Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee
Mid-County Regional
Center, 2424 Reedie Dr, Wheaton MD 20902
Meeting Minutes,
Tuesday March 12th, 2013
Members Present: Henriot St. Gerard(Chair), Devala
Janardan(Vice Chair), Jeannette Feldner, Marian Fryer, Dan Tompson, Tom
Stanton, William Moore, Jim Onder, Nadia Sesay
Members Absent: Luis
Bonilla
Staff Present: Ana
Lopez van Balen, Director Mid-County Regional Center. Pete McGinnity, manager
Wheaton redevelopment.
Guests: Esther
French, Wheaton Patch. Ash Kosiewicz, from the Coalition for the Fair
Redevelopment of Wheaton. Rob Klein and
Michael Collins from WRAC. Elizabeth
Chaisson, Green Wheaton. Richard
Kessler. Adam Fogel, staff to
Councilmember Navarro.
Motions: After introductions, February meeting
minutes were approved with minor changes
Chair Report: Henriot
St. Gerard briefly mentioned a February meeting with Costco attended by Nadia Sesay. He updated WUDAC on his
attendance at the State of the County
address. He was disappointed that
Wheaton was not mentioned, but hopes that will change next year.
The letter to Holly Sears went out but WUDAC has not
received a response yet. He informed the
committee that he and Jeannette have been interviewing candidates for the
Resident opening on WUDAC. He also remarked that he has been in contact with
Kelly Blinn, from the Coalition for Smarter Growth, about a walking tour of
Wheaton.
He informed WUDAC about a upcoming hearing on April 26th
on the Costco gas exception and a WRAC meeting on the subject.
He touched on the FY14 county budget submission coming up on
March 14th. We had requested
funding for dark sky compliance, light pole banners, promo materials, Gateway
signs, increase for Clean and safe team. None were included in budget.
He continued on to a brief discussion on the Glenmont Sector
Plan and tax credits for a proposed Enterprise Zone. He will ask Economic subcommittee to look
into how this may impact Wheaton.
Directors
Report: Ana Lopez van Balen met with
The Food Truck Association about a Curb Side Cookoff. She will be meeting with the appropriate
county departments and area businesses.
She reported on the Public Safety Work Group meeting and
feedback received by over 400 individuals. The 3 top concerns discussed
previously remain the same. She is
drafting a report.
The County Executive is putting together a Nighttime Economy
Workgroup and Ana has been asked to lead the effort. She hopes to start by April.
She briefly touched on work of MCCAB, specifically a meeting
with Lee Development about a property in Aspen Hill. Also on her agenda was ongoing work with the
new Wheaton Library. Marian Fryer stated that WUDAC should be represented on
the Library committee.
A very lively discussion on Food trucks followed. William Moore stated that Urban District
funds should be used only to promote Urban District businesses and he felt it
was inappropriate to use funds to bring in outside businesses with no ties to
the Wheaton Urban District. The issue was assigned to the Economic Subcommittee
for further review.
Subcommittee Reports:
Economic-Nadia Sesay attended the meet and greet with Costco
officials. She recommended that Costco not do a presentation with WUDAC. She reported on their work on recommendations
to revive Arts and Entertainment in the Urban District and their hopes for a
walking tour in April for locations of a possible headquarters.
She stated that business owners attended the last
subcommittee meeting and expressed frustration with funding for small business
help during Redevelopment. A letter to the County Executive was drafted for
WUDAC review
Design-Dan Thompson reported on the March 4th
subcommittee meeting and handed out a meeting summary to WUDAC members. He will
ask Green Wheaton to make a presentation to their next meeting and also would
like to join in the walking tour with the Coalition for Smarter Growth when
arranged. He briefly mentioned internal committee talk about the need of a
traffic signal on Georgia near walkway to Triangle but subcommittee could not
reach any consensus.
He circulated draft letter for “Garden of Lights”. The Chair asked to put off consideration til
a later date.
Council Report: Adam Fogel, representing Councilmember
Navarro, reported that the Council had a closed door session on Wheaton
Redevelopment earlier that day. They are looking forward to a amended Project
Description Form. He mentioned on work that DED is doing with regards to the
Small Business Impact Fund regulations. He also updated WUDAC on a upcoming
Town Hall meeting that will discuss the budget, Silver Spring transit Center
and other topics. He asked all to stay informed and give them feedback on our
priorities during the budget review period.
Redevelopment:
Pete McGinnity updated WUDAC on the county’s work on redevelopment. He
responded to a question from the Chair for an update on Bill 6-12. Pete
explained the process and took further questions from committee members. He
explained that the County Council session on Redevelopment today was closed
because it dealt with the acquisition of property. He also mentioned ongoing discussions between
DGS and Park and Planning for an agreement on size and scope of P&P
building before construction can begin.
Other Business: Henriot presented the draft letter from
the Economic Subcommittee to the County Executive concerning support for small
business impacted by redevelopment.
After some discussion, the motion to send the letter of support was
passed.
Ana van Balen stated that there has been ongoing dialogue
about WRAC and WUDAC joining together.
Michael Collins, Chair of WRAC, briefly addressed WUDAC.
Marian Fryer passed around an interesting article about
early development of TV transmission occurring at a house on Windom Lane and
Georgia Ave in Wheaton
Adjourn: 7:36pm