Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee
Mid-County Services
Center, 2424 Reedie Drive Wheaton MD 20902
Meeting Minutes,
Tuesday March 11, 2014
Members Present: Henriot
St. Gerard(Chair), Devala Janardan(Vice Chair), Tom Stanton, Mirza Donegan,
Marian Fryer, William Moore, Jeannette Feldner, Nadia Sesay, Dan Thompson, Rick
Kessler
Members Absent: Luis Bonilla
Staff Present: Pete McGinnity, Manager of Business
Development DGS
Guests: Doug
Duncan, Virginia Sheard
Call to Order: 6:07pm by Vice Chair Devala Janardan in
the temporary absence of the Chair, followed by introductions and a motion to
approve the February minutes. Minutes
approved with a name spelling change.(Leventhal). Devala introduced Doug
Duncan, who in turn gave a little background on himself and stated he was there
to listen to issues of concern to the Wheaton Urban District. Devala then
turned the meeting over to Pete McGinnity for a RSC/Redevelopment report
Directors
Report: Pete McGinnity, in the
absence of the Mid-County Service Center Director Ana Lopez van Balen, gave a
combined RSC and Redevelopment report. He stated that Park and Planning will
transfer Veteran’s Park to the County. Also, the RSC has started the planning
for transfer of tenants from the Mid-County Center to other buildings. He also noted that the County Council is
waiting on the CIP agreement before providing funding. Pete took questions from WUDAC members on
Redevelopment issues.
Other topics touched on by Pete included an MCCAB meeting with their concerns on the BRT,
affordable housing, and State Highway projects as they relate to Georgia Ave,
the new WUDAC business Awards which have received nine nominations, and a
commendation to the Clean and Safe team for their great work during the winter
storms. He further touched on a Night
Time Economy Task Force meeting with County Executive Ike Leggett and their
proceeding toward an implementation report.
Other events noted included that Avalon Bay has asked for an
extension with the Planning Board until April and the Solaire apartment grand
opening is May 7th.
Lastly, Pete took questions about WRAC joining WUDAC. He stated that this is not legally possible
and that WRAC will dissolve at the end of June.
Sub-Committee
Reports:
Design: Dan Thompson
reported on the committee’s work to design a brochure towards our goal of a
walkable Wheaton. He wants both
sub-committees to meet together on March 24 to talk with County officials. He hopes to include the issue of pedestrian
safety at this meeting.
Economic: Nadia Sesay
reported on a meeting they had to plan an event for Veterans Park. This event would include music, family
activities and a contest for guests to visit area businesses. They are unsure who should take lead, WUDAC
or the Urban District staff. After
discussion a motion was made and passed to ask the Urban District to take the
lead and for WUDAC to form a committee to plan the event.
Chair Report: Henriot St. Gerard announced that the
County Council voted not to give historic designation to the Youth Center. He thanked WUDAC for their efforts on the
letter we sent. It was quoted during
testimony. He then turned attention to
the WUDAC business awards. He feels that
the sub-committees should handle the nominating process. The nominations are due March 17th. He also briefly touched on a $1 million
budget request from Parks to the County Council and hoped that we could get
some money for Veteran’s Park. Henriot
then brought up the Walking Tour.
Discussion then followed about the organization, stops and the
possibility of a Meet and Greet to end the tour. Henriot stated that he will study the issue
and we will talk about it further next month.
Other Business: Dan Thompson questioned the new meeting
format and asked whether it was working.
He said the agenda headings were confusing.
Adjourn: 7:27pm