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 DRAFT October 4, 2017 1. Call to Order Charley O’Hara called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Members present were Planning Commission Representative Lindy Hockenberry, City Council Liaison Marybeth Connelly, Charley O’Hara, Kathy Chandler, and Leslie Rye. Student Representatives James Gogal and Sonya Lu were also present. Staff members present were Danny Schlitt, Director of Recreation & Parks, Amy Maltese, Deputy Director and James Ruby, Recreation Program Supervisor. 2. Recreation Director’s Report -Successful Taste of Falls Church – about 14 restaurants participated, first time offering a beer garden, well attended and well run. Would like a band that would bring a crowd. -Keke has resigned her position with the City. 30+ resumes have been received already. -Recruiting for a maintenance position as well. 3. Receipt of Public Petitions and Board Member Petitions - Dee (Sandra) Lord – 414 Great Falls Street –Doesn’t believe the public is well educated about the trees coming down in Cherry Hill Park. Concerned about aesthetics. Would like to board to please reconsider a way to do the project without losing the trees. -Danny – does expect to plant trees. Agrees that Cherry Hill Park is a special place. Has tried to keep play equipment in existing footprint. - Charley – discussed previously held and advertised public meetings about the project. One of the other big pushes on project was to keep the open space open. Also, all trees that are coming down are in “poor” or “fair” condition. Has asked about manufactured shade but there are budget constraints. The park is an overly well treed park. -Danny – has looked into the manufactured shade – due to the wind load, there are large concrete footers and it is more expensive than expected. - Scott Conncuk – 301 Parker Avenue – concern for biodiversity and interconnectivity of ecosystems. Wants to know what improvements are being made. -Danny will introduce him to Jeremy Edwards – he and the City Arborist made those decisions. He can also put Scott in touch with Kate Walker. -Charley – referenced stream daylighting and rain garden examples 4. Minutes Kathy Chandler motioned to approve the June Minutes. Leslie Rye requested we add the words “Community Center” where discussing camera coverage for clarification. Leslie accepts as amended. The motion was approved. Lindy abstained. 5. New Business Amy Maltese – Hobby Class Report:  - Discussion of current classes, breakdown of ages of participants, user fees, seasonal brochures, resident/non-resident participation, online/in person/phone registration, contractors vs instructors and onboarding process. Trying to add adult fine arts, cooking & gymnastics. City hall renovation will have an impact. Preschool Program. - Survey results – more gymnastics – not ready to release results because it is not yet a good sampling of residents. Most survey participants thus far already participate in our programs – looking to get more folks that are not active with us to take the survey. Marybeth and Lindy recommended advertising the survey through the schools and on schoology. Jimmy Ruby – Youth and Adult Class Report: - Discussion of programs – YOUTH: flag football & fall soccer about 750 participants last year, ages 2-18, youth basketball 976 participants last year, Falls Church Basketball Day/All Star Game, spring soccer, 827 participants last year, helped with camps last summer, JV & Varsity girls basketball program. ADULT: Men’s Basketball, Women’s and Coed Volleyball – register as teams – about 125 teams. Thanked the board for time and effort into Larry Graves Artificial Turf Field project. 6. Old Business a) Cherry Hill Playground Replacement a. Tree contractor begins next week. Expect construction to be delayed a little bit. Once started, construction should take about 6 weeks. Will need to discuss ribbon cutting at next meeting. b) Big Chimneys is still with engineers. Working with traffic calming options. Next step is 60% renderings. Working on storm water issues. c) Has not yet met with student reps – will do so before the next meeting d) Expect to receive a referral from Development services in regards to the Washington and Broad project. e) Charley recommends people check out the rain gardens at Cavalier. Will need to reseed it. New fence at Cavalier is two-toned. f) Lights are back on at Madison Park. g) Cherry Street courts being used by Jesse Thackrey and their bikes are being stored on the courts. Danny – we will work with them on it. h) Lindy – EDA will be putting up wrap-around lights. They will be year round for two years. LED so they change colors. i) Lindy – Article in METRO about great things at GMHS. j) Marybeth – Larry Graves status? Danny – met with Fairfax County – between now and March, rewrite MOU, construction in the spring. Asking the savings from operating costs get applied to resurfacing the field in ten years. 8. Adjournment Leslie Rye motioned to adjourn the meeting and Charley O’Hara seconded the motion. Under unanimous vote, meeting adjourned at 8:18PM. 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).