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 September 7, 2016 1. Call to Order Steve Selby called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. Members present were Steve Selby, Charley O’Hara, Leslie Rye, and Lori Lafave. Student Representative Carly Roberson 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 Charley O’Hara motioned to approve the July 14 Meeting Minutes. Leslie Rye seconded the motion. The motion was approved. 4. Recreation Director’s Report Danny Schlitt presented the Director’s Report: - Over a 100 reservations made since July 1, half of which were for shelters. - Around 600 visitors to the Farmhouse; Farmhouse is a revenue producer (several weddings and 3 weeks of camps were held there), more events coming up. - Summer camps a success with new Supervisor and help from staff: 235 camps in total brought in around $800k of revenue – huge growth over the years. - Preschool teacher resigned, Amy Maltese stepping in for the interim. - Soccer registration has over 900 participants – an increase from Spring. Nothing has changed in our need for fields. Have had more discussions with Fairfax in regard to Larry Graves. I’d support any idea to eventually turf that field. - Leslie Rye - Update on the status of that? The property belongs to…? - Danny - Majority belongs to Fairfax County; MOU is 50/50, we did all the building, they do all maintenance—but we pay for it. - Charley O’Hara - Is it important to have it bumped up a little in discussions? - Danny - Will bring it back to Wyatt again and tell him we’re ready to have that discussion once more. - Steve Selby - Parents of soccer players are an active group; we should consider tapping into that resource. - Charley - Better to have idea of what we’re pushing for first; may be a matter of Wyatt making a phone call first. - Lori Lafave - What about Roberts Park for younger players?  - Danny - Issue of parking; tried before with High School Lacrosse and it didn’t work. One thing to do immediately is to get rid of goal posts at Larry Grave and start cutting it into smaller fields, and at least throw some grass on there. - Charley - Maybe talk to Wyatt to call Fairfax County. They have no money for maintenance; even when we donate fields, they can’t maintain them. - Danny - Clean Week went really well; gym recoated/repainted; everyone on board. - Danny - School has a desire to see what could be put on Madison Park; received email asking whether we have plat of the Park. - Leslie - There’s also a significant drainage issue and natural gas issues. Is school board paying to have conceptual done? - Danny - I will ask Jim Snyder. - Charley - Status of Mt. Daniel? Do we know when they’re rescheduled to go back to the Planning Commission in Fairfax? From what I understand, Commission did not rule favorably but staff had recommended latest proposal. - Danny - There’s a lot that needs to be put together; that Madison Park is potentially being studied is a matter of concern. - Charley - Also a concern that School Board is changing courses in the middle of it twice; members leaving in the middle of it. - Lori - I find it interesting that in July, they requested for us to convene to discuss one piece of property yet they do not come in to talk about a different piece of property. - Charley - It’s the Planning/School Board dichotomy; the request came from Planning and Planning is taking action with the result of that meeting. - Leslie - School Board did request conceptual plans. - Charley/Danny - From Development Services, from Planning. - Board discussed the need to express concern about these issues and how best to do it and whom to speak with. - Leslie - I would like to see the Board say something about Madison Park being used as a facility before the neighborhood does, because they are ready. - Steve – We’ve got so many things going on, increasing pressure on fields we have. - Danny - Do we want motion and formal action or are we just asking for a meeting? - Charley - Request to have joint session with School Board to see if interest to discuss use of field; letter from someone to request, no formal motion. - Danny - Will work with Steve to put something together. - Lori - I will speak with Lawrence. 5. New Business a) Introduction of Kimberly Callahan, project manager Big Chimneys Park - Danny - She will work on Big Chimneys and Downtown project; Jason Widstrom is her supervisor. Due to injury, unable to start and come today, will introduce her in person in next Meeting. 6. Old Business a) Big Chimneys Project - Danny - We’ve hired Kim Callahan; she’ll start in late September. I want to develop a timeline with her. We’ll get into conceptual designs, getting citizen input, and scope of work together with engineers.  b) Cherry Hill Project - Danny - We’re in the process of hiring Markon Solutions; they came to City to get involved with City projects. Money that we’re dealing with is close to $200-$300k. We’d like to theme it, come up with design by Spring of 2017 and start construction by the following Summer. Timing will be tough. - Charley discussed signage and the importance of design element—people love signage at West End. c) Howard E. Herman Stream Valley Park Project - Danny - Want to make sure we have sustainable path, benches, trash and litter receptacles and recycling. It looks great but we have to make sure that path is usable. 8. Adjournment Leslie Rye motioned to adjourn the meeting and Charley O’Hara seconded the motion. Under unanimous vote, meeting adjourned at 8:15PM. 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).