Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee
Mid-County Regional
Center, 2424 Reedie Drive Wheaton MD 20902
Meeting Minutes,
Tuesday April 9th, 2013
Members Present: Henriot St. Gerard(chair), Devala
Janardan(vice chair), Jeannette Feldner, Marian Fryer, William Moore, Dan
Thompson, Tom Stanton, Nadia Sesay
Members Absent: Luis Bonilla, Jim Onder
Staff Present: Ana Lopez van Balen, Director Mid-County
Regional Center
Sidney Cooper, Marketing Manager, Wheaton Urban District
Guests: Elizabeth Chaisson, Green Wheaton
Gerald
Seagers, WRAC
Call to Order: 6:00pm followed by member and guest
introductions.
Motions: Motion
to approve March meeting minutes with changes passed
Chair Report: Henriot reported that he has been involved in
ongoing discussions with The Coalition for Smart Growth and they have set the
date for the walking tour for Saturday June 1st from 10am to noon.
There has been no response from Holly Sears pertaining to a
letter sent by WUDAC requesting a meeting. Henriot will make another attempt to reach
out.
The WUDAC Blog was updated.
The Chair also informed WUDAC of a recent meeting with Adam
Fogel, staff to Councilmember Navarro, about the Urban District’s budget
requests. He will meet with Councilmember Navarro on April 11th. The
County Council will hold meetings on April 12th and 24th
concerning Wheaton redevelopment matters.
The discussion then moved to a proposed letter from WUDAC to
the County Council for spending requests for FY2014. After review and comments,
a motion was raised and passed to send a version of the letter that did not
prioritize the recommended spending.
Directors
Report: Ana Lopez van Balen reported
that the State Enterprise bill for Glenmont passed. DED had a public meeting. It went well. She updated WUDAC on MCCAB’s
work on land use issues in Aspen Hill, and work on eviction and safety.
Ana noted that the Public Safety Workgroup will issue a
final report on April 22nd and that she is finalizing membership
requirements in a Nightime Economy Workgroup.
WUDAC was also informed that there would be a photo op for
members at the Costco VIP reception with a check presentation for the Taste of
Wheaton.
Marketing
Report: Sidney Cooper announced that
the digital Community Board is up at Westfield for small business advertisement.
Sub-Committee
Reports:
Economic: Nadia Sesay reported that 2 members of the Food
Truck Association attended their April 1st meeting and they
discussed a proposed Curbside Cookoff event.
She stated that no Urban District funds would be used for the
event. She recommended that WUDAC
support this event. After heated
discussion, a motion was made and passed.
Design: Dan Thompson
briefed WUDAC on the April 1st meeting. Much of the hour was devoted
to a presentation from Elzabeth Chaisson of Green Wheaton, who shared ideas on
storefronts, beautification, greening, lighting and signage, and art. The
subcommittee requested more opportunities to meet and brainstorm with Green
Wheaton and invited them to participate in the walking tour in June and a
future Chamber of Commerce event on design matters.
Dan reported that the subcommittee members gave brief
presentations on their progress but that priorities all depend upon some
support from the County. Jim Onder was
tasked by the subcommittee Chair to move forward in planning a meeting for
businesses in cooperation with the Chamber and the WUDAC economic subcommittee.
Other: Sidney
Cooper briefly discussed changes to the Taste of Wheaton event.
Adjourn: 7:05pm