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 December 6, 2017 1. Call to Order Charley O’Hara called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Members present were Charley O’Hara, Kathy Chandler, Leslie Rye, Planning Commission Representative Lindy Hockenberry and School Board Representative Justin Castillo. Student Representatives James Gogal and Sonya Lu were also present. Staff members present were Amy Maltese, Deputy Director of Recreation & Parks. 2. New Business - Maintaining Legacy Memories: Ad Hoc committee to preserve legacy memories before existing high school is demolished. Leslie Rye and Dennis Szymanski presented. Legacy items include items such as memorial trees, gardens, benches, bricks and more. Ad Hoc committee is working towards cataloging legacy items with hopes to maintain them somehow. - Broad and Washington Presentation Charley O’Hara has recused himself from any referral from the Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks Scott Adams with McGuire Woods LLP, and Maury Sterns with Insight Property Group LLC presented. Highlighted features include: -Arts & Entertainment district -9,000 square foot elevated public plaza -Pocket Park along Lawton -Residential Lobby open to the public -5,000 square feet for Creative Cauldron, available to the City when not in use for meetings or events -Sidewalk trees remain and sidewalk becomes public amenity -$500 per unit voluntary concession towards Recreation and Park Amenities Questions/concerns for ongoing discussion raised by the Advisory Board: -Maintenance responsibilities -Programming in public spaces/plaza -Hours for plaza? Will there be lighting? -Traffic/safety concerns, especially on a Saturday morning when soccer games are resulting in parking on both sides of Lawton and a Creative Cauldron Saturday matinée -Will the building include pet amenities? -Voluntary concessions for traffic calming -Residential parking permits for Lawton  -Staging – do not want construction or personal vehicles using Madison Park parking lot. -Long term stability of Creative Cauldron -Entrance to parking from North Washington -Memorialize public spaces/commitments for future owners -Building and all its public spaces will be non-smoking 3. Minutes Kathy Chandler motioned to approve the November Minutes. Leslie Rye seconded the motion. Justin Castillo abstained. The motion was approved. 4. Recreation Director’s Report - Craft Show had about 1300 attendees. Reopened senior center to vendors - Winter/Spring brochure is online with hyperlinks for activities. Hard copy will be in print next week. - Basketball is running - Special tea for Senior Citizens at the Farmhouse today - Hired a new Recreation Specialist, Taylor Ford, replaced Kyle - New maintenance worker started about two weeks ago, Heeyong - Started second round interviews for Senior Administrative Assistant 5. Old Business a) Kim Callahan provided updated on CIP projects in parks - Big Chimneys A. Transportation improvements have been added. The road will be narrowed and there will be a raised crosswalk. B. Sidewalk will be concrete with brick center to match sidewalk across the street. Asphalt paths within the park. Charley will like to see something other than asphalt. C. Low lighting D. White picket fencing along portions of the Annandale side of the park E. Relocating access from Winter Hill community to make it accessible. F. Soil and storm water analysis show rain gardens would be ineffective and underdrains would be too low to connect to storm infrastructure. Still need to work out how to collect and move storm water. G. Signage at entrances and historical signage by Annandale entrance. H. Existing path that goes to Bowl America may be unnecessary to keep Project was within budget up until additional 16ft sidewalk at Annandale was added and challenge of storm water treatment. Current estimates are $100,000 over budget. Justin would like to know if there is objective data of unsafe traffic conditions or are the planned improvements a result of feedback from neighbors. - Howard E Herman Stream Valley Park  A. Easements on both sides of the entrance from W. Broad have just been finalized. B. Current plans for the entrance sign were shown. It is an archway sign, large enough to allow maintenance vehicles through. Charley would like to see something the looks less like the sign at West End to have something different. Kathy and Leslie liked the proposed sign. Justin proposed embedding signage into the brick work on the ground. C. Unique pavers - Mini Park/Downtown Plaza A. Selected trees that won’t drop much into the plaza area. B. Cedar wall by entrance to Unity Club with Chalkboard for the public to write on. C. Anchored game tables and moveable outdoor furniture. D. Small elevated stage with power. E. Lighting F. Dominion equipment will remain. We can paint dominion equipment a solid color G. Would be open later than our other parks which close at dusk. H. Currently out to bid with bids due December 19. Expect construction end of February/early March and open around August. Getting bids for with the fountain and without the fountain. a) No Smoking in Parks - Ideas: Healthy Lungs at Play, Tabaco Free Play Zone, Thank you for your Voluntary Cooperation, Smell Flowers, not Smoke - Less focus on signage. Other options: -Website – background photos, on environmental tab -Will need some signage, even if temporary -Post in kiosks -Letter to the Editor -Chalk Art -Student representatives will come up with some designs -Will plan to pass a resolution at a future meeting 8. Adjournment Leslie Rye motioned to adjourn the meeting and Kathy Chandler seconded the motion. Under unanimous vote, meeting adjourned at 8:57PM. 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).