The Jefferson City Environmental Quality Commission on Wednesday brought back the idea of creating a bicycle subcommittee, which will work toward making the city more bicycle friendly.
The subcommittee's purpose is to give more "substance to cycling," commission Vice-Chair Ashley Varner said, by creating a cycling culture in the community that provides safety and education classes, hosts bicycle events and advocates for more bicycle resources.
"There are so many opportunities with cycling, and this is a good way to facilitate discussion about cycling," said Varner, who is the healthy communities coordinator and wellness navigator at Capital Region Medical Center.
The Environmental Quality Commission will oversee the bicycle subcommittee. The commission suggested the subcommittee include city staff and Jefferson City residents.
The next step is for Varner to reach out to interested community members. She volunteered to lead the subcommittee.
A Jefferson City bicycle committee existed in the early 2000s, but it is unknown when it disbanded.
The idea to resurrect the bicycle subcommittee came after a group of city staff and health advocates looked at the League of American Bicyclists' bicycle-friendly community designation application. The designation indicates a community is welcoming of bicycle culture and provides resources to the community about cycling.
To receive the designation, the city has to earn points awarded for various objectives, such as creating more bike lanes and racks, hosting cycling events and creating a bicycle advisory committee. These points are turned into ranks: bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond.
According to LAB, there are seven bicycle-friendly Missouri communities: Clayton, Ferguson, Columbia, Kansas City, Lee's Summit, Springfield and St. Louis.
City Transportation Planner Alex Rotenberry said with the number of bicyclists in the community increasing, the city is looking for ways to encourage more cycling.
Anyone interested in serving on the bicycle subcommittee or who has suggestions for ways to make the community more bicycle friendly can contact Varner at 573-632-5605 or [email protected].
In other business Wednesday, Jefferson City resident Jeff Holzem presented opportunities for the city to become more energy efficient to the Environmental Quality Commission.
Holzem applauded different actions the community is currently taking, such as encouraging recycling and working toward becoming a bike-friendly community, but said there are ways the city could improve. Some suggested improvements such as providing more education about energy efficiency in schools, conducting regular energy audits and discussing energy-efficient building codes.
He also noted ways the city could address climate change, like assessing the current impacts it has on the city and implementing an action plan.
Several commission members showed interest in Holzem's suggestions. They said while the commission could not force residents to be more energy efficient, the commission could provide more education on the topic.
The commission will collect data and provide a list of energy-helpful programs to establish a baseline for where the community currently stands on energy efficiency. From there, the commission will discuss ways the city could improve.
Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin said while she thinks some of these suggestions could improve the community, she warned the commission to make sure it does not appear the city is making a "political statement" about the topic.