Spearfish Bike Cooperative and Community Workspace
July 14, 2009

Jeremy Smith
jeremyunit
South Dakota

Login or join to comment:

Username
Password

Forgot username or password?

If the movement away from coal towards cleans energy is to succeed on a national level it must have the support and enthusiasm of small towns and communities. Spearfish, South Dakota (population 10,000) is representative of such towns across the US. I am proposing to organize, open and help operate a bicycle cooperative in Spearfish in order to 1) develop and encourage bicycles as a utilitarian vehicle and effective mode of transport, 2) install a 600 Watt demonstration solar system to serve as a starting point for information on alternative energy and sustainable living, and 3) act as a community-building resource for the region.
Spearfish is located in western South Dakota, just east of the largest coal and natural gas producing region in the country. The town is powered almost entirely by this coal, burned in Eastern Wyoming and Western South Dakota power plants. Spearfish has wide streets and a decent multi-use path through town, perfect for bike travel, yet the majority of the population use cars as their primary source of transportation even though most commutes involve distances of less than three miles.
The Spearfish bicycle cooperative will provide a location and resource for people to come and learn how to fix and maintain their bikes, encouraging more bike culture and opportunities for learning and involvement in the community. Examples of these opportunities include: 1) school outreach, 2) bicycle safety courses, 3) providing bikes to local low income families, 4) bike-in movies, and 5) using the cooperative space as a venue for workshops related to sustainability (gardening, homemade wind generators, water harvesting, etc.). When people have changed their driving habits and started biking (and enjoying it), the cooperative will have provided the impetus to reevaluate other energy consumptive habits (energy use, food consumption, etc). Biking in itself builds community by creating an environment where neighbors are more likely to interact with each other, and share information and viewpoints. A bike cooperative will help foster a wider environmental consciousness.
The overall goal of this project is to create a self-sustaining resource in Spearfish. Initially focused on bicycles and bike related programs, the bicycle cooperative will later help develop other projects with local support and expertise.
The cooperative will be centrally located between the downtown and the campus of Black Hills State University (4000 students). The city’s multi-use path passes within two blocks of the proposed location, providing a very visible facility which is also easily accessed on bike or by foot. A 600W photovoltaic system will be installed on the roof of the cooperative. The purpose of this to primarily be a demonstration system, but it will also power the cooperative. For this reason, the meter and display from the inverter will be in a prominent location and there will be informative signs describing the system and how it works and benefits (see attached photo). This system, the first three months rent, construction of the shop space, and basic tools will be funded by the Focus the Nation Roots Fellowship. Bicycles and parts will be acquired through donation from individuals and local bike shops, as well as salvaged from the city dump. Donated and salvaged bikes and parts not only reduce landfill waste but also cut down on the need for new bikes and the associated mining, manufacturing energy, and transportation of those bikes. After three months, the cooperative will be self-sustaining, through continual donations (both monetary and parts), volunteer hours, and fundraisers such as bike-in movies, and raffles. The initial bike related goals of the cooperative will be: 1) to teach bike maintenance and safe riding, focused on youth and in schools; 2) to be a source of bike culture, especially utilitarian bikes and commuters, and 3) to provide bikes to low-income members of the community (17% are below poverty line) as a less costly alternative to driving, encouraging using those savings towards increased home efficiency (weather stripping, CFLs, etc). This helps counter one concern that people have with climate change: that low-income families can not afford to change their lifestyle and are not seeing the benefits of action towards a clean energy/sustainable future. The bicycle cooperative will benefit all economic ranges by being a place where all members of the community can meet and learn on equal ground.
The photovoltaic system components will be provided at cost through Independent Power Systems of Bozeman, Montana. They will also be donating the labor to install the system. David Smith, a licensed electrician from Spearfish will also donate his time to help with the installation and connection to the local grid. The cooperative will likely only be open four days a week, but will be generating power whenever the sun is out (300 days a year) therefore the system should cover the whole of the electric bill for the space. Other individuals and organizations have already expressed interest in collaborating with the cooperative, including the Chamber of Commerce’s Trail and Recreation Committee, mountain and road biking clubs, university students, artists, journalists and local business owners.
Once the cooperative is imbedded in the community, people will feel compelled to get on their bikes. This is a positive feedback loop; the more bikes people see around town the more likely they are to also ride. Biking lets people see their community from a new viewpoint and encourages people to meet their neighbors and know their community better.
Bicycle cooperatives already exist in many large population centers. However, this project is aimed at a small, but growing, rural town. This will require the cooperative to be much more involved in the community for support than would be necessary in a larger city, but the advantage is that just a small change will make a big difference. The presence of the university allows for a constant source of new individuals from the region that when involved in biking and a sustainable lifestyle will build on the program and adopt similar projects at home. Therefore this cooperative will serve as a model for other small towns in the region where everything is bike accessible but there is not yet a biking culture or infrastructure.

Timeline
July 14 Submit proposal
July Planning and Developing
August 6 Award announcement
August Rent space, build shop, install solar, and collect bikes/parts
Early September Open shop to community
Sept-Nov Build bike culture/enthusiasm, establish partnerships with other local organizations/businesses, and become self-sustaining
December Travel to Copenhagen to report on progress