Friends of Santa Teresa Park Zoom Meeting, 2/1/24

 

    • This was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting link for this Zoom meeting.
    • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Joan Murphy, Ron Horii, Greg Koopman, STFNA President Rick Mandel, Park Program Coordinator Carolyn Schimandle
    • Greg and Roxanne have been working on their community garden plot at Martial Cottle. There are plans to plant 27 trees around the garden, which is managed by the city. The trees have been donated by Google and Our City Forest.
    • Greg's said the Comanche Blossom Valley Neighborhood Association had an art box unveiling, attended by 70 people, including Mayor Matt Mahan. The association has completed 4 art boxes. They have also sponsored dumpster days.
    • Rick Mandel said the STFNA (Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association) is tracking Valley Water's Environmental Impact Report for their proposed Canal Maintenance Program. It covers active and inactive canals, including the Coyote-Alamitos Canal, which runs through Santa Teresa County Park. There was a public scoping meeting on 1/25/24 at Valley Water headquarters and on Zoom. STFNA's Lynn Paulson attended the Zoom meeting and wrote a letter in response. Public comments are being accepted until 2/12/24. 
    • Rick said that STFNA meeting attendance varies, depending on who they have for speakers. For the STFNA spring meeting, they plan to invite a police captain as a guest speaker.
    • Park staff report from Carolyn Schimandle:
      • Rob McDonnell is subbing in for Carolyn as Region 2 Parks Program Coordinator. Carolyn is temporarily serving as Interpretive Program Supervisor, which was the position previously held by Elizabeth Evans, who left. Hiring to fill the supervisor position has been delayed. Luke Bailey and Jan Shriner have been filling in for Rob at the ranch on Saturdays. Katrina Semene has been at the ranch on most Sundays. 
      • Caitlin Gronowski will be working on the docent guide for the Bernal Ranch. She will be updating the document, which was written in 2005 and will be taking out mention of school activities that are no longer done. She subs in at the ranch sometimes.
      • Blair Pagano is back in the Volunteer Program Office. Jason Bombardier, who was subbing for Blair, has gone back to Maintenance, working at Martial Cottle. Alex Ale is the maintenance worker at the Bernal Ranch.
      • There are signs at the Joice Trail warning the trails are slippery when wet. There was a visitor who slipped and complained.
      • Joan asked if rattlesnakes have been found in the barns. Carolyn didn't know, but they have been found in the past. They go after rodents. Mike asked if there can be cats kept on the ranch to keep the rodents down. Ron said they would be eaten by coyotes. There were 5 barn cats at Martial Cottle. There's only 1 now. Coyotes have been preying on them.
      • Rob put a sign on the mapboard asking for ideas for summer activities. Ron suggested they revive the nature demonstration part of the old movie nights. There's still equipment in the barn that can show movies. There have been and will be movie nights outdoors in other parks. There have been movie nights outdoors in the Pueblo Area. There was one that included a campout. It was organized by Kristy Barton.
      • Mike asked if there can be Boy Scout campouts at the Bernal Ranch. Carolyn said that it's not in the reservation system, so  it would have to be a special case. Ron said that there was a Boy Scout campout at the Pueblo Area several years ago that got shifted from Grant at the last minute.
      • They will look at the garden boxes in the ranch and see if they can be repaired. They looked at having in-ground gardens, but there are restrictions on digging due to concerns about Native American burials. Rob will come up with a list of heritage plants for the garden boxes, which will be planted in the spring.
    • Our work day this Friday, 2/2/24, has been canceled due to muddy conditions and the chance of rain. Also, there's not enough work to do yet (see slideshow below). Cancellation notices have been sent out to volunteers. We should be able to resume the work day next month. We might be able to clean out the barn, but not when it's muddy outside. That will track mud into the barn.
    • Alex said that we don't have to limit our work days to the Bernal Ranch. We could go out farther to the Pyzak Ranch. Several years ago, we cleaned up graffiti on the garage and walls. The house has been broken into. Ron reported it to the rangers. Mike said there should be signs warning about higher fines for vandallizing historic structures. Ron said there's litter on the field of the Bonetti Ranch. There's a lot of trash outside the fence along Heaton Moor, but that may be outside the park boundary, so not covered by our park volunteer agreement. We could do it as a city-sanctioned activity.
    • Our bank balance is $2748.82. There are 3 outstanding checks to Mike to reimburse him for expenses, totalling $1237.33. There will be $1511.49 in the account after the checks are cashed.
    • The Beautify San Jose Grant: Cycle 5 has been extended to 3/31/24. This may be a problem, since it adds 3 months to our website hosting costs, for which we did not ask for grant money to cover. The Cycle 5 Final Report is due 4/30/24. We had a surplus of $39 that we didn't spend and would have to pay back, but that was before the date changed.
    • We submitted the application for the Cycle 6 grant. We asked for $1500, the same as for Cycle 5. We asked for more for web hosting, since the costs went up, but reduced the amount for communications and events. We will know in March if our request has been granted.
