Dan Hoffman: 0:03

Hello, and welcome to another episode. We call it, sometimes we call'em additions. Sometimes we call'em episodes.

Sarah Frey: 0:09

I like episodes.

Dan Hoffman: 0:10

Episodes.

Sarah Frey: 0:11

Makes it feel so formal.

Dan Hoffman: 0:12

It does. This is another episode of The Rouse Review. I'm city manager, Dan Hoffman. With me is PIO, Sarah Fry. Hello, Sarah.

Sarah Frey: 0:19

Hi Dan.

Dan Hoffman: 0:20

Okay. Kinda a short one today. Okay. We're gonna talk a little bike walk, talk about the council. Other than that. It should be a pretty concise episode today. Coming up in some future ones, you're gonna meet the fire chief. We're gonna talk about trained changes to the trash schedule. Uh, but for now, let's talk about what's happening tomorrow night at council. So, uh, we are now at the final step for really the biggest undertaking of the year, which is putting together the annual budget. Woo-hoo. Yes, it's um. I wanna say about a dozen public meetings. Oh, at least. Yeah. It's about a dozen public meetings, uh, two public hearings, one on the budget itself, and one on the tax rate itself. Uh, very public discussions over the not to exceed rate the rate. Revenue neutral, all those different things. So, uh, it's a lot of work putting together the annual budget. Uh, Marion Les has done a great job kind of shepherding this through. Uh, and, you know, ultimately, you know, tomorrow night we do have, um, you know, it is a final vote, but it is the really, the 11th hour and 59th minute. So, uh, you got one more chance to come, uh, and. Speak your, you know, concerns or displeasure or appreciation or just support of the budget, whatever you wanna talk about. Uh, I do feel pretty good about this budget. Um, I feel good because in part we were able to lower the rate but not lower it to a rate where we couldn't take care of our obligations. Um, so we are at know, this was decided two meetings ago, um, that the rate is 79 and a half cents, the rare half cent, uh, in the property tax rate. So we're at 79 and a half cents, uh, down from 83. Now, of course. With it is, it is an assessment year, so that means people are still gonna be paying a little bit more revenue neutral would've been in the lower seventies and um, it really would've been difficult to do that. I want to, I wanna say off the top of my head, it was like 75 and a half since, actually,

Sarah Frey: 2:48

that sounds about right, right? Sounds about right. Yeah.

Dan Hoffman: 2:49

I think the revenue neutral is 75 and a half cents is where it finally came out to be. So, uh, council compromised. Hm. And a majority of council favored 79 and a half cents because it could'cause with that amount of money, uh, we can cover our obligations and the investments that, uh, some of the strategic investments that council wanted to make and the fire department, or adding four firefighters, we're adding two police officers. Um, a lot of equipment shift differential pay for our midnight shifts. So it's a very. Public safety focused budget. Um, city employees are at 3%. I would've loved four. Three was what we could do with 79 point a half, uh, and keeping the meals tax also flat. Um, so that's staying at six point a half, uh, percent. So it's a, it's a good budget. It keeps up with inflation. It helps our employees keep up with inflation. And it still leaves us with the lowest, I think, the second lowest mm-hmm. Tax rate among any comparable independent city in the Commonwealth. So, um, our meals tax is right at the median. Our property tax is much lower than most, almost every peer city. And, uh, by and large. Yeah, everything's going pretty well, so I'm, and I'm comfortable with what we're able to do. There are some things that we didn't do, this budget, which residents will see again next year. Um, sometimes we can't pay for everything in one year. So there are some things that, you know, are being put off till next year. Next year is an off year for assessments. So, um, it will be up to council next spring as to, you know. Yeah. Do they rely solely on organic growth or do they go with, with what in essence is revenue neutral? Um, on the property tax rate? You know, folks forget that, although we're just keeping up with inflation this year. Last year was an off year for assessment, so we were revenue neutral last year. Mm-hmm.

