Recreation & Parks Advisory Board

Regular Meeting of the Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks Held at the Falls Church Community Center, Kenneth R. Burnett Building 223 Little Falls Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 Minutes May 4, 2016 1. Call to Order Steve Selby called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Introductions of board members were made. Members present were Kathy Chandler, Charley O’Hara, Lori Lafave, and Steve Selby. City Council Liaison Marybeth Connelly was present. Staff members present were Danny Schlitt, Director of Recreation & Parks, and Keke Sidik. 2. Receipt of Public Petitions and Board Member Petitions – No Petitions 3. Minutes Kathy Chandler motioned to approve the April 6 Meeting Minutes. Lori Lafave seconded the motion. Upon unanimous voice vote, the motion passed. 4. Recreation Director’s Report Danny Schlitt presented the Director’s Report: - Preparing for Memorial Day Parade. - Garden Club Sale, Civil War Day and Tinner Hill preparations also coming. - Previous Book Sale and VPIS Attic Treasure Sale went well. - Summer class registrations have started - Revenue right now almost identical to where we were last year; we’ve always exceeded our goals but this year it will be much closer; plan to increase goal by another 100k next year. - Non-Resident fees will be increased to $20, double what it is now - Staffing changes include moving a 32-hour position to full-time, a full-time employee moving to public works, and recruiting for a Recreation Specialist position; will be hiring from outside for the vacant full-time position, and move the weekend part-time position to the vacant 32-hour position and eventually hire a new part-time weekend employee. 5. New Business Danny Schlitt discussed the budget cuts: - 412k for the city side; our department lost a 32-hour Recreation Specialist position that served to support our supervisors year-round. - Mentoring program, which started out strong but has since dwindled, has also been affected.  - What hurt most was the push to reduce overtime which is crucial for department; we heavily depend on maintenance staff to work special events, holidays, etc. 4700 is our contribution to overall reduction in overtime, not sure if we can meet that and may need to find compensation elsewhere in budget; may consider offering comp time. - Out of 412k budget cut to keep flat tax rate, our department contributes around 30k Marybeth Connelly suggested option of charging more to special events vendors that require overtime and Kathy Chandler asked what percentage of budget is covered by revenue. Danny answered it was around 65% and that a large part of that comes from summer camps; summer camps may be affected by school construction this summer. Members discussed the budget cuts. 6. Old Business Big Chimneys Park, Master Plan update and revision - Members discussed the incorporation of changes made by Kathy Chandler - Members discussed the goal of meeting Council with revisions of the Master Plan - Members discussed topics to bring up in June meeting with Council, including inviting the public to discuss the Cherry Hill Park playground - Danny discussed the hiring of one person to act as a temporary city employee to help pull all the pieces of the construction work together - Kathy Chandler discussed whether to delay approval until Meeting with Council or approving it immediately—if the latter, the approval date should remain in the footer - Members discussed the wording of portions of the Master plan, including existing elements, park designations, amenities and commemorative markers - Charley O’Hara discussed the necessary formatting changes to be made Kathy motioned to approve the plan with the current revisions to take to Council. Charley O’Hara seconded and all were in favor. Marybeth Connelly discussed the budget for the park as well as student representatives that will be appointed for the department. Marybeth inquired about the kiosks and who maintains and updates them. Danny answered that the Rec Dept. will take the lead on that and has already scheduled a meeting to discuss the logistics with other departments. Potential park regulations - Danny relayed the response from the City Attorney determining that we do not have the legal authority to ban smoking in parks - Members discussed bringing up this issue in the work session with Council in June 8. Adjournment Lori Lafave motioned to adjourn the meeting; Kathy Chandler seconded the motion. Under unanimous voice vote, Lori adjourned the meeting. 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).