Friends of Santa Teresa Park Zoom Meeting, 3/7/24

 


    • This was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting link for this Zoom meeting.
    • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ron Horii
    • This month's First Friday Work Day, which was supposed to be on 3/1/24, was canceled due to rain. There will be no work day on 3/8/24. The next work day will be on 4/5/24. We'll remove weeds and grass around the Bernal Ranch.
    • Mike talked about the last Park Commission meeting on 2/7/24. Topics relevant to Santa Teresa Park:
      • Installation of new hydration stations with dog bowls.
      • Replaced footbridge in the Joice Bernal area.
      • Fall 2023 Educational Interpretive Programs for schools were at Alviso, Almaden Quicksilver, Bernal Ranch, Chitactac, Coyote Creek and Martial Cottle. There were sixty-two school programs, which served almost 1,800 students.
      • The recently-acquired Fortini property will connect Calero and Santa Teresa. The site plan project was kicked off in February. The plan will address the trail connection, bridge crossing, and staging area.
      • The department is evaluating 90 unused structures in the parks. They will present a status update to the Parks & Rec. Commission and the Historical Heritage Commission later this year. (We want to find out the results as several structures are in Santa Teresa Park.)
      • The Trail Crew rehabilitated the Stile Ranch, Rocky Ridge, Pueblo, Joice, Bernal Hill, and Mine trails.
      • Phase 2 of the Santa Teresa Grazing Management Plan has been funded for infrastructure design of expanding grazing in the park.
    • We have $2748.82 in our bank account now. We will have an additional $1500 if our Beautify San Jose Cycle 6 Grant is approved. It should start in April. Our current Cycle 5 grant ends at the end of March. The final report for it will be due after that.
    • Rob McDonnell was ill and couldn't attend to give a staff report.
    • We will be leading our hike on 3/11/24 from 9 am to 12 pm on the Stile Ranch, Mine, and Fortini Trails, starting at the Stile Ranch/Fortini Trailhead. It's been approved by the parks department. Ron has been working on a flyer with Julie Lee and Carrie Grisenti. The hike is called "Mothers & Flowers." We'll tell stories about the famous mothers of the Santa Teresa area, like Maria Zacarias Bernal Berryessa, Jesusita Bernal, and Clementine Fortini. We'll need speakers to portray these characters. We'll also look at late season wildflowers. Ron will point out the flowers. Mike has ideas for activities at the trailhead, like crafts, giveaways, and bouquets, but it will require more help. Volunteers should arrive at the trailhead at 8:30 am to setup.
    • We will return to Black Diamond Mines in Antioch for a field trip to see parts of the park that we missed last year. It is scheduled for July 14, 2024 at 9:30 am. We will get a special guided tour again by Park Naturalist Jaclyn Caldwell. If we have time afterwards, we may see the Port Chicago National Memorial.
    • On 3/24, Mike is leading a private hiking group to Coyote Peak at 9:00, leaving from the Pueblo Area.
    • Mike will be going on a trip from 4/4 to 4/10 and on a cruise from 6/30 to 7/12. We won't have meetings in April and July, but we can still have our First Friday Work Days. Ron will lead them, along with park staff. Our next meeting will be on 5/2/24.
    • Ron showed pictures:
      • 2/5/24: Bernal Ranch and Santa Teresa Spring after rains, with waterfalls in the drain by the Joice Trail, grass growth all around the ranch, water flowing around the spring.
      • 2/6/24: Water flowing in the drain by Bernal Road, waterfall above Laurel Canyon, creek flowing through the Pueblo Area, watering the trees.
      • 2/22/24: Hike to Coyote Peak, condition of the trails, stock pond by the Hidden Springs Trail overflowing, views of the Coyote Valley and Laguna Seca, views from Coyote Peak, cattle grazing, loose calf.
      • 2/24/24: Lots of mud and rock have washed down around Santa Teresa Spring and the shrine, plants like miner's lettuce and seep monkeyflowers are growing around it. There's graffiti on the oak tree at Manila Way and Manila Drive, at the Bear Tree Lot monument, and the palm tree near the Bear Tree. The rangers know about the graffiti. They've cleaned it off from the plaque on the monument, but cleaning it off the sides is more difficult. The trees around the ranch have been pruned by Maintenance. Grass is growing around the farm equipment. The garden boxes have been weeded and have been planted. There was an owl in the palm tree by the ranch house. Hiked the Norred Trail from the west: It had several muddy spots, one near the Norred Ranch was impassable. There was graffiti on a rock on the Norred Trail that was mostly, but not completely, removed.
      • 2/25/24: The Joice Trail looks good except for a couple of muddy spots before it turns right. The drainage changes installed by the trail crew have been working. The Bernal Hill Trail near the south Joice Trail junction was dry where it was rocked in PG&E and the trail crew. There was a section which wasn't rocked that was wet and a little muddy. There was a group of photographers looking at the owl in the palm tree by the ranch house. To avoid disturbing the owl, the folding sign announcing the hours for the ranch house, no longer mentions the owl. 
      • 3/4/24: There was snow on Mt. Hamilton visible from the park. Hiked the Norred Trail from the east: The creek is flowing through the Norred Ranch site. The trees of heaven around the old lower Norred Barn have been removed. The trail looks good up to the upper barn. Beyond that, the trail used to get very muddy in the winter. It's much better. There's still the impassable muddy spot beyond it.
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       Created 3/7/24, updated 5/31/24 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park
    Funding provided by a Beautify San Jose Grant