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one of the main pillars of our Comprehensive Plan. So I don’t understand why this needs to be treated any differently than the rest of our Comprehensive Plan that seems to be hanging out there, and has been for some time. Mr. Crow questioned how we have been allocating all of our staff on this, because when you look through the number of meetings that have occurred and the number of staff members that have attended, it’s hard to understand why these same folks have not been able to work on the Comprehensive Plan. He stated that he also would like to come back and say to all of the members of the Task Force, that you have put together an incredible document, but it is a document that is appended to a New Comprehensive Plan and not to an old plan that is eight years out of date. Mr. Crow noted we have members of the public who are sitting here talking to us about their homes flooding, and we are trying to get staff time to get them dollars for their damages, it causes him to wonder why council needed to treat this with such a priority versus the flood victims who have now been through this more than once. Mr. Crow said Council supports bikeability and walkability and appreciate the work that these folks have done, but at the same time we have to prioritize our use of funds and staff. He has not heard a compelling argument as to why this plan needed to be attached to a 2005 plan versus being a part of the update to our Comprehensive Plan, which should already be in effect. Mr. Sharpe stated that his major concern about the Bikeability Plan has to do with the concept of whether or not it was going to be implemented all at one time or in stages. The City Manager gave him a complete understanding that before any amount of money would be expended that Council would take it phase by phase; that it would be phased-in, and that Council would have the ultimate authority as to what should happen in each phase. With that, he had no problems. Mayor Welsch stated that this is not something that has come up all of a sudden. In fact the Bike/Walk Task Force with funds from Trailnet, have been working on this master plan to make U City streets safer for all users for three years. This is a question of equity. All users on our streets should feel safe and our streets should be accessible to everyone. This Draft Plan has been to more Boards and Commissions than any other citizen-led effort in the history of the community, has been approved unanimously by each Board and Commission, and at the Plan Commission it had been approved more than once. Staff is not asking us to approve this and to commit funds in the current budget year for this plan. This plan, if approved, will be phased-in, and this and all future Councils will decide when to do that, if and when funds are available for the execution. Mayor Welsch stated that this is the same for all of the millions of dollars of capital projects that the City currently has in the Capital Improvement Plan, CIP. We have 40 to 60 million dollars of capital needs in our CIP, and we do those as the need arises and as the funds become available, and that is the same thing that will happen with this Bike/Walk Plan. She stated that with the formal plan adopted, the City will have access to additional funds that focus on making roads safe for all users. A list of those funds that open up if we have a Master Plan are: Surface Transportation Program Funds; Highway Safety Improvement Program; Congestion, Mitigation and Air Quality; Transportation Alternatives; National Highway Performance Program; Recreational Trails Program; Safe Routes to School Program; State and Community Highway Safety Grant Programs and other local and regional funding. Once we have a plan on the books and funders know that we are committed to this, that will allow us access to funds that can be used not just on a Bike/Walk Plan or trails, but on streets, sidewalks and curbs throughout U City. Mayor Welsch stated that she and Mr. Walker had met with the School District Superintendent last Friday, and said that the District was very supportive of the Safe Routes to School Program, which is a part of this Master Plan. With so much money needed to fund infrastructure repairs on our streets, sidewalks and curbs, it would be a shame to lose out on funds that could be used on streets and sidewalks throughout UCity because we do not have a Bike/Walk Plan on our books. Finally she noted that Mr. Glickert advised her that ONE STL had distributed the results of a survey to 14