Recreation & Parks Advisory Board

Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks Meeting December 13th, 2023 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE ADVISORY BOARD OF RECREATION AND PARKS FALLS CHURCH COMMUNITY CENTER, KENNETH R. BURNETT BUILDING, 223 LITTLE FALLS STREET, FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA 22046 1 & 2. Call to Order & Roll Call Charley O’Hara (Chair) called the meeting to order. Members present were Jenna Schroeder (Vice Chair), Bill Ackerman and Michael Bracken, Sharon Friedlander (Planning Commission), and Student Representatives Caroline Carmody and Anand Colby. Staff members present were Danny Schlitt, Director Recreation & Parks (R&P), and Kate Walker, Administrative Assistant R&P. Matthew and David Quinn of Quinn Enterprises, Andrew Teeters, Managing Partner, Lifestyle LLC and Scot Huot of Red Sketch Landscape Architecture attended for discussion of the Homestretch project. 3. Receipt of Public Petitions and Board Member Petitions None. 4. Minutes for Approval: Draft minutes from November 11, 2023 were not yet available. Recreation & Parks Director’s Report Danny Schlitt reported the following: i. Jimmy Ruby, Senior Recreation Supervisor, was one of two recipients of the City’s 2022 Employee of the Year Award. Bill Ackerman praised Jimmy’s abilities and effectiveness in multiple roles. ii. The Holiday Craft Show had about 1300 attendees, with four new vendors added this year. Our goal will be to add more next year. Our next special event will be Watch Night on New Year’s Eve. iii. Winter/Spring class registration opened last week, earlier than in the past. A preliminary review suggests registration on the first day was a little lower than last year for both residents and non- residents, but this may be related to the early timing. Additional registrations are ongoing. iv. We have two staff vacancies, for the Senior Administrative Assistant and Recreation Specialist. Hiring processes are faster than in the past. Interviews are in process for the Senior Administrative Assistant, and we hope to have someone hired by January. Interviews for the Recreation Specialist should begin this month. v. More than 250 people are enrolled for our basketball clinics, and there are 81 teams in the league, a total of more than 800 participants. Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough enrollment for the proposed 8-9th grade grouping for girls. Jenna Schroeder mentioned the newspaper advertisement taken out by Don Beyer Volvo. Possible reasons for low enrollment and future management of the issue were discussed. 5. Old Business i. Quinn Homestretch Project Matt Quinn showed on display boards how the project footprint has been modified to open up the park. There is a rooftop greenspace that may be an amenity only for the building, and there is a public use space on the third floor. The park itself is roughly the same size as Lincoln Park, with the promenades as additional space around it. Danny provided copies of an email from Principal Planner Laura Arseneau addressing the potential branding of the park to meeting attendees. David briefly reviewed related discussions so far. Charley raised the need to accommodate dogs in new developments. Andrew Teeter noted that only small dogs would be permitted, and there would likely not be many. Limited space is available, and Scott Huot noted that although the central green will be sod, it will not be suitable for dogs. Space on the rooftop or in the building step-backs may be possible. Jenna questioned the practicality of sod on the green, describing adverse experience at the Mosaic District. Jenna asked about the accessibility of the amphitheater and green. Scott Huot responded that they are fully accessible all around, and at the same level as the surrounding paving. Sharon Friedlander asked about the availability of seating on the green – Matt Quinn noted that not all seating is shown on plans so far, but there are double-sided benches in tree shade on the perimeter of the open space. The dining room on the third floor of the building will also overlook the park. Charley noted that references to an “amphitheater” have caused some confusion. “Pavilion” might be a better word to use. Danny suggested that in future we should discuss shared programming, and naming and branding of the park. The space will be a privately-managed City park. Charley described recent efforts to use local artists to create park entrance signage. This requirement is already included in the Voluntary Concessions. ii. Student Representatives Project Caroline Carmody stated that the Y Street Foundation “Share the Air” initiative will allow changes to their, and Danny confirmed that they seem flexible about accommodating our needs. Caroline and Anand will invite them to our January meeting. Michael noted that Fairfax City have signage that says “Smoke free” prominently, then notes that it is “voluntarily”. He will provide photographs at our next meeting. Charley asked if we have any data on the incidence of smoking-related litter in the parks. Danny noted that smoking is noticeably less common than it used to be. We know litter accumulates in some places where people congregate. Maintenance staff can be asked to look for problem areas. 6. New Business i. Outreach planning for Berman Park renovation Danny has met with our current playground supplier on site, and may invite suggestions from a second potential supplier. The existing footprint will be retained. An additional path to the swingset might have to be added, and a small additional elevation might be added under the equipment to address rainwater management. The key constraint on our timeline is that funding (about $340,000) won’t be available until July. Public outreach will address what type of play equipment is preferred – we are trying to ensure variety across the City. Public hearings at the ABRP meeting and then at the parks can be done between February and April. Danny will ask for Spanish translations of outreach materials to ensure park neighbors are informed. ii. CIP projects Danny noted that turf replacement at the High School, Fellows Park and Berman Park improvements will all arise as CIP projects at about the same time. If they cannot all be done at once, the turf replacement has to be the top priority, then Berman Park, and finally the amenities at the Fellows property. The current plan for the Fellows Property is to work on engineering and grading, which will likely be the major costs of the park project, into 2025, and work on amenities additions in 2026. 7. Adjournment Jenna Schroeder moved to adjourn, and Bill Ackerman seconded the motion. All approved, and the meeting was adjourned.