Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 The PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD convened in a REGULAR meeting on February 24, 2025 at 301 W. 2nd Street in Austin, Texas Chair Villalobos called the PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. Board Members in Attendance: Lane Becker, Kathryn Flowers, Holly Reed, Pedro Villalobos. Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Stephanie Bazan (arrived at 7:25 p.m.), Jennifer Franklin, Shelby Orme, Kim Taylor. Board Members Absent: Cathleen Eady, Nicole Merritt. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Frank Cruz IV - Thankful to the City for not banning pier fishing Carol Baxter - ARC learn to row and paddle programs Phil Thomas - Deep Holly Advocates and Nash Hernandez Building Larry Akers - Public transit to parks APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Parks and Recreation Board regular meeting of January 27, 2025. The motion to approve the minutes of the Parks and Recreation Board regular meeting of January 27, 2025 was approved on Chair Villalobos’ motion, Vice Chair Flowers’ second on a 7-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Bazan, Eady and Merritt absent. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 2. Presentation, discussion and approve letters of support for Parks and Recreation Forestry Staff for their work planting, watering and maintaining trees, as well as participating in and hosting tree climbs. Josh Erickson, Urban Forestry Program Manager, Parks and Recreation gave a presentation. The motion to approve letters of support for Parks and Recreation Forestry Staff for their work planting, watering and maintaining trees, as well as participating in and hosting tree climbs was approved on Chair Villalobos’ motion, Vice Chair Flowers’ second on a 7-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Bazan, Eady and Merritt absent. 1 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 3. Presentation, discussion and approve a recommendation that Austin City Council authorize negotiation and execution of an interlocal agreement with AISD to collaborate on the GO Project, an educational program for high school aged students with disabilities. Devon Farber, Program Manager, Parks and Recreation gave a presentation. The motion to recommend that Austin City Council authorize negotiation and execution of an interlocal agreement with AISD to collaborate on the GO Project, an educational program for high school aged students with disabilities was approved on Chair Villalobos’ motion, Board Member Becker’s second on a 7-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Bazan, Eady and Merritt absent. 4. Discussion and create a working group to explore creating a “rainbow bridge” at a City park as an interactive feature that allow park visitors to honor dogs and pets that have passed away. Board Members discussed the concept of this idea, a rainbow bridge as a destination and Austin's dog and pet friendly culture. The motion to create a working group to explore creating a “rainbow bridge” at a City park as an interactive feature that allow park visitors to honor dogs and pets that have passed away was approved on Chair Villalobos’ motion, Vice Chair Flowers’ second on a 7-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Bazan, Eady and Merritt absent. STAFF BRIEFINGS 5. Staff Briefing on fuel mitigation and land management on parkland. Matt McCaw, Land Management Program Coordinator, Parks and Recreation and Carrie Stewart, Wildfire Division Chief, Austin Fire Department gave a briefing and answered clarifying questions on the prioritization process and criteria, Austin's specific wildfire vulnerability, concerns of insured homeowners, whether the land management team is keeping up or falling behind with fuel mitigation, how many people it would take to sufficiently mitigate wildfire risk on parkland and wildlife protection within prescribed burns. No action was taken on this item. 6. Staff briefing on planning, design and project development for Austin Light Rail. Jennifer Payne, Executive Vice President and Lisa Storer, Vice President of Architecture, Austin Transit Partnership gave a briefing and answered clarifying questions on parkland in the path of light rail construction and maintenance of walk and bike path. No action was taken on this item. Staff briefing on the progress of the 2026 Integrated Bond Development process, covering Parks and Recreation assets, 2018 bond progress, the 2026 bond, the latest schedule and guiding principles for all departments, and the technical scoring criteria developed specifically for the Parks and Recreation Department. 7. 2 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 Rachel Morris, Capital improvement Program Manager and Alyssa Tharrett, Project Management Supervisor, Parks and Recreation gave a presentation and answered clarifying questions on unspent funds from the 2018 bond, community engagement and examples of projects that would take longer than six years. No action was taken on this item. 8. Staff briefing on the Recreation and Senior Center Facility Assessment and Gap Analysis Report, covering the state of current recreation and community centers, guide future growth and development, and develop strategies, actions, and priorities that can be implemented and tracked. Alyssa Tharrett, Project Management Supervisor, Parks and Recreation and Brian Carlson, McKinney York Architects gave a briefing and answered clarifying questions on why the East Riverside area was not identified as a high-priority area and why the Millenium Youth Entertainment Complex was not considered. No action was taken on this item. 9. Staff briefing on Parks and Recreation Department community engagement events, planning updates, development updates, maintenance updates, program updates and administrative updates. Director Aguirre gave an update on bond funded projects, Brownie Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. No action was taken on this item. WORKING GROUP UPDATES 10. Update from the FY 2025-2026 Budget Working Group regarding changes to meeting schedule, wildfire management, and lack of timeline guidance from the City. Vice Chair Flowers gave an update on the March deadline for a recommendation, wildfire mitigation and a draft recommendation for the March 7th meeting. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 11. Discussion and approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to support the implementation of on-demand city-wide van service, modeling of an integrated city-wide on-demand/BRT transit systems and explore all avenues to expand CapMetro’s on-demand pickup service. Board Members discussed the advantages of micro-transit and options for pickup and drop off locations. The motion to approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to support the implementation of on-demand city-wide van service, modeling of an integrated city-wide on- demand/BRT transit systems and explore all avenues to expand CapMetro’s on-demand pickup service was approved on Board Member Reed’s motion, Board Member Taylor’s second on an 8-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Eady and Merritt absent. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Becker – Soccer and Baseball Field Audit Report 3 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 24, 2025 Flowers – Budget recommendation Chair Villalobos adjourned the meeting at 9:16 p.m. without objection. These minutes were approved at the March 24, 2025 Parks and Recreation Board meeting on Board Member Franklin’s motion, Board Member Bazan’s second on a 7-0 vote with one vacancy. Board Members Orme, Taylor and Villalobos absent. 4