Public Safety Working Group Survey - Deadline Friday, Dec 14

The Wheaton Urban District, through the newly formed Public Safety Working Group, requests the Wheaton community's participation in a short online survey concerning public safety in Wheaton. It should not take more than a few minutes to complete. We have a short timeframe for submitting your answers, as we hope to utilize your answers in an upcoming Public Safety Working Group meeting. The deadline is this Friday, Dec 14.

The online survey is available HERE.

If you need the online survey in Spanish, please click HERE.

WUDAC Attends Community Forum on Proposed BUS RAPID TRANSIT

On November 15, 2012,  I, as both a resident of Wheaton and member of WUDAC, attended a community meeting at the Wheaton Library where transportation planners discussed their preliminary recommendations and solicited input on a proposed Countywide Transit Corridor Functional Master Plan, which would amend the Master Plan of Highways to include the implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit network in the county.
At the meeting, planners gave an overview of both projected future growth needs for county transportation and the history behind the current proposed plan. I urge those with interest to visit the planner's website at montgomeryplanning.org/brt for full information and history of this proposal.  BRT envisions a system of transportation similar to the efficiency of light rail but with the economy of sleek modern buses. These buses may look more like subway cars rather than traditional buses. Some of the ideas presented included dual median bus lanes, single median bus lanes, curb lanes, and in some cases where space is at a premium mixed traffic lanes where a bus shares space with cars. The planners stressed that this was a preliminary plan and work is still in progress.  From here the draft will be presented to the Planning Board in March with more public hearings in May and then Planning Board work sessions before a plan can be presented to the County Council for approval.
During the meeting planners took questions and concerns from the community. Some concerns voiced included the cost of the plan and who would pay, congestion on roads due to repurposing, bicycle and pedestrian access to stations, conflicts with existing buses, parking for riders, and location of bus stands/stations. The planners stated that their plan did not address how it would be funded.
WUDAC will continue to monitor this proposal and report to the community. All with concerns should contact their council member and the County Executive and become involved with future public hearings.
William Moore

Agenda for Upcoming Dec 11 WUDAC Meeting

In addition, click the "Read More" link below to view the minutes from our Nov. 13, 2012 WUDAC Meeting.

DRAFT Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee Meeting

Tuesday November 13^th, 2012

Mid-County Regional Center,  2424  Reedie  Drive, Wheaton MD 20902

MembersPresent      HenriotSt. Gerard (Chair), Devala Janardan (Vice Chair),Nadia Sesay,

Marian Fryer,Tom Stanton, Dan Thompson, Luis Bonilla,

William Moore,Jeannette Feldner

MembersAbsent       JimOnder

StaffPresent              AnaLopez van Balen, Director, Mid-County Regional Center,

Pete McGinnity,Manager, WheatonRedevelopment Program

Sidney Cooper,Marketing Manager, WheatonUrban District

Guests                         Ash Kosiewiczand many members of the Coalition for the Fair Development of  Wheaton, Abigail Adelman and Danila Sheveiko,representatives for Stop Costco Gas Coalition, Ken Silverman, staff,councilmember Navarro

Callto Order            5:34pm by Chair Henriot St. Gerard

Motion                        October Meeting Minutesapproved with one typo change

ChairReport            Henriot St. Gerardreported on WUDAC retreat held on Nov. 3, 2012. Stated purpose was to meet new members andstrategize on how to accomplish WUDAC goal to re-engage the community andbusinesses. The members formed two new sub-committees, Economic andDesign/Infrastructure. Henriot asked Devala Janardan to brief the meeting onefforts to change our Bylaws.

DirectorReport         Ana Lopez van Balen updated WUDAC onseveral topics including: County approval of the Wheaton Library RecreationCenter Project to combine two facilities in its current location, an upcomingWheaton Public Safety Workshop to look at actual as well as perceived safetyissues in Wheaton, and the beginning of meetings with the small businesscommunity on the effects of planned Redevelopment changes and the councilapproved small business fund. In addition, she briefly touched on an upcoming PlanningBoard hearing on the Glenmont Sector Plan, the Costco opening scheduled forJanuary, and the fact that Costco is still proceeding with their plans for agas station

Wheaton Small BusinessSurvey       Pete McGinnity reported on the resultsof the survey. The top three concerns of the urban business community are:Parking, Rents, and Safety. Pete stated that the county is working on aMemorandum of Understanding that will be presented to council in January.  In addition, a parking study is to begin towardsthe end of the fiscal year. He emphasized the need for a marketing strategy inadvance of construction to assist with continued patronage of the existingbusinesses. Dan Thompson urged the planners to think not just about parking butalso pedestrian access. Devala stated that WUDAC could act as a clearinghousefor information.

