helping with basic bike tune ups. Contact Julie if interested.


7. Website Update: With our limited budget from the OVG money, we will need a significantly discounted or pro bono help to get it developed. Contact Bob if you have referrals.


8. Update from Bike/Ped Advisory Committee: there has been a tentative offer extended to a candidate for the new Bike Ped Coordinator position with the city! The candidate will be visiting Omaha soon for a face to face visit and tour.


9. Sarah and Greenstreet Cycles is pursing a grant from Specialized to get a fleet of rental commuting bikes.


10. Activate Omaha is submitting an application to host the national Safe Routes to School Conference in 2011. If we are selected, we’ll need all hands on deck from OB!


11. OB has the opportunity to set up an online store through the Creative J (local company) that will allow us to upload our logo onto shirts and other items. (Similar to Café Press.) Anyone interested in helping with this – specifically, helping to determine what items we should include in our store – please contact Julie.

Upcoming Events:
Handlebar Happy Hour: Tom Snyders, a bicycling comedian, will be performing on August 2 at Barley's Bar in the Tip Top downtown (15th and Cuming) from 7:30 – 8:30. A portion of the proceeds (tickets are $8) will benefit OmahaBikes, so get all of your friends to attend! A potential pre-event Handlebar Happy Hour and group ride from Benson via the newly completed Benson Route on the 20 mile loop was discussed. Watch Facebook and Twitter for more details.

Book Signing: The Omaha Pedalers is sponsoring a book signing at for the author of The History of Cycling on Sept 22 at the Book Worm in Countryside Village.

Omaha Bikes June Meeting Minutes

OmahaBikes
June Meeting Minutes

In attendance: Matt Martin, Joe Simoens, Kurt Goetzinger, Jakob Wilson, Jean Duffy, Julie Harris

Julie just realized that she never transcribed or posted meeting minutes for May. Oops. It was a good meeting with approximately 20 people in attendance. :)

Omaha Venture Group grant application: The award announcement party will be June 10 at 5:30. Julie will be going; Bob is riding BRAN, and Julie could use some company at the party. We know we are receiving a grant, we just don’t know how much it will be.

Stuart Shell will be leading a clinic on Wednesday on the benefits of and how to apply for Bicycle Friendly Business designation from the League of American Bicyclists. It is free and all are invited to attend.

Kurt Goetzinger updated us on the Benson SummerFest scheduled for June 12. There will be bikes on display and a booth with information. A CBSO volunteer will also be attending to provide bike tune ups.

The Red Route (Benson) of the Bike Omaha system is going in as we speak. Public Works reports that it should be complete in the next 6-8 weeks.

There is a new bike shop that recently opened in Bellevue: Olde Town Cyclery.

New Business:
Temporary Bike Parking. As we get more organized rides and events going in Omaha, it has been suggested that we invest in building and maintaining some temporary bike parking. Potential revenue could be raised by renting it out to other events. Matt Martin has volunteered to build it. Joel VanderVeen from the OWL Ride committee has a potential idea for free or cheap storage. Various design ideas were discussed, and input is welcome from others who have ideas. (PVC pipe has been identified as the material, based on weight and ease of transport.) Matt is also going to explore the idea of making preferred bike parking available at Shakespeare on the Green – perhaps doing “valet” bike parking for a small fee with proceeds going to OmahaBikes.

Stole Bike Protocol. There has been a rash of stolen bikes recently, especially in the downtown area. Some bikes have been recovered as a result of quick social networking blasts. We discussed the idea of offering cyclists the opportunity to submit a photo and description of their bike to OmahaBikes so that the info can be blasted out ASAP incase of theft. This may also be a potential revenue opportunity or benefit of potential formal membership.

ActivateOmaha has received a small amount of grant money to support bike commuting activities this summer. We are considering hosting a “bagels on the trail” or other type of informal event and hope that OmahaBikes members will be willing to help.

OmahaBikes Meeting Minutes -April

OmahaBikes Meeting Minutes
April 13, 2010
In attendance: Joe Simoens, Kurt Goetzinger, Chris Wolff, Jean Duffy, Jason Nieven, Lester Katz, Bob Brindamour, Tammie Dodge, Julie Harris, Marty Shukert, Joel VanderVeen, Mark Siepker

News:
The IMBA Trail Care Crew was in town April 8-11 to host a trail building school and to get us started building a beginner level mountain bike trail in Adams Park. THOR and Activate Omaha also assisted. The group got a good start getting the trail cut, but we will need more volunteer sweat equity from cyclists and the community to finish the remaining portion.