Sarah Frey: 5:09

That's pretty typical for our office for off

Dan Hoffman: 5:11

years. Yeah. So the, the idea that every year the property tax goes up is not. Accurate. Um, so really that 3% is catching up over the course of two years. So it's, um, it is a, it's a good budget. I'm pretty happy with it. Uh, and then other than that, there are a few other odds and ends If you're, like I said, my presentation tomorrow night will be brief. It's the very last thing. Council really cannot make major changes at this point. Otherwise we have to do a whole new public hearing and go back through it again. But I think we are at a point now where they are ready to approve it. Um, other than that, a few other odds and ends, there's, uh, a bunch of finance related stuff on the agenda. If you're really into that, uh, I would, I would suggest go listen to the finance committee. Meeting from last week?

Sarah Frey: 6:05

Yes. Yes.

Dan Hoffman: 6:06

From last week. Go listen to the finance committee meeting from last week. That's where we get into amending our debt and fund balance policies. Um, that's really just a lot of like cleanup. Our, uh, supplemental, we typically do two supplemental appropriations a year. Good reminder for everybody. The budget is a living document. We amend it. A couple times throughout the year as we see that, you know, some things might cost more, some things might cost less. So we, we do some cleanup, we move some things around. Council approves those. This is our end of fiscal year cleanup. So, um, like I said, a few other kind of smaller finance things. And oh, and I should say an economic development program too. I should point this out. Um, council will be considering for city projects that have a material impact on the businesses. So let's say we're doing a storm water project and it's creating some type of issue for your business. Maybe it's blocking the entrance. Maybe it is. Um. Impacting the number of days you can be open or the times you can be open. This is a grant program through the EDA that businesses will be able to tap into in order to, um, offset some of those. You know, less desirable impacts of infrastructure construction. Um, you know, we need to replace, for example, there's one coming up in Bas Gowan. We need to put a stormwater pipe under bas gowan. Um, any business, particularly on the Cameron side will tell you, I. That, um, you know, you just a heavy rain and there's water coming into their building. So

Sarah Frey: 7:54

it's not water Street restaurant for nothing. That's

Dan Hoffman: 7:56

right. So this will this'll be a good thing. It, it is not. Um, you know, I think we're one of the, not a lot of places in the Commonwealth have something this, um. Like this, but it is a common tool for major projects. Um, so we're gonna try it out for a year, it seems like. Well, provided counsel approves it tomorrow night, um, they will try it out for a year and then we will counsel and the EDA will evaluate its effectiveness and we'll take it from there. So that's a good one for small businesses that might be affected by stormwater projects. Uh, or any other major city construction project, I should say. Other than that, there is an exec session, uh, counsel will be discussing. They're still in, uh, attempting to hire a full-time in-person city attorney, so they're gonna discuss that in exec session. And other than that, that's our meeting tomorrow night. Uh, now we do have some stuff coming up, so we'll take a quick second here, breather, and we will talk about what's coming up in the city.

Sarah Frey: 9:13

Summer is right around the corner and our friends at Parks and Rec are getting ready to kick it off with a huge bang because this. Is their time to shine?

Dan Hoffman: 9:23

Oh yeah. The parks folks, it there's, it's their time to shine and work themselves to the bone. Right?

Sarah Frey: 9:28

They spend all year gearing up for the summer to kick off. Mm-hmm. So first things first, the outdoor pool opens for the season on Saturday, May 24th,

Dan Hoffman: 9:36

almost there. So

Sarah Frey: 9:37

close

Dan Hoffman: 9:38

12 days away.

Sarah Frey: 9:39

Then school's out May 29th.

Dan Hoffman: 9:42

Almost there too.