    • The Parks & Rec. Commission will meet next week. We talked about the items on their agenda:
      • There's a new footbridge on the path to Santa Teresa Spring.
      • There will be a volunteer recruitment open house event at the Casa Grande this spring.
      • Park gift certificates for camping and other activities are available from $20 to $200.
      • The Fortini Property Site Plan process began in early February with a kickoff meeting by staff today. Public meetings will be later.
      • The Unused Structure Survey Evaluation Report will begin in February. Structures in Santa Teresa Park that we are concerned about are the barns on the Fortini Trail, the "Doors House" near the Club 14-E site, the Rosetto House, the buildings at the Norred Ranch, and the Pyzak House. Ben Curry is the new Cultural Resource Manager. He has a background in archaeology, has written reports on historic houses, and worked with tribes. He lives in Santa Cruz and is learning about the County Parks. We could show him around.
      • The Trail Crew has been working at Santa Teresa Park on the Stile Ranch, Rocky Ridge, Pueblo, Joice, Bernal Hill, and the Mine Trail.
      • The Santa Teresa Grazing Management Plan Implementation will begin phase 2. Currently, the southeast part of the park is being grazed. The northwest part of the park will be setup for grazing, which includes and is near to the Fortini, Mine, Bernal Hill, Vista Loop, Joice, and Norred Trails.
    • Mike submitted our annual work plan for approval by Julie Lee. It was approved. The activities are: ST Historic Area weeding, caring for the gardens at the Bernal Ranch, graffiti removal and clean-up, brushing trail margins on the Norred and other trails, outdoor rec programs, community public events.
    • Ron submitted the proposal for our pre-Mother's Day Hike on May 11. Several staff members have approved it so far.
    • Rob may do his bat program this fall at Santa Teresa instead of at Grant.
    • We should ask Mike Cox to lead a hike to point out the mercury mines in the Santa Teresa Hills and talk about geology.
    • Ron showed pictures:
      • 1/5/24: First Friday Work Day at the Bernal Ranch, sweeping up leaves, cutting vines, trimming brush, clearing the gutter above the street.
      • 1/7/24: Graffiti on the speed limit sign at the Joice-Norred Trail junction.
      • 18/8/24: More graffiti on the speed limit sign. Ron cleaned off the sign with graffiti remover. Graffiti on a boulder on the Norred Trail that Ron reported to Maintenance and the rangers. 
      • 1/13/24: New telephone pole by the west barn to support the wire going to the Pedro Bernal House. Greg said that AT&T is removing copper wire phone lines and replacing them with fiberoptic cables. Deer skeleton on the path to the spring.
      • 1/14/24: New trail work on the Hidden Springs Trail north and south of the Pueblo Area trail entry. There's new gravel on the north side. The trail was muddy after the rains. Scenic views from the Ridge Trail and sunset in the Pueblo Area. Ranger checking cars for tickets. Ranchers and dogs herding cattle.
      • 1/15/24: MLK Work Day, Apple employees and their friends, with Alex from Maintenance and Ron helping out. They spread wood chips around the picnic area by the bus stop.
      • 1/23/24: Conditions around the ranch house: Amaryllis leaves growing, short grass all around the ranch house, barns, and garden boxes. Oxalis growing under valley oak tree. Turtles sunning themselves in the pond at Santa Teresa Spring, but most are hibernating.
      • 1/27/24: Barn owl sleeping on a branch of the palm tree behind the ranch house. Grass is growing between the ceanothus bushes along the path above the street, but it's short. Blackberries are not growing back yet. Bus stop picnic area looks good, picnic tables will be moved later. The field below the spring looks like a lawn. Blackberries growing on the ramp to the spring, but are short. There's more dirt and rocks around the spring and shrine, cleanup later in the year when it dries up.
      • 1/29/24: New tree tubes in the Pueblo Area. Areas that were burned last year are green. The Mine, Fortini, and Rocky Ridge Trails, which were reconditioned last year, look good and aren't muddy. 
    • Ron said he saw news reports about the Richmond Ranch acquisition by the County Parks and the Habitat Agency. It's a 3,654-acre ranch on San Felipe Road, north of Metcalf Road. It is adjacent to Metcalf Motorcycle County Park and close to Mayyan Ooyakma Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve. It adjoins the private San Felipe Ranch, which separates it from Grant County Park. The County Parks department will own about 1,500 acres, and the Habitat Agency will own about 2,100 acres.
    • Ron said that another issue that has been in the news is a proposed cemetery above the Coyote Valley on Bailey Avenue and McKean Road. It's called the Heritage Oaks Memorial Park project. It's adjacent to the Cinnabar Hills Golf Course and Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. It's very close to Calero County Park. It's not far from IBM's Silicon Valley Lab, Gavilan College, and Spreckels Hill. It should be visible from Santa Teresa Park. It will have a cemetery on 102 acres and a conservation area on 173 acres of a 275 gross acre site. Environmental groups, like the Sierra Club and Green Foothills, are opposed to it.
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       Created 2/2/24 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park
    Funding provided by a Beautify San Jose Grant