[0:03] Four. Go ahead and start this month's regular meeting
[0:08] of the parks and recreation board. July 27th, 2026.
[0:12] and I will take role. Um, so stephanie bison chair.
[0:16] I'm present. Uh, board member becker.
[0:23] present. Board member orm.
[0:27] board member villalobos. Present board member merit
[0:34] board member kelly. Present board member
[0:38] abara. Present board member zoster.
[0:43] present board member taylor.
[0:48] board member franklin. Present. Board member
[0:52] eubanks. Present. Alright. Thank you. Everybody there being
[0:57] quorum. We'll go ahead and move to the next portion of our agenda. Um,
[1:01] this will be public communication general. This is for the first 10 speakers signed
[1:05] up prior to the meeting. Mr. Beck? Yes.
[1:09] chair. Our first speaker during general public comment will be katie robard,
[1:14] followed by aubrey rudder, and then patricia bobbeck.
[1:28] you'll have three minutes from the time you begin speaking.
[1:37] all right. Good evening and happy parks and recreation month. Um, we're thankful for your service
[1:42] and also, uh, to work with austin parks and recreation department. I'm
[1:46] katie robard with austin parks foundation. Um, and I'm here today to share
[1:50] a few updates on some of the work and programming that a pf is doing.
[1:55] uh, first off, I'll highlight rosewood neighborhood park. Um, we
[1:59] recently celebrated the completion of the playground renovation and the pavilion,
[2:03] new pavilion with the summer campers from dolores duffy rec center.
[2:08] the project included a new pavilion, uh, shaded, uh, playground,
[2:13] um, new native shade trees and irrigation. The project
[2:17] that was identified as a playground in need of replacement by the parks
[2:21] department. And so we took on the project. During the community engagement,
[2:25] the community expressed a desire for a pavilion in this area of the park, and we
[2:29] were able to help with that as well. Um, in close collaboration with the parks department,
[2:34] a pf was able to design, permit, manage the construction, and fully fund the
[2:38] improvements. Uh, the budget was just a little bit over $500,000
[2:42] and it was in, completed in late june, um, and is
[2:46] providing much needed shade and play for the community at rosewood. Next
[2:50] slide, please. Um, and then grand meadow is a park that a pf
[2:54] has been involved in for quite some time. In 2022, we began working with the,
[2:59] the friends of grand meadow park, um, to help them develop a vision plan
[3:03] for this 10 acre, uh, park in district two.
[3:07] um, by providing design services and community engagement,
[3:12] um, we were able to ensure the community voices were heard and a pf was able to provide
[3:16] plans and documentation necessary to, to get approval
[3:21] and official adoption of the plan. In 2024, our team worked
[3:25] close to about a year to get the full site development permit for
[3:29] this project. And, um,
[3:34] construction on phase one started last fall. Um, it's still under construction, but this
[3:38] phase includes improved access to the park, um, a pavilion lighting
[3:42] open play field, um, improved native grass and wildflower
[3:46] meadow, and the framework for the community garden and, and the, uh, much desired
[3:51] food forest. Um, like all projects, we work closely with the parks department
[3:55] every step of the way. This project is a great example of collaboration, not only
[3:59] between a pf and a pr, but with the neighbors and other partners,
[4:03] like friends of grand meadow park and fruitful commons. Um,
[4:08] a pr funding was, uh, close or is still ongoing, but, um,
[4:12] it's close to 600,000 of, um, parkland dedication
[4:17] funding and also a pf contributed $1.2 million.
[4:22] um, we are looking to schedule the official ribbon cutting in
[4:26] september, so be on the lookout for that, and we're excited that the park is opening soon.
[4:30] the next slide, lastly, I'll highlight yoga in the park every
[4:34] friday morning at 7:00 am in zilker park. This is free programming,
[4:39] um, that we're offering, and we've seen average attendance
[4:43] of two to 300 people per session. So it's been super popular
[4:47] and we just, it's free and open to the public and we invite you to join in. Thanks so much.
[4:52] thank you. Our next speaker will be
[4:57] aubrey rudder, followed by patricia bobbeck and then chris flores.
[5:05] good evening board members. My name is aubrey rudder. I serve as director of rental operations
[5:09] at the austin rowing club. Tonight, I debated what I wanted to speak about
[5:14] this evening because the summer has been filled with a lot of positives for a rc.
[5:18] we've expanded our community outreach, continued our partnership with a pr rec
[5:22] centers, and launched a new initiative over 4th of july to promote responsible
[5:27] recreation by encouraging visitors to help keep lady ladybird lake cleaned.
[5:31] while I'm proud of those accomplishments, I felt it was important to speak about the recent waterway
[5:35] ban and some of the challenges we experienced during its implementation. First,
[5:40] I wanna be clear that safety is always and will be our number one priority. When
[5:44] the waterway ban was issued, a rc immediately complied. We closed our rental
[5:48] business because we believe the conditions presented a legitimate safety concern.
[5:53] the other permitted concessionaires did the same. Although closing during one of the, the busiest
[5:57] times of the season had sin significant impact, financial impact, we didn't
[6:01] hesitate because protecting the public comes first. The concern I'd like
[6:05] to raise today is not about the water ban itself, it's about how it was implemented and enforced.
[6:09] while per the permitted concessionaires followed the rules and remain closed,
[6:14] numerous non non-permanent operators continued conducting business on ladybird
[6:18] lake. They were still sending out customers onto the water. While
[6:22] those of us who have contracts with the city are expected to follow its directives and remain closed,
[6:27] that raises an important question. Who is responsible for enforcing the ban? If a waterway
[6:32] closure is issued in the interest of public safety, it should apply equally to
[6:36] everyone. Otherwise, the businesses that comply with the city requirements are put at a competitive
[6:40] disadvantage. While operators who ignore the closure continue operating without a
[6:44] consequence, communication was another significant challenge.
[6:49] extensions to the waterway ban were often issued just 45 minutes before
[6:53] the previous order expired. And sometimes as little as 15 minutes beforehand,
[6:58] that simply isn't enough time to notify customers, adjust staffing, or make operational
[7:02] decisions. We had employees arri arriving for work and guests already on their way
[7:06] to the boathouse without knowing we would if we would be open. It
[7:11] created unnecessary confusion for our staff, our cu customers and our partners.
[7:15] there was also very little communication to the general public. There was no signage at the public
[7:19] boat ramps indicating a waterway, a waterway ban was in effect.