Sarah Frey: 9:43

Oh, we're so close. So Parks and Rec is hosting a summer kickoff party the following day, Friday, May 30th from four 30 to eight 30. Over at Jim Barnett. There's gonna be food, bounce houses, obstacle courses, pony rides,

Dan Hoffman: 9:56

pony rides. So

Sarah Frey: 9:57

many things. It's gonna be it huge bash. So come on out. They're gonna finish it off with a movie. Just come out. Welcome summer. Hang out with your friends and neighbors. Enjoy our beautiful park. Then on Saturday, May 31st, there's two things going on. First thing is the first annual game of skate competition over at the skate pad. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, so starting at 11:00 AM people are gonna be competing, showing off all their skills over at the skate park. And then at 1130 the outdoor pool is hosting their 11 annual splash bash, where they give away door prizes, have music, all kinds of cool stuff going on over at the outdoor pool. But most importantly, Memorial Day Monday. Is coming Monday, May 26th. Just remember, Dan and I won't be working. City Hall's gonna be closed.

Dan Hoffman: 10:47

That's right.

Sarah Frey: 10:48

Courts are gonna be closed. Yeah. Everybody's gonna be closed. Pretty much. Ever's

Dan Hoffman: 10:51

gonna be closed except auto dealerships.

Sarah Frey: 10:53

Yes.

Dan Hoffman: 10:54

Where? This is their time to shine. The Memorial Day. Uh oh. And mattress places? Yes. Places that sell mattresses and cars. They've been gearing up all. Is this, is this also Toyotathon as well?

Sarah Frey: 11:05

Oh, prob the, is

Dan Hoffman: 11:06

that the fault? No, that's the fall, right? That's the fault. Yeah. Sorry we don't put Toyotathon on the city calendar, but Yes. But

Sarah Frey: 11:14

the rest of us will be enjoying, you know, barbecue hotdog hamburgers. Exactly. The American dream. And uh, yeah, so remember, your Monday's recycling will be picked up on Wednesday that week,

Dan Hoffman: 11:24

Winchester va.gov for all the details,

Sarah Frey: 11:27

and that's what's coming up in the city.

Dan Hoffman: 11:29

Thank you very much. Alright. Coming up. Sarah has recorded an interview. Kara Capelli from Bike was Winchester. Uh, they're gonna chat about being a bike friendly city and all the stuff we do to, um, make quality of life here better through bicycling. So, uh, stick around. I can

Sarah Frey: 12:05

hear you. Yeah, great. Love to hear it. Okay, and can I get a volume check check from you? Test test. Okay, perfect. All right, Steven. This is going to be in the C block when we get started. I. Welcome back for our next segment on the Rouse Review. Today we are here with Kara from From Bike Walk Winchester, welcome Kara. Thank you so much for having us. We are so excited to have you on the show today. We work with you all the time just. In the city in general, but this, I believe is bike walk's first time on the podcast. Um,

Kara Capelli: 12:45

absolutely. We are so excited to be here. Thank you so much for

Sarah Frey: 12:47

having us. All right, so we know that you're a busy lady. You work, you're a mom, you've got this great organization that you pour, I think everything you have into called Bike Walk. Winchester. Tell us a little bit more about bike walk.

