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 May 1, 2013 1. Call to Order Mr. O’Hara called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Members present were Kathy Chandler, Charley O’Hara, 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. Minutes Ms. Chandler moved to approve the minutes from the April 3rd meeting. Mr. Rasnake seconded the motion. Upon voice vote, the motion unanimously passed. 4. Recreation Director’s Report • Lincoln Park is open to the public as of today. The Communications Department sent a twitter out about the opening and there were over 60 people in the park today at one point. • The summer Farmers Market begins this Saturday with approximately 50 vendors. The majority of the vendor registration was completed online this year. Howard recruited a new local seafood vendor that will participate in the summer market. The vendor sells local crabs, oysters, fish and more. • The Summer Classes Brochure was mailed to patrons. The printer made an error in the brochure and sent a corrected page insert to all customers. Registration begins on May 13th for City Residents and May 20th for Non-Residents. • The annual Art Show & Sale was held last weekend in City Hall. The event was held in the downstairs corridor and Dogwood training room. The location worked well and the attendance was high for both the opening reception and sale. • The month of May brings several events hosted or run by the Recreation & Parks Department. The Community Center will host the VPIS Attic Treasurer’s Sale will be held on May 4th and the Falls Church Garden Club Plant Sale on May 11th. • Civil War Day will be held on May 18th at the Cherry Hill Farmhouse. Congressman Moran will be in attendance to cut the ribbon dedicating the Sesquicentennial Civil War Trail signs around the City.  • Diane Morse announced that she is retiring as the Cherry Hill Farmhouse Coordinator after 23 years of service with her last day on May 31st. Diane has done a wonderful job with the house and programs she provides. Some of those programs include Civil War Day, Farm Day, private teas, summer camps, school tours and more. • The department is getting ready for the Memorial Day Parade & Festival on May 27th. Jenny Paxton has created a successful sponsorship program that permits companies to partially sponsor an event at $1,000. So far, fourteen companies have committed to sponsoring the 2013 Memorial Day Parade & Festival. • The Community Center will have the older side of HVAC system installed in 1968 replaced this year. This will require us to close the gym for over a week. The cost to replace the system is covered by facilities and does not come from the Recreation & Parks Dept. budget. • The Cherry Hill tennis courts will be shut down this October while work commences on pipes underneath the courts. We will completely redo the courts following this construction. 5. New Business • None to report 6. Old Business a. Operating Budget • The City Council decided to include the school transfer funds of approximately $166,000 in the Recreation & Parks budget. • The Recreation & Parks Department will review our usage of the school facilities this year and the associated costs per hour. We will also review the instances when we are sole users of the facility. The Recreation & Parks Dept. is not supposed to be charged for facility usage when other groups are renting the space per the MOU. b. CIP • The Master Park Improvement money will not longer be funded by the pay-go system with reserve funds after FY 14. This does not affect the West End Park project. c. Reserve at Tinner Hill/Harris Teeter • Mr. Schlitt was contacted by the City Manager that Rushmark Properties voluntary concession for Big Chimney Park will be $25,000. The Council has discussed using the potential sale from the adjacent properties to fund the Big Chimneys project. • Mr. Schlitt wrote a memo regarding the overall design direction of the area around and park at Big Chimneys. Some of the prior design elements included a festival style street, amphitheater and water feature. Also included in the memo is the caveat that any future construction at that site should allow for archeological exploration of the area. 2  • There are no significant updates with regards to voluntary concessions for Cavalier Trail Park. d. West End Park • The West End Park project is in the final stages of approval. The Public Works engineers have agreed to the water elimination process. The project will go through a CBIRT hearing in the next few weeks. Then we will resubmit the final plans for approval and hire a contractor. Mr. Schlitt will then pay the $6,000 to Dominion Virginia Power per the agreement. Construction will commence in the spring or summer of 2014. • Mr. O’Hara suggested we review the plans for the archway sign to make sure the design will still work, that materials are available, and to review the potential cost. 7. Other Business • A new recycled material park sign is being installed at Roberts Park. We will plant flowers in a bed surrounding the sign. • Urban Forestry is currently assisting us with planting flowers in bed surrounding the parks signs in all parks. • A group of boy scouts completed a project at Big Chimneys Park rebuilding the outline of the historic house. • The mowing in our parks is managed by Urban Forestry. Currently mowing is on a 10 day cycle. There is a separate contractor that provides maintenance on the flower beds. • Mr. O’Hara requested that we look into grass restoration at Berman and Big Chimneys parks. • Mr. Schlitt reported that we restored grass in large areas at Cherry Hill Park. The effort was successful and areas of the park are looking better. 8. Adjournment Mr. Selby moved to adjourn the meeting; Ms. Chandler seconded the motion. Following a unanimous voice vote, Mr. O’Hara adjourned the meeting at 8:09p.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