Economic Development Authority

Economic Development Authority Meeting Minutes September 11, 2019 Dogwood Room/City Hall Approved October 1, 2019 CALLED TO ORDER BY: Bob Young at 7:11 pm PRESENT: EDA Board members present: Bob Young, Chairman; Erik Pelton, Vice Chairman; Mike Novotny, Jim Coyle, City staff present: Jim Snyder, Becky Witsman and Val Weiner Other attendees: Phil Duncan, Letty Hardi, Nick Benton, Pirouz Khanmalek, Sandy Hanger, Kathy Frasier, and Student Representatives (Cole Tarter, George Hoak, Evan Jones) I. Approval of August 6, 2019 Minutes of EDA Meeting a. Approved at 8:23 pm II. Petitions from the Public (5 minutes per petitioner) a. None III. Petitions from the Board (5 minutes per petitioner) a. Bob Young mentioned that he had recently met with Wyatt Shields and that the EDA will soon be involved in discussions about the West End development project, wherein the EDA will be signing the 99 year ground lease and the land will be deeded to the EDA. IV. Wayfinding study kick-off and discussion – Kathy Frazier and Sandy Hanger, Frazier and Associates a. Consultants reviewed the project scope, intention and definition of wayfinding, and major considerations for the project such as how to identify primary and secondary destinations for signage. b. Consultants distributed a questionnaire prompting attendees to offer insights on the goals, possible destinations, challenges, and opportunities for wayfinding. c. Attendees highlighted wayfinding goals such as: 1. Celebrating the City of Falls Church 2. Creating a sense of place and belonging 3. Promoting clarity and cohesiveness through signage 4. Promoting downtown businesses 5. Improving safety and traffic flow d. Attendees highlighted possible destinations for wayfinding like: 1. Bike sharing stations and transportation hubs 2. City hall, the community center, and other public services 3. Community staples like the Eden Center, Farmer’s Market, and the W&OD Trail 4. Future developments like Founder’s Row 5. The Downtown e. Attendees identified major challenges such as: 1. ‘terrible’ signage that is conflicting and outdated 2. No sense of place 3. Unsafe crossings and intersections 4. No distinction between The City of Falls Church and surrounding counties f. Opportunities identified by the committee included:  1. Promoting and building on the ‘Little City’ branding 2. Promote a sense of relaxation and slowing down through signage 3. Emphasize the city’s international diversity through signage 4. Overall unification and update of all signage 5. Taking advantage of the watertower or other local images 6. Establish distinct boundaries 7. Incorporate pedestrian signage on sidewalks 8. Create kiosks near downtown park that promote local businesses g. The discussion closed with the consultants collecting all questionnaires and agreeing to provide a synthesized written report of all findings from the meeting as well as the wayfinding interest group meeting on September 11, 2019. V. Discussion about Affordable Housing and a possible EDA role in the issue – Jim Coyle a. Bob Young presented his proposed letter (as drafted by Jim Coyle) to the Mayor and Council on the EDA’s support for an affordable housing oversight committee. He clarified the EDA’s involvement would be in a support, not leading, position and is important to the city achieving its’ overall comprehensive goals. b. In consideration of the discussion about the EDA’s role in the affordable housing issue, Erik Pelton offered to make edits to the document and recirculate it to EDA members. c. The committee will vote at the next meeting on whether to send the edited letter (with possible additional edits) to the mayor and city council. VI. Downtown Park update – Mr. Brown’s Park dedication planned for 6 PM on Monday, September 30th a. The new/more Adirondack chairs and tables are out in the park and available for use. b. The milling and repaving/restriping of public parking lots (adjacent to park) is finished, but yet to be paid. c. The park does not yet have full power, and Jim Snyder is waiting on Dominion Power to schedule the power connection. Contractors also need to finish some electrical work prior to that connection as well. The goal is to finish the work by the park opening on September 30th. d. Holiday tree trunk lighting project status: new low voltage LED lights have been ordered and will be installed in the fall. e. Mr. Brown’s Park sign: the committee agreed to wait on the park sign for the results of the wayfinding study. There will be a temporary banner designed for the park in the interim. f. Bob Young and Erik Pelton offered to install the plants/planters along the alleyway entrance to the park, otherwise suggested to quickly ‘navigate the system’ in order to install them before the September 30th opening. g. Letty suggested spending remaining park funds for a mural on either or both available walls, targeting a possible date in the spring for the work VII. Parking study update a. All approved the continuation of the parking study. VIII. Kaiser Update a. Bob Young, Jim Coyle and City staff will meet with Kaiser representatives September 19th , regarding the possibility of more visible public parking signage at Kaiser and will report back the major takeaways at the next meeting. b. Some attendees suggested the opportunity for co-branding the sign with Kaiser. c. Other attendees expressed concern that the city’s deal with Kaiser is not permanent, and thus that expenditures for a sign bear that in mind. It was suggested to ask for a 10 year commitment of free parking on weekends during the conversation. IX. EDA Member Reports a. Bob Young suggested EDA send a letter to council on the safety hazard and other issues associated with the Bedo’s property at 412 West Broad. The motion was approved by the committee. b. Bob Young suggested beginning a conversation about updating or redesigning the Washington and Broad intersection—possibly as part of Insight’s voluntary concessions. It has been added to the next meeting’s agenda. c. Bob Young mentioned that the deed for the West Falls Church development project will be transferred to the EDA next year so future EDA agenda time will be devoted to that topic.. X. Other Business XI. Adjournment at 9:36 pm