Ansonia resident Jason Edwards snapped this picture of scooters in Ansonia again in May.
SEYMOUR — Residents gained’t be zipping round city on these electrical scooters that appear to be popping up in cities throughout the nation,
That’s as a result of the Board of Selectmen killed a proposal by Santa-Monica-based e‑scooter firm, Bird, earlier than they may even deliver it to a vote.
During the board’s assembly Tuesday (July 19), Bird Senior Account Executive Jeremy Lynch laid out the professionals of bringing e‑scooters to Seymour (i.e saving gasoline, attending to the prepare, only for enjoyable). However, when First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis requested her fellow selectmen for a movement to approve a Memorandum of Understanding with Bird, Selectman Bob Findley made the movement, however not one of the different selectmen would second it, rendering the proposal useless on arrival.
“I’m not comfortable with this because of our locale,” stated Selectwoman Trish Danka. “The downtown is very small and if you can’t walk the downtown you probably wouldn’t be getting on a scooter anyhow.”
The scooters wouldn’t be allowed on sidewalks, and that made a number of the selectmen much more involved about them using on busy roadways, in site visitors.
“Route 67 is pretty hazardous and I have liability concerns,” stated Selectman Chris Bowen.
While Lynch instructed the selectmen the city wouldn’t be on the hook for any prices related to bringing the scooters in, or be chargeable for any accidents and associated points, the selectmen nonetheless remained unconvinced that scooters can be a good match right here.
“Just because there would be an indemnification agreement doesn’t mean the town wouldn’t be sued,” stated Selectman Fred Stanek, who’s additionally an legal professional. “This still potentially could cost us money. I don’t think Seymour is configured in a proper way for the use of these scooters. We don’t have a beach or a state park as a destination. And I see them having problems with traffic.”
Findley was the only selectmen who voiced the slightest little bit of assist for giving the scooters a trial run.
“We have an opportunity to try this,” Findley stated. “We see other towns are doing this, and they have been successful. But if Bird doesn’t find a business model in Seymour, then they wouldn’t keep the program here. Maybe we could do it as a pilot program, especially if there are no legal ramifications on the town side.”
Economic Development Consultant Sheila O’Malley stated the thought of bringing scooters to city was to drum up some enthusiasm and pleasure.
“This purely was to bring some attention, some enthusiasm and some fun to the downtown,” O’Malley stated. “There is no obligation on the part of the town and no liability on the town’s part. It generates some excitement and fun and brings young people into the town, which is kind of what you want to do.”
O’Malley, who additionally serves as neighboring Ansonia’s financial growth director and grants author, stated Ansonia is having fun with success with the Bird scooter program, which zipped into city this spring. The metropolis initially began with about 50 scooters, however Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti not too long ago stated he expects Bird will likely be dropping off one other 50 scooters quickly to maintain up with the demand, particularly with new residences coming on-line downtown.
Lynch stated he selected Seymour due to its prepare station downtown, and anticipated riders utilizing the scooters to get to and from the prepare.
“We see that as a popular use, especially people wanting to save gas these days,” Lynch stated. “We’re just looking for a shot to see how the program would work here for a few months. We would evaluate the program and see how it goes.”
Lynch defined that the selectmen would have set the using route and parameters of the place the scooters would journey to and from. A fleet supervisor would have been accountable for putting the scooters in fashionable locations, and managing every little thing else related to the scooter utilization, which is all executed by way of an app on a good cellphone that customers would obtain.