Kara Capelli: 13:05

So Bike Walk is an organization made up of, uh, loosely made up of lots of different people from all over Winchester, and our goal is to make biking and walking safer and more enjoyable within the city of Winchester. So I've been biking. For a really long time, um, ever since I was a kid, of course. But then, um, I biked in college a whole lot. And then when I graduated from college and I moved down to Washington, DC I actually didn't have a car, so biking was my primary form of transportation. Um, and I was actually going from DC down to Reston. What? And I did, I did actually bike all the way to rest. Sometimes, um, on the wod. Wow. I know. It was, it was really cool. It was really fun. There was actually a group of us that would do that from time to time. Um, but for the most part, what I would do is bike from my house down to the metro, get on the metro, go out to West Falls Church, get on a bus and go out to Reston, and then do the reverse on the way back. And then in the meantime, I didn't have a car for almost five years. I was biking everywhere that I needed to go. Um, and it was a pretty formative experience for me because I, I learned, um. How to bike in kind of an urban environment and how enjoyable that can be, and frankly, how much quicker it can be. Sometimes, you know, you're, you're there speeding by cars and, um, you know, they're stopped, uh, for whatever reason because of dense traffic and you're able to kind of continue on your way on a bike lane. Um, and so, you know, I carried that with me and throughout my life, I've, the, the ways that I bike have changed a lot. You know, sometimes I've been really into mountain biking or road biking, doing it as a form of exercise. Um, and. And sometimes it's been more practical, like I was just talking about. And that's kind of where I am in my life right now. Um, I try to bike as many places as I possibly can, um, whether it's from my house to go downtown, go to a coffee shop, go to the bank, run errands. Um, and so that's, you know, that's kind of where, um. Where this whole thing started for me when I, uh, moved to Winchester. I actually did the City Insight course is what it was called back then. Oh, I believe it's called the Leadership Academy now. Yes, our Civic Leadership Academy. I think that you're familiar now. Accepting applications. There we go. Shameless plug. There it is. There it is. Um, I, first of all, so enjoyed that. Uh, course I learned so much and it was so great to do it right. When I moved to Winchester, I got to meet so many people and one of the people that I met was, um, a gentleman named Steve. And he, um, had had this idea to start an organization like Bike Walk. And, uh, we became friends and we kind of just started building it, um, very organically. He was sort of modeling a lot of his ideas about the organization off of other organizations in Virginia. Um, one of them in Williamsburg, there's actually a bike walk Williamsburg. Um, there's a, a really well established group down in Harrisonburg, Charlottesville. Um, of course lots of different areas in Arlington and Fairfax have groups that sort of advocate for safer biking and walking, um, and, and other various forms of alternative transportation. And so we just kind of started building. We just. You know, made a logo and said, all right, let's, let's kind of see where this goes. And, um, we started off really just building and kind of listening. Um, so we started doing some rides very casually. We built a website and we just kind of wanted to see what the appetite for an organization like this would be within the city. And it turns out there was one big time. That's incredible. Yeah, so we, we immediately had lots of people involved who wanted to do rides and ride around the city and see what it would be like to ride kind of in an urban environment. And then, um, you know, the city was really, um, really receptive to some of these ideas as well. Um, pretty much immediately. So we knew that we had hit on something important. Um, and then we just started kind of building the organization from there.

Sarah Frey: 16:54

Oh, that's incredible. So you started nice and small. So how, how big is the group now? I know you started out just you and Steve, so how many people are now part of Bike Walk?

Kara Capelli: 17:04

Um, so we have partnered with tons of organizations around the city, um, and we do rides and walks, and we get anywhere from, you know, 30 to 40 people on any given day for those rides. How do

Sarah Frey: 17:16

you feel that the city of Winchester is doing when it comes to being a bike and pedestrian friendly city?

