Recreation & Parks Advisory Board

Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks Meeting January 10, 2024 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 Bill Ackerman, Brendan Kelly and Michael Bracken, Sharon Friedlander (Planning Commission Liaison), Jerrod Anderson (School Board Liaison), Erin Flynn (City Council Liaison) and Student Representatives Caroline Carmody and Anand Colby. Staff members present were Amy Youngs, Deputy Director Recreation & Parks (R&P), Kate Walker, Administrative Assistant R&P, and Mike Noyes, Maintenance Supervisor R&P. Rachel Johnstone, Jessica Abadji and Seraphine Abbanoh from the Y Street Foundation “Share the Air” initiative joined as guest presenters. All present introduced themselves. Receipt of Public Petitions and Board Member Petitions None. 3. Minutes for Approval: Draft minutes from November 11, 2023 were reviewed and approved unanimously. Draft minutes from December 13, 2023 were reviewed. The minutes were reviewed and approved with a correction, that Matt, not David, Quinn had presented the display boards. Recreation & Parks Director’s Report Amy Youngs reported the following: i. Staffing: Director Danny Schlitt is currently on vacation. An offer has been made to a candidate to fill the position of Recreation Specialist. The Camps Coordinator will be leaving at the beginning of February; the vacancy has been posted. ii. Special Events: The City coordinated all outdoor activities, led by Corey Payne, for Watch Night on New Year’s Eve. All went very well. iii. Programs: The Summer Camps brochure will go out in mid-January, with registration opening in early February. Basketball and Winter/Spring classes are underway, and the Senior Center remains very busy. iv. Arts & Humanities Council grants have been awarded. Holly Irwin is working on disbursements. Discussion of the Director’s report focused on staff turnover. Amy indicated that recent departures have been for individual reasons – no pattern of reasons is evident. 4. Old Business i. Student Representatives Project Student leaders from the Y Street Foundation “Share the Air” initiative presented on their program to reduce smoking and vaping in public parks. Ten free signs are provided, but additional signs have been provided to other jurisdictions at no cost, using funding from the Virginia foundation for Healthy Youth. Brendan expressed a concern that the language on the signs may be too forceful; Charley noted that it may need to be reviewed by the City Attorney before the signs can be posted. Share the Air indicated that they would send application forms for the program to Amy. Preparation for a presentation to City Council was tabled for the February meeting. ii. Fellows Property Update The proposed plans for the Fellows Property were well-received by the Planning Commission. Concerns were raised about maintenance of the rubberized paving, combining the shelter and platforms, and widening the sidewalk on Oak Street. The next step for the project will be for Danny to work with Zak Bradley and Al Astorga of the Department of Public Works (DPW) on Architecture and Engineering plans. As plans are developed, there may be an opportunity to more precisely estimate project costs. Charley noted that it will be important to ensure that infrastructure costs such as sidewalk widening and work on Parker Avenue are appropriately assigned to DPW. This will be an issue to be discussed by Danny and Zak. iii. Other Old Business Bill asked about the Berman Park improvements. Amy said that Joseph Cox recently did a site visit, and will be invited to our February meeting. Charley noted that the funding to replace the equipment came from Voluntary Concessions on Founders Row as well as other sources. 5. New Business i. Staff Spotlight Mike Noyes, Maintenance Supervisor, introduced himself and described his role as Supervisor of Parks Maintenance. He has five full-time staff, one 32-hour part-time and one weekend maintenance worker. Mike and his crew are responsible for set-up and support of activities and events, and maintenance of recreation and parks equipment. They also assist the Department of Public Works with landscape and sports field maintenance. Charley invited Mike to indicate any unmet needs for his crew. Mike noted that additional storage and a four-wheel drive truck would be helpful, especially given the crew’s critical role in snow emergencies. 6. Adjournment Jenna Schroeder moved to adjourn, and Bill Ackerman seconded the motion. All approved, and the meeting was adjourned.