[7:24] many people launching their own boats had no idea that there was an active closure. If
[7:28] the purpose of the is public safety, then public notification should be just as
[7:32] much of a priority as concessions are. We support the measures that keep our
[7:36] waterway safe, and we appreciate the difficult decisions that sometimes have to be made. However,
[7:41] we also believe there is an opportunity to improve the process through a more timely
[7:45] communication, clear public signage and consistent enforcement for
[7:49] everyone that uses the lake, not just those who have contracts with the city.
[7:53] thank you for your time and everything you guys do for parks. Thank
[7:57] you. Our next speaker
[8:02] will be patricia bobbeck, followed by chris flores and then
[8:06] piper lemoine.
[8:21] you'll have three minutes from the time you begin speaking.
[8:29] good evening board members. As always, thank you for your service to the
[8:33] citizens of austin. First, I would like to compliment zilker park for getting
[8:37] the food trucks out of the barton springs pool parking lot,
[8:42] and for not allowing food vendors to set up stands tonight.
[8:46] we wanna bring your attention, bring to your attention evidence that fishermen
[8:51] invade barton springs pool at night last week while snorkeling,
[8:56] I saw a 12 inch bass with a fishing line and a lead weight hanging
[9:00] out of its mouth. It gradually got weaker for a few days before
[9:05] it disappeared. I imagine his carcass will eventually
[9:09] release the fish hook and lead weight into the pool.
[9:14] I also found a piece of plastic in the pool
[9:18] that a lifeguard identified as a fishing lure.
[9:22] lifeguards tell me that last week, a fish hook punctured a swimmer.
[9:26] imagine a child encountering a fish hook and imagined a fish hook
[9:31] in the eye. Other patrons have talked about an individual who gets
[9:35] fish outta the lake and throws them into the pool. Last friday
[9:39] for the first time in my 50 years of swimming in barton springs, I saw
[9:43] a two foot long asian carp, a big fat blue
[9:47] fish in the deep end of the pool. This species was
[9:52] supposedly introduced into texas water bodies to eat vegetation
[9:56] and has now started eating other fish. This activity seems incompatible
[10:01] with the presence of the federally protected salamander.
[10:05] in light of these activities, I would like to propose at barton springs, either
[10:09] hire security guards to control the pool perimeter from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am
[10:14] not in vehicles or install cameras to
[10:19] detect these individuals. In both cases, the perpetrators should be
[10:23] prosecuted. Second item of business.
[10:27] can the board provide information on when the bar spring snack bar will reopen
[10:32] to sell food? It was closed, it was demolished in 2016,
[10:37] reconstructed at a cost of almost a million of my tax dollars completed
[10:41] in 2020 and has been vacant since then.
[10:46] in the interest of swimmer safety and lifeguard sanity, alcohol
[10:50] should not be sold at the snack bar. Third item of
[10:54] business. I speak for a number of tax paying citizens who
[10:58] would like to be able to swim in bartlet springs year round. In recent years,
[11:03] semi-trailers have moved into zilker park area in
[11:07] september to set up for acl and obstruct traffic to the pool until the end
[11:11] of october. Heavy equipment, no doubt, adds unnecessary stress to
[11:15] the barton springs road bridge and probably adds to the sentiment to
[11:20] replace it with a concrete monstrosity. The austin
[11:24] city limits festival can be proud of its success and growth over the last 20
[11:28] years. Now it's time to recognize that the festival has outgrown
[11:32] its britches and needs to move to a modern facility that has toilets,
[11:37] astroturf, and parking. Thank you. I'll stop there. Thanks so much.
[11:42] our next speaker will be chris flores, followed by piper lemon.
[11:50] uh, good evening, um, parks board members. My name is chris flores.
[11:54] I am in district 10. I'm speaking to you tonight, uh,
[11:58] speaking to you tonight to ask for additional information to be added to the parks
[12:03] department's website. This item is not on your agenda.
[12:07] um, I brought pictures from a july 4th walk. I took around the
[12:11] lake trail. First, I was delighted to stumble on a fixed up
[12:15] walkway down to my favorite tree on the lake. In my marathoning
[12:20] years, I nicknamed it capitan. I can confess now in my old age,
[12:24] I pruned back the thorny brambles to be able to get down to that water and
[12:28] the tree and hug and hug it. Um, the new stone
[12:32] stairs are solid rock. The craftsmanship
[12:37] is superb. The custom minimal steel railing, amazingly
[12:41] perfect for that spot. The modernist corten steel sidewall,
[12:45] again, impeccably crafted zero plastic.
[12:50] it's fabulous. The walk down was safe. I could hold
[12:54] the rail and focus on hundreds of butterflies and flowers on the way down to the tree.
[12:59] this walkway garden is a destination. People could get married there.
[13:03] it's that beautiful. Um, compared to the before,
[13:07] sliding down on one's bottom in brambles and mud, it's
[13:11] a fantastic transformation. I tried to research how
[13:15] much did this cost, this project, who were the crafts people and
[13:19] the designers, what bond funded it, which government and nonprofit contributed
[13:25] the dollars? But the sign did not reach this level of detail.
[13:29] a search of the parks projects online via the parks department's website
[13:33] has great info. Eight pages of big projects, but no
[13:38] info on small trail amenities like the path to el capitan.
[13:42] can there be a section on the parks and recreation projects,
[13:47] uh, web webpage that features the things that are being
[13:51] added to the lake trail? Um, uh, here's
[13:55] another trail garden I want to speak about. But before I move on
[13:59] to that, let me show the slides. So I want you guys to see what I saw.
[14:04] this is from the top looking down. This was never clear and open. You
[14:08] just have to get on your butt and slide on the mud down. Next slide.
[14:12] this is the cor 10 wall, uh, steel wall, uh, along the
[14:16] stairs. It's just beautiful. Look at that railing. You can see the plants. You barely see
[14:20] the railing. Next slide.
[14:28] next slide. Oh,
[14:34] it's the tree. No, no, that's, that's a different topic. Um,
[14:38] well, I guess the tree didn't make it. Anyways. It's the largest
[14:43] tree on the lake. A tall cypress that's probably, I don't know,
[14:47] two, 300 years old. Anyways, um, there's another trail
[14:52] garden on the pfluger, uh, pedestrian bridge. It's overgrown
[14:56] with vines. It used to look like pruned, like a japanese garden.
[15:01] there are remnants of a plastic outdoor art installation that looked dystopian
[15:05] today. Um, I would like to learn about who owns
[15:09] that maintenance and when was it billed? How much did it cost?
[15:13] same things. Thank you very much.
[15:18] thank you very much for your time.
[15:24] our next speaker will be piper lemoine.
[15:28] very good. Yeah, just about.
