Safe Routes to Schools Minutes 11.19.09
November 22, 2009
TOWN OF BRADFORD
SAFE WALK TO SCHOOL MEETING
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
3:30PM
In attendance were: Nik Coates, CNHRPC, Cheryl Behr, Administrator, Debbie Flinkstrom, Dawn Rich, Kate Dobrowski, Andrew Pinard, Beth Rodd and Marge Cilley, Secretary. Audrey Sylvester was absent.
Audrey Sylvester brought in pictures taken at the Community the day of the Scavenger Hunt.
The Scavenger Hunt went off very well with the exception of the heavy rain. The Halloween gathering was very well attended with over 200 there. In reply to some questions to children regarding side walks, one child said: “Get new ones” another said “Where are they? Questionnaires were looked at and people were asked to leave them at the Town Office.
Another subject brought up was how dark Main Street is and it is very difficult seeing walkers after dark, especially when the late school busses unload on Main Street. It was thought that the street lights that were taken away about ten years ago should be put back. The money saved in electricity is inconsequential.
Nik Coates, CNHRPC advised he spoke to the Bradford PTO last evening and had positive results. He handed out the prepared packets for Safe Route to School. He advised he had also spoken with the Sutton Board of Selectmen who wants to do Safe Route to School also, and would like to extend an invitation to attend their meetings and would like to be included in Bradford’s, making this a district wide approach.
Nik Coates’, CNHRPC office will be doing a Safe Route to School conference in March to include the whole state. At this time the date has not been set. Local experts from the whole region will do seminars to help communities get their Safe Routes to School projects rolling. A task force meeting to include Warner, Bradford, Sutton, Newbury would be beneficial.
Mr. Spadaro, Principal, Kearsarge Bradford School will distribute Safe Route to School information in the school news letter.
The infrastructure is already in place at the school with the existing trails etc.
One thought was to give each school child a journal to record how many miles they have walked as a wellness/healthy living exercise each week, and could be incorporated as part of their English class. Another thought is to work with the school and do a mapping of routes to school.
The next task was thought to have a survey inserted in the Bradford Bridge, and also put it on the Bradford Web Site. For the next several months, the main effort will be put into the surveys, circulating and getting them turned in to the town office.
Also there will be a traffic count and this could be worked out with the Road Agent. It would include volume, speed and classification of vehicles. This would be for a week in the spring for 24/7. Also a walking audit was discussed with an inventory, observation, striping and conditions which would be done with teams.
In the spring, a Bike Rodeo to include how to fix bikes will be planned, coordinated with the police and Will Hurley. Also a Community Night may be planned for the spring.
There will be a Book Sale at the school probably early December and the goal is to make up some book marks about Safe Routes to School to hand out for each book sold as well as place some in the library.
March 29, 2010 is the day notification of the Grant that was applied for should come.
The next temporarily scheduled meetings are:
December 17, 2009
January 14, 2010
February 18, 2010
March 11, 2010
April 8, 2010
Motion to Adjourn 4:30pm
Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie R. Cilley
Secretary
Safe Routes to School Task Force Meeting 11.05.09
November 9, 2009
BRADFORD SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL
TASK FORCE MEETING
TOWN HALL
NOVEMBER 5, 2009
3:30PM
Present at the Nov. 5, 2009 meeting were: Andrew Pinard, Chair. Evan Aird, CNHRPC, Cheryl Behr, Town Administrator, Dawn Rich, Marvin Rich, Kate Dobrowski, Shanna Braden, Audrey Sylvester, Jim Valiquet, Police Chief, Marge Cilley, Secretary.
Halloween Event:
Andrew Pinard asked for in put regarding the Halloween party held at the Community Center. Cheryl Behr advised many pictures were taken of the children as they came in. Many flyers were handed out which contained a map on the reverse for Safe Route to School, and many people were talked with explaining the project. There were between 200 and 300 participants in the activities that night. People were asked to return the surveys either at the town hall, or at the Community Center.
The school survey will be from a hand count as the individual teachers ask a question, for a show of hands, and they will report the responses.
It was suggested posting the flyer’s in Newbury at the Post Office, Library and Town Hall.
It was stated by Evan Aird, CNHRPC that the Town should hear from the Grant that was applied for by late March.
For the Scavenger Hunt, on November 14, 2009, Cheryl Behr suggested that a synopsis of the History with the picture of each of the listed stops be printed and handed out. It was unanimously thought to be a great idea, and will be pursued. There will prizes, speakers, music and refreshments.
The event will be advertised in the Intertown Record, Concord Monitor and has already been in the Bridge. Evan Aird, CNHRPC will make up another banner. It will be announced in school.
Some upcoming events listed for spring include: Bike Rally, French’s Park, Fishing Derby in April, 3 mile walk in June. Audrey Sylvester suggested a bike parade.
A sound system will be provided by Andrew Pinard for the Nov. 14, 2009 event, which will be held from 11:00am to 2:00pm.
Jim Valiquet, Police Chief questioned the route of travel for the scavenger hunt patrons as having to cross Route 103 several times. There will be coverage for the crossing, and it was thought this will also be helping the children be more aware of crossing highways.
Jim Valiquet is working on the Bike Rally in the spring and will co-ordinate with Mr. Spadaro, Kearsarge Elementary School.
NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY NOV. 19, 2009 AT 3:30 PM
Adjourned 4:15pm
Respectfully submitted
Marjorie R. Cilley, Secretary
Safe Routes to Schools Committee Minutes 10.01.09
October 5, 2009
TOWN OF BRADFORD
SAFE WALK TO SCHOOL
OCTOBER 1, 2009
3:30PM
Andrew Pinard, Interim Chair, opened the Safe Walk to School meeting at 3:00pm. with the following in attendance: Kate Dobrowski, Community Center, Dawn Rich, Nik Coates, CNHRPC, Shanna Braden, Audrey Sylvester, Friends of the Brown Memorial Library, Evan from CNHRPC, Christine Waite, Chips, Cheryl Behr, Town of Bradford, Debbie Flinkstrom, Parks and Rec., Beth Rodd, Community Member.
September 17, 2009 Minutes:
Andrew Pinard advised the last minutes that were taken, on September 17, 2009 have been posted on the web site with the edit of Nik Cotes name which is: Coates.
Andrew Pinard also thanked Nik Coates for coordinating the information which is being turned over to him today.
The checklist for today includes:
Letters for support from community members due.
Letters received include the Community Center, State Senate, Mr. Janeway, and Representative, Beth Rodd, and Barbara French. Nik Coates advised there have been enough letters received, waiting for others, could delay the process. Nik Coates will collect the letters today and run them thru the PDF copier with the application and have it for completion by Monday.
Nik Coates advised the application is complete and should move forward.
Christine Waite advised there will be a Chips special meeting set up soon.
Nik Coates advised that realistically a meeting would encompass about one half hour. This could take place at Community Night. This should be well advertised with a press release, volunteer fliers, advertising for Community night. Samples of what another town is doing was passed out for perusal. A guide for Community Night for consideration was passed around. Andrew Pinard advised he will contact school administration and cross promote this to the school and keep Mr. Spadaro up to date with what is going on.
Andrew Pinard added that Cheryl Behr and Nik Coates have put a lot of work into preparing the initial grant, and if any new members have questions or input to feel free to speak up.
Recruiting a task force for different areas of this endeavor to include:
1. Promotional, which Andrew advised he will do something on the Web Site.
2. Media and Grass Roots aspect.
3. Planning a walking event for the fall. Now that the asphalt has been cleared off from West Main Street and the repair of some sections of it and showing the difference left on East Main Street can be seen better, and will show the limitations of what is being worked on. Hopefully this will get more people with children out and walk downtown and see what the conditions are and understand that there is a need to improve certain areas. Suggestion for locations to make stops at and where to cross the street could be outlined. The highlights of the route should include the Town Hall, Community Center, Library, Church and Fire Dept. with a stop at each where refreshments of cider etc. would be made available.
Andrew Pinard advised it is not just an issue of sidewalks, there is also lighting issues involved. There is a map showing a potential area for the sidewalk to go. Nik Coates suggested getting information out to parents during Halloween. Dawn Rich volunteered to give handouts at that time. A scavenger hunt was suggested and perhaps could include the Boy Scouts.
1. Nominate someone to talk with the Selectmen to see if it would be feasible to close the road for a certain time frame on Halloween. The time frame is usually from 4:00pm to 6pm for the small children and 6:00pm to 8:00pm for the older children. Cheryl Behr will talk with the Police Dept. concerning this.
2. A scavenger hunt should be planned very soon as it is getting colder and this should include both parents and children. There could be speakers, such as Fire Chief, someone from the Safe Routes to School, as well as the Police Chief, for 5 minutes each. A banner could be at the beginning of the route and also a table with information and fliers about Safe Routes to School. This is a suggestion, however, something different could be set up. Shanna Braden and Kate Dobrowski will work together on this. Dawn Rich questioned if October 12th might be a good time with there being no school on that day.
Jim Valiquet, Police Chief suggested poling the Selectmen as to the closing off of Main Street during the Halloween hours for safety.
November14, 2009 is the date set for the scavenger hunt during the day from 10:00pm to 2:00pm with historical facts regarding the town of Bradford as their guide to go on to the next step in the hunt. Their prizes will be picked up at the event to be held at the Community Center at 3:00pm., where there will be a speaker. Several possibilities of speakers were suggested and will be approached. This will be coordinated through e-mails.
Distribution of surveys was discussed to coordinate with the Web Site, as well as giving the information to Mr. Spadaro to take the lead in the schools and to coordinate with the teachers, hopefully by making it a homework assignment and offering rewards. Paper copies of the survey could be put in the Community Center and Library as well as other local spots. It was suggested that survey’s could be dropped off at a specified places to be named at a later time.
A dead line for the survey’s to be completed will be tentatively set for November 24, 2009.
THE NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2009, AT 3:30 AT THE TOWN HALL
Nik Coates advised that once events are planned and everything is in place, they will need to transition into looking at completing the tasks that are built into the application. Specific items needing to be addressed are: Creating the maps which will come out of the surveys. An other survey that needs to be done will come out of Field Work from CHRPC who will work with the committee. Some walking will be done in the spring. A bike rodeo will be in the plans among other activities as well as setting up an assembly at school to talk with parents about speeding and safe driving around school zones.
Everyone will be receiving e-mails from Nik Coates with up-dates.
Adjourned at 4:00pm
Respectfully submitted
Marjorie R. Cilley
Secretary