Omaha Venture Group Grant: Julie and Bob met with a subcommittee from the OVG to discuss the initial grant application that was submitted on behalf of OmahaBikes. Feedback was taken from that meeting and used to strengthen our final application, which was submitted for consideration on April 15. We have the potential to receive up to $5000 from this group, and we will receive word in late May.
Priorities for funding identified in the grant:
Professional marketing materials
Website development
LCI training for 2 OB members
Equipment (laptop, projector, helmet cam, etc.)

Upcoming Events:
Omaha Health Expo & bike ride; April 25
Mayor’s Ride: Friday, May 14
Bike to Work Week: May 17-21
Belleuve Bicycle Club “Spoke and Hub” ride on May 15
Urban Omaha- the Ultimate Adventure, Saturday, June 5. (**VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!! Hint, hint  )

Existing Business:
The group voted on the sound bite tag line for OmahaBikes. The winner:
“The voice of citizen cyclists.”

Joel VanderVeen from the OwL ride committee gave the group an update on the event they are planning. OwL = Omaha with Lights, and will take place on July 17 starting at 11pm at the Playing with Fire concert on Lewis and Clark Landing. More information on this can be found at www.owlride.org. Proceeds benefit people with developmental disabilities.

The majority of the meeting was dedicated to Marty Shukert, who brought the most recently updated version of the Bike Omaha bicycle system. Marty provided detailed information about the specific treatments being proposed for all of the streets on the various routes.
(Julie will type up all of the details and provide it on the blog at a later time.)
The routes that will be painted/striped by the end of 2010 will be:
1. Red (Benson)
2. Blue (16th St/Zoo)
3. Yellow (Happy Hollow)
Discussion continues on the treatment of the Green Route (Aksarben, via Leavenworth), which will be the most complicated to complete. Feedback from bike commuters has been and will continue to be valuable as the plan for Leavenworth takes shape.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 11, Courtyard Marriott, 11am

OmahaBikes March meeting minutes

Omaha Bikes
Monthly Meeting, March 9, 2010
First Data, 11:10am to 1:05 pm.
>
Present: Joe Simoens, Ben Brounlow, Sarah Johnson, Pete Lieben, Chris
Wolfe, Mark Siepker, Bob Brindamour, Ananth Nagarajan
Via teleconference: Scott Redd, Kevin S, Chris S, Dave D, Steve H,
Dale R, Julie Harris
Action Items:
Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 13, 11am at Courtyard Marriott Hotel on S. 67th in Aksarben Village.
> Mark to set up meeting with Lisa re. UBF / Stinson Park use.
> Tammie to organize meeting of the Mayor's Ride committee.
> Next social event: May 21st at Rick's Boatyard
> Kassie (sp?) to set up meeting with Sarah, Stuart, and Kevin for Bike
> Friendly Merchants.
> Dale (and Ryan?) to craft a letter in support of Leavenworth lane diet.
>
> Discussion:
> Review of mission statement and logo. Send comments and suggestions to Bob.
>
> Introductions - "what is Omaha Bikes to you?"
>
> Activate Omaha is representing in DC at the Bike Summit. They will be
> meeting with elected officials.
>
> Sarah is interested in helping with Bicycle Friendly Merchants and
> Stuart and Kevin will help. Stuart is planning to host a Bicycle
> Friendly Business application workshop in April at RDG.
>
> World Environment Day - Alternative Transit Week is May 2 - 8. Talk to
> Sarah with ideas.
>
> Bike Parking update: first rack is installed and the city if moving
> forward with the additional identified locations.
>
> Scott is making progress with the website. A graphic designer is
> needed to 'finish' the look.
>
> Bike Pedestrian Committee update: Still seeking a Bike Pedestrian
> Coordinator. Upcoming rides include OWL and a route along Farnam from
> Turner Park to Memorial Park.
>
> THOR / IMBA is installing singletrack in Adams Park on April 10. Sign
> up to help by March 19. Contact Dale.
>
> Urban Bike Festival: We reviewed concept paper for the event. All
> agreed to plan a smaller social event in lieu of a large event. This
> could be a handlbar happyhour event. All agreed that the festival is a
> good idea and planning should commence for a 2011 festival. Contact
> Mark if interested in meeting with Lisa to discuss opportunities at
> Stinson Park.
>
> Organizations priorities were discussed. Some priorities identified
> included building a coalition, establishing our voice as an advocate
> for cyclist rights, and working to connect with our target audience.
>
> All suggested the E-W bike route to Elmwood be routed along
> Leavenworth and NOT just along the back alley route.
>
> Bob will work to create 'before-and-after' videos of bicycle
> facilities currently planned.