[15:36] all right.
[15:51] can everybody hear me? Oh, there it is. Okay. Got it all. Good evening everyone. My
[15:55] name is piper lemoyne. I am from rancho leray, a homegrown 5 5 0 1
[15:59] c3 grassroots nonprofit dedicated to preserving and promoting junto music.
[16:03] we finally recovered from our three day whirlwind celebration of junto music at the iconic
[16:07] doris miller auditorium. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, to anybody with an earshot.
[16:12] being able to present junto music on the same stage that hosted little richard chuck
[16:16] berry, uh, count basey, edit james. And so many more is a dream come true for us
[16:21] every day. I'm thankful that the city owns that building because its history is unmatched
[16:25] in a town that is regularly tearing down privately owned music venues. But I
[16:29] come to you tonight with a proposal since acme was formed last year and includes several
[16:33] parks and rec staff and departments. I have a suggestion that we'll take advantage of this
[16:38] consolidation of city functions. Increase the reservation time period for city
[16:42] grant funded projects like ours. We were funded through elevate, through acme,
[16:46] um, from six months to one year. I suggested during the listening
[16:50] sessions while acme was being formed, but I completely understand
[16:54] if it was deprioritized or put in a parking lot as the department found its footing
[16:58] and rolled out new grant programs. As a software developer myself, I un I
[17:03] also understand that there's a reservation system that may need some kind of code change to accommodate
[17:07] this. But this simple change can really help the stability
[17:11] of annual events presented by grassroots groups like ours, in particular,
[17:15] with a longer reservation period and a date much further down the road. It gives us time
[17:20] to find sponsors and other funding to supplement the city of austin award. Most
[17:24] corporate sponsors want at least six months notice, for example, for sponsorships.
[17:28] um, it, it gives ticketed events even more time to sell advanced tickets.
[17:33] uh, promotion can begin much sooner allowing tourists to make their travel plans and
[17:37] specifically book hotel rooms. Uh, it gives events that book nationally. Touring
[17:41] artists even more of a selection six months ahead of time is usually too short of a time
[17:45] for artists of that caliber whose calendars are already booked up.
[17:50] it gives smaller organizations with, with annual events like ours. We've done 11 of these
[17:54] over the last 15 years, and we're the only large scale tejano junto
[17:58] event, exclusively tejano junto event. Uh, a chance to be
[18:02] included alongside the big events in city pr and other touristy communications
[18:06] like the free events in austin calendar, for example, and perhaps
[18:10] actually grow in whatever way makes sense for each organization. It also includes
[18:14] en encourage. It also encourages grant funded organizations
[18:19] and projects to use city facilities for their events. And while this suggestion may
[18:23] seem modest on the surface, it could really have a major impact
[18:27] for a lot of grantees who get their funding through thrive elevate or
[18:32] other city, uh, funded, uh, grant programs through acme.
[18:36] so, I appreciate your time and consideration, and I also wanna give a shout out to the dolores duffy
[18:40] recreation staff, lewis and julie and the whole crew over
[18:44] there. Fantastic facility and we love the doris miller auditorium. Thank
[18:48] you. Thank you.
[18:55] is there anyone else present that would like to address the parks and recreation board
[19:00] during general public comment? That
[19:04] is the end of general public comment. Okay. Thank you so much. That being our last
[19:08] public communication. We'll move to agenda item number one, which is approve
[19:12] the minutes of the parks and recreation board. Regular meeting of june 22nd, 2026.
[19:18] take a moment to review the minutes if you haven't already.
[19:22] and I've already shared with mr. Beck that I was here was a ghost to close
[19:27] out the, uh, the meeting. So we're making that adjustment.
[19:59] okay. Board members, any changes that need to be made to the meeting minutes,
[20:08] it doesn't appear so, so I'll move that we approve the minutes of the parks and recreation board.
[20:13] um, meeting of june 22nd, 2026. Is there
[20:17] a second? Second. I have a second from board member abu amara.
[20:22] all those in favor, please raise your hand. 3, 5, 8.
[20:28] all right. Motion passes. Eight zero. Thank you so much. Board members.
[20:33] all right. We'll now move to agenda item number two, which is the presentation,
[20:37] discussion and approval letters of support for golf staff who
[20:41] completed the restoration of ponds at roy kaiser and jimmy clay golf courses.
[20:50] good evening. Uh, parks board. Um, lucas massey, assistant director.
[20:54] uh, excited to be able to come and talk a little bit about, uh, our golf
[20:58] courses. And one of the restorations we've been able to do, um, on, on our
[21:02] ponds. Um, we're in a budget season and, and oftentimes
[21:07] we're, we're golf is an enterprise fund and we're making fund
[21:11] transfers from, from golf over to cip to to do this type of work.
[21:16] um, and it, it, you know, so all the, all the money used for this project comes from the
[21:20] golf fund. Um, just excited to talk about it a little. And
[21:24] steve hammond's here to kind of run through the presentation. Uh,
[21:28] good evening parks board members. My name's steve hammond. I'm the operations manager for, uh, golf
[21:32] a tx in the city of austin parks, uh, golf department.
[21:42] okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna talk about our roy kaiser pond reestablishment project. Uh,
[21:47] roy kaiser is in district two, um, in southeast austin. It was built in
[21:51] 1994. It was built off of a, out of a, uh, decommissioned water treatment
[21:55] plant. Um, this was a great use for that piece of
[22:00] property 'cause it did not have a great deal of vegetation at the time. It was a lot of concrete and steel.
[22:05] um, and it, we turned it into the first link style golf course,
[22:09] uh, in the greater austin area. Um, link style, meaning it did
[22:13] not have a great deal of trees. It had a lot of, a lot of bunkering and rolling hills.
[22:17] so it's a, it's a beautiful piece of property, and we'll see that in some of the pictures that we show today.
[22:21] um, one of the things that made it so popular amongst locals
[22:26] is, is the water features on the gulf course covering approximately 60 acres
[22:30] throughout the property. Um, it has become a fan
[22:34] favorite of the, uh, local audubon enthusiast, where it's home
[22:38] to 120 migratory and non migratory
[22:42] bird species. Now that right there is a count that was
[22:47] done, um, during the christmas bird count, but we have over
[22:51] 225 documented species of, uh, waterfowl or,
[22:55] or birds in general that have been on that property, and 769
[22:59] different, uh, documented life forms on the property. So, um, our
[23:03] responsibility to the environment and to the, to those that share the space is,
[23:07] is something that we take seriously. Um, but at the same time, we currently, uh,
[23:11] service over 65,000 rounds of golf. So we take those folks pretty serious as well.
