09-1: Baseball Field Working Group Meeting Minutes of June 19, 2024 — original pdf

Backup

Minutes for the first meeting of the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Board’s Baseball Field Working Group June 19, 2024 Participants: Lane Becker (PARB board member), Stephanie Bazan (PARB board member), Tyler Sneed (Austin Sandlot Baseball), Joel Manzo (Austin Sandlot Baseball) Introduction of Current WG Members ● Tyler Sneed is a Sandlot Baseball member who handles scheduling duties for the Austin Sandlot group, interfaces with the city. ● Joel Manzo is a baseball advocate involved with Sandlot men's league, focusing on accessibility and space for community baseball. ● Lane Becker is a Parks Board member. ● Stephanie Bazan is a Parks Board member who was involved in dealing with similar issues regarding soccer fields earlier this year. Overview of Agenda for Today's Meeting ● Lane Becker outlines the agenda: What, when, and who regarding baseball fields. Topics include meeting cadence and specific subjects to cover. ● Lane Becker discusses the timeline for group output and meeting cadence, including consideration of additional participants in the Working Group as well as potential featured speakers. ● Stephanie Bazan is asked to share her experience about what makes a Working Group effective from her previous experience with the Zilker Park Bathhouse Working Group. Discussion on Agenda Overview ● Lane Becker suggests discussing potential recommendations and reports that could result from the Working Group. ● Stephanie Bazan agrees to share details on structuring a successful Working Group, including identifying key members who can consistently participate in meetings. ● Stephanie Bazan explains the process of selecting key Working Group members, including using meetings with special guests to address specific questions. ○ In her previous Working Group, weekly meetings with special guests were used to quickly progress tasks. ○ Special guests provided insights at the start of each meeting before leaving and helped answer key questions for the Working Group. Topics to Cover ● Team members offered up potential topics for discussion by the Working Group. Topics mentioned were: ○ Up-to-date contact info for any field not fully under PARD control, which includes every field except for Govalle; ○ Public, available in advance calendar for every baseball field in Austin; ○ Sensible field allocation, where adults play on fields that can support adult ball, kids play on fields that can support kids ball; ○ Sensible field hours, ensuring keep the fields that can be open later, especially during summer; ○ Maintenance of the fields and how it can be handled and improved; and ○ Contracts and ordinances, including a holistic evaluation of ordinances governing field use and contracts with third parties. Discussion on Topics to Cover ● Board Members Lane Becker and Stephanie Bazan to finalize the recommendation and report and submit into backup for review and vote once completed. ○ Full group will have input on the outline, the initial draft, and conclusions. ● Stephanie Bazan emphasizes the importance of including an external voice in each meeting to ensure progress and diversity. ● Group discussed the selection process for guests to aid in forming comprehensive recommendations. ● Group discussion of potential additional committee members and special guests. ○ Lane Becker agrees to hold off scheduling until other guests are invited. Timeline for Recommendation and Report ● Lane Becker aims to have the recommendation and report ready by end of August if possible. schedules. ○ Group considers if the timeline is too aggressive due to summer ○ If not completed by August, Working Group will aim for September. Action Items and Next Steps ● Lane Becker will contact additional potential members discussed to see if they would be willing to join the Working Group. ○ Tyler Sneed will consider who would be good additional members for the Working Group from the Sandlot Baseball community. ● After considering summer schedules, Lane Becker agrees to schedule a follow-up meeting in late July or early August once new Working Group members have agreed to join.