On Sep 10, 2012, at 11:19 AM, Kasey Russell wrote:

Hi Don (I cc'd everyone so that you all can see where we are with the group and get the latest Connecting Communities White Paper (attached). Today (monday, sept 10), I am meeting with Senator Plymale. Tomorrow, Gary and I are meeting with Dennis Strawn to draft the motion to approve turning WVCA into Connecting Communities.)

Now back to Don  -- I added your suggested wording to the funding line. The self-imposed tax would obviously need a lot more thought and planning before we initiated something like that. We can discuss legislative agenda at length on Oct. 13th.

I don't really have contacts for all the folks that need to be at the meeting on the 13th. I'm hoping that people like you (and everyone on this list) will help spread the word to make sure we get the right folks there. Who are the right folks: biking, pedestrian, safe routes to schools, wellness, rails to trails, mainstreet, other????

I am still working on location for meeting. Any ideas? Kent Spellman with the WVHUB is looking into the Caperton Center in Bridgeport (I think).

Thanks, kasey

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 12:32 AM, Don Spencer <dspencer36@comcast.net> wrote:

Hi, Kasey – Thanks for including me in the feedback group.

 

I appreciate the work that you have done and I would suggest adding the words …” to supplement use of federal and state transportation funds” at the end of the third bullet from the end. I fear that by talking about going after other funds that it will release the DOH from responsibility of using core funds for in-city ped-bike projects.

 

Also, on the last bullet, I personally do not think that it strengthens the paper by suggesting the idea of a self-imposed tax on bicyclists. If you believe that some kind of tax is essential, I think that it would be better to suggest outright that there could be a graduated excise tax on the sale of each bicycle everywhere in the state. The tax would need to be dedicated specifically to support and maintain cycling related infrastructure. Then having specific examples in each locality would seem to be important. People probably would not grumble in Morgantown if there were rail trails, signage and climbing lanes to be maintained (if the funds collected would be returned to Morgantown), but I am not sure that it would sell in a lot of communities where there is no identified “bicycle-related infrastructure” unless the funds were, again, being returned to the communities with identified “bicycle benefits” to be maintained. In Morgantown our problem with our trails is that we have to continuously repair slides and slumps – which we cannot always afford to do without state and federal support.

 

Do you anticipate envisioning the taxing of pedestrians for sidewalks, shoulders and trails? Sidewalks are essential but so is having a funding stream dedicated to maintain the sidewalks. Would the legislation need to address some state-local partnership issues?

 

One key issue that you mention, of course, is the state bicycle plan. What would be the state bicycle plan look like? Who would put it together? What resources and references would be used?

 

I look forward to the next meeting. Will other specialists on bicycle/ped policy and planning be able to join us? Thanks so much for your leadership.

 

Don

 

 

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