The Austin Parks and Recreation Board on Sept. 29 voted to recommend that City Council adopt a set of measures intended to improve public access to municipal ball fields, including centralized information, standardized contracts, a revised youth sports organization (YSO) agreements framework and changes to related city ordinances.

Board members said the recommendations respond to months of community input and a city auditors report that flagged confusion and uneven access. The boards action moves the package to Council for consideration.

The proposal asks the city to create a centralized public information source and a robust online reservation system, standardize contract language to protect public access when city funds support private fields, revise youth sports organization agreements so they are primarily exclusive rather than exclusively exclusive (carving out a minimum number of days for other users), and pursue ordinance changes to implement those reforms. Board member Becker, who led the working group that drafted the recommendations, said the changes are intended to preserve youth priority while opening limited access for adults and community groups.

Community members who use neighborhood fields and volunteer to maintain them urged the board to act. "The transparency around what's changing with access to fields is, like, you have to be very proactive to figure it out," said Tyler Snead, who described himself as a bridge for more than 500 Austin residents who play sandlot baseball. Joel Manzo, a longtime volunteer and organizer, told the board, "Baseball is the hardest activity to access in the city of Austin," and urged adoption of the recommendations. Josiah Mercer and other Sandlot League representatives described years of volunteer maintenance at Patterson Park, Govalle and Echo Valley and said they are ready to partner with the city on scheduling and upkeep.

The recommendations do not set specific fees; board members said financial terms and any priority rules would be negotiated later by parks staff and council. Becker said the document specifically states the city should apply the same contractual roles and responsibilities when city funds are used to support access on privately owned fields.

Board discussion noted the recommendations leave details such as the number of days to be reserved for non-YSO users to future negotiations with the city and affected leagues. Several board members said the plan is a first step toward reversing a default in which public fields are effectively treated as exclusively controlled by long-standing organizations.

The board voted to approve the recommendation to City Council. Motion: "Approve a recommendation to City Council regarding improving access to public ball fields." Mover: Board Member Becker. Second: Board Member Villalobos. Tally: yes 9, no 0, abstain 0. Outcome: approved.

Next steps: The board transmitted the recommendations to City Council; parks staff will work with council offices and affected youth leagues and community groups to develop ordinance language, reservation processes and fee structures for Council consideration.