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M I N U T E S Safe Routes to School Committee Meeting April 9, 2013 3:30 P.M. The Safe Routes to School Committee met during a regular meeting on April 9, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. at Mesa Verde Elementary, 3801 College Boulevard, Farmington, New Mexico. Present: Coordinator: Anngela Wakan Committee Joe Delmagori Members June Markle Sergeant Dave Monfils Jeff Treat Duane Wakan Rick Hatfield Deanna Maurer Officer Lisa McGaha Principal Sosaya Committee Absent: Pat Cordell Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by Anngela Wakan and the following proceedings were duly had and taken. Mrs. Wakan asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the March 19, 2013 meeting. Mr. Delmagori moved to approve the minutes and Sgt. Monfils seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. REPORTS FROM PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Along with the school resource officers, Mrs. Wakan taught 40 pedestrian safety classes during the Farmington Police Department’s Safety Days held on April 1-5. The classes were given to 880 first grade students from all the Farmington elementary schools. Officer McGaha thanked Mrs. Wakan for her participation and said they had received good feedback from her involvement. Apache No report on activities at Apache Elementary. Ladera & McKinley Sergeant Monfils has not yet contacted McKinley regarding the training for the student crossing guards. ---PAGE BREAK--- Officer McGaha said she would contact Principal Dexel about teaching pedestrian safety classes to 2nd through 5th graders on either April 15 or 22nd. She will also ask Officer Jemmett, the SRO at Ladera Elementary, to speak with Principal Jackson about offering these classes to 2nd through 5th grade Ladera students as well. Mesa Verde Mrs. Wakan said the “no cell phone zone” promotion had been very well received. She thanked all the teachers who had volunteered their time. Mr. Treat said the students were very interested in the having their parents take the pledge and all the “Children Come Before Phones” decals were given out. Mr. Treat said he is not able to move forward with the bike program because additional bikes are needed. Mrs. Wakan reported that SRTS may be named as the recipient of money raised at the Turkey Trot & Gobble Wobble on November 23. If so, Mrs. Wakan would like to purchase some bikes as well as a trailer to haul and store the bikes in. Bike Rodeo – May 3 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Participants: • 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders • School does not get out until 2:45; rodeo may not actually begin until 3:15 p.m. • 40 – 50 children total • First come; first served (based on the return of permission slip) • Need working bike and helmet o One extra bike is available o Have three spare helmets (use antiseptic spray between children or use kitchen hairnets/covers) o Mr. Hatfield said PTO had discussed using funds to purchase some helmets Volunteers: • Need 10 volunteers for 40-50 children o Mike Barnhart (works at Cottonwood Cycle) o Pat Cordell o Joe Delmagori o Steve Krest o Deanna Maurer o Jeff Treat o Jeff Treat’s brother-in-law o Anngela Wakan o Duane Wakan • Ofcr. McGaha will contact Officers Jemmett and Chavez to see if they are willing to volunteer to help with this bike rodeo. • Mrs. Maurer has not received any feedback from an e-mail to teachers asking for volunteers interested in helping. Mr. Hatfield said no one volunteered at the PTO meeting Stations: • Mrs. Wakan said she held a bike rodeo with her scout troop and having five children at a time at a station took about 10 minutes per station • Mr. Treat suggested having parents drop off bikes at the school the afternoon before the rodeo. The bikes can be stored in the gym and Mr. Barnhart can get a head start on the repairs. ---PAGE BREAK--- • Repairs will be limited to pumping up tires and fixing chains. • Station Assignments: 1. Check-In: Deanna Maurer o This will be done in the gym. o Mrs. Maurer will make sure the permission slip/waiver is complete o Stamp child’s hand or use “walk and roll” sticker to show they have been checked in o Provide activity for children in gym if other stations get backed up 2. Helmet Fit: Duane Wakan 3. Bike Fit and Inspection: Mike Barnhart or Duane Wakan 4. Start and Stop: Jeff Treat’s brother-in-law 5. Avoid Hazards: Joe Delmagori 6. Scan and Signal: Jeff Treat The intermediate and skilled level stations will not be included for this bike rodeo. Mrs. Wakan provided information from the Cycling Skills Clinic Guide for each of the station volunteers. More information is available at: Timeframe: • Permission slips sent home one week prior to bike rodeo • Bike rodeo flyer sent home one week prior and two days before • Have teachers collect permission slips and turn in to Mrs. Maurer • April/May school newsletters will also include information about the event • Include information on bike rodeo on school marquee • Use school’s home dialer on Monday, April 29 to remind students of the event • Mr. Treat and Mrs. Wakan will plan out and mark the site beforehand • Volunteers should plan to be at Mesa Verde at 2:00 p.m. the day of the rodeo to help get everything set up UPDATES Engineering: Mr. Krest was not present at the meeting. Enforcement: Sgt. Monfils said the Police Department was monitoring student drop offs and pick-ups at McCormick Elementary recently and will plan on doing Bluffview