Bill Text: VA HR173 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Melissa Seek.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-02-28 - Bill text as passed House (HR173ER) [HR173 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HR173-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek has provided exceptional leadership to the active transportation community, including pedestrians and people who use bicycles, scooters, and wheelchairs, as a longtime board member and president of Bike Norfolk; and
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek joined the board of directors of Bike Norfolk, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization, in 2016 and has since participated in numerous initiatives to increase safety and enhance support for active transportation throughout Norfolk; and
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek served as secretary of Bike Norfolk from 2016 to 2021, as vice president in 2022, and as president in 2023; and
WHEREAS, during her tenure with Bike Norfolk, Melissa Seek played a key role in advocating for improved infrastructure in the Granby corridor and the Ocean View corridor, as well as in Park Place, Colonial Place, and Ghent; and
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek worked with the Safe Routes to Schools program at Norfolk Public Schools to develop bike safety films and create a bike rodeo in the underserved community of Young's Terrace; and
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek offered her expertise to Bike Norfolk's bike refurbishing program, through which bikes and gear are recycled and given to those in the community, and she organized volunteers for yearly bike maintenance soup kitchens, where volunteers offer repairs and distribute bikes and gear to people at the Catholic Worker and Urban Renewal Center's soup kitchens; and
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek and her husband, Mike, led efforts to create official mountain bike trails at Northside Park, which included cleaning the wooded area, entering an MOU with City of Norfolk for designing and maintaining trails, and securing sponsorships for tools, trail head signs, and insurance; she also organizes quarterly maintenance days for the trails with dozens of volunteers; and
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek led the fundraising efforts for the family of Michael Shipp, a bicycle shop owner who was killed while riding in South Carolina, which resulted in more than $10,000 in donations; she also led a children's bike race at Northside Park that was part of a larger event organized by I Ride 4 David, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of childhood cancer; and
WHEREAS, Melissa Seek previously served as a member of the City of Norfolk's Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Active Transportation Committee for five years, including three years as chair; in that capacity, she advocated for improvements to bicycle and pedestrian facilities across the city and facilitated communication between city officials and businesses, civic leagues, community groups, and other stakeholders; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Melissa Seek hereby be commended for her achievements as a board member and president of Bike Norfolk; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Melissa Seek as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for her contributions to the active transportation community in Norfolk.
