Plan for North Side biking spins its wheels

A market analysis called a 42-square-mile area that includes north Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs a "bike shop dead zone" because there is none.

But then the city offered $350,000 in federal stimulus money to subsidize the startup of a bike-walk center there. It wants to lower the North Side's rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other health problems.

Two teams of nonprofits slugged it out for the money. In a brouhaha that reminds some of the old days at City Hall when political decisions undermined staff recommendations, the council this month rejected the proposal favored by a review team and the health commissioner. It called for a new competition.

That has prompted one jilted team to seek money for a bike-walk emporium from another federal pot, competing with other city bike projects. The bike shop owners who were key to one proposal have dropped out. A member of one of the teams is seeking an alternate way to rent and fix bikes at Wirth Park.

And a South Side bike shop owner who didn't seek the subsidy hopes to open his own North Side shop.

So an area with no bike shops could sprout several that threaten each other's survival. Moreover, the council's restart of the proposal process means the winner risks missing much of the 2011 bike season.

Competing proposals

Cyclists and North Siders say the area has a cycling culture in which riding is more for transportation than recreation and fear of theft can inhibit bike use. The city is trying to offset that with a major health promotion involving new bike routes, an expansion of the Nice Ride bike rental program into the area and the bike-walk center.

The foundation said its proposal, which it declined to release and discussed only generally, brought together 10 area nonprofits and a bike shop. Multiple neighborhood organizations supported it.

The competing Major Taylor proposal also included participation by several nonprofits and the club's zeal to increase cycling in the minority community.

A city evaluation panel made up of people with expertise in business development, bike retailing, cycling, health promotion and youth employment, plus North Side residents, ranked the Taylor proposal higher. "It wasn't real close," said panel member Paul Bauknight, a resident and architect. The Pohlad group then withdrew its proposal.

The Taylor proposal involved renting space at Penn and Lowry Avenues N. A bike shop would sell new bikes, repair used ones and sell biking and hiking gear. The Taylor club would offer biking leadership and programs. Kids would get bike repair training, allowing them to earn income.

Sustainability questioned

The competing proposals emerged despite efforts by city staff members to marry them. The foundation had deep pockets, listing $110 million in assets at the end of 2008, its most recent disclosure. The Taylor group claimed a more community-focused vision.

When health officials recommended the Taylor group, several council members -- Council President Barbara Johnson chief among them -- questioned whether its center could survive after the three-year public subsidy ran out.

"We don't want to have another group up there funded and going away in a year or two years," the North Sider said. The group projected a slight profit by the third year with a healthy cash balance.

To offset council skepticism, the Taylor group sought a meeting with Johnson. They showed up and found her, two other members of a key council committee, Mayor R.T. Rybak and representatives of the Pohlad team.

Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson, a former city employee who helped develop the city's solicitation, said she's puzzled that the council didn't follow the recommendations, and that the Pohlad group was invited back into the process.

"Why is there a back door on this?" she asked. Council Member Meg Tuthill said the explanation is simple: City staff and the review panel are "not the decisionmakers -- we are."

Said Atlas-Ingebretson: "Just so much work was thrown out, and there could have been a bike center opening in the spring."