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M I N U T E S Safe Routes to School Committee Meeting December 12, 2013 3:30 P.M. The Safe Routes to School Committee met during a regular meeting on December 12, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. at Ladera Elementary School, 308 East 35th Street, Farmington, New Mexico. Present: Coordinator: Anngela Wakan MPO & City of Farmington Staff Officer Michele DeLese Joe Delmagori Steve Krest June Markle Duane Wakan Attendees: Deanna Maurer, Mesa Verde Leslie Nord, McKinley 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. Mr. Krest moved to approve the minutes from the November 12, 2013 meeting. Mr. Wakan seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. EDUCATION & ENCOURAGEMENT Turkey Trot Mrs. Wakan thanked those Committee members who helped out with the SRTS table during the Turkey Trot. Those who were there agreed that the turnout was not bad considering the cold, wet weather. The actual number of participants was approximately 300 walkers and runners. Mrs. Wakan reported that Ms. Isenberg had said the amount of money raised had not been calculated yet, but hoped to have everything available in a few weeks. Mrs. Wakan suggested the money be used to purchase bikes for SRTS bike rodeos. The Bike Friday Fleet bikes are expandable for riders from 4’ to 6’ tall. The school with the most participating students was Ladera Elementary and they were awarded the “golden sneaker”. It was noted that there were a lot of private and home- schooled children who participated. The group made some recommendations for changes to improve future “trots”: • Hold event earlier in month to allow for possible better weather; • Schools were out the entire week following the Saturday event so many people traveled out of town that weekend; • Send flyers home with students; • Improve registration process; • Provide links to event on front page of City’s website, from SRTS website and from Chamber website; • Need posters for City-wide posting; ---PAGE BREAK--- • Provide better route markings; • Apache Street was not blocked off and some believed it was unsafe. Mr. Krest said that because most of the streets the route takes have moderate traffic and the event does not focus on finish times, the police department does not close off the streets to vehicular traffic. Mr. Krest said it has been suggested that this event be held along the river walk. However, in an effort to promote the downtown Farmington area, this event and others, have been held along the downtown streets. Mrs. Wakan made up three gift bags and these were presented to the children whose names were randomly drawn. Christmas Parade Mrs. Wakan said SRTS participated in the Farmington Chamber’s parade held on December 5. There was a large turnout to watch the parade even though the evening was really cold. The SRTS group was closer to the front of the parade this year which shortened the time everyone had to be outside. Also, Mr. Wakan drove their van behind the SRTS group so when someone got too cold to continue walking they could hop into the van and warm up. The van was decorated with SRTS posters and banners. Mrs. Wakan thanked all the Mesa Verde Elementary students and parents who again participated in the parade. She noted that they did not hand out any prizes or candy along the parade route this year, but that many of the other participants had. Parent Day Mrs. Wakan said that she and Mr. Wakan had participated in Parent Day held at the Cate Center and sponsored by the School District. Other participants who gave presentations included the library, museum and planners from community development. This is a bilingual event that is held about once a month. One classroom is for Spanish- speaking and another for English. A Spanish speaking interpreter was provided for the presentation to non-English speaking attendees. Mrs. Wakan said there were some traffic concerns for students at Esperanza Elementary that were brought up in the discussion. It was mentioned that traffic in the morning hours was chaotic at the intersection of Wildflower and Wildflower Mesa Drive and unsafe for student and parent walkers. Also highlighted was that there were no sidewalks leading to the schools. The SRTS group also discussed the safety and efficiency benefits that roundabouts could provide in these situations. REPORTS FROM PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Apache Apache Elementary has given away 20 Frisbees to students participating in the Walk Across America program. Ladera Ladera held a Walk Across America promotion for one month earlier in the fall. They plan to run it again in the spring when the weather warms up. ---PAGE BREAK--- McKinley Ms. Nord said that McKinley has decided to wait and start their Walk Across America program in the spring. Mrs. Wakan said the morning walking school bus at McKinley is doing very well. The other walking school buses walk from a greater distance and have decided to stop for the winter months due to the colder temperatures. Mesa Verde Mrs. Maurer reported that Mesa Verde has approximately 20-30 students participating in the Walk Across America program and that some of the students have turned in two punch cards. Mrs. Wakan said has more turkey charms if they are needed and also has some penguin charms to give out to those students who continue to participate during the winter months. PARENT SURVEYS Mrs. Wakan said she will be sending in the parental surveys in the next week or so. She received a call recently from Ladera Elementary saying they had 30 more survey to turn in. She asked if any of the other schools had additional surveys to provide. UPCOMING EVENTS Goosebump 5K and 1 Mile Walk/Run This is an event put on by San Juan Regional typically in February. Mrs. Wakan plans to have a SRTS table set up for the event. Ms. Nord said this event is typically well attended and along with the 5K and one mile walk/run, San Juan Regional has other scheduled activities for participants to take part in. Mr. Delmagori said this might be a good opportunity for the MPO to provide a public information session on the major thoroughfare plan (MTP) that staff is beginning to develop. Safety Days Officer DeLese said the Safety Days are scheduled for March 10-14, 2014. Mrs. Wakan will plan on participating again to teach pedestrian safety classes. Officer DeLese said Safety Days have been held at the Cate Center, but with 880 first graders attending last year, they are considering moving the program to the Civic Center to better provide for the large number of students. National Bike/Walk to School Day The National Bike to School Day is May 7, 2014. Mrs. Wakan said for the event this year, 1200 prizes were given out at the four SRTS schools and also Animas Elementary. She asked if there were suggestions from the group on what to use for prizes for next year’s event. ENGINEERING: Mr. Krest said all the pending SRTS projects will begin in 2014 following the end of the school year. ---PAGE BREAK--- ENFORCEMENT: Officer DeLese plans to ask each of the School Resource Officers (SROs) to speak with the school crossing guards for their school about not allowing children to follow the crossing guard into the crosswalk as they initially go into the road to stop traffic. Officer DeLese said the students need to wait on the sidewalk until the crossing guard has stopped the traffic and directs the students that it is safe to cross. Officer DeLese also said that Mrs. Attaway from the Cate Center has asked for some traffic monitoring at the Center. Although no students are unescorted or walk alone to the Cate Center, she believes the current traffic situation is unsafe. Officer DeLese plans to monitor traffic over the next day or so and see if a police presence will encourage drivers and parents crossing the road to pay attention and be more careful. Mr. Krest added that all the traffic control measures for that location are in place until repaving begins in the spring. EVALUATION: Mr. Delmagori discussed a study by The National Center for SRTS entitled Trends in Walking and Biking to School from 2007 to 2012. He highlighted some of the data the study presented: - Walking to and from school increased significantly between 2007 and 2012. From 12.4% to 15.7% in the morning; and from 15.8% to 19.7% in the afternoon. - Parental support increased from 24.9% to 33% - There were 382 schools participating in SRTS at the beginning of the study and over 8,000 at the end of the six-year period. Mr. Delmagori said he would send the survey to anyone interested in reading more it in more detail. There were no additional concerns or topics for discussion. There is no meeting scheduled for January 2014. The next meeting will be on Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 3:30 p.m. at Mesa Verde Elementary. Mrs. Maurer will check on the availability of the library for this meeting. The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.