OmahaBIKES February Meeting Minutes

OmahaBIKES Meeting Minutes
February 9, 2010

Attending: Mark Siepker, Bob Brindamour, Tammie Dodge, Ben Brownlow, Scott Redd, Joe Simoens, Sarah Johnson, Chris Wolff, Dale Rabideau, Julie Harris, Chris Seitzer

Existing Business:
The group reviewed the 4 potential logos for OmahaBIKES – majority ruled on one, pending a different color choice.

Handlebar Happy Hour committee – The group is proposing to merge their smaller, more frequent events into one larger event: the Urban Bike Festival. Aksarben Village was discussed as a potential location, as they have shown interest in bringing events to Stinson Park. Date yet to be determined; May would be ideal due to bike month, but early July was determined to be a more realistic timeline. Mark and Julie will follow up with the rep from Noddle/Aksarben Village to discuss the possibilities.

Bike Friendly Merchants – It was decided that this group and the new Membership subcommittee should merge, as their goals are intertwined. A revenue stream is needed for OmahaBIKES, and various models for this were discussed that involved businesses and other bike-related organizations.

Bike Parking – the first of the bike racks (U-shaped) that have been funded from the Eastern Nebraska Trails Network (via the Corporate Cycling Challenge proceeds) will be installed later in the week. Tammie will send a link to the Google map that the committee is using to identify existing racks and potential new locations. Please send any recommendations for rack locations to Tammie! The group is also considering the formation of bicycle parking ordinance that could be recommended to the Mayor.

Youth/School Engagement – Julie would like to create a short video that can be shown to kids that features local cyclists and how they use their bikes in their every day lives. Julie will also be calling on OB members to come to Saddlebrook to help with their walk ‘n roll project.

Web Committee – Scott is working on a new website for OmahaBIKES. It will be set up so that content can be added by all of us.

Bike/Ped Advisory Committee Update – Bob and Tammie brought us up to speed on what was discussed at the last meeting. Much time was spent discussing the trail snow removal concerns that our group has identified. It was noted that the trails were plowed within 24 hours of the most recent snow, which was an improvement from past storms.

Adams Park Update: Tammie updated the group on the IMBA trail project that is in the works for Adams Park. It will be a beginner, kid-friendly “gateway trail,” and we will need plenty of sweat equity from the bike community to make it happen. More information about how to get involved will be made available when the work plan is finalized this spring. The trail could potentially be open as early as June.

New Business:
Social Media: We need help with keeping the blog, twitter and facebook pages current. Please talk to Bob if you are interested in helping. Several members already have author privileges on the blog – so feel free to add content anytime you see something interesting! We have to keep things extremely current to keep folks tuned in.

Inviting Others: If other bicycle-related organizations that would fit with our mission are identified, please let Bob know so that a formal invitation can be sent to join our group. Five local bike shops are represented in our group as of February, and we would like to have all of them around the table.

Activate Omaha update: AO has a new intern, Kassi, who is a senior at UNO. She will be helping to organize the Bike Month calendar, and helping with the Bike Friendly Merchant project, Safe Routes to School, and the Urban Adventure Race.

News and Upcoming Events:
Sarah is helping with World Environment Day group, and they have designated May 2-8 as “Alternative Transportation Week.” Great addition to the Bike Month calendar!

Julie, Tammie and Matt Martin will be attending the National Bike Summit in Washington D.C. in March. Julie will take over the OB twitter, facebook and blog and bombard with regular updates.

June 5 – Activate Omaha’s 2nd annual urban adventure race: Urban Omaha: The Ultimate Adventure (Note: we need lots of volunteers for this event and would love to have your help!)

“Blanchard and Back” ride this spring – Bob is organizing – ride the Wabash with an overnight in Shenandoah.