CommunityConcerns     Raymond Rose from Barbarian Comics spokeon behalf of the Coalition for the Fair Development of Wheaton. He reiteratedthe concerns expressed in the Small Business Survey on parking, rents andsafety. He asked for the parking study that has been promised to be undertaken.He also worried that rents would rise as leases renewed and the safety concernsif business employees have to walk long distances to their cars. He alsorequested adequate signage to inform the public that businesses were open andmore information on economic resources available to help. He asked WUDAC tosend a letter to request the County’s help. Ana responded that Wheaton has assistanceavailable to escort employees to cars and that we would be sending a newsletterto the business community to keep them informed on issues.

Marketing     Sidney Cooper reported on the results of aWheaton Community Survey that was conducted. The top three “likes” were:variety of good restaurants, Metro availability, and the Small Businessfeel.  Areas identified as needingimprovement included: shopping, dining and the Business Environment.

Shestated that attendance at Taste of Wheaton, World of Montgomery, and the SummerConcerts was a concern and these events were being evaluated to see if they area good return on investment. Our budget is small and there is a need for newrotation of Banners and to promote Clean and Safe Team. She briefed WUDAC onnew website and followed up on Ana’s comments on the newsletter, stating itwill start in December and may include Marketing tidbits.

CouncilReport     Ken Silverman, staff for CouncilmemberNavarro, introduced himself and reminded the Committee and guests of Navarro’ssponsorship of the Business Assistance Program. He also stated Navarro’s ongoing desire to make sure the bill is usefulfor Wheaton’sbusinesses.

NewBusiness     Henriot asked for a motion to approve newsub-committees discussed at retreat. Motion was approved.  The meetingdate and time for the first meeting was set as the first Monday in December.  Design at 6:00pm and Economic at 7:00pm at the Regional Center. A motion was also approvedto change the start time for the monthly WUDAC meeting from 5:30 to 6:00pm. The new Wheaton logo and website were also approved.

OtherConcerns     Abigail Adelman and Danila Sheveikointroduced WUDAC to their organization, the Stop Costco Gas Coalition and urgedus to visit their website: stopcostcogas.org.

Henriotasked for volunteer to attend community meeting on Bus Rapid Transit at theWheaton Library on Nov. 15.

Adjourn     7:10pm

Message from the Chair

Dear Friends, 

As the new Chair of the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee (WUDAC), I am eager and excited about the opportunity to serve and make a difference in our community. The new Executive Committee has embarked on an aggressive yet manageable set of goals that, along with the enthusiasm of the current and newly appointed members, is sure to make this term a very exciting one that hopefully yields positive results for the community. Our theme for this year is "Re-energize and Re-engage with the community" and it is the goal of WUDAC to play a larger and more substantive role in achieving its mission to promote and support activities in and around the Wheaton Urban District. With the help of the leadership and committee members, I am confident that WUDAC will make big gains in achieving our goals for this year with the cooperation and support of the community and business owners.

What's with all the Construction on Reedie Drive?

Are you wondering what all the noise and construction on Reedie Drive is about? After conducting a pedestrian road safety audit, the County is doing work to improve traffic and pedestrian safety. Click here to read more about the Reedie Drive Streetscape Project.

Wheaton's County Council Representative Nancy Navarro Elected President of County Council

On December 4, Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Navarro was elected to serve as president of the County Council. Councilmember Navarro represents District 4 of Montgomery County, which stretches from downtown Wheaton (in the south) to Brookville, Olney, Laytonsville (in the north). Click here to see the official press release from the Council Office.

Wheaton Receives a New Grant for Facade Improvements and More

Special thanks to the Gazette for writing up a great article about a new grant that will bring numerous facade improvements and new solar trash receptacles to Wheaton. Read all about it here.

Pepco - New Streetlight Reporting System

Pepco has recently launched an improved online streetlight outage reporting system.  As stated by Pepco, the new system does the following:

Once a streetlight problem is reported, the new reporting system sends the customer an email with a tracking number, location and pole number. When a streetlight is submitted for repair, the respective icon on the map will appear red; once the light has been repaired, its respective icon will turn green. In most cases the streetlight will be repaired within 15 days. An email confirmation will be sent to the customer when the service request has been completed.

For the full release by Pepco, click here.

If you know of a streetlight problem in the Wheaton area, use the online system to report it. The online streetlight outage website is available here.

New Official Wheaton Website!

There are many exciting developments occurring in Wheaton, and today we would like to direct your attention to the updated and brand new official Wheaton, MD website, at www.wheatonmd.org. Take a look today!

