01-1: Draft Minutes of July 22, 2024 — original pdf

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PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 The PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD convened in a REGULAR meeting on July 22, 2024 at 301 W. 2nd Street in Austin, Texas Chair Villalobos called the PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Board Members in Attendance: Pedro Villalobos, Kathryn Flowers, Stephanie Bazan, Lane Becker, Cathleen Eady, Jennifer Franklin, Holly Reed. Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Nicole Merritt. Board Members Absent: Shelby Orme, Kim Taylor. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Nicole Netherton - Pease Park Conservancy Claire Krebs - Festival Beach Community Garden Grace Gilker - Festival Beach Food Forrest Liz Barhydt - Austin Rowing Club Santiago Tza-Wan - Historic pecan grove at Festival Beach Scott Cobb - Barton Springs Lifeguard Gail Rothe - PARD PARKnership Program Chris Flores - PARD PARKnership Program Bertha Delgado Rendon - East Town Lake Citizen Neighborhood Association Elisa Montoya - East Town Lake Citizen Neighborhood Association APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Parks and Recreation Board regular meeting of June 17, 2024. The motion to approve the minutes of the Parks and Recreation Board regular meeting of June 17, 2024 was approved on Chair Villalobos’ motion, Vice Chair Flowers’ second on a 7-0 vote with one vacancy. Bord Member Eady abstaining. Board Members Orme and Taylor absent. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 2. Presentation, discussion and approve letters of support for community members and active participation in community engagement for the playscape replacement at Metz Neighborhood Park. Reynaldo Hernandez, Project Manager, Jonathan Haynes, Program Supervisor and Seth Conway, Activity Specialist, Parks and Recreation Department gave a presentation. 1 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 The motion to approve letters of support for community members and active participation in community engagement for the playscape replacement at Metz Neighborhood Park was approved on Chair Villalobos’ motion, Vice Chair Flowers’ second, on an 8-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Orme and Taylor absent. 3. Approve the Parks and Recreation Board Annual Internal Review and Report. Board Members discussed this item. The motion to approve the Parks and Recreation Board Annual Internal Review and Report was approved on Chair Villalobos’ motion, Vice Chair Flowers’ second on a 7-0 vote with one vacancy. Bord Member Eady abstaining. Board Members Orme and Taylor absent. STAFF BRIEFINGS 4. Staff briefing on Parks and Recreation Department Community PARKnership Program. Christine Chute Canul, Program Manager II, Parks and Recreation Department gave a briefing and answered clarifying questions on successes of the PARKnership Program, financial transparency, number of primary POMA partners, publicly available reports, confusion about operations and maintenance, phased approach for The Trail Conservancy POMA, exclusive uses of PARD land by Tier A partners, and the Save or Springs and Austin Parks Foundation partnership status. No action was taken on this item. 5. Staff briefing on progress of the Festival Beach Soundwall and pedestrian improvements.. JT Stewart, Senior Planner, Parks and Recreation Department gave a briefing and answered clarifying questions on progress made toward funding and maintenance or project amenities, language access, and tree protection, a possible update in September. No action was taken on this item. 6. Staff briefing on Parks and Recreation Department community engagement events, planning updates, development updates, maintenance updates, program updates and administrative updates. Angela Means, Parks and Recreation Director gave a briefing on Parks and Recreation Month, pedestrian bridge over Waller Creek, Rainey Street Trailhead ribbon cutting ceremony, Zilker Shuttle Program, community engagement related to Holly Shores Vision Plan, and answered clarifying questions on Brighter Bites, and the Climate Bond and safety in parks. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS Approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to allocate an additional $2.62 million to the Parks and Recreation Department's budget for the upcoming fiscal year; and that of this amount, $2.24 million be allocated towards parks maintenance, including $1.5 million in ongoing funding and $740,000 in one-time funding, to support 16 year-round full-time equivalent (FTE) positions and necessary supplies; and that $385,000 be allocated towards the Homeless Encampment Response Team, including $375,000 in ongoing funding and $10,000 in one-time funding, to support 4 year- round FTE positions, operations, and necessary supplies. 7. 2 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 Board Members discussed City Council's budget process, homeless response team, PARD's budgetary needs, lifeguard demands, administrative staff. The motion to approve the recommendation as written was approved with the following friendly amendment on Chair Villalobos motion , Vice Chair Flowers second on an 8-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Orme and Taylor absent. The friendly amendment from Board Member Reed was to change the first Whereas clause in the recommendation to replace “plays a critical role in” with “is responsible for”. This was accepted by the maker of the motion and Vice Chair Flowers, who seconded the motion. DISCUSSION ITEMS 8. Discussion on community engagement opportunities for the permanent location for boating concessions at Festival Beach and the amendment to the Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. at Festival Beach Vision Plan to include that location, per City Council Ordinance No. 20191205-070. Board Members discussed a recommendation to make this situation right, Ordinance No. 20241205-070, The Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. Vision Plan, boating concessions, Environmental Commission Review, and the approval of the site plan permitting process. No action was taken on this item. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Becker - Reconsider appointees to Joint Sustainability Committee. Becker - Update on baseball field working group. Flowers - Current process for standards of mobility and access to parks, including development, construction and maintenance. Bazan - Briefing on City's Connecting Children to Nature. Reed - Recommendation on preferred qualifications for new PARD Director. Reed - Safety in Parks. Chair Villalobos adjourned the meeting at 9:22 p.m. without objection. These minutes were approved at the DATE Parks and Recreation Board meeting on NAME motion, NAME second on a VOTE with one vacancy. 3