Elementary next. Sgt. Monfils said his officers will continue to rotate among the schools. Sgt. Monfils and Officer McGaha reported on anticipated traffic issues with the new Tibbetts Junior High School being built on Twin Peaks Boulevard and expected to open next fall. They noted that the speed limit along the road section is 45 mph and will not be lowered once the school opens. Additionally, the school is positioned at the top of a hill and the right hand turn lane holds only about five cars. Sgt. Monfils stated that because of visibility concerns, buses leaving the school will not be allowed to turn left onto Twin Peaks Boulevard and will have to travel up to Troy King and south to US 64. Sgt. Monfils said the Police Department hopes the city and school board will take some steps to make this school entrance safer. He noted that the “speed boards”, recently installed on Browning Parkway, have made a significant impact in reducing speeds on that roadway ---PAGE BREAK--- and thought they should be considered for the area around the school on Twin Peaks Boulevard. Evaluation: Mr. Delmagori said the spring student counts are scheduled for April 10, 11 and 15 (Apache and McKinley) and on April 23, 24, and 25 (Ladera and Mesa Verde). Officer McGaha said she could help with the counts at Apache and Principal Dexel said she would try to find a volunteer to help at McKinley. Mr. Treat is available to help with the counts at Mesa Verde and Mrs. Maurer said she could be available to assist as well. Mr. Wakan showed the maps MPO compiled that showed the address of each student, and their grade in school, within a one mile radius of each of the SRTS schools. This information was collected, in part, to help organize walking school buses next fall. Principal Sosaya said if family names were available, invitations could be personally directed to each family. She said that once one walking school bus was up and “walking”, it could be used to help start others. Mrs. Maurer said that there is excitement for the walk to school day and this excitement could help build a walking school bus. Mrs. Wakan said the committee should think of ways to utilize the information and noted that it would be updated this fall. Everyone agreed that the maps provided some great information. Education: Mrs. Wakan said the International Bike to School Day is on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Mrs. Wakan has been working with the Mr. Billy Huish on re-routing the school buses that morning to allow all students to walk to school. Mr. Huish said he needed each principal to contact him at 599-8623 and give their approval to re-routing the buses. The location for buses and drivers to park and walk are: • Mesa Verde - San Juan College (Mrs. Wakan received approval from Mr. David Eppich with San Juan College) • McKinley - United Methodist parking lot on Butler and Mojave has been cleared for use • Apache – possibly use the LDS Church parking lot on Auburn; not confirmed yet • Ladera – no location yet identified Mrs. Wakan said that flyers will need to be sent out beforehand to alert parents and guardians to the bus drop off change for that morning. She added that volunteers will be needed to meet and walk with the bused students, and to hand out reflectors to each participating student. To help promote the event, Mrs. Wakan is working to get mascots from different schools and organizations to walk with the students that morning: Apache – Navajo Prep eagle and possible cheer crew (checking their schedule) Ladera – Farmington Police Department SRO’s Eddie Eagle McKinley - FHS Scorpion (FHS Vice Principal has agreed) Mesa Verde - PVHS Panther (request e-mailed; no response yet) Mrs. Wakan has also contacted the Farmington Fire Department to see if they could be onsite to cheer for students and help pass out reflectors at McKinley. They said they would check to see if they were available on that day. ---PAGE BREAK--- Officer McGaha will check with the McKinley PTO and teachers to organize additional volunteers for that school. Mrs. Wakan said there are 1,000 reflectors available to be handed out with approximately 2,000 total students between the four SRTS schools. Promoting SRTS: Mrs. Wakan has been working with a media specialist to have some promotional material developed for SRTS. The final theme will be made into posters and lawn signs and will be displayed several weeks prior to the International Walk to School Day. It was also recommended that the yellow “walk and roll” banners, especially McKinley’s, be replaced. Mrs. Wakan reported that SRTS will soon have a link on the City of Farmington’s new website. The Committee discussed several options for naming the SRTS link: farmingtonwalktoschool; farmingtonwalkandroll; farmingtonwalknroll. Mr. Delmagori noted that “farmingtonwalkandroll” was the true title for the program and Mrs. Wakan said she would check with Mr. Krest. The link will cost $35 for the first year and will provide a “click here to volunteer” link. Other Upcoming Events: Riverfest – May 24-26 June 1 – Kids’ Fest Officer McGaha asked if the meeting date could be changed as she has another commitment on the second Tuesday of the month. The Committee decided to change the meeting day to the second Thursday of the month. The May meeting will be held on May 9 at 3:30 p.m. in the library at Mesa Verde Elementary. SRTS Committee meetings will move to the MPO Office at 100 West Broadway, 2nd Floor for the summer months. Mrs. Wakan adjourned the meeting at 4:30 p.m.