Wheaton
Urban District Advisory Committee
Mid-County Regional Center, 2424
Reedie Drive Wheaton MD 20902
Meeting Minutes, Tuesday
September 10th, 2013
Members
Present: Henriot St. Gerard(chair), Devala Janardan(vice chair), Tom Stanton,
Marian Fryer, William Moore, Nadia Sesay, Luis Bonilla, Jeannette Feldner
Members
Absent: Jim Onder, Dan Thompson, Rick
Kessler
Staff Present: Ana
Lopez van Balen, Director, Mid-County Regional Center
Sidney Cooper,
Marketing Manager, Wheaton Urban District
Joe Callaway,
Operations Manager, Wheaton Urban District
Guests: Rick
Siebert, Chief, Division of Parking Management, Montgomery County Department of
Transportation
Call to Order: 6:01pm by Chair Henriot St. Gerard
followed by introductions of members, staff and guests.
Motion: To approve July Meeting
Minutes. Motion passed with one minor
change to member name(Rick)Kessler
Chair Report:
Henriot
noted a flyer on Wheaton redevelopment distributed during the meeting
announcing StonebridgeCarras/Bozzuto as the selected developer. He urged WUDAC
members to attend the Sept. 18th meeting
He
noted that WUDAC has a small business vacancy and a challenge filling it. He
asked for WUDAC to help find a nominee
Henriot
turned to discussing the upcoming WUDAC retreat and asked about whether it
should be moved to a weekday evening instead of Saturday. Two members can’t
attend on Oct. 05. He asked for
recommendations for topics to be discussed.
Safeway
opens Oct. 24th and the apartments will be ready for leasing in
October. WUDAC would like to do a tour, welcome event.
DOT Presentation:
Ana
Lopez van Balen introduced Rick Siebert, Chief of the Parking Management
Division of MCDOT. He outlined the
process by which the developer was chosen to present plans for the Urban
District Redevelopment. He stated that the company was chosen through a
procurement process by a Quality Selection Committee. He reported that the
highest rated developer proposal was selected to be presented to the public for
comment and if no significant issues are raised they will be invited to enter
into negotiations for a contract to proceed. Mr. Siebert stressed that the
developer has not entered into contract yet and proposal could be resolicited
if necessary. Some WUDAC members expressed that they were misled by the
process. Mr. Siebert assured members that everyone wants this to be successful. There is a need to move forward but not rush
and mess it up. Ana noted that we will
have future meetings on small business and other issues involved and took
responsibility with the language in the flyer
Directors Report:
Ana
reported on a RFP for small business assessments. She talked about topics in the the Mid-County
newsletter. There will be hearings on a county proposal for historic
preservation for the Rec center on September 11th.
They
will advertise the Wheaton Facade Improvement Program by the end of the month.
Ana
is working with the Kensington Heights community on the water main replacement
program and attended a meeting
The
NightTime Economy Task Force is finalizing recommendations. Henriot or Holly Sullivan will present to the
Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board on October 1st in the Mid-County
Center at 7:00pm
Washington
Properties will bring in residents in March 2014.
Avalon
Bay wont go forward with their original proposal for multi family use. They would like to meet with WUDAC
A
developer, Penn Rose, has been selected
to renovate the Ambassador Apartments.
Sub-Committee
Reports:
Design:
No report
Economic:
Will outreach to businesses about food truck festival
Marketing: Sidney
Cooper stated that the food truck festival will only take half of Parking Lot
13 due to feedback from businesses. She discussed a Wheaton Business Promotional
Flyer that will be designed by Jeannette Feldner and asked for comments by the
following Wednesday.
Budget:
Joe
Callaway, operations Manager for the Wheaton Urban District, outlined the
process involved in creating the FY2015 budget. He explained to WUDAC about
“above the mark” requests and asked that members discuss in our October retreat
and then give feedback
Other Business:
Ana
Lopez van Balen shared information from a press conference on Panhandling held the day before in Wheaton by County
Executive Leggett and Council member Leventhal and attended by community
organizations. People concerned with the plight of the homeless are being
encouraged to text a donation to 80077 rather than giving directly to those on
the street. The money will go to services
to support the homeless.
Adjourn: 7:31pm