[23:17] um, so we talked about the 60 acres
[23:22] of ponds. We had very significant noticeable leaking of those ponds in 2016.
[23:27] and essentially we were flushing water, um, down the drain, um, which
[23:31] also, uh, cost us money. Um, our cbc bird count
[23:35] in 2022, uh, excuse me. And, and the, it was unreasonable to, to, to,
[23:40] to continue to flush that water and try and fill those ponds and
[23:44] maintain them at an acceptable level. So they, they started to drain and, and
[23:48] leak water. And of course, everybody knows our drought situation. Uh, our
[23:52] christmas bird count was down to 45 species in 2022.
[23:56] and because the golf fund was, uh, in a, in a healthy situation, we started to formulate
[24:01] a plan to, uh, reestablish these ponds. And we started on
[24:05] that in 2024 and work started. Um, we funded it,
[24:09] uh, in 2025, and then work started, uh, here in 2026,
[24:14] um, sometime around march 1st, I believe. Our solutions that
[24:18] we investigated. We talked with austin water, we also discussed poly
[24:22] lining, all of that, um, everything, uh,
[24:27] in the construction industry right now is being sold, sold by the square foot
[24:31] and poly lining the, uh, acreage that we needed to do. It became incredibly,
[24:35] it, it was, it was cost prohibitive. So the parks department has
[24:39] done a great job, uh, over the last, uh, seven or eight years
[24:43] in, in having a construction contractor, um, on
[24:47] contract. And they do a lot of our playground work and construction work throughout the parks department. And,
[24:52] and paradigm construction was introduced to the project in 2025.
[24:56] through discussions with them and other general golf course contractors. We
[25:00] determined that be night was gonna be to be night. These lakes, which is a,
[25:05] um, powder substance, uh, used to bond soil together, that was going
[25:09] to be what was the most cost effective and, uh, the
[25:13] best solution that we could come up with and we can afford to, um, seal these
[25:17] lakes out. So that work was started in march of 2026.
[25:21] it began with the removal of a significant amount of vegetation
[25:25] that had grown in these pond floors, um, over the last
[25:29] few years where they were dry. Um, we rep, we repaired all
[25:34] of our compromised weirs, and we'll show you a map in just a second on, um,
[25:38] the lake structure, the lake's structure, and how they work out and weave throughout the golf
[25:42] course. Um, so we repaired all of these weirs. Um, we have done an
[25:46] application of bed night. We have a recirculating pump,
[25:50] uh, that we can, we can show you where that, uh, goes from and
[25:54] to, to, uh, uh, continue to aerate the ponds.
[25:58] and we also, uh, provided some, we put some fountains in the ponding as
[26:02] well to, you know, provide oxygen to the water, keep us from having bad
[26:07] algae blooms, and, uh, and create a great environment in there. Right
[26:11] now, we're, we're north of 70% complete. We're actually closer to
[26:15] 80% complete. Um, on this project. It has been
[26:19] a very large undertaking. We have been impacted significantly by rains, um,
[26:23] weather delays. But overall, uh, it's just been a,
[26:27] a, a, a great project to watch it take shape. Um, up
[26:31] on your screen, you'll see what it, what the design of this golf course in the pond system
[26:36] looks like. We don't, we don't really talk about pond number e,
[26:40] uh, pond, uh, e because that is one of our irrigation ponds, and it holds water.
[26:45] but we started work on pond number a. And if you see where pond a
[26:49] drains into b, um, there's an elevation change right there in which there
[26:53] is a weir going from a to b. And then if you'll see
[26:57] at the north side of b and the south side of b, you'll see another weir
[27:02] that drains into c. And uh, c also
[27:06] shares, uh, uh, elevation with pond d. Um,
[27:11] if you'll also notice inside of pond d, you'll, you'll see a white area that
[27:15] is not shaded in blue, that is an island. Uh, this spring
[27:19] we put in a two and a half acre butterfly garden, um, on that
[27:23] island, or a pollinator garden, essentially is what it was. Um,
[27:27] and it took off just very, very well. So, to
[27:31] date on this project, we have a, b, and c completed, and we are currently
[27:36] filling, uh, pond number d
[27:40] and pond g, which is at the top of the screen. That will be done with a soil flocculent.
[27:45] it won't be, it won't be the full be night process. Uh, the banks are too
[27:49] steep on the walls, and so we'll have to do a soil flocculent in there, in which,
[27:53] uh, it's a two part, uh, application, which will bond with the, uh,
[27:57] soil and help seal those off. We talked about the weirs.
[28:01] if you look on the left, this is a picture taken. I'm gonna go ahead and
[28:05] assume, uh, early march. It was nice and chilly outside. Um,
[28:10] and those were being under the, the, all of our weirs were undermined, and
[28:14] the, uh, uh, mortar work was cracked on that. So you'll
[28:18] see a completed version there on the right, uh, where those, those gentlemen are working on the left
[28:22] and a completed version and filled version on the right. Um, when
[28:26] we talk about vegetation removal, if you'll see on the left, that
[28:30] is an, that should be an, uh, a pond. Um,
[28:34] but with the lack of water, we, we had to remove all of that vegetation so
[28:39] we could begin work. And that's what it looks like after the vegetation has been removed.
[28:44] um, when we talked about the application of bags, the bed night comes in one
[28:48] ton ba bags and is ferried out onto the golf course by tractor.
[28:52] um, it is dumped, leveled out, and then tilled back
[28:57] in. Um, I wish I had the, uh, geometry
[29:01] on how much one bag covers, but I, I, I really don't they, but they, um,
[29:05] the contractor, uh, basically did a grid on
[29:09] everything, um, and applied one bag per grid square to
[29:13] a, a guarantee even treatment. Um, and then this
[29:17] is, you know, this is early on in the refilling process. You can see on
[29:21] the right hand side, um, that, uh, you know, those banks
[29:26] still have be night exposed, uh, as, as that pond is,
[29:30] is filling up. We're gonna show you some of the benefits of what we have. Of course, we have
[29:34] a spoon bill on the left, and those are always fun to look at. But on the top and the bottom pictures
[29:38] on the right, um, it, it, it looks like
[29:42] a similar picture, but basically that picture is taken from the exact same spot,
[29:46] and you can see the surface area in which we increased,
[29:51] um, the ability to maintain water. And, uh, what really got gathered
[29:55] my attention is, as you're looking at that, you're looking at
[29:59] pond, uh, a I believe, yes,
[30:03] pond a, um, on the bottom picture, and in the top picture, you
[30:07] can actually see pond c in which you cannot see pond c in the, uh,
[30:11] in, in the, uh, top picture. So that's, that's, that just shows you the
[30:16] kind of surface area that, uh, we were trying to cover here.
