ACTION IN MUSKOGEE (AIM) COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 26, :30 PM MUSKOGEE PUBLIC LIBRARY 801 WEST OKMULGEE ST/MUSKOGEE, OK 74401

Transcription

1 ACTION IN MUSKOGEE (AIM) COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 26, :30 PM MUSKOGEE PUBLIC LIBRARY 801 WEST OKMULGEE ST/MUSKOGEE, OK Meeting Minutes Committee Members Present Mark Wilkerson, City of Muskogee Mike Jackson, Connors State College Barb Elmore, Muskogee County Health Department Doug Walton, Muskogee County Health Department Kelvin Brown, Muskogee Directory Jonita Mullins, Okie Heritage Jenny Crosby, Port of Muskogee Call to Order Doug Walton called the meeting to order at 3:35 pm Approval of Minutes Motion to approve the minutes was made by Mark Wilkerson, Jonita Mullins seconded. Motion carried all approved. Action Items - Quick Review of recently FUNDED bikeways (on-street linkages) o Doug reviewed handout regarding linkages and bike lanes. There was also a group discussion regarding sidewalks. The city is including sidewalks in the South York and MLK reconstruction projects on both sides of the road. There is still discussion within the city as to where sidewalks will be on 24 th St from Okmulgee to Shawnee, and what kind. It has been suggested that the city build a super sidewalk on one side of the road from at least MLK to Shawnee. Updates will be provided on that project as they become available. - Trails Master Plan Map Updates o The current trails master plan map is being updated by Mark Wilkerson and Doug Walton. It is being transferred into a format that can be edited as needed. Doug discussed the need for the map to be created in a format that allows significant resolution for electronic zoom in order to see crossing streets and allow for easier printing to scale for distribution to citizens and visitors. Kelvin will be doing some computerization and says that this could be done using Google Maps. Jenny suggested putting the completed maps on the chamber website. - National Walk to School Day o October 9 th. There are 5 Muskogee Schools participating: Tony Goetz, Irving, Whittier, Hilldale, & Cherokee Elementary. Doug has been working with site administrators to get baseline data on current walkers. A walking survey was sent home with students at Irving Elementary. 241 were returned, 78 had been translated into Spanish. Of the returned surveys 24% of students were walking to school, 65% were coming by car, 20% traveling by bus and 2 students were riding bikes. When asked why students don t walk 34% of parent sited traffic concerns, 14% sidewalk concerns, 29% said they were had concerns about crime and 35% said their child was too young. When asked if parents would allow their children to walk to school if a responsible adult was walking with them 34% said yes. Doug is working to put together a walking school bus at Irving Elementary for National Walk to School Day. Jenny offered the services of Kimbra Scott for a press release. Doug agreed that he would work with Kimbra on getting

2 that set up. There will also be some newspaper and web advertising using the TSET Health Communication funding. Kelvin Brown agreed to list the event on Muskogee Directory s website. The suggestion was made that we create a survey for teachers to see how many are walking or biking to school. The committee agreed that a survey would not be necessary but would talk with each school Principle to try to get a tally on how many teachers are walking/biking. During the event we will have people at each participating school to give out stickers and folders. - Trail Clean-up/Trim-up o Doug reported that he had been working to put together a trail clean-up day but after further review found that the trails were not in bad shape. The Clean & Beautiful committee has scheduled a clean-up day for October 26 th, in conjunction with free dump day. The main concern on the trails is the growing foliage. Mark Wilkerson has agreed to have the Parks and Recreation department take care of vegetation. Mark also reported that he is checking on prices to complete repair of cracks in the trail. - Identifying Priorities for New Trail Construction o Mark reported that the Parks department did not receive the requested grant funding to build the Coody Creek trail. The city does still have the $450,000 in past CIP money that was intended to be used as a match for this trail. The trail would have been built on publicly owned land. Mark also reported on a grant that was applied for with ODOT to fund the MKT Railroad Trail (to the bridge over the AR river on Hwy 16 towards Okay) that was also denied. Mark is requesting that the committee make recommendations on priorities for trail development. It was suggested that a public notice meeting be held to get more public input as to where new trails should be built using this $450,000. There is no specific time frame that the recommendation is needed in. The recommendation does not have to be for current plans that have already been created. (existing trail maps below) Other Business - Mark briefly reported on updates for the Hatbox plans and showed the group some conceptual schematics for the expansion of the sports complex, including an expo event center. - Jenny Crosby reported on the upcoming AIM reveal scheduled for November 12 5:30 pm Roxy Theater Adjourned Doug Walton adjourned the meeting at 5:00 pm Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Thursday, October 17 th at 3:30 pm. Location to be announced. Respectfully Submitted By Jenny Crosby Muskogee Business & Economic Development Muskogee City County Port Authority

3

4

5

6