Kara Capelli: 17:22

I think that's a great question. Um, the city of Winchester has, it's. Is has honestly been so, so awesome to work with because the appetite is there, both with the citizens and also for anyone, um, on council and within the city. Um, we see things like the Green Circle Trail, which was already pretty well established and the plans for that is already pretty well established. And, um, you know, Winchester is a great city for walking in general. We have the downtown walking mall. Um, there's, um. Easy access to sidewalks almost anywhere you go in the city. And I, I think that there's a, there's a really incredible base here. I think what bike Walk is trying to do is build out some of that connectivity. So for example, with the Green Circle Trail, the Green Circle Trail is awesome to ride on. It's really, really fun, but it's very difficult to get to from downtown. Um, that's true. Yeah. So it's, it's things like that, it's like, kind of like this group can really identify like. Okay, where are the holes? So we have the Green Circle Trail. We put money into the Green Circle Trail, but how do we get there? If I'm downtown or if I am a tourist coming in and I'm staying at the George Washington Hotel and the front desk tells me, oh yeah, you can, um, you can bike the trails at the, uh, the museum. Well, how do I get there? You, you ride down Amherst Street, which during some times of the day is, is not very much fun, you know, to ride down. So it's kind of like identifying those, those areas where there needs to be more connections and then also to help. So our group is really, um, really poised and, and really willing to help. Guide some of the, the new development that is inevitably coming to Winchester, whether that's just the general population growth or things that are planned, like the ndd, the neighborhood design districts, and, um, helping the city to figure out how we can connect all of these different things better. Um, because having alternative forms of transportation available in a city not only just creates a more vibrant city, like the more people are walking the. The, the better, right? Yeah. Like people are happier when they can walk to where they're going for the most part. Um, but it's also an equity thing too. Um, there's many people in the city that don't have access to a car or sometimes don't have access to a car and need to have safe, easy ways to be able to walk to where, to where they need to go. Um, so it's, it's a lot of, there's a lot of different reasons for it and, and also. Sarah, we always have to say this, this caveat. Bike walk. Winchester. We are not anti-car at all. You mean everybody owns a car? Weird. We, um, we, we, we want to make sure that we, um. Are considering all forms of transportation when we're doing development and, um, building a city or, you know, redesigning an area of the city or figuring out where we're allocating money because yeah, everybody who is involved in bike walk, I think I can say this with certainty, owns a car, has a car, and is not giving up their car. Um, as you know, I've got a couple kids, there's not a world where, where I don't have a car or need to drive downtown. Um, often, yes, but if we can create spaces where people can walk and bike easier and have a great time doing it, then we can sometimes reduce the amount of cars and reduce the need for cars, you know, at certain times. And I just, we see this as so important because this city is, once again, the fastest growing city in Virginia. Frederick County is exploding, as we all know. You know, as we. We have bigger and bigger events downtown, more and more need for people to come downtown for jobs or, you know, whatever the case may be. The more people we can get on a bike or walking, the more people can come in from outside in a car. Um, and so a lot of these reasons are, um, just because of sort of the inevitable. Um, development that is gonna happen in this area.

Sarah Frey: 21:21

Uh, I think you put it so succinctly, just why it's so important for all of us to just be future thinking about it and making the traffic maybe a little bit more bearable. All the great things that come with it. Mm-hmm. All right. Switching topics a little bit. So it's May May's big month. We, we, we just got through Apple Blossom Mother's Day. All the big stuff, but may is also a really important month for bicycling. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Because the

Kara Capelli: 21:48

weather is amazing. It's the best month to get on a bike. Yes. May is bike month. Yes. May is designated as bike month at sort of a, a national level. Um, and so you'll see lots of cities everywhere. Um, you know. Highlighting their events and planning events for May. Um, but May is an absolutely a great time to get your bike out of the garage and get on a bike and, you know, kind of, uh, test out some of these roadways. Um, bike walk. Winchester is doing a ton of things for, uh, for bike month. Um, we have a couple different rides going on. We actually. Have, uh, our bike nights ride, um, in May, which is the second Thursday of every month. Um, bike to Work Day is in May. That's on May 15th, which we're working with the city on. Um, and there's something else important on May 15th. There's something else important. Yes. Our bike to work day is gonna be awesome this year because we're working with the city on a ribbon Cutting. For the brand new, um, bike rack that's gonna be installed over at Hanley Library. We are so excited

Sarah Frey: 22:46

about

Kara Capelli: 22:46

this bike rack. I, you have no idea. It's, it's awesome.

Sarah Frey: 22:50

I don't know if you've, have you seen it? Um, I, so for everybody who doesn't know, we've been working on bike racks in conjunction with bike Walk Winchester students at the innovation center. Mm-hmm. It's been really just this true community effort to bring more bike wa more bike racks around the city and. I'm gonna give Kit a shameless shout out here'cause he has kind of been spearheading the project and leading it all through. Yep. But I was at, I had the chance to go to the innovation center last week and their spring showcase where they unveiled their new bike rack. Yeah. Which looks. So incredible. Yeah, it's beautiful. And the, I haven't seen the finished product for the Hanley Library one yet, but the ones that I have seen are mind blowing. These things were designed in CAD by a Hanley student. Yes. They were built at the Innovation Center by Mr. Carson's welding class. Mm-hmm. They are. So cool. And they are literally just the products of love, blood, sweat, and tears of our community.