[30:20] um, you can look the steepness of the banks, uh,
[30:24] up there on the top right hand picture of the, the work was slow.
[30:29] uh, it took, it has taken longer than what we anticipated, but, uh, overall,
[30:34] um, it's, it's turned out to be a very, just a wonderful project. And,
[30:38] uh, tho those, the egrets there and the coutts, those are, those are
[30:42] things that are very common to, uh, the, those golf courses. Uh, we've
[30:47] got a couple of, uh, uh, juvenile
[30:51] hawks on the left, uh, on our number three teen ground. Um,
[30:55] another picture of us refilling, you can see that blue tarp where we
[30:59] have the water coming from, uh, pond b into pond
[31:03] c, that blue tarp's just to keep erosion from coming. Um, as the water rushes
[31:07] in, we're just gonna have a series of pictures of what we see out here. I, I,
[31:11] I, it doesn't matter what the presentation was about, you got a picture of a bald eagle. I'm gonna go ahead
[31:16] and show it to you. Um, so that was really cool, um, that, that showed up, uh,
[31:20] one rainy day in march. But this project is not
[31:24] just about waterfowl, it's about everything that, uh, shares that space with
[31:28] us. This is a more detailed picture of the before and after that we had earlier
[31:37] take any questions that y'all have regarding this, but we, we really appreciate the, uh, opportunity
[31:41] to feature, uh, this golf course, to feature, uh, the work of our golf
[31:46] division and, uh, our men and women, what they're, what they're putting in. I, I can't
[31:50] tell you, I've been at this property since 1996.
[31:54] um, 1995 is when I started working at this piece of property. Uh,
[31:58] I can't tell you how great it is for me to actually see this project come,
[32:03] come all the way around, um, and get these things filled back up and return the
[32:07] golf course to what it, uh, what it used to be way back when. Thank y'all.
[32:11] yeah. Quick question for me. Um, I know that often projects go a little
[32:15] bit longer than, than expected to take a little bit longer, but you did mention that this was slower
[32:19] than anticipated. What added to that being a slower process
[32:24] than, oh, we, the rain that started
[32:28] in march really set us back. Everything that we
[32:32] were doing is we were trying to dry out areas, make the applications,
[32:37] and then refill back up. And that, that largest pond that we
[32:41] had, we were very close to being ready to fill it. That was pond
[32:45] c. We were very close to being ready to fill it. And then, uh,
[32:49] a rain came that put us back three weeks, and then
[32:54] we were one workday away from filling it. Um, and
[32:58] I can't remember what the date was on this, but we got a call from the contractor. They
[33:02] said we were going to work all day saturday and all day sunday. And if
[33:07] we would not have worked on sunday, we wouldn't be done with pond sea yet. But that's when that
[33:11] very large rain came. And it wasn't the july rains, but it was sometime in
[33:15] june that if they wouldn't have worked that saturday and sunday, that would've set us back another two or
[33:19] three weeks right there. So all of our, all of our problems have been weather
[33:23] delays. This hasn't been equipment or anything like that. I appreciate that. Thank
[33:27] you. Thank you. Board members, thank you so much for the crash
[33:32] course on ceiling ponds. I, uh, started building a little bit
[33:36] and, uh, um, definitely, uh,
[33:41] ai is in agreement with you about, uh, bento not being, um, more cost efficient
[33:46] for such, uh, uh, uh, huge volume. Uh, so,
[33:50] uh, but one, one thing I I saw is, um,
[33:54] uh, bentonite can be challenging on, on
[33:58] larger slopes and, um, and it might,
[34:03] like pulley liners can, are the ultimate in, in
[34:07] ceiling a hundred percent, although they can be prone to punctures and stuff like
[34:11] that. But bentonite still, you can have some seepage, uh,
[34:15] when you use it. Is, is that, is there like risk assessment
[34:20] on, um, um, if, if that can fail at
[34:24] some point or, yes. Um, it's, it's a, it's a very legitimate concern.
[34:28] and so because we haven't had grass growing down into the
[34:32] waterline this entire time there, there was a very large concern about our
[34:36] more severe slopes. So what we did is once we
[34:40] got the bed night established into those sloped off areas,
[34:45] um, it was critical to get those ponds filled as soon as possible. But at the same time,
[34:49] we ran a 36 inch, uh, strip of sod that we stapled
[34:53] to the banks all the way around to minimize irrigation, water runoff,
[34:58] rain runoff, and, uh, try and keep the erosion
[35:02] from happening at a, at a very large scale. Okay. Thank you so much. You bet.
[35:09] all right. Anything from our board members online?
[35:13] oh, that was a, uh, great presentation and thanks for all the hard work. I do want to
[35:17] come back in and, and thank uh, uh, golf course superintendent scott young, for
[35:21] all of the documentation that he has done on, and
[35:26] like real documentation, not like, oh, I saw this the other day. He's has
[35:30] real documentation on all the species that we have out there. It's really impressive.
[35:34] alright, we'll go board member kelly, and then board member eubanks,
[35:38] and then we'll come back here. Okay, go ahead. That was my question. How will you all are
[35:42] documenting these species? And so is that just at the golf course or is this individual
[35:47] tracking? No, this, um, scott has a, an inaturalist account. Um,
[35:51] he's pretty much the smart, smartest person I've ever met, but, uh, he, scott young
[35:55] has an inaturalist account, and that's where he has all of his
[35:59] documentation on the different sightings, the rare stuff, the number of sightings.
[36:04] um, and by, by hobby, he is an incredible bird enthusiast,
[36:08] uh, to begin with. And that has morphed into all nature. Dragon flies, plants,
[36:14] larvae. Well, when you all have an updated count, we'd love to hear it an updated
[36:18] count from, I I saw the decline in birds in 2024, so oh, oh, you bet.
[36:22] we're, look, we are very much looking forward to having the christmas bird count come in
[36:26] this year. 'cause they are, they were a little bit upset last year, uh, a couple years ago.
[36:30] we are very excited about having the cbc come in this year and, and give us a new count.
