Recreation & Parks Advisory Board

Regular Meeting of Advisory Board recreation and Parks Held at the Falls Church Community Center, Kenneth R. Burnett Building 223 Little Falls Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 Minutes November 6, 2019 1. Call to Order Charley O’Hara called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Members present were Charley O’Hara, Bill Brew, Kathy Chandler, Kim Hicks, Leslie Rye, City Council Liaison Letty Hardy, Planning Commission Representative, Melissa Tates, Student Representative Emma Roncoroni, Daniel Schlitt, Director of Recreation and Parks, and Janelle Kirby. 2. Receipt of Public Petitions and Board Members Petitions None 3. Minutes for Approval: October 3, 2019 Bill Brew motioned to approve minutes. Leslie Rye seconded motion. Motioned carried. 4. Recreation Director’s Report - Farm Day & Halloween Carnival events are over o Halloween Carnival moved up in time this year o Numbers were decent for the event but not as high as it usually is. This may have been due to the timing of the event. - Upcoming Events o Basketball Tryouts  Boys 2nd & 3rd grade had 140 registered  Older registration groups are slower due to high school tryouts taking place.  Last year there was not enough older girls registered for a team. This year we have enough registered for a team. o Veterans Ceremonies – November 11th at 11 a.m. in front of Recreation and Parks  Keynote speaker – Beverly Doner (was a nurse during the Vietnam War) - Budget Season Approaching  CIP  Recreation and Parks Operating budget due 2nd week of January - MOU update  Draft almost done. Now ready to send to schools for signature.  There will be a meeting with schools tomorrow (Thursday, November 7, 2019) to discuss summer programs. Mary Ellen Henderson will be completely shut down.   MEH being closed may cause Recreation and Parks to offer less summer programs. - Departing Staff  Cassie Holloway (Preschool Teacher) leaving in 2 weeks Friday, November 22, 2019.  William Kargbo (Evening Maintenance Worker) leaving on Friday, November 8, 2019 5. New Business a. West End Park large utilities project - There is a large regulator (large structure) that is currently on George Mason Campus that needs to be replaced. The City tried to find room for this structure over by the George Mason Campus. However, there was no way to add the structure without slowing down all the progress. The utility company (Virginia Dominion) stated that the West End Park would be a prime spot for this project. The structure will be placed in the entire planted area underground.  This plan is still in the early stages  The company will be planting the garden back on top of what is added *Charley O’Hara bought up some concerns about this project – it does not seem to be benefitting the Recreation and Parks Department in any way. If company put this structure in the West End Park this means that Recs & Parks would lose future flexibility to add on to this park. 6. Old Business a. Park projects 1. Fellows o Danny met with some Deconstruction companies  Deconstruction ink is out of the business  Second Chance looked at the house but was not interested  Matt Quinn took a look at the house but felt there was nothing in there that was worth  Charley Moore (with architectural advisory board) and Keith Thirsten took a look at the house and asked for a couple of weeks to come up with some ideas.  Once Danny follows up with Charley, he will present the information to Wyatt.  After the City is finished with this process of taking down the house then the City would like to communicate it’s desires with the community. *Charley O’Hara suggested that before the house is torn down, Danny should look into communicating with the community or maybe add some type of article to the E-Focus explaining what will happen in the area once the house is gone. 2. HEHSVP   Sign has been painted, everything in place and done.  Ready for ribbon cutting 3. Big Chimneys  The wait and the additional storm water requirement, another 50k has been added-on in order to do changes to the park.  Danny is going to ask public works to find money. Maybe looking into using money that has been left over from other projects. b. School Project update - Next Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at 7:30 pm town hall meeting - Updates on school website - Legacy Memorial Group will be having a fundraiser - Kiosk to be added to have a Hall of Fame. The kiosk will be funded from the fundraiser - Events will be corresponding with Recreation and Parks Department *Danny hopes to add no smoking back on Agenda’s in the future meetings. 7. Adjournment Leslie Rye motioned to adjourn the meeting. Bill Brew seconded the motion. Under unanimous vote the meeting adjourned at 8:10 PM. 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 (TTY711).