Kara Capelli: 23:48

Yeah, they're really neat. And the, the community decided on the initial locations for these bike racks, which are all within the city. Um, all 10 of them. And then the students were kind of given, um, you know, kind of cart blanc to kind of, um, design them for each of the individual locations and bike walk. Um, we gave some input, uh, a lot of input on some of the design as far as the practical aspect of it. Mm-hmm. That's a cool design, but like you can't actually fit a bike, two bikes in, you know, there. So we did a lot of that and we've been working with them obviously on, on everything. Um, but each of these bike racks is, is the design is actually tailored to the location. So the Handly Library one, for example, actually kind of looks like a book opening. Um, so it's, it's just really neat. And there'll be, there'll be a bunch installed around town over the next, you know. I guess couple years realistically. Realistically. Yeah.'cause

Sarah Frey: 24:35

remember they're also being built by the welding glass. Right. Also, another huge shout out to Winchester Metals for finishing and helping with the powder coating of some of these too. Wanna make sure they get a

Kara Capelli: 24:43

little bit of

Sarah Frey: 24:43

love in

Kara Capelli: 24:43

there. So yeah, that, that's awesome. So we're gonna be doing that ribbon cutting on bike to work day at Hanley Library. That's gonna be at 11:00 AM on May 15th. And

Sarah Frey: 24:52

everybody's invited, so please come out and join us. We'll have some snacks. You'll get to see the bike rack, see some of the students who help

Kara Capelli: 24:58

design it. It's gonna be incredible. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Yeah. So that's happening. Um, May 15th. And then, um, we just did a huge helmet giveaway over at Virginia Avenue, Charlotte to Heart Elementary School. Did I say that right? You DDES. So many letters in that one, but you got it right. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Yes, I did. Um, so we have been working with, uh, one of the moms of two of the students over there. Um, her name is Hailey. Um, a lot of people have know her at this point, but she started what's called a bike bus over at Virginia Avenue. Do you know what that is? I do, but can you tell everybody on the podcast I'll Okay. Classes, we haven't talked about this

Sarah Frey: 25:39

since the walk zones became a thing.

Kara Capelli: 25:41

Yeah, no. So this is really, really cool and we're hoping to see this kind of expand around Winchester so she can be kind of like the inspiration maybe to other parents or teachers. But basically what it is, is it's a way for kids to get to school safely on a bike. So a parent or a teacher or somebody basically designs a route. Around the area where kids are coming from and kids join this leader as this leader bikes around. So I start a mile away from the school and I ride by one kid's house and they come join me and then I ride by the next kid's house and then they come join me and all of a sudden there's 20 people riding to school together. Safely. Um, this is so cool. It's so cool. And so they, A guy started this out in, um, out in, uh, on the West coast and he gets like hundreds of kids for this school that that's wild. That he does actually He had Justin Timberlake come on, on one of his bike bus rides recently. That was pretty, that's amazing. Yeah. So maybe Winchester will get there. We'll have some major, we'll have to top Justin Timberlake. What celebrity could, oh my gosh. Gosh, I don't even know who you could get. I was gonna say I