[36:36] thank you. Okay. Board member eubank, um,
[36:40] have you all looked at, um, what sort of wetland vegetation
[36:44] you might put along the orders of at least some
[36:49] of those ponds? Have you talked with du people like that
[36:53] about what might be appropriate and still would, uh, fit
[36:57] in with, um, golfing? Well,
[37:01] the, so whenever the, whenever the golf course was built in 95, and then
[37:05] in, in, in about 97, we did put in some recommended
[37:10] wetland vegetation, and I am not very well versed on this. We put in some wetland vegetation
[37:15] and it basically overtook the circumference of every
[37:19] pond, um, out there because it is so aggressive and because, uh,
[37:23] it really enjoys wet feet. And we were keeping our pond levels high. Um,
[37:28] we have had discussions, and this can always be done later, we have had discussions on
[37:32] what we are going to do down the road, um, regarding putting
[37:36] in, uh, wetland vegetation. We want to be very cautious on what we introduce
[37:40] into this, um, to this new construction. But at the
[37:44] same time, there's a reasonable concern of the stuff that we have had there, the, the,
[37:49] the species of plants that we have had there, um, returning and coming
[37:53] back. We still have a significant amount of cattail reed, um, and,
[37:57] uh, lily pad inside of pond b because pond b did not get
[38:01] treated all the way, uh, around or all the way down to the bottom.
[38:05] so the, what we are going to do is yet to be determined.
[38:10] um, I'm gonna probably go out on a limb and say that the natural vegetation
[38:14] is gonna come back, uh, more aggressive than we want it to anyway.
[38:19] well, certainly the tfa will, I promise you. Yeah. Unless you've got
[38:23] it dug out, . Um, but I'm talking about
[38:27] appropriate wetland, not aggressive wetland plants
[38:31] like tfa, like the various li water
[38:35] lilies, et cetera. We have not, we have not had a discussion on reestablishing
[38:40] vegetation in there. Okay.
[38:44] okay. Board member of omar, uh, piggybacking off
[38:48] what commissioner kelly was talking about that reminded me in the presentation, you said that
[38:52] earlier there were like, uh, am I understanding that correctly, that there
[38:56] used to be 125 species of birds and that went down to 45?
[39:01] is that, uh, yes. On the, on the christmas bird count, um, uh,
[39:05] area audubon society comes in and does a christmas bird count one day in december because
[39:09] we are a large migratory waterfowl destination. Um, that,
[39:14] that christmas bird count had been down to as low as 45 in 2022.
[39:19] do they come with reasoning for why that might be happening?
[39:23] surface area of water was surface, area of water was down to about probably 20%.
[39:28] um, I see because the, of the picture that I showed you of all the blue,
[39:32] um, out there, that, that equals 60 acres and we were down
[39:36] to approximately like 18 acres of water. I
[39:40] see, I see. Okay. Emphasizing the importance of this project.
[39:44] yeah. Okay. Thank you so much. Okay.
[39:49] thank you. Board members. We really appreciate, um, the presentation. I'll
[39:53] read our letter and then ask for a motion from the board. Um, so our letter dated
[39:58] july 27th, 2026, read steer golf a tx team.
[40:02] on behalf of the austin parks and recreation board, we would like to recognize and thank golf
[40:06] a tx and its team for its leadership, its dedication and restoring
[40:10] the roy kaiser pond. This project addressed a longstanding
[40:14] infrastructure challenge while improving habitat for migratory and resident wildlife
[40:19] and enhancing one of boston's most well used public golf courses. Roy kaiser
[40:23] golf course serves more than 65,000 rounds of golf annually,
[40:27] as we heard in your presentation. And so the improvements benefit a large number of park
[40:31] users and the pond restoration also supports, uh, environmental stewardship
[40:36] by restoring habitat for waterfowl. We got to see that bald eagle today, um, and
[40:40] many other species as you shared as well, which we are very grateful for. The
[40:44] board appreciates the thoughtful planning, collaboration, and your commitment to finding
[40:48] a practical cost-effective solution that will benefit both citizens
[40:52] and the natural environment for years to come. Your work reflects the parks and
[40:56] recreations department, uh, their commitment to responsible stewardship of public
[41:00] resources and to providing high quality recreational spaces for the
[41:04] austin community. Thank you so much to the golf a tx team,
[41:09] the project partners, the parks and recreation department staff for your continued dedication
[41:13] to austin parks and our public golf facilities. Very grateful at
[41:17] your parks board. Thank you so much. Thank y'all for having us.
[41:21] thank you. Yeah. Nice fancy paper too. Thank you. We have a lot of,
[41:26] um, exciting questions. So, um, more to come on that board members,
[41:30] um, is there a motion to approve our letter? I make a motion.
[41:35] I make a motion. I make a motion to approve letters of support for golf
[41:39] staff who completed the restoration of ponds at roy kaiser and jimmy clay golf courses,
[41:43] which both added challenge to course play and created habitat for
[41:48] waterfowl. Alright, we've got a motion on the floor from board member villalobos.
[41:52] do we have a second? I second. We have a second from
[41:56] board member abbu amara. Um, any additional comments or questions,
[42:00] board members? All right. Hearing none will go
[42:04] ahead and take a vote. So all those in favor of approving the letter, please raise your hands.
[42:09] alright. And it passes unanimously eight to zero. Thank you so
[42:13] much. Thank you again for that presentation. Alright, moving
[42:17] right along. We are moving to item number three, which
[42:21] is approved the parks and recreation board, annual internal review and report.
[42:26] do we have any speakers on this item, mr. Beck? Okay. Alright,
[42:30] we'll, um, go give you a moment, uh, to review this as it came
[42:34] in late. Um, I do wanna note that I'm going to strike something,
[42:39] um, from section b. It's on page six. Um,
[42:43] so it'd be page six under june, 2026. That's
[42:47] the I 35 cap x that was not approved by the board.
[42:52] um, that was a, um, mistakenly put on the
[42:56] report. And so we'll strike that and I'll give you
[43:00] a moment to review
[43:05] everything underneath that. Yeah, I'll, I'll clarify
[43:09] that. So, um, so it's just the, let me go back to
[43:13] page six. It's just the ih 35
[43:17] all the way to the, the total mitigation to be paid out. So that one paragraph below
[43:22] it, and then we start with c and that's all correct.
[43:26] no problem.
[44:33] board members keep, um, feel free to keep reviewing. Um, we've,
[44:37] we lived all of this in the last year and so you'll,
[44:41] um, recognize quite a bit of this as as you're reviewing. But, um, if
[44:45] there are any questions, I can take those questions now. Sure. Board member
[44:50] avo. Uh, yeah, question on starts at the bottom
[44:54] of page eight. Um, board has prioritized the following goals.
[44:59] do we have an opportunity to revise or add some language in here?
[45:04] sure. Which one, sorry, we're on.
