Santa Fe Seniors on Bikes

Board Meeting

March 19, 2021

The Santa Fe Seniors on Bikes Board met via Zoom due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic.  Those participating via Zoom were Judy Costlow, Bob Bogart, Ian Norrish, Michael Knarr, Lore Thorpe, Lynn Pickard, Steve Gitomer, and Christine Van Dornick.  The meeting began at 3:00 pm

The agenda for this meeting was sent to Board members by President Judy Costlow on March 19.  After a general welcome back since the board has not met since July 27, 2020, each board member was asked to give a short synopsis of how each person was doing and provide information if they had received the vaccine.  Most board members had either been fully vaccinated or were in the process of doing so.

Steve Gitomer gave a brief report on the status of the Treasury.  He stated that even though the SOB Blog had been posted that if members had paid their dues in 2020 they would not need to pay in 2021, some members had still paid in 2021.  To be clear, members were still asked to sign both the standard SOB waiver and the COVID 19 waiver for membership.  Lynn proposed that Steve and Bob would generally keep track of this issue with dues.  However, each member should be responsible to record their own payment.

Bob Bogart concurred with Steve Gitomer’s report and the issue with dues.  All board members concurred with Lynn’s proposal.

The next agenda item was the organization Bikes for Kids.  Board members were asked via email whether the SOB email list should be made available to solicit help and/or donations for this organization.  The Board’s response was not to provide the SOB email list.  However, the Blog would provide information for individuals to make their own choice whether to assist Bikes for Kids.

Lynn reported on the recent League of American Bicyclists (LAB) Bike Conference that was held online.  Lynn provided a general synopsis of the conference including the participation of New Mexico legislators.  She reported that the general focus of the conference was geared toward potential infrastructure improvements such as dedicated and protected bike lanes or traffic signal improvements that allow more of a delay in signal timing to accommodate cyclists.  A general poll was taken online during this conference by the Doctor who led the discussion about Navigating Group Riding during the COVID pandemic. During this online poll, 96% of participating cyclists wanted the vaccine and 37% of clubs were already riding or planned to begin group rides this spring.

The next item discussed was the planned opening of sanctioned SOB rides and procedures relative to the current Public Health Order (PHO) and the status of Santa Fe County in terms of the level of new COVID cases with respect to the spread of the virus in the local population.  Santa Fe is currently in the green color (one level less than optimum at turquoise).  This item was broken into three separate discussions.

  1. We continue to allow “official” SOB rides under the protocols that we have established, i.e., small groups put together by email, led by a ride leader, and all the other requirements. This is in case some small groups want to continue riding with their groups; they should still be SOB rides for insurance purposes.  Individual group ride leaders can communicate with their respective group by email with this information.  A ride leaders meeting will be scheduled prior to the official start of group rides. Prior to that meeting, a survey will be sent to the ride leaders.
  2. The tentative first Thursday Group Ride is scheduled for May 6. Starting in May, in addition to the rides in paragraph a., we operate the ad hoc Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday rides the same way.
  3. Starting in May, we publish our usual list of Thursday rides with three rides being listed under protocols that will be explained in a blog that will be posted on the SOB website  and emailed to the members who have signed up for notifications of blog posts. The protocols will be similar to those under which the small groups have been riding, but will require riders to sign up on-line.

 

There was no other business to discuss.  The Board agreed to meet via Zoom on April 23 to review any changes in the PHO and other factors relative to reopening the SOB’s for group riding.

 

There was a split in the Zoom meeting due to time limits set.  The original meeting temporarily adjourned at 3:40 PM.  The meeting resumed at 4 PM and then adjourned at 4:10 PM

 

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Van Dornick

SOB Secretary

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