112910 City seeks grant funding for bike rodeo

  • By Sharon Haught
  • November 18, 2010
  • 315
                        
A series of bike rodeos designed to teach children how to safely ride their bikes on the streets of Wooster may soon be on the horizon if the City of Wooster is successful in its bid to receive grant funding from the State of Ohio under the Safe Routes to School program. The November 15 meeting of Wooster City Council marks the second time in as many meetings that council has authorized the city administration to apply for funding under the state program which seeks to encourage school children to walk or ride their bicycles to school by providing a safe environment in which to do so. During its November 1 meeting, council authorized the city administration to pursue $377,100 in grant funding under the program to install sidewalks surrounding Melrose, Wayne, Kean and Parkview elementary schools. When City Engineer Joel Montgomery contacted the state to ask for additional information on that grant application he was informed that while funding requests for the infrastructure improvement portion of the program were high, few communities were pursuing funding available under another portion of the program. “Where other communities have zeroed in on those funds the education part of the Safe Routes to School funds has not been as requested,” noted Councilman Jon Ulbright. “Here’s a chance for us to do something with grant monies that we as a city have done on occasion in the past through our police department and that is bike safety,” said Ulbright. If successful, the $33,000 grant would fund 100 percent of the cost of a pair of bike rodeos to be conducted by the Wooster Police Department. According to Ulbright the funding would be used to pay the officers’ overtime and the cost of equipment necessary to conduct the program. “Our budget is very tight and for us to pay police officers additional time to conduct and supervise bike rodeos would cost the city funds it just cannot spare at this time so part of the $33,000 would be spent to pay for the extra police time,” noted Ulbright. The remaining grant funding would be used for “helmets and other equipment that would be used during the bike rodeos to stress bike safety,” said Ulbright. According to information provided to council by the Wooster Police Department the curriculum, which is intended for ages five and up, will include sign usage, sign identification, rules of the road and safe bicycle operations and will be prepared and presented by three Wooster Police officers who are currently members of the International Police Mountain Bike Association. “This is a meaningful program,” said Ulbright. “We have an excellent opportunity to enhance the safety of young people and encourage them to ride their bikes.” “The schools have increased the distance between the school and the outer reaches of within that range they will not provide bus service so walking to school, riding a bike to school, is something that is a reality more so today than it was years ago because bus route have changed,” said Ulbright. According to Montgomery, not only will the project provide funding for the bike rodeos it will also be helpful in obtaining additional funding under the program for infrastructure projects in the future. “Not only will this pay for the bike rodeo it also goes to our record of implementing our plan so next year when we apply for more money for sidewalks, crosswalks and things that are needed to maintain safe routes to school for kids this will count towards our points that they grade us by for additional money for bigger projects,” said Montgomery.


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