Ward 19: Trinity-Spadina

Hi Ward 19,

This Tuesday (26th) we're invited to run a booth at the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market.  I've set up the booth the past few weeks, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make this one.

Would anyone else like to run the table this week?  The market starts at 3pm, and runs till 7pm.

So far it's been a good time - you get first shot at the best foods, and the crowd is friendly.

Please reply or leave a comment if you're interested or have time to help out.  Cheers,

-Antony  (tonedog  at  hailmail dot net )

Is anyone going to the west toronto rail path bike ride Saturday? There is noon ride hosted by ward groups. I won't be able to make it because I am out of town.

Sheryl

http://bikeunion.to/bikemonth/2012-05-09/cycle-and-celebrate-west-toront...?

Good evening,
Below, please find the meeting minutes from our ward 19 monthly meeting. 

WARD MEETING

Monday, June 8, 2012
CSI Annex
Present: Sheryl, Herb, Donald, Rob, Laura (Ward 14)

AGENDA:

1. Reporting
a. Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market
b. Bike with Mike
c. Joint ward meeting
d. Toronto Official Plan
2. New Business
a. Facebook page/group communication
b. Ward 14 update
c. Bike parking
d. Ward memberships
e. Design charrette for streets with street cars

REPORTING

a. TBW Farmers Market

Sheryl and Antony were at the most recent farmers market.  These are held every Tuesday from 3-7pm in TBW park.  Our ward group has a table set up every third week.  Sheryl reported that there were quite a few new signups to the Cycle TO listerv and some new member signups as well.  For future table events, we should develop a one-pager about CycleTO membership benefits for people to see.  We can talk to Jared about that. 

b. Bike with Mike

I and several other ward and CycleTO volunteers were out on Sunday, May 27 for a community bike event day with Mike Layton.  The CycleTO table was well attended.  We signed up many new people to the listserv and signed up a few new members as well.  Laura brought up a good idea of getting something - like a hat, button, bandana, t-shirt - to identify ourselves as CycleTO members for when we do tabling events.  We could talk to Jared about that as well. 

c. Joint ward meeting

Herb has been attending joint ward meetings between ward 19, 20, 27 and 28 to discuss the Wellesley Harbord separated bike lanes.  A resolution was passed on configuring the best way to navigate a bike lane around the park behind Queen's Park.  The minutes for the meeting are forthcoming.  Various environmntal assessments were also addressed at the meeting, including Front St. and John St. 

d. Official Plan

Toronto's Official Plan - a broad planning document for the City - is undergoing its 5-year review. Herb and I attended at a small meeting this past month with other ward captains and interested folks to develop some proposed amendments for the OP that we can submit to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee at City Hall.  We focused on identifying areas in the OP that need to be strengthened in terms of cycling safty and efficiency. E.g. better connections between different modes of transportation. 

NEW BUSINESS

a. Facebook page/group communication

Sheryl suggested setting up a ward 19 facebook page to post public events, meetings, news, etc.  It could also be a portal for reaching out to new potential members and connecting them with the CycleTO webpage.  We thought this was a great idea and Sheryl will work to get it set up. 

We also discussed various options for improving communication bewteen ward members, such as smaller email groups, a big Google group, through Facebook, or some other way.  For the time being we decided to have the FB page for public announcements, events, etc.; the CycleTO ward posts/events for things like these minutes, upcoming meetings etc.; and smaller email groups for those who are interested and are coordinating a particular project or campaign.  Other suggestions welcome. 

b. Ward 14

Laura came as a representative from the ward 14 advocacy group.  They have recently formed and have a good core group of active members.  Laura addressed the issue of contra-flow bike lanes (bike lanes allowing you to ride the "wrong way" on a one-way street) in her ward and they have been working to get contra-flow lanes on some key routes in their ward.  She wanted to know if we are intersted in working together on this issue.  She has already talked to CycleTO members from other wards.  The major issue is that the City has stopped putting these in because of a concern around their legality.  The City has apparently been waiting to get some clarification from the Province.  Laura said that other members have already met with their MPP to discuss the problem.  Apparently Ottawa has been putting in contra-flow lanes and does not believe that they are actually illegal.  Laura will be coordinating this effort and we decided to help out on the campaign. Some ideas include members from each ward contacting their city counsellor, MPP and making a united push to the Ministry of Transportation. 

Laura also asked whether we are doing anything around the Ontario Place redesign.  We are not. 

c. Bike parking

This is continued from a past ward meeting where we discused both private land bike parking (e.g. getting all Beer Stores to put some bike parking in their lots) and public land parking (e.g. the campaign to get more ring and post parking in the ward). We agreed to make ring and post parking a priority campaign this summer.  Herb described the issue and process at City Hall to get new ring and post parking.  It is best for us to figure out where there is a lack and take it to Mike Layton who, in turn, can take it to Street Furniture staff. 

We agreed on Monday, June 25 at 6pm as the date and time for whoever would like to come out and spend some time riding around the ward to identify where we need more bike parking.  A start location is still to be determined.  We will send out another post once all the details are finalized. 

d. Ward memberships

This is another priority campaign.  We didn't discuss too much tonight, but did acknowledge that we are already making headway by attending more tabling and community day events in the ward. 

e. Design charrette

This is all about getting our great minds together to come up with some solutions to cycling safety issues on streets with street cars.  This campaign is to be further developed. 

Enjoy the rest of bike month!  

The CycleTO bike month wrap party is happening on Thursday, June 28 at 7pm location to be determined. 

NEXT MEETING

Usually the first Monday of every month, but we'll send out a post closer to the date. 

RT

Hi all, If you feel like helping out with running a Cycle Toronto table at this week's Farmers Market in Trinity Bellwoods, give me a shout. The market hours run from 3-7pm, help anytime is welcome! Also let me know if there are any food items you'd like to get first dibs on... the good stuff sells out quick and I'd be happy to do some 'valet shopping' for volunteers. Finally, the market organizer has asked me if we have any traffic calming suggestions for discouraging the odd person that bikes at full speed through the market area... it's rare, about one per hour, but of course folks get annoyed and parents concerned. Cheers, -Antony (416 nine nine eighter  eight sixer sixer niner)