Wheaton
Urban District Advisory Committee
Mid-County Regional Center 2424
Reedie Drive Wheaton MD 20902
Meeting Minutes, Tuesday July 9th,
2013
Members Present: Henriot St. Gerard(Chair), Devala Janardan(Vice-Chair),Jim
Onder, Jeannette Feldner, Marian Fryer, William Moore, Rick Kessler, Dan
Thompson, Nadia Sesay, Luis Bonilla
Members Absent: Tom Stanton
Staff Present: Ana Lopez van Balen, Director, Mid-County Regional Center
Guests: Holly Sullivan, President,
Montgomery Business Development Corp. Virginia
Sheard, Kensington View Civic Association.
Gigi Goins, Wheaton Farmers Market
Call to Order: 6;01pm by Chair Henriot St.Gerard.
The Chair introduced Holly Sullivan, President of the Montgomery
Business Development
The June meeting minutes were approved without changes
Henriot turned the floor over to Ana Lopez van Balen to
conduct election of officers. After
brief remarks by the candidates the current officers were re-elected to new
terms
Chair Report: Henriot informed the committee of upcoming Capital
Improvements Program meetings on July 11, 22, and 30th at various
county sites
The next meeting of the Night Time Economy Task Force is
July 15th, 5-7pm at the Hollywood East Café. WUDAC’s Tom Stanton is scheduled to speak.
Henriot asked for member input into selecting a date for the
fall retreat. October 5th was
tentatively selected and Henriot will ask Matt Barry about using space at
Westfield.
Directors Report: Ana Lopez van Balen reported on two meetings on the Wheaton
Library. A development roadmap was finalized
on how to proceed. More info will
be available in September.
The Night Time Economy Task Force has finished 2 of 6
planned meetings and will be able to make recommendations soon.
Mid-County Fireworks went well. There is talk of moving it back to Westfield
in the future.
Ana produced proclamations from the County for retiring
members Jim Onder and Marian Fryer. WUDAC thanked the members and photos were
taken.
Ana asked Ana about the situation with the new Wheaton
Rescue Squad building. More info is
needed.
Presentation from MBDC: Henriot asked for introductions from members
and guests and then turned the floor over to Holly Sullivan from MBDC. Holly gave a brief background on herself and
then presented an introduction to MBDC.
She stated their goal is to make Montgomery County more business
friendly. They will report to the County
Council on economic development and sustainability issues. They have been vocal about Mass Transit and
the State’s Maintenance of Effort Laws.
MBDC will launch a website soon at montgomerybusiness.org. They will be partnering with UMD on data
demographics and job growth and will have listings for available industrial and
retail properties on their website.
Holly then took questions from WUDAC members. Some responses from her
included the need to make Wheaton more pedestrian friendly, encourage small
business development and youth employment, and the necessity to include
housing, marketing, and transit in any economic discussion. She also emphasized the need to streamline
permitting and the time and cost to get things done to help alleviate the
negative perception of the County by the business community. MBDC will make
recommendations to the County Council twice a year.
Sub-Committee Reports:
Economic: Nadia Sesay
reported that Tom Stanton has been in contact with Karen Klein of SCRAPDC about
her interest in a center in Wheaton and her interest in partnering with other
Arts groups. Tom has also been in touch with Roundhouse about the terminating
of its lease in downtown Silver Spring to introduce Wheaton as a possible new
home and also met with the Director of the Blackrock Center in Germantown to
understand better the workings of opening and operating an Arts Center in the
County.
Tom is also involved in the Night Time Economy Task Force
and will be speaking at the NETF meeting on July 15th at the
Hollywood East Café.
The Economic subcommittee is broadening the focus of the
A&E hub from Price and Elkin to other areas in the Urban District. Nadia
also stated that there is a meeting with Jen Bozzell from Strathmore scheduled
for Aug 1st and that they are waiting to see what bidders may offer
for Veterans Park Redevelopment.
Lastly, Nadia turned the floor over to Rick Kessler for
discussion of a draft of a thank you letter to send to the County Council as a
followup to the Walking Tour. Dan
Thompson made a motion to include mention of a Town Square. The motion was defeated and members voted to
send the letter as drafted.
Design: Due to time constraints, Dan Thompson submitted
written notes to the Secretary and will send email to members
Other Business: Henriot asked for member input into what went well and what
didn’t during the current term and ideas on what we can improve upon
Community Concerns: Virginia Sheard from the
Kensington View Civic Association reminded WUDAC that the RFP ends in July and
it is important to stay involved during our August recess.
Gigi Goins, a representative from the Farmers Market, stated that 3 or their 4 Farmers Markets are
thriving but Wheaton needs support. She
would like help with Folger and Pratt to secure space in front of the new
Safeway.
Adjourn: 7:31pm