[45:08] so the bullet points that are on page nine, we can make
[45:13] some revisions to that. These are, they're more general in kind of areas that
[45:17] we've looked at, um, previously, but I'm happy to entertain a revision. So
[45:21] I, I, I feel like the parks department has done, um,
[45:25] a great job since I've been on the board and I've been more in tune and recognize
[45:29] to improve accessibility. Great. Um, and I would like if we
[45:33] could add at least something about equal, uh, we do have,
[45:38] uh, equitable access, but if we can put something, maybe use
[45:42] the word accessibility, um, or equal access
[45:47] or something like that in maybe bullet two.
[45:53] would it let, let me read bullet one where I think it might work and
[45:57] if not we can look at bullet two. Okay. Um, expand equitable access
[46:02] and accessibility to yeah, that works. Parks recreation program.
[46:06] is that alright? Okay. Yes. Thank you. I'll accept
[46:10] that as a friendly revision. Thank you. And
[46:14] I got really excited on my bullets. I don't know. They came
[46:18] out large in this print. Anything else? Board members? Any
[46:23] other questions? Alright, we'll have time for discussion, but,
[46:27] um, we'll go ahead and ask for a motion at this
[46:31] time. I
[46:35] move to approve the parks and recreation board, annual internal
[46:39] review and report with the amendments. All right. We
[46:43] have a motion, uh, on the floor from board member villalobos
[46:47] with the amendment. Do I have a second? Second. We have a second from board member
[46:52] kerns. Oal. All right. Any discussion board members?
[46:58] all right. Oh, board member franklin, was that
[47:02] a raised hand? Okay, just making sure. Alright.
[47:06] um, seeing none, we will go ahead and call for
[47:10] a vote. All those in favor? Um, please raise your hand.
[47:17] all right, we've got eight hands raised, so that passes unanimously. Thank you so
[47:21] much board members, I appreciate your time. Okay, we
[47:25] will move right along to our staff briefing, staff briefing on parks
[47:29] and recreation department, community engagement events, planning updates, development updates,
[47:34] maintenance updates, program updates, and administrative updates.
[47:44] good evening. Um, it's not seven o'clock yet. I'm not sure
[47:48] what to do. It's a little early today.
[47:52] don't say it. I know, I know. Well, good evening. Thanks for thanks
[47:57] for the opportunity here. I'll go through. So the regular report, I, I will apologize
[48:01] ahead of time. I don't believe that this, uh, presentation has any spoon bills
[48:05] or, uh, bald eagles, but it's got a lot of great pictures of people and some great projects. So,
[48:10] um, this is our july, 2026 update. Um, and,
[48:14] uh, in our recreation services, we continue investing in meaningful experiences for
[48:18] our youth and families. Watershed protection partnered with us to to do a
[48:23] backpack giveaway at doughty jordan summer playgrounds providing, uh, some
[48:27] school supplies as well as some education about water. Uh, we also wrapped up the totally
[48:31] cool totally art summer program, uh, showcase, uh, celebrating
[48:35] teen creativity throughout the theater, film and visual art. And I believe one of those projects
[48:39] made it into one of the photos we'll see later. Uh, and importantly, dody jordan hosted
[48:43] its first inclusive kids night out, giving children a welcoming evening of activities
[48:47] and providing parents with much needed respite, uh, on the community
[48:51] recreation side of things. Uh, summer program continues in full swing, even
[48:56] though we're getting towards the end here. Um, menez recreation center held its
[49:00] annual teen fishing derby, which is a fun way for teens to enjoy the
[49:04] outdoors. Uh, our partnership with heb continued a couple of our centers with
[49:08] the banana block party at virginia brown and the banana blitz at the austin rec center.
[49:12] and these events really support families with fresh food, uh, activities and community connection,
[49:16] helping address, uh, childhood food insecurity. During the summer break,
[49:22] our natural resources, uh, division worked on continuing
[49:26] the really small museum traveling exhibition, uh, this time
[49:30] showcasing ceramic art that was created with clay from the blunt creek nature preserve. And
[49:34] you can see that in the photo. We also welcome, as we've talked at the last meeting,
[49:38] uh, greater greener, um, and, and several attendees, uh, participate
[49:42] in nature tours, including kayaking on lady bird lake birding walks with our park rangers,
[49:47] uh, and it was just an opportunity for these tourists to highlight our commitment, equity education and stewardship
[49:51] across, uh, austin's natural spaces. On the aquatic
[49:56] side of things, uh, sare, several major facilities improvements were completed
[50:00] at colony park, bartholomew, barton springs, and deep betty. Uh, as we
[50:04] continue to ensure a more safe and reliable operations at all of our facilities,
[50:09] uh, we're proud to report, uh, that our lifeguard staffing surpassed 1000 lifeguards
[50:13] for the summer, which is a significant operational milestone. It ensured that all of
[50:17] our pools could remain open and safe. Uh, our youth programs remained strong with high
[50:22] participation in the junior, junior lifeguard program and regional swim meets, uh,
[50:26] exceeded our, uh, turnout from last year.
[50:31] our architectural development group, uh, hit a major milestone this month with the start of
[50:35] construction of the historic zilker boat, excuse me, clubhouse. Uh, this full
[50:39] restoration project, uh, which was funded through the historic preservation funding includes upgraded
[50:44] utilities, a da compliant restrooms, new gathering areas restored main masonry,
[50:48] and improved signage. Uh, and we're also fully restoring the lookout point nearby,
[50:52] uh, construction for that began in july 13th. And, uh, over the next year, this
[50:57] 1934 facility will be re renewed and restored for generations to come.
[51:02] our park development group, uh, is nearing completion of the new synthetic turf fields at
[51:06] craig field. Uh, this upgraded multi-purpose field will support year-round programming
[51:11] with two soccer fields, a da accessible pathways and parking and secure
[51:15] fencing. Uh, so we're in the punch list phase here and looking forward to opening,
[51:19] uh, with the ribbon cutting soon. Um, and we've
[51:23] talked a little bit about how july is parks and recreation month and just last week, on july 23rd,
[51:28] city council issued an official proclamation celebrating the vital role of parks and
[51:32] recreation, uh, by declaring national, uh, parks and recreation month here
[51:37] in austin. Uh, recognizing the role that we play in community health and
[51:41] quality of life. And this was just a great reminder of all of the work that's done
[51:45] by our staff, our volunteers, our partners, including all of you, all as well on our boards and commissions
[51:50] to help create strong, vibrant and welcoming spaces across austin.
