Agenda for Ped/Bike Safety

Tonight's meeting will cover some basic organizational issues and begin a discussion of how we move forward. I want to ask for help in many of these areas and hope we can begin to divide up the work right away.

Open Meeting Law Requirements (5 minutes)

Because this will be an official town committee, we are subject to the requirements of the open meeting law. We need to ensure every meeting is publicized by the town clerk and we need to record meeting minutes. I'm considering recording the meetings...but in the meantime, we still need a person to be responsible for ensuring these requirements are met. In terms of meeting notice, I suggest we stick to a schedule of meeting every 3rd Thursday at 7:30pm, but the location may change. We just need a volunteer who will be responsible for minutes and notice.

Membership (10 minutes)

Technically, there are no official members of the committee yet. We need to collect a list of volunteers who are willing to commit to attending the monthly meetings and working actively with the group. The meetings are always open to anyone, but formal membership will be comprised of a number of people as described in the proposal and including representation from the schools. Those interested in serving should write up a very short description of their interest and background which I will collect and forward to the Board of Selectmen for consideration. I need help here in reaching out to the schools as well as publicizing this committee among other groups in town that may not know about this blog, etc. I'm not going to promise membership or "vet" that list, but I want to be able to do this in an organized manner so there is not a piecemeal string of requests to be appointed. The purpose tonight will be to answer questions about that process and set expectations for how this will work.

Communication Media (10 minutes)

We need a way to consistently communicate with those who are interested. I could set up a website, dedicated blog, social networking site (e.g. ning) and/or we could ask for space on the town website. We also want to take advantage of any existing communications in town such as the school newsletters and perhaps set up an email list. We should also consider how best to reach those who prefer non-online communications--Phil Shapiro made a point at the last Selectman's meeting of asking that this committee not become an exclusively online thing--we should reach out though other organizations in town such as the Council on Aging so that our efforts are known and potentially interested people are aware and able to participate. I can do much myself, but if someone would like to coordinate, this would help me avoid these sorts of "morning before meeting" efforts.

Programming (10 minutes)

I think it would be valuable to include an informational/educational component in each meeting--e.g. a guest speaker. I've been contacted by one group so far and in particular I'd like to have a representative from Safe Routes to Schools come and use our meeting as an opportunity to share information about that program with more people in town who are interested. Do people like this idea? Would someone like to coordinate speakers?

Prioritization (1 hour+)

The main point of this group is to identify ways to improve pedestrian and bike safety. The workshop in November identified problem intersections and many more have been reported on this blog under the walkable westwood topic and comments. I've also already received a letter from a person concerned about the dangerous conditions on Everett Street when snow blocks the sidewalk and pedestrians are forced into the road as they approach the Washington/Clapboardtree intersection. We need a process to take all these reports in and prioritize them publicly so we can identify the top safety concerns by location and then move on towards finding solutions.

For example, we might consider the East Street bridge a top concern. I've heard there have been studies done in the past, but I've also heard that it's a controversial topic because of the potential impact on neighborhood traffic by opening up that tunnel. And, of course, there are huge costs associated with anything involving new construction. But our first step, I believe, is to identify the top concerns, then ask what we can realistically do about those concerns.

Bring your concerns to this meeting. I definitely want to hear from anyone who is willing to put in the time to show up at a meeting like this, record those issues, then, as a group discuss the most effective way to sort though it all in preparation for the next meeting.

Other Ideas (remainder of meeting)

Future Meetings

As I drew up this agenda, I thought of a general approach to these meetings that might work well. We could have each meeting cover:

• Programming - 30 minute talk and Q&A on a topic
• Problems - consideration of safety reports from residents--the opportunity for anyone to come to the committee and report a situation in town they feel needs attention
• Solutions - reports from the committee on progress toward addressing the top concerns as currently prioritized.

I will look forward to seeing everyone who can make it tonight and to getting this project started!