Coos Bay ratifies volunteer for bike-and-pedestrian fact-finding group after public commenters urge faster action

The Coos Bay City Council moved Tuesday to ratify Eric Clough to a newly established bike-and-pedestrian fact-finding committee tasked with compiling information for the Parks Commission.

City Manager Nicole explained the Parks Commission asked that a small subgroup gather data and bring findings back to the Parks Commission for any formal recommendation to council. “It’s purely just going out and getting information, and then it’ll go through the Parks Commission,” she said.

Clough, who addressed the council during public comment before his ratification, described the application and early frustrations with city outreach and implementation. “I applied for that position on that subcommittee soon after I was told that it was opened up … and never got any kind of confirmation that the application had even been received,” he told the council. Clough, a member of Front Street Community Bike Works, urged that the city follow planning with visible, on-the-ground actions: “Planning is important. We can’t do anything without plans, but we gotta get something — you’ve gotta provide the cyclists with something to give us some faith that the city and the city staff are willing to do anything like this.”

Dean Lundy, another public commenter, supported Clough’s concerns and emphasized an evacuation and safety rationale for the corridor near Ocean Avenue and Twelfth Street. “There’s a choke point there at Twelfth Street. It’s easy to figure out,” Lundy said, urging signage and basic pavement markings to improve safety and evacuation access.

Nut graf: The fact-finding committee is intended to collect information and options for bicycle and pedestrian travel within city limits and report to the Parks Commission; it does not itself issue advisory recommendations to the council.

Council discussion underscored limits set by public-meeting laws: the fact-finding subgroup will gather data only, and the Parks Commission remains the recommending body for council. A councilor noted the Parks Commission has increased its meeting cadence because of the volume of material. One councilor acknowledged frustration with the pace but stressed transparency and thoroughness as reasons to proceed methodically before on-street changes.

The council voted to ratify Clough; the motion carried. Ending: Councilors encouraged Clough and other volunteers to provide timely information to the Parks Commission and to the city as the subgroup begins its work.