Meeting Agenda for Tuesday Nov. 13, 2012

                                                         

AGENDA for November 2012 WUDAC Meeting

November 13^th, 2012

2424 Reedie Drive, Wheaton, MD 20902

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Please silence cell phones

Time	Item
5:30-5:40	Call to order/Introductions/ Approval of minutes/Chair Report
5:40-5:50	RSC Director Report
5:50-6:10	Wheaton Small Business Survey Results
6:10-6:20	Communications update
6:20-6:30	Council Staff update
6:30-6:40	New Business A. Finalize new subcommittees B. New proposed time for WUDAC  monthly meetings C. Schedule November subcommittee meeting
6:40-7:00	Community Concerns
7:00	Adjournment

Meeting Minutes Draft Oct. 09, 2012

DRAFT

WHEATON URBAN DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Meeting Minutes Tuesday October 09,2012

Mid-County Regional Center 2424 Reedie Drive Wheaton MD 20902

Members Present:     Henriot St. Gerard, Jim Onder, William Moore, Janet Yu, Jeannette Feldner, Devala Janardan

Members absent:       Marian Fryer

Staff Present:             Ana Lopez van Balen, Director, Mid-County Regional Center

Sidney Cooper, Manager, Marketing and Events

Guests:                       Esther French, Wheaton Patch

Vicky Surles, Wheaton Kensington Chamber of Commerce, and Cathy Hirsh, on behalf of the Montgomery Art Association

Ash Kosiewicz, on behalf of the Coalition for The Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton

Call to Order: 5:34pm

Call to approve minutes from 9-11-12 meeting. Request to change chairman to Chair. Minutes approved with change.

Chair Report: Henriot St. Gerard spoke about recent work revising bylaws, interviewing candidates for WUDAC membership, and developing a theme this year around a Main Street Concept. He also mentioned that several members of WUDAC attended a pot luck dinner in support of The Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton. He touched on plans for a retreat for WUDAC members in late October or early November, hopefully timed to include new incoming members.

Police Report: None. St. Currie, 4^th District, was called away before meeting began.

Directors Report: Ana Lopez van Balen reported on recent conversations with small business owners. Discussions centered around the Wheaton Small Business Impact Fund. She also stated that the Costco opening is delayed by construction issues but Dick’s Sporting Goods is now open at Westfield. Ana also briefed WUDAC on the new Public Safety Task Force. Councilmembers Riemer and Navarro have requested that she and Commander Damskey, 4^th District, work to expand this task force to include many stakeholders in the community, including residents, PTA’s, advisory committees, etc. Ana asked group members to consider volunteering for this effort. Lastly, she touched on the World of Montgomery Festival to be held on Sunday October 24^th. She briefly mentioned that the Kids International Discovery Museum will be sponsoring an international village featuring tents from India, China, Ethiopia, and El Salvador.

Marketing Update: Sidney Cooper continued with a short visual presentation of the World of Montgomery website to follow up on Ana’s remarks. WUDAC also viewed and commented on drafts for the new Wheaton logo and Wheaton website. She also reminded us that the enhanced Farmer’s Market that will include the International Market currently at Wheaton Mall will commence Sunday October 28^th.

MAA: Cathy Hirsh briefed WUDAC on the background of the Montgomery Art Association. They currently have a temporary small space at Westfield but are looking for a larger venue. She asked WUDAC and all stakeholders in Wheaton Redevelopment to consider the opportunity to incorporate the Arts as a drawing card in development plans.

Bylaws: Devala presented a draft of the new bylaws and requested comments. A motion was approved to send the draft to the County Attorney for review.

Community: Ash Kosiewicz spoke on the work of The Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton, that they wish to lift the voice of small business and residents who normally feel powerless to participate, and educate them on places to find help. He asked WUDAC to keep in contact with the Coalition and their activities.

Adjourned: 7:08pm

WORLD OF MONTGOMERY FESTIVAL OCTOBER 21, 2012

Welcome to the World of Montgomery Festival, celebrating the cultural diversity of Montgomery County MD

This says it all

Corey Yu from Hollywood East Cafe

Latin dance demonstration

Jant Yu from Hollywood East Cafe

Janet Yu shares her expertise on making dumplings

Janet Yu shows us how to make dumplings

Sidney Cooper Marketing Director for the Wheaton Urban District

Congressman Chris Van Hollen addresses the crowd

Henriot St. Gerard, Chair of WUDAC, with daughter

County Executive Ike Leggett

Ana Lopez van Balen, Director, Mid County Services Center

WORLD OF MONTGOMERY FESTIVAL OCTOBER 21, 2012