Sarah Frey: 26:39

Taylor. Swift, Taylor Swift, like, what are we gonna get here? Taylor

Kara Capelli: 26:42

Swift. Yeah. Yeah. Or, or maybe, uh, Jaden Daniels could come. That'd be super fun. Oh, that'd be super cool. That'd be really cool. We'll work on that. But anyway, so she started this bike bus and she's been doing it for this whole school year. And so bike walk actually did a helmet drive last December. And um, we had like 45 helmets donated, kids' helmets donated. And then last Monday, um, I went over there with Hailey and we gave them all out. To any kid That's so cool. To any kid who needed a helmet for free. And then, um, we actually have some connections with, with two gentlemen in Winchester who kind of rehab bikes and they've been donating all of the kids' bikes that they rehab over to Virginia Avenue and to Haley. Oh, that's incredible. Yeah. So if anyone is interested in doing something similar at one of the other elementary schools, um, Haley is more than happy to kind of go over. Like how she did it, what the logistics are and what, what all is, you know, entailed

Sarah Frey: 27:36

in all of that. And that's cool to see that other side of things that bike walk Winchester does outside of, you know, trying to drive policy and change and mm-hmm. Just doing your bike rides, but also trying to, you know, get kids safely and health healthly to school. That's so incredible.

Kara Capelli: 27:49

It all, it all kind of works together. It's all, it's all part of an ecosystem, so I,

Sarah Frey: 27:53

I love it. What we can do. Yeah. Alright. So before we end the podcast mm-hmm. Is there anything else you wanna share with anybody about bike, rock, Winchester, your website, anything coming up shamelessly, plug yourself?

Kara Capelli: 28:05

Absolutely. So the best way to get involved, and frankly, the most fun way to get involved is just to come to one of our events. So we've got our bike rides that we do monthly. Um, the second Thursday of every month, we do an urban ride around town in the evening. So those, those all start at six 30. Um, daylight. Pending. So in November we move them up a little bit earlier, but those start at six 30. They leave from Taylor Pavilion and it's a six to seven mile, um, very slow urban bike ride. So like, literally don't expect to get any exercise, nothing like that. It's social. You don't have to have a fast bike, you don't have to have a nice bike. Um, you don't have to wear workout gear if you don't want to. And then we usually end at, at. Vibra afterwards. Um, but that is the best way to get involved just because it's so much fun and it's such a great way to meet people. And then aside from the biking side of things, um, we do walks as well. We have a walking series called Talk Walks, community Walks, and those are on the third Monday of every month. And what we do for those is we pick a neighborhood and then we invite featured guests to come. And they can be from all walks of life. They can be business owners, they could be on council, they could be artists, they could be just. Somebody who's interesting and they walk with us kind of very casually and just chat with the crowd. Um, so if you're not a biker and you wanna kind of get in and join the organization, um, that's also a great way. Um, but no pressure. I mean, we just, you know, we just like to meet people and hang out and do fun things like walk around the city and bike around the city. So that's. That's pretty much, that's pretty much what we do.

Sarah Frey: 29:44

Oh, that's

Kara Capelli: 29:44

fantastic.

Sarah Frey: 29:45

Yeah. Alright, so once again, thank you so much to Kara with Bike Walk Winchester for joining us today. Hopefully we will see all of you either at the ribbon cutting for the new bike rack at Hanley Library on the 15th at 11:00 AM. We're at one of the next bike rides on the second, uh, Thursday of the month or at the next, uh, walk talk. So thank you so much, Kara, for joining

Kara Capelli: 30:05

us. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having us. Um, and we hope to see you guys out on one of our events at some point soon.

Dan Hoffman: 30:14

Thanks everybody for listening to the Rouse Review. Uh, on the next episode of the Rouse Review, we're gonna be talking to Mike Nee, AKA Michael Recycle. Uh, from our wastewater and rescue, rest, wastewater and refuge team about, uh, some exciting changes. Exciting, really only to Mike Nee. Oh, I

Sarah Frey: 30:33

think they're exciting.

Dan Hoffman: 30:34

They are very well, I'm excited because they will save us some money too. I was gonna say, it's a win-win. It's, it is a win-win. So, uh, there's some changes to the trash, uh, schedule pickup. We're gonna be talking about that. And until next time, we'll see you around City Hall.