Approximately two weeks ago, the Portage County Board of Supervisors adopted a countywide plan for improving bicycling and walking. This plan was created over the past 18 months under the leadership of the Portage County Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Dept with the assistance of dozens of people.

Now that the plan is adopted, P&Z can start working to implement recommendations from the plan. To facilitate the implementation process, P&Z wants to create a County Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee. The specifics of what this committee would be responsible for and how it would operate are still under consideration. Nevertheless, it is very clear that this committee would play a critical role in encouraging the county and its municipalities to actively cooperate in implementing plan recommendations.

Volunteers will be needed to serve on this committee. No special skills or background are necessary to volunteer. What is most important is a desire to make bicycling and walking better in our county.

A meeting is being planned to discuss how this committee should function. For Poky Pedalers interested in serving on this committee, this meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet others interested in moving the bike/ped plan forward and to demonstrate your interest in helping with this effort.

If you wish to participate in this meeting, you need to do two things. First, contact Sarah Wallace of the Portage County Planning and Zoning Dept by either e-mailing her at wallaces(at)co(dot)portage(dot)wi(dot)us or by calling her at 715-346-1334. Let her know of your interest in attending the meeting to discuss the County Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee and provide her with an e-mail address or phone number so she can contact you.

Second, click on this Doodle link to identify which of the proposed meeting times you can attend. (Doodle is a simple self-explanatory online tool for facilitating meeting scheduling). Proposed dates range from May 20 through June 5 and span a range of morning, afternoon, and evening times.

This meeting is an opportunity to Speak Your Poky to ensure that the priorities of Poky Pedalers are well represented as the County Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee starts to take shape. I hope you decide to get in on the ground floor of this process to make bicycling and walking better throughout Portage County.

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