01-1: Draft Minutes of March 23, 2026 — original pdf

Backup

PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES MARCH 23, 2026 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MARCH 23, 2026 The PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD convened in a REGULAR meeting on MARCH 23, 2026 at 301 W 2nd Street in Austin, Texas. Chair Bazan called the PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD Meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Board Members in Attendance: Stephanie Bazan, Lane Becker Ted Eubanks, Diane Kearns- Osterweil, Nicole Merritt, Pedro Villalobos. Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Kathryn Flowers (joined at 9:09 p.m.), Jennifer Franklin. Board Members Absent: Luai Abou-Emara, Shelby Orme, Kim Taylor. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Monica Guzman - GAVA Teresa Rivera – Splash Pad at Gus Garcia Rec Center Kayla Reese - APF Holly Reed - TTC Concerns Robin Tsang - Perry Park Soccer Issues Ozias Tsang - Perry Park Soccer Issues Jude Tsang - Perry Park Soccer Issues Carson Buckner - Bridge Lacrosse Mark May - TTC Concerns Patrick Ywong - Leash Laws APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Parks and Recreation Board regular meeting of February 23, 2026. The motion to approve the minutes of the Parks and Recreation Board regular meeting of February 23, 2026 was approved on Board Member Villalobos’ motion, Board Merritt’s second on a 7-0 vote. Vice Chair Flowers, Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 2. Presentation, discussion and approve letters of support for the Austin Parks and Recreation Land Management Team. Page 1 of 4 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES MARCH 23, 2026 Matt McCaw, Environmental Conservation Program Manager; Amanda Ross, Natural Resources Division Manager; and Jodi Jay, Assistant Director, Austin Parks and Recreation gave a presentation and answered questions on gas powered equipment, prescribed burns, prickly poppy, biodiversity in natural lands, land management tools, cave collaboration committee, The motion to approve letters of support for the Austin Parks and Recreation Land Management Team was approved on Board Member Villalobos’ motion, Board Merritt’s second on a 7-0 vote. Vice Chair Flowers, Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. 3. Presentation, discussion and approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to approve 15,368 sq. ft. of permanent Transmission Line use within parkland at Edward Rendon Sr. Metro Park at Festival Beach. Total Mitigation to be paid by Austin Energy is $2,414,240. Dave Tomczyszyn, Vice President of Electrical System Engineering and Mac Kammerer, Public Information and Marketing Program Manager, Austin Energy gave a presentation and answered questions on community gardens in the blow out zone, the use of mitigation funds, a commitment to make FBFF whole, engagement of neighborhood associations, why the transmission lines cannot be buried, and whether sidewalks would be unavailable for a period of time. Board Member Villalobos raised a point of order regarding decorum. Chair Bazan ruled the point well taken and instructed the member to rephrase the question. The motion to delay action on this item to a future Parks and Recreation Board meeting failed on Board Member Eubanks’ motion, Board Member Kearns-Osterweil’s second on a 2-5 vote. Those voting aye were Board Members Eubanks and Kearns-Osterweil. Those voting nay were Chair Bazan, Board Members Becker, Franklin, Merritt and Villalobos. Vice Chair Flowers, Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. The motion to recommend to Austin City Council to approve 15,368 sq. ft. of permanent Transmission Line use within parkland at Edward Rendon Sr. Metro Park at Festival Beach. Total Mitigation to be paid by Austin Energy is $2,414,240; The Board further recommend that PARD and Austin Energy provide financial support and restoration and recovery to the Food Forest and Community Garden and continue to engage them to return the impacted parkland to its use; The Board further recommend that PARD and Austin Energy proactively seek out additional community and neighborhood groups representing the area and engage them as key partners to understand impacts to the parkland resulting from this easement was approved on Board Member Merritt’s motion, Chair Bazan’s second on a 7-0 vote. Vice Chair Flowers, Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. 4. Presentation, discussion and approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to adopt Local Standards of Care for City of Austin youth programs. The motion to approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to adopt Local Standards of Care for City of Austin youth programs was approved on Board Member Villalobos’ Page 2 of 4 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES MARCH 23, 2026 motion, Board Member Kearns-Osterweil’s second on a 7-0 vote. Vice Chair Flowers, Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. 5. Presentation, discussion and approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to authorize negotiation and execution of an inter-local agreement between the City and Austin Independent School District (AISD) for parkland use at the athletic fields located at 400 Grove Boulevard. The motion to approve a recommendation to Austin City Council to authorize negotiation and execution of an inter-local agreement between the City and Austin Independent School District (AISD) for parkland use at the athletic fields located at 400 Grove Boulevard was approved on Chair Bazan’s motion, Board Member Becker’s second on an 8-0 vote. Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. 6. Presentation, discussion and approve a recommendation to Austin City Council regarding the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget. Board Members discussed the process that created this recommendation. The motion to approve the recommendation as posted in the backup was approved with the following friendly amendment on Board Member Villalobos’ motion, Board Member Merritt’s second on an 8-0 vote. Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. The friendly amendment from Board Member Kearns-Osterwil was to add the language “and programming, including adults and children with disabilities, including but not limited to” to section 5. This was accepted by Board Member Villalobos who made the motion and Board Member Merritt who seconded the motion. Discussion and approve an amendment to the Parks and Recreation Board by-laws to remove the Contracts and Concessions Committee. This item was tabled by the Chair. Discussion, and amend the 2026 Parks and Recreation Board annual meeting schedule to move the regular scheduled meeting on May 18, 2026 to May 19, 2026. The motion to amend the 2026 Parks and Recreation Board annual meeting schedule to move the regular scheduled meeting on May 18, 2026 to May 19, 2026 was approved on Board Member Villalobos’ motion, Board Member Becker’s second on an 8-0 vote. Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. 7. 8. 9. Discussion and appoint an alternate for the Parks and Recreation Board seat on the Joint Sustainability Committee. The motion to appoint Shelby Orme as alternate for the Parks and Recreation Board seat on the Joint Sustainability Committee was approved on Chair Bazan’s motion, Board Member Becker’s second on an 8-0 vote. Board Members Abou-Emara, Orme and Taylor absent. STAFF BRIEFINGS Page 3 of 4 PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES MARCH 23, 2026 10. Staff briefing on the 2026 Bond process. This item was tabled by the Chair. 11. Staff briefing on Parks and Recreation Department community engagement events, planning updates, development updates, maintenance updates, program updates and administrative updates. Jesús Aguirre, Austin Parks and Recreation Director gave a briefing and answered clarifying questions on the Montopolis pool construction, I-35 expansion as it relates to the Chapter 26 process, and free entry to Walnut Creek Park Pool. No action was taken on this item. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS None. Chair Bazan adjourned the meeting at 9:38 p.m. without objection. These minutes were approved at the DATE Parks and Recreation Board meeting on Board Member NAME motion, Board Member NAME second on a VOTE. Page 4 of 4