[51:54] and not just during july, but every month we encourage everyone to get out to enjoy a trail,
[51:58] uh, visit a pool, or spend some time in one of our many centers and really celebrate
[52:02] the power of parks and recreation. So that is the
[52:06] report. I'm happy to entertain. Any questions?
[52:11] any questions, board members? I
[52:15] have a couple of questions for staff and follow up to the public comment period. Is now a good
[52:20] time or I can follow up? We, we'll have to follow up
[52:24] at a different time. Okay. Thank you. Um,
[52:28] any other questions related to the director's report?
[52:33] okay. Alright. Oh, yes. Board member,
[52:37] uh, you mentioned a junior lifeguard program. What is that lucas?
[52:41] you wanna talk about it? And congratulations
[52:46] by the way, on, on reaching a thousand lifeguards for the summer.
[52:50] that is awesome news. Good.
[52:54] thank you so much. Uh, junior lifeguard program. It, it is just a, a
[52:58] as as stated kind of a program to get lifeguard, uh, students in
[53:03] up in speed ready to lifeguard. It's a, a program we often run during
[53:07] the school year in conjunction with, um, a isd. It's a little muffled
[53:11] your speaker.
[53:16] um, so it, it's a, just just as a sense it's a, a program
[53:20] intended to get some of our, our junior students and swim team up, up and go
[53:25] in and, and ready to move on to the next stage of, of swimming careers
[53:29] if they're so, so choose. Do you have data on,
[53:33] uh, is this the first year that we've done junior lifeguard, um, that,
[53:37] that it's an ongoing program and then I can certainly get you guys some more data
[53:41] on the program if you're interested. Yeah, I, I'd be interested to know how many kids
[53:46] that participate as, as junior in the junior lifeguard program actually
[53:50] transition when they're age 15, right? Yes. And become
[53:54] lifeguards. Oh, okay. For the city, it, yeah. I, I have, uh,
[53:58] two lifeguards, two of my children were lifeguards. And so yeah, I,
[54:03] I know in the past it's been difficult, um, but I think you guys have done a
[54:07] great job recruiting, increasing their pay, um, you
[54:11] know, making the lifeguard red cross training available.
[54:15] um, so I think, I think it's great. Thank you. Sm we've, we've put a lot of work into,
[54:19] into navigating a, a bunch of different avenues and that's just one of them. Okay, very
[54:24] good. Thank you. And such a great first job for
[54:28] kids. Um, it really is. Yeah.
[54:32] okay. Um, thank you. Any other questions?
[54:37] board members online line? Okay. Thank
[54:41] you very much, director. We very much appreciate it. Bald eagle next time. Alright,
[54:45] we'll work on it. , were there other questions? Uh, not from the report that
[54:50] are you gonna entertain any of those questions? I'm happy to try to respond to any of them, but
[54:55] I was just curious about, um, uh,
[54:59] what are you all, let's see, so we heard about, um, unauthorized
[55:05] activity at barton springs overnight. What have you all heard about that?
[55:10] yeah, um, there is a lot of activity that happens in, in
[55:14] and around that pool and in the park. Uh, obviously when the pool is not open,
[55:19] uh, we really are not able to control who tried to, who jumps in the over the fence or
[55:23] who tries to, to restock the water with, with rogue fish.
[55:27] um, uh, you know, certainly it is a concern in terms of making sure the folks don't jump in
[55:32] and, and end up hurting themselves. And unfortunately, uh, it tends to be folks
[55:36] who often is, uh, who are under the influence of some sort. So, um,
[55:40] it is, it is a concern. I know there's, there's been questions around security guards
[55:44] and cameras, et cetera. We do have, as part of the renovation of the bathhouse, some
[55:48] cameras that are installed in the building itself, but not throughout the whole pool. Yeah.
[55:54] and, and those cameras face outwards not. Yeah. Yeah. Understood.
[55:58] yeah. And then on the, the non permitted
[56:03] operators entering the waterway, what, what recourse, if any, do
[56:07] we have for yeah. Um, you know, there there's not much that we can do. We don't patrol
[56:11] the lake per se. Uh, obviously a pd and, and certainly during the water we've
[56:15] been, our partners at the fire department will keep an eye on things in watershed protection. We're, we're
[56:20] trying to encourage folks to get off the water. Um, it's, it's a perennial problem.
[56:24] uh, we appreciate the compliance that our, that our permitted concessionaires,
[56:28] um, continue to, to adhere to, but it's just really difficult for
[56:32] us to keep an eye on those. We do have park rangers that when we get reports, we send them out to
[56:36] try to engage with folks. Um, but it's a pretty, pretty tough thing to do.
[56:41] thank you. Yep. Board member , um, follow
[56:45] up question. The comment about signage. Yep. Like people that had
[56:49] their own, you know, paddle boards, whatever went out, didn't realize that, that there
[56:53] was a closure. Is there anything that you guys can do to improve that
[56:58] communication to the general public through signs, through, I don't know, social
[57:02] media text messaging? Yeah, absolutely. And, and you know, I, I, I think, I think we,
[57:06] we learned a lot from this ban and, and part of it was trying to just, uh,
[57:10] set a, a consistent criteria. So obviously this is, this is a coordinated
[57:15] effort between us emergency management, watershed protection, austin water,
[57:19] and lcra. So there's a lot of, you know, alphabet agencies involved trying
[57:23] to understand the standard when austin water opens the floodgates. I think we're trying
[57:27] to land on whenever the floodgates open, we're gonna stop that to, to help with that messaging.
[57:31] but, you know, we pushed that out in our social media. Um, but, but I think we could
[57:36] do better about communicating and certainly signage where possible. Um, it's,
[57:40] it's really difficult for us to put signs all over the place, but certainly getting the word out on social media
[57:44] and, and then we certainly send out press releases, et cetera. So, but it's,
[57:48] it's definitely something we need to continue to work on. I'm not,
[57:52] I'm not trying to be a stickler, but we, um, I
[57:56] feel like we're deviating and I don't want our board to get in trouble. We're deviating from the posted agenda item.
[58:03] yeah. Um, okay. We are going to move on,
[58:07] uh, to future agenda items. This is for, and thank you. Thank you director. Uh,
[58:11] this is generally for items that are ready to be presented. So if you'd like to
[58:15] request a memo, if you have follow up questions about different things, those can be sent
[58:19] to staff, um, for you to get additional details. So this is future
[58:24] agenda items that are ready to move forward and be presented.
[58:29] I'll take a moment looking like none. Um, okay.
[58:34] um, thank you so much. We, um, are now at 7 0 3
[58:39] and without any objection, I'll adjourn the meeting of the parks and recreation board.
[58:43] we're done. I.