BWM hosted
the 2006 annual membership meeting in the form of a family fun ride Saturday, May 20th, in Hattiesburg on the Longleaf Trace starting at the trail head near USM. The event
was geared toward those who may not have been on a bike in a while or may have family members who they would like to introduce to cycling in a comfortable format. Bicycle rentals were available on site.
The ride began at 9:00 AM and went 10 miles out and 10 miles back. Light snacks and water
were provided at the start and the 10 mile turn around point.
A brief membership meeting was then held at noon in the Welcome Center meeting room to share the past accomplishments of BWM and gather input from
members for future endeavors.
See the official minutes of the 2006 meeting.
Each member was given a copy of
the 2003-2006 Summary prepared by Ken Seawright.
Ken Seawright (Treasurer) gave a
financial report. BWM has a current balance of approximately $59,000.
James Moore (President) spoke about
the Share the Road Specialty Tag. 10 were sold today. If 2000 people sign up for
the tags it will provide enough income to make BWM self sufficient and hire a
full time director. The Director will then not have to be primarily concerned
with fund raising, but will devote their attentions to attaining the goals and
objectives set forth by the members and board. President Moore challenged
each member to sell 10 tags in order to help meet the requirement for 200
pre-production sales.
Cookie Leffler (MDOT) gave a
presentation on the nation-wide Safe Routes to Schools Program. In 1969 50% of
all students walked or bicycled to school compared to < 15% today. This has
helped lead to obesity, traffic congestion, and increased pollution. The state
will receive $1,000,000 in federal money each year for the next five years and
will grant this money to towns, cities, and counties for Safe Routes projects.
No matching monies are required, but it is a reimbursement program. They
already have the FY05-06 (ends 9/30/06) monies in hand. The grant application
will be available on the MDOTweb site by August or September.
Here are some pictures of folks who
stopped by the BWM aid station at the 10 mile turnaround point.
Bike/Walk Mississippi (formerly
Bicycle Advocacy Group of Mississippi),
Annual Meeting minutes
1:00, May 20, 2006
Long Leaf Trace Community Room
After the unveiling of our proposed specialty license plate and new
t-shirt at the fun ride on the Long Leaf Trace beginning at 9:00 that
morning, members of the Board welcomed several visitors to the annual
meeting.
Board Members present:
Jim Moore
Ken Seawright
John Young
Lee Emery (by proxy; she was still riding the Trace!)
Bill Stilley
Other Members:
Anne Beardshall
Phyllis (and Ryan) Seawright
Elmer Beardshall
Visitors:
Andrew Williams
Felicia Brown
Ed Crockett
Cookie, Marc, (and Mina) Leffler
1. Jim welcomed all who had come to the ride and who had purchased advance Share
the Road specialty license plates and t-shirts. He explained how this car tag
could become the main source of revenue for Bike/Walk Mississippi (hereafter
referred to as BWM).
2. Ken gave the treasurer's report.
3. Cookie Leffler introduced herself as the new Safe Routes to School
Coordinator for MDOT. She is based in Jackson. Our new program will draw from
national models, notably the one in Marin County, California.
Her contact information is as follows:
Cookie Leffler, SRTS Coordinator, MDOT
cleffler@mdot.state.ms.us
601.359.1466
4. Jim said that the updated membership list had a total of 75 names
before today. After the ride, that number had increased to about 120.
Good response from people who had heard of the ride and walk-ups from regular
Trace riders.
5. Thanks to Elmer, the
www.bikemississippi.org website has been a
good resource and touchpoint for much recent publicity on bike-related issues.
6. At the recent Bike Summit in Washington, attended by Jim, there was
significant federal input on bicycle safety education. For the past three years
BWM has supported lobbying efforts at the Bike Summit in DC where cycling and
pedestrian advocates have pushed for federal support of safer cycling and
pedestrian facilities. Recent Summits have made a push for a national Safe
Routes to School program which was successfully passed as part of the recent
Transportation Bill. Mississippi will get a minimum of one million dollars per
year over the next five years.
BWM's decision to consistently send representatives to Washington
has paid off in new policy that will fund significant bike/ped
improvements in Mississippi communities. It must now become the mission of BWM
to educate local communities of these newly gained opportunities.
7. The goal for selling the new specialty license plate is 10 per
member. We need to sell 200 by September. Saturday's ride and booth sold 10
plates, with additional forms handed out for later mail-in.
Discussion:
Jim encouraged everyone to attend City Council meetings and MPO
meetings to say "Bicycle/Pedestrian" whenever possible and to praise good moves
by city officials.
Meeting adjourned about 1:50 p.m.
respectfully submitted,
Phyllis W. Seawright
Acting Secretary to the Board of Bike/Walk Mississippi
5/22/06
Phyllis W. Seawright, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Department of Communication
Mississippi College
P. O. Box 4019
Clinton, MS 39058
Phone--(601) 925-3453
E-mail--seawrigh@mc.edu
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