Minutes 11-05-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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community discussion about enforcement. She said she would urge OUTBoard to look not only at enforcement, with the exception of legislative issues. John Roberts asked if the BOCC is seeking for the legislature to apply laws to bicyclists. Commissioner Pelissier said not necessarily. She said she is interested in hearing what the public would suggest the BOCC consider as a legislative issue. John Roberts said the North Carolina General Statute (NCGS) does include bicycles and they are subject to same laws as motorists, where applicable. Commissioner Pelissier said the State had a concerted effort regarding pedestrian safety and maybe the same can be done with bicyclists. Commissioner Pelissier said there are long-term plans for bicycle lanes in the rural areas of the County, but they are far out and are expensive. She said the State has cut funding for pedestrian and bike projects this year, and bike lanes are too costly for the County to consider. Commissioner Burroughs suggested looking at the Grange resolution, at a minimum. She asked if cyclists can be penalized in the same way as drivers of vehicles. John Roberts said yes, the statute is very clear that the laws applicable to drivers apply equally to cyclists. Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is an advantage of a subcommittee over a task force. Bonnie Hammersley said from her perspective a task force would require appointments from the Board of County Commissioners and a sub committee can have community input and meetings without the formal process. Commissioner Price said the task force is more formal and the sub-committee could continue what it has been doing. She would like the group to do the work and have community participation. Commissioner Rich said this resolution is incomplete and asked if there are next steps. Chair McKee said the item could be sent back to staff and create a task force or sub- committee. Chair McKee said this item is not ready for prime time and he would prefer deferment. He said Commissioner Pelissier said many of the Board members have served on transportation groups and added that many bike projects do not get funded. He said his main concern is not for individual riders, but rather the groups of riders of 25-50 or more. He said the issue of identifying cyclists is a real problem and he believes the conversation must include the topic of licensing bikes on the road in order to identify individuals. Bonnie Hammersley said she would suggest that the Board send it back to staff for a recommendation, which staff will bring back after the holiday break. She said she would meet with the OUTBoard Chair and also the Sheriff to ask him to respond to the Board of County Commissioners at a public meeting. Commissioner Pelissier said a resolution can come back to the Board but this may be an on-going issue. She said all of the advisory boards do a work plan each year and to put these items in the OUTBoard work plan. Commissioner Price said the community just wanted to be heard on this issue. She said she was required to have a bike license as a child so it is not a foreign idea. Commissioner Rich suggested talking to the County's Communication Department to see what would be the best way to bring this education forward to County visitors. Chair McKee said there was an issue with deer hunting years ago and it came down to printing the laws and placing them everywhere in the County. He said making the laws readily available is one tool to address this issue.