Recreation & Parks Advisory Board

Regular Meeting of the Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks Held at the Falls Church Community Center 223 Little Falls Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 Minutes December 5, 2012 1. Call to Order Mr. O’Hara called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Members present were Kathy Chandler, Charley O’Hara, Lori LaFave, Greg Rasnake, Leslie Rye, and Steve Selby. Staff members present were Danny Schlitt, Director of Recreation & Parks, and Krissy Loerch, Senior Administrative Assistant. 2. Receipt of Public Petitions and Board Member Petitions Mr. O’Hara asked if there were any petitions from the public or board members. There were none. 3. Presentation of design for playground equipment replacement at Lincoln Park • The theme for the new equipment will be nature and incorporates tree trunks, limbs, logs, as well as mushrooms. • We will not disturb any additional space except for adding a pathway between equipment to become ADA compliant. • The playground structures for the younger and older children will both be replaced as well as the swings. A few new elements will be added such as the mushroom table set and a log crawl through feature. • The ground cover will be replaced but remain as a manufactured rubber mulch. • The playground equipment will be ADA compliant with accessibility to the first level of the equipment. • Approximately two to four new benches will be added to the park. The two picnic benches currently in the park will be kept. • The trash can and recycling receptacles will be replaced. • The current equipment will be removed as soon as a contact is signed. • The estimated time frame to open the new equipment to the public is by the spring of 2013. 4. Minutes Ms. Chandler moved to approve the minutes from the November 7th meeting as amended. Mr. Selby seconded the motion. Mr. Rasnake abstained from the vote. Upon voice vote, the motion passed. 5. Recreation Director’s Report • The Winter/Spring 2013 brochure is available in hard copy and online. Registration beings on January 2nd for City residents and January 9th for non-City residents. • Debbie Woodbury is organizing the Taste of Class event on Tuesday, January 1 from 3- 6pm. This event gives citizens a chance to preview classes, participate in demonstrations and meet instructors. It is a free event held in the gymnasium. Last year thirty new households were entered into our system from the event. • The Holiday Craft show was successful again this year. We placed an add in the Washington Post that people could cut out and present to us for a discounted entry fee of .50 cents. One hundred and twenty of the ads were collected at the door. The overall ticket sales amounted to $1,353 compared to last year’s total of $1,400. • The Recreation & Parks Department will not hold a New Year’s Eve teen event this year at the Community Center. Over the past few years, participation in the event dwindled significantly and last years participation was extremely low. Amy Maltese, Teen Coordinator, will be involved in the planning of Watch Night and will be there to assist with the evenings events. • The youth basketball league has 69 teams participating which is one team below last year. The select basketball league also has one team less than last year. Overall the youth league has approximately 730 participants and 75 teams. • The men’s adult winter basketball league has 38 teams registered with a waitlist. • The Senior Center Coordinator, Tracy Browand, continues to be involved in the planning and implementation of the Senior Olympics. 6. New Business a. The board was asked to comment on an affordable housing memo by January 26th, 2013. The board will discuss the memo in the January meeting and decided if it is necessary to comment. b. The City Council is seeking community input on their 2013 Legislative Program. The program provides the foundation for positions on bills before the Virginia General Assembly that will impact the City. 7. Old Business a. Open Space Report • The updated Open Space Report will be discussed at the January 2nd meeting. Mr. O’Hara requested that we submit a hard copy of the report to the City Council instead of presenting it this year. b. West End Park project • Patton, Harris, Rust and Associates quoted an additional $90,000 for the updated cost estimate of construction. We will have to add $90,000 to this year’s CIP. • Dominion VA Power sent a draft statement to Mr. Schlitt. The Director of Development Services is currently reviewing the statement. 2 8. Other Business • From FY 12 through FY 17 the current requested funding for Capital Improvements Projects is as follows: FY 12- $200,000; FY 13- $200,000; FY 14- $350,000 for West End Park; FY 15- $200,000; FY 16- $463,500 for HEHSVP; and FY 17- $200,000. • Mr. O’Hara reminded staff to be mindful of engineering costs in the CIP associated with the Howard E. Herman Stream Valley Park (HEHSVP) project. • Mr. Schlitt will inquire with Richard Parker about the insurance for Lincoln Park. 9. Adjournment Mr. Selby moved to adjourn the meeting; Ms. LaFave seconded the motion. Following a unanimous voice vote, Mr. O’Hara adjourned the meeting at 8:21p.m. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in alternate format upon request. Call 703-248-5027 (TTY 711). 3