Upcoming Events for potential booth presence:
Union Pacific Earth Fair, April 21
Omaha Health Expo – April 24 & 25 (Omaha Pedalers table) – also a group bike ride, same route as CCC.
Green Expo May 2 (can somebody provide details? Didn’t get them.)
May 17-21 is Bike to Work Week. Plans for the Mayor’s Ride yet to be determined.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 9, 11am. Location TBA

Omaha Bikes January Meeting Minutes

Omaha Bikes meeting minutes
January 2010
Wohlner’s Grocery, 11:00am

In attendance: Bob Brindamour, Dave Reinarz, Ryan Feagan, Mark Siepker, Julie Harris, Joe Simoens, Jonathan Nieve, Scott Redd, Sarah Johnson, Ben Brownlow, Mike Douglas, Matt Martin, Tammie Dodge

NEWS:
There is a sample letter in the process of being drafted that can be used to send to our public officials regarding the concerns over time/process for trail projects and other improvements. We will make that available on the blog and other places when it is complete.

The National Bike Summit is being held in Washington DC from March 9-11. It is a pricey trip, but any and all are invited. Activate Omaha staff will be attending, and will be setting up meetings with our congressional representatives to discuss bicycle transportation issues. It was also noted that bike shop employees, that have never attended The Nation Bike Summit, could apply for a scholarship to the event to help reduce the cost of attending (Dave Reinarz has details on what organization offers that scholarship).

There is a public “Resource Conservation” meeting on January 20 – Details are available on the blog.

Greenstreet Cycles is having a social event on January 21 at 6pm. Go and support Sarah! Details are available on Sarah’s facebook page.

Sarah Johnson noted that she is working with a group involved with World Environment Day – they are looking at taking the Earth Day message about alternative energy and continuing beyond the one day event on April 22. Contact SarahJohnson to get more information!

EXISTING BUSINESS:
We have shifted our official name from Bike Omaha to Omaha Bikes. This is to avoid the assumption that we are part of the city’s Bike Omaha bike lane loop, etc. The Omaha Bikes blog, @OmahaBikes Twitter, Facebook and other communication have shifted, so please adjust accordingly.

It was decided that officers will be elected each January for 1 year terms. This year’s group:
President: Bob Brindamour
Treasurer: Tammie Dodge
Secretary: Julie Harris

Bike De’Lights was a success! We had 27 riders, and all had a great time. We definitely want to make this an annual event. Thanks to all who helped plan and everyone who came to ride.

Subcommittee Updates:
1. Handlebar Happy Hours – 3 events coming this spring/summer. Aksarben Village identified as a potential location; Mark is in communication with them.
2. Bike Friendly Merchants – Sarah has spoken to some business owners to get an idea of what they might be willing to pay for, and what the benefits might be. The AO grad student helping out this spring will be able to help with this committee.
3. Bicycle Parking – 50 racks are available, being created by a local steel fabricator. A meeting was held on January 7 to discuss the process for requesting a rack, and the potential locations for racks. Please email Tammie (Tammie [AT] activateomaha [DOT] org) if you have ideas for good locations. Ideas can also be provided via the Omaha Bikes facebook page, and the Omaha Bikes blog.
4. Youth Engagement – There will be plenty of opportunities where volunteers will be needed to help out at schools this spring; please step up if you can when those requests come out from Julie.
5. Ryan Feagan is now attending our meetings as the Nebraska Cycling Association liaison. Roxzanne Feagan also plans to attend future meetings as the T.H.O.R. liaison. Ryan noted that there was a meeting on 1/16 with the IMBA representative. Dale also represents T.H.O.R.

NEW BUSINESS:

A Membership committee has been formed. The first tasks for this committee will be researching other bicycle federations (Chicago, New York, etc) to see how they evolved, and seeing what we can learn from them. Please let Bob know if you are interested in helping with this sub-committee.

Finding a centrally located and quiet meeting location for our group is ongoing. Our next meeting will be at the First Data Visitor Conference Room at 6855 pacific street on February 9th from 11:00am till 1:00pm.

Sign up sheets were distributed for the various committees. In addition to those listed above, we now also have membership, and social networking/Web. If you could not attend the meeting, please let us know where you want to plug in!

Please feel free to invite others to join our meetings – send contact information to Bob (underdahill [AT] gmail [DOT] com) or Julie (jharris [AT] activateomaha [DOT] org) and we will make sure they get on the list when meeting reminders are sent out.