THE LIONS ROAR REINCARNATED

Edited by Mark Ripplinger

Photos by Don Wood & Mark Ripplinger

November 10, 2008

Lions President Mark Miller

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (November 10th)

Fellow Lions, mark you calendar for December 15th. Lion Brooks has been working hard on our Christmas Luncheon and he guarantees a nice meal and fantastic entertainment. Remember spouses and/or significant others are invited. Board meeting tomorrow night at the Brown Bottle.

We Serve ……… Mark Miller

TODAY’S MEETING (November 10th)

Dave Deaver, First National Bank (602 Main Street, 266-2000, www.fnbcedarfalls.com), will speak to the club about the Local Impact of National Financial Crisis.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

November 17th … Troy Dannon, UNI Athletic Director, Highlights of UNI Athletics.

November 24th … TBA

BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES

Paul Nielsen – Nov. 14th None

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Board Meeting – 5:30 pm, Tuesday, November 11, 2008, at the Brown Bottle.

LAST MEETING (November 3rd)

Frank Darrah, Cedar Falls City Councilperson, spoke to the club about creating a Bike-Friendly Community in Cedar Falls. In March 2007, members of two neighborhood organizations started discussing the possibility of creating opportunities for bicycle accommodations on city streets. In July of the same year, Mayor Jon Crews formed what is known as the Bike Task Force (BTF). Numerous interested individuals serve on the committee from all sectors of the community. The Mission of the BTF is to, “Expand upon the existing recreational trail system and, based on best practices, develop a plan by July 2008 to encourage and facilitate utilitarian bicycling in Cedar Falls; to work with stakeholders to maximize its effective implementation.” The BTF identified many benefits from their initiative. The include integrating healthy, physical activity into everyday routines fostering active lifestyles, establishing another quality of life enhancement which is a vital asset for progressive communities, to promote the area as a bicycle tourism destination, reduce traffic congestion and parking constraints, reduce pollution and conserve limited resources and to lower transportation costs. The BTF reviewed comprehensive plans from Chicago (IL), Portland (OR), Madison (WI), Davis (CA), Burlington (VT), Brunswick (ME) and Redmond (WA). Common themes resulted from all plans and they include preserving bicycling as a means of transportation, all strategic plans were well written and every progressive community in the U.S. has committed resources to comprehensive bike plans. The overall goals of the BTF are: ¡ To become the first city in Iowa to achieve gold status designation for Bicycle Friendly Community Status by the American League of Bicyclists, ¡ To identify and establish a comprehensive bikeway network serving every neighborhood and major points of interest in the community, ¡ Increase bicycle use, so that 5% of all trips less than 5 miles are by bicycle, ¡ Match total network miles of Cedar Falls recreational trails, currently 30+, with an equal number of miles of on-road facilities, ¡ Accommodate bicycling on every city road, resurfacing streetscape and traffic calming project, ¡ Fully integrate the consideration of bicyclists’ needs into the community, commercial, industrial and neighborhood planning process, ¡ Provide opportunity for all cyclists to learn the skills and techniques of safe, lawful and responsible cycling. Candidate projects include: Clay Street – 2^nd to Seerley Blvd., College Street – 18^th to 23^rd, E. 18^th Street – Main to Waterloo Road, Main Street – 1^st to Seerely, Rainbow Drive – Waterloo Road to east city limits, Seerley Blvd. – College to Main, W. 12^th Street – Hudson to Main and W 21^st Street – College to Main.