Outreach/Programming Subcommittee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Members present:  Dan Smith, Kathy Ritter, Pat McDonald, Chris Hayday, Brad Eiffert

Staff attendance:  Ted Curtis and Jill Stedem

Others attending:  Mike Vangel, Shannan Baker, Kate Stull- Vangel; and Ian Thomas- PedNet Coalition.

Meeting was called to order by Dan Smith. 

Minutes from the January 23, 2008 meeting were approved with no objections.

Dan Smith explained that Karl Kruse and Naomi Cupp had stepped down from the subcommittee and he was named the new chairman.  Karl has moved to the infrastructure subcommittee and Naomi stepped down for family reasons. Dan said if anyone was interested in serving in a co-chair capacity to let him know.

Shannan Baker from Vangel gave a brief update on the status of their contract. Vangel put together a ten minute presentation that explains the GetAbout Columbia program and includes public relations, education and infrastructure projects.  Mike Vangel went over the presentation with the group as an example of how they would be able to use the presentation in a speakers bureau program. The presentation was designed with the economic and health benefits in mind, rather than details of each project, so it can be presented by anyone on the PR committee. 

Pat McDonald asked how they would deal with specific questions related to infrastructure projects or people opposed to certain projects.  Those questions can easily be directed to the project manager at the GetAbout office, as they are the staff hired to oversee and coordinate the pilot. Presentations would also be a good place to hand out brochures or calendar for upcoming events. The GetAbout office has a supply of brochures that can be used for this purpose. Brad Eiffert suggested adding more photos to the presentation as he felt visuals were important and more appealing to gain people’s attention. A projector and laptop would be needed for the presentations. Ian Thomas said the PedNet Coalition had an extra projector that could be used. 

The group will get back together in a few weeks to go over the final DVD and script, and also come up with a list of groups to present this to. A question was asked about how public transportation fit into the GetAbout project. It’s an important part because people can walk to the bus stop or take their bike to the bus stop and each bus is equipped with a bike rack.

Ted Curtis told the group about the presentation put together by Parks and Rec about the problems associated with gravel paths and why it’s important from an environmental standpoint to use hard surface.  It was recommended this presentation be given to the full advisory committee so they have a better understanding of the problems and the ADA issues associated with it. Staff is looking at ways to educate the public about trail surfaces, because in order to use federal funds on trails, they must be ADA complaint and gravel doesn’t work in floodplains or on sloped surfaces.

Next Meeting: TBD.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:15 pm. 

Meeting Minutes