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M I N U T E S Safe Routes to School Committee Meeting January 8, 2013 3:15 P.M. The Safe Routes to School Committee met during a regular meeting on January 8, 2013 at 3:15 p.m., at Apache Elementary School, 700 West Apache, Farmington, New Mexico. Present: Coordinator: Anngela Wakan Committee Pat Cordell Joe Delmagori June Markle Sergeant Dave Monfils Duane Wakan Members None Committee Absent: Steve Krest Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:15 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 December 11, 2012 meeting. Mr. Delmagori moved to approve the minutes and Sgt. Monfils seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. REPORTS FROM PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Mrs. Wakan reported on each of the SRTS schools: Ladera Mrs. Wakan plans to attend Ladera’s PTO meeting on January 15. Any SRTS events will be determined by the level of volunteer participation at the school. McKinley Mrs. Wakan will also be attending McKinley’s next PTO meeting on January 9. Sgt. Monfils reported that he had received the stop signs for use by the new 5th grade student crossing guards. He anticipates being able to get the crossing guard training completed for the students by the end of the month and could begin using student crossing guards on as soon as February 1. Sgt. Monfils will contact Principal Dexel to see when the school would be ready to begin the project. Mrs. Wakan will contact the newspapers to get some pictures and a story as the project kicks off. Mrs. Wakan will be speaking with Principal Dexel to gauge their interest in a “no phone zone” for McKinley. ---PAGE BREAK--- Mesa Verde Mrs. Wakan said she had not heard from Mr. Treat on organizing a mountain bike program for 5th graders at Mesa Verde. The Committee reviewed a letter to be sent home with Mesa Verde students along with a copy of the “no cell phone zone” pledge for parents to read and sign. The schedule of events for the “no cell phone zone” project is as follows: • January 22 – Mrs. Wakan and Liam Gibbons, 5th grade student at Mesa Verde, to attend the Farmington City Council meeting and invite the Mayor and Councilors to the ribbon cutting ceremony to be held on February 7; • January 24 – Mrs. Wakan to attend the School Board meeting; • January 24 – Kick-off assembly at Mesa Verde: o Ms. Robinson and students to perform distracted driving skit; o Mrs. Wakan to make presentation on “no cell phone zone”; o Letter explaining the project and inviting parents to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony o Pledges handed out to students to take home for parental signatures; • January 25 – February 6 – Collect pledges from students and hand out decals: o Mr. Treat and Ms. Robinson volunteered to be the lead teachers for this project; o There are 300 decals on hand. • February 7 – Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 2:00 p.m.; o Mrs. Wakan will present a video clip of faces of distracted drivers and give a short informational presentation on distracted driving; o Ms. Robinson and students will be asked to again present their distracted driving skit; o Principal Sosaya will give 5-10 minute speech if desired; o Actual ribbon cutting with Chamber of Commerce Redcoats Mrs. Wakan asked what other public officials or dignitaries should be included. Sgt. Monfils said he would ask the Police Chief to attend. It was also suggested to include invitations to the newspapers. Mrs. Wakan said she would take on teaching bike/pedestrian safety to students at Mesa Verde. She plans to do this sometime the week before spring break, March 4-7. Apache Elementary The Committee was taking a walking tour of the Apache Elementary School area. The report on Apache was deferred to later in the meeting following the walking tour. GOALS Mrs. Wakan still plans to organize a Walk Across America challenge for this school year. The Committee discussed some incentive rewards for participants who compete throughout the challenge and would consider potentially hosting a pool party for those who complete the entire competition. Mrs. Wakan is also interested in organizing a walking school bus for each SRTS school. She took the on-line training and it was recommended that those contemplating the establishment of a walking school bus should take approximately one year to prepare and ensure the overall program was thoroughly set up before trying to implement it. Mrs. ---PAGE BREAK--- Wakan said that initially SRTS needs to share the information, and then decide how to proceed and determine how the program will be supported. She stated the most vital component to a successful walking school bus is to have consistent volunteers made up of parents, students, senior citizens, and other interested individuals. The webinar she participated in recommended the possibility of getting a list or map of each elementary school family within walking distance of its school. Mr. Delmagori added that this was discussed during the walking school bus seminar held in Farmington in 2011. He said part of the seminar was an exercise using maps and addresses to establish walking school buses. It was suggested that the GIS individual with the school administrative offices could likely provide this information. Mr. Delmagori added that the MPO has a booklet of information that was provided at the walking school bus seminar that Mrs. Wakan could have. ENGINEERING Mrs. Wakan reported that Mr. Krest and MPO Staff would be meeting later in the week to discuss recommendations for spending $10,000 of the $25,000 in non-infrastructure funds that SRTS has received. ENFORCEMENT Sgt. Monfils’ project to have an officer stationed at a different school each week, both in the mornings and in the afternoons, to monitor student drop offs and pick-ups is expected to begin around February 1. Mr. Delmagori stated that he frequently uses Dustin Avenue in the mornings on his way to work and noticed that the 15 mph school speed zone sign is often turned on before 7:00 a.m. Sgt. Monfils replied that the school crossing guards are allowed to start their shift early and he prefers to have the intersections manned earlier than later. EVALUATION Mr. Wakan provided the SRTS Committee with school maps that show both a quarter mile and half mile buffer around each of the SRTS schools. With census population figures incorporated, these maps show the numbers of school age children by age and school grade that are in each of the school boundaries. He added that this information can also display declining population in a specific area and the subsequent impact to student enrollment. EDUCATION Mr. Cordell has been trying to contact Conoco-Phillips to see if they would be interested in partnering on a bike rodeo at one of the SRTS schools this year. Mrs. Wakan said that SRTS could easily take on hosting a small bike rodeo on their own at a participating school. She would like to have a bike rodeo perhaps on Friday, May 3 which is the week before the International Walk/Bike to School Day of May 8. The Committee discussed some of the needs to consider before hosting a bike rodeo: - Liability insurance. - Have extra bikes available for children to use or require them to bring their own. - Ask local bicycle shop to perform safety inspections. ---PAGE BREAK--- - Provide list of equipment that all children must have. - Release from parents for child to participate. - Is grant money available to assist with any of the expenses (not for helmets for bikes)? - Need approximately 10 volunteers to assist with the different rodeo stations. Mrs. Wakan stated that Mesa Verde has had the best volunteer participation and would also like to have a rodeo at their school. She suggested this be where SRTS hosted the rodeo for this year. Mr. Cordell and Mrs. Wakan will continue to work on getting a bike rodeo coordinated for 2013. Apache Elementary School Report The Committee members left the meeting and walked the sidewalks to the east and west of Apache Elementary to see first-hand some of the issues and concerns that need to be addressed in the school’s action plan. Everyone noted that the sidewalks around the school were encroached upon by utility poles, gravel, weeds, dirt, and fences. It was recommended that the City of Farmington do what it can to clear the sidewalks. The question was also asked if the City could acquire any additional land from some of the property owners along Apache Street. Mr. Wakan noted that MPO Staff could do some sketch up drawings that could demonstrate the positive aspects of potential improvements to the area. The actual feasibility of acquiring additional property along Apache Street was not known by the members present. Mrs. Wakan asked each member to brainstorm potential partnerships for the next meeting. The next SRTS Committee meeting will be on February 12, 2013 meeting will be held at 3:15 p.m. at Ladera Elementary. Mrs. Wakan adjourned the meeting at 4:15 p.m.