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 DRAFT Minutes April 1, 2015 1. Call to Order Mr. Selby called the meeting to order at 7:05p.m. Members present were Kathy Chandler, Charlie O’Hara, Steve Selby, and Leslie Rye. Staff present were Wyatt Shields, City Manager, Amy Maltese, and Ashley Williams. 2. Receipt of Public Petitions and Board Member Petitions Mr. Selby asked if there were any petitions. There were none. 3. Minutes Mr. O’Hara motioned to approve the minutes from the March 4th meeting contingent upon the correction of who called the meeting to order and closed the meeting, as well as changing the proffer suggestion to $150,000. Mrs. Chandler seconded the motion. Upon unanimous voice vote, the motion passed. 4. Recreation Director’s Report a) Cindy Mester has agreed to attend the May meeting b) Parks: Parking spaces facing the stream at Cavalier Trail Park have been marked as reserved for park visitors. After discussing it with the contractors, it has been determined that a fall grand opening celebration for West End Park is best to allow time for the plants to grow. According to measurements, two tennis courts will be able to be placed at Cherry Street. Funding is available, but a few contractual concerns will need to be resolved before the project can begin. Mr. Schlitt will keep the board updated. c) Park Maintenance: Public Works has not reduced their park maintenance budget. They have been asked to delay singular annual leaf collection until a more beneficial time period for the parks. Cherry Hill Park will have three collections. All of the parks were aerated last week. d) New positions: Interviewing for the vacant program supervisor position will begin next week. The open position in our maintenance crew has been filled by Mr. Henry Castellon. 5. New Business “Parks for People”: The following short term policies and projects have been placed on the May meeting agenda: adopt and administer park maintenance standards, update the future land use map and update open space acquisition priorities map. The MOU will be updated in June’s meeting. 6. Old Business a) Proffers (with Mr. Shield): 1. Schools: Proffers come from contractors in the form of cash and cash equivalent contributions. The majority of proffers are in the form of school contributions. The school’s voluntary concession suggested to developers is $7,511 per unit. This was determined by taking the cost of MEH, and dividing that by 600 (due to 600 students). 2. Parks: The Mason Row development has acquired a $150,000 concession for parks. This is not intended for W&OD, but city use. There may be additional suggested contribution opportunities to parks, etc. A suggested proffer of $180/unit for apartment living developments was pitched to the contractors but it has not been taken favorably. The board would greatly appreciate the $150,000. Mr. O’Hara mentioned that because funding will be founded for schools, proffers are generally the only opportunity for parks to receive outside funding, particularly because parks are the first place where funding is cut when other areas are in need. 3. With the sale of the land of Big Chimneys, $1 million has been designated for its park improvement and transportation. Big Chimneys will also be expected to interact well with the bowling alley which will be redeveloped at some point 4. Mr. Selby suggested at the next meeting the board move to modify the memo sent to the contractors which combined the suggested proffer of the EDA. b) Parks: Concrete for West End’s park features has been poured in some places. Outside of the equipment being removed, Berman Park is completed. Mr. O’Hara requests that this is done as soon as possible to allow the land to regrow. Amy was requested to follow up with Howard E. Herman and the Community Center tennis courts. c) Parks Tour: Three council members have committed to joining the Advisory Board for the parks tour. The have suggested it be scheduled on a Monday evening in place of a work session. Mr. O’Hara suggests it occur in May. d) Lynn Place - The price has increased ($625k to $650k; the City assessed it at $619k). Per Mr. Selby, it is likely that the house is valued for the land as opposed to the actual house. Motion: Mrs. Rye motioned to approve spending $1,000 for the first right to refusal and approve of the $650k asking price on the property. Mrs. Chandler seconded the motion. With a unanimous vote, the motion was approved. 7. Adjournment Mrs. Rye motioned to adjourn the meeting; Mrs. Chandler seconded the motion. Following a unanimous voice vote, Mr. Selby adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.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).