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M I N U T E S Safe Routes to School Committee Meeting July 18, 2013 3:30 P.M. The Safe Routes to School Committee met during a regular meeting on May 9, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. at the MPO Office, 100 West Broadway, Farmington, New Mexico. Present: Coordinator: Anngela Wakan Committee: SRO Lead Coord. Michele DeLese June Markle Members: Duane Wakan Deanna Maurer Committee Absent: Joe Delmagori Steve Krest Officer Lisa McGaha Officer Dave Monfils Jeff Treat 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. Wakan moved to approve the minutes from the April 9 and May 9, 2013 meetings. Ms. Maurer seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. EDUCATION Mrs. Wakan reported on SRTS participation in Kid Fest held on June 1 at McGee Park. There were an estimated 20,000 people who attended Kid Fest and Mrs. Wakan said SRTS gave away 500-600 prizes. Mrs. Wakan will be attending SRTS staff training in California on August 12-15, 2013. Also, if the budget allows, she would like to attend the America Walks Conference in Washington, DC on October 1-3, 2013. Mrs. Wakan will speak with the new principal of Animas Elementary, Anna Delay, to see if there is interest in having her school participate in SRTS. Mrs. Wakan also thought that SRTS might assist the school district in helping to organize additional busing options for students who will be attending the new Tibbetts Middle School. With no pedestrian facilities along Twin Peaks Boulevard, a narrow shoulder, and a 45 mph speed limit, there is concern for student safety. ---PAGE BREAK--- REPORTS FROM PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Mrs. Wakan said she plans to attend each school’s open house this fall and have an informational table set up. She asked if anyone knew the dates for the schools’ open houses. Ms. Maurer said Mesa Verde had already scheduled their open house date, but she did not have that information available. She recommended accessing the school district’s on-line calendar to see if the dates are published there. Apache Mrs. Wakan said she plans to contact the PE teacher, Tim Quakenbush, to see if there might be renewed interest in SRTS programs for Apache. Mrs. Wakan will be meeting with Mr. Krest on July 23 and will ask him about the pending sidewalk improvements for Apache. It is hoped that these improvements will be completed by the start of the new school year and will encourage greater participation by Apache on walk to school days and a potential future walking school bus. Ladera Ladera will have a new principal this year, Maestas. Mrs. Wakan said that Officer McGaha will be working with student crossing guards this year at Ladera Elementary. Mrs. Wakan asked if the school had the needed stop signs and vests for the crossing guards. Officer DeLese said she would check with Officer McGaha to see what was needed. McKinley Mrs. Wakan plans to teach pedestrian safety at the school in the fall. Officer McGaha will be instructing the 5th grade crossing guards at McKinley this year. Mrs. Wakan said the school does have the vests for the students and will check on whether the stop signs were received. Mesa Verde Mrs. Wakan said Principal Sosaya is very interested in getting a walking school bus started at Mesa Verde this year. Once the update student enrollment information can be obtained from the school district, the student listing for Mesa Verde can be generated and the walking school bus route designed. Mrs. Wakan noted the bus would ideally target school children within a one-fourth to one-half mile radius of the school. UPDATES Engineering: Mr. Krest was unable to attend the meeting. Enforcement: Officer DeLese said she thought all the regular school crossing guards should receive some refresher training. She said that she has witnessed the crossing guard on College Boulevard allow students to follow her across the road as she is initially stopping vehicles instead of making the students wait on the sidewalk until the traffic has completely stopped. Officer DeLese said this was an accident waiting to happen. Evaluation: Mr. Wakan will update the school enrollment numbers for the new school year once they become available which he thought could be around the end of August. ---PAGE BREAK--- He stated that the school district is willing to provide the information, but expects that it will be treated as proprietary and its use limited. Mr. Wakan mentioned that under the old SAFETEA-LU transportation bill, there is $1,800,000 in federal funds available for SRTS projects. The deadline to submit letters of intent to NMDOT is August 30. Any infrastructure project within two miles of a K-8 school will be considered. NMDOT has not guaranteed these funds, but it was recommended that any potential projects be submitted for their consideration. Mr. Wakan mentioned that Steve Krest was made aware of the application and its corresponding deadlines. UPCOMING EVENTS Community Bike Rodeo: The Community Bike Rodeo is set for Friday, September 27 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Sycamore Community Center. The Sycamore Center has volunteers available, but Mrs. Wakan would like to have several more volunteers who have some experience with a bike rodeo. Kristen Barnhart said her husband, Mike, who also works at Cottonwood Cycle would be available to help with the rodeo. Because few of the children expected to participate will have their own bikes, the Committee discussed ways to raise funds within the community. Officer DeLese said the police department had been very successful in past fundraising efforts and believed local clubs and businesses would generously contribute to support a community bike rodeo and purchase bikes and helmets. Officer DeLese also commented that the juvenile probation/drug court office had purchased about 20 bikes that were only used for only a summer or two. Although she was not sure of the current state of the bikes, she thought SRTS could probably use them for the bike rodeo. Officer DeLese said to contact Jennifer Quevedo to see about using the bikes. Mrs. Wakan said the Sycamore Center has a popcorn machine that SRTS can use and asked if other refreshments should be considered. Walk Across America: Mrs. Wakan would like to implement another Walk Across America for this school year at interested schools. The Committee discussed the best ways to monitor student activity and participation, “active” prize ideas, and hosting a pool party as a final celebration. Mrs. Wakan recommended providing each student with a laminated card that would be hole-punched by a school representative each day and would attach to the student’s backpack. Mrs. Wakan thought the prizes should be “active” items like a ball, Frisbee, jump rope, water bottle, or t-shirt. The prizes would be given to the students as they achieved certain mile markers along the walk. The Committee also discussed holding the pool party next summer since it probably could not happen prior to the end of the school year. Walk to School Day: The next Walk to School Day is October 9. Mrs. Wakan has contacted San Juan Kids publication to promote this date as well as the bike rodeo in September. For the walk to school day, Mrs. Wakan would like to get more pictures from the different schools and ensure there are enough prizes for all the participating students. Mr. Wakan suggested mobilizing the students at the schools to organize tunnels or cheer lines. ---PAGE BREAK--- Mrs. Maurer thought the mascots at each school added a lot of interest and fun to the event. She also thought the walk to school signs in yards and on fences around the schools were great at publicizing the event and suggested having school students make signs that they could carry that morning while walking or to greet other walkers as they arrived at school. The next meeting will be on Thursday, August 8 at 3:30 p.m. at the MPO Office at 100 West Broadway, 2nd Floor in Farmington. The meeting following will be on Thursday, September 12 at 3:30 p.m. in the library at Mesa Verde Elementary. Mrs. Wakan adjourned the meeting at 4:30 p.m.