Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 3/1/07




  • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Paul Vincze,  Mario Blaum, Holly Davis, Sam Drake
  • Trail news from Woody Collins (e-mailed): "I have been making fairly regular trail watches in ST lately and there has been quite a bit of vandalism, especially to trail signs. Two have been torn from the ground and several have been sprayed with graffitti. Most of it has been on the Mine & Fortini trails and at the upper Bernal parking lot. Someone also dropped a mattress on Bernal a while ago.
  • Trail closure signs have been put up all over the park on volunteer trails. There is one at the Fortini Trail, where it crosses the creek. There is another on the Hidden Springs Trail where it turns the corner below the Wright Center. The volunteer trail drops down to the Ohlone Trail near the Bernal Road entrance.
  • Ron showed park pictures from other parks, including cows on the trail at Ed Levin. He showed pictures from Hellyer, Fishing in the City at Lake Cunningham, Grant Ranch, and Stevens Creek. He showed pictures from Santa Teresa: green field at the Bonetti Ranch, fish and turtles in the pond at Santa Teresa Spring, school kids at the BGJ Ranch, rock stacks by the Joice Trail, trail closure signs at the start of the Joice Trail and the Mine Trail by the free Bernal Rd upper parking lot, Trench Hill next to that lot, and a loose chicken at that lot.
  • We have $213.44 in our account. No change.
  • Holly reported on 4H activities: there will a talent show on March 9 at 7:30 pm in the Coyote Grange Hall. Jenel Vincze is working on it. There will be a dance on April 20th. A dance committee is working on it.
  • There was a mixup at the ranch. One of the park interpreters planted some flowers in one of the 4H beds that was supposed to "rest" for a year. Jenel talked to John Dorrance to about it.
  • Don Rocha from the County Parks Wildlife/Land Management Dept. was supposed to come tonight, but couldn't make it. The issue concerns cattle grazing in Santa Teresa Park. The county has set aside $60K from the capital improvement budget to study the feasibility of introducing cattle to the southern Rocky Ridge area of the park behind the Bonetti Ranch. Cattle would graze here from January to April to control non-native grasses and allow native plants to grow. This would improve the habitat for the endangered checkerspot butterfly. There is a federal grant program to introduce native plants to the park, which could help pay for the work. The issues include fencing and water supplies for the cattle.
  • Trails have been closed to equestrians and bikes throughout the park after rains. They reopen when conditions improve. The trails seem to be in good shape, even after all the rains. People seem to be obeying the signs in general, but they are not at every trailhead, the Ohlone for instance. For temporary trail closure information due to wet weather, call (408) 355-2200, press 7. The website is not kept up-to-date.
  • The master plan for the park is out for bids. Once a contractor has been chosen, the planning process can begin.
  • Ron will hold another outdoor photography/wildflower hike at the Bernal Ranch, tentatively scheduled for Saturday April 28, 9:30 am to noon. Contact Kathleen Hooper at 355-2255.
  • Mike talked about the "Happy Trails" recreational program. It features a booklet that describes trail walking in the parks. People sign up for the program and receive rewards (T-shirts) for walking the trails. It will be inaugurated at the Health Fair at Hellyer Park. The East Bay Regional Parks District has a similar program called "Trails Challenge."
  • The Health Fair will be held at Hellyer on June 24th from 1-4. It is funded with a grant from Kaiser Permanente. Ed Souza is in charge of sign-ups for booths. The Geocachers of the Bay Area will have a booth. We talked about whether we should have our own booth. We may just help out.
  • We talked about having a dedication ceremony for the Norred Trail in June. First we need to see if the Parks dept. wants to have one, then we can help out. Kitty will find out.
  • Mike said he'd like to see the Pueblo Trail kept alive. It is becoming overgrown. It used to be used for a cross-country trail, but that stopped when parking fees were charged. It is one of the flattest trails in the park and makes an easy mountain bike course.
  • Drew Merry's crew has been doing a good job maintaining the park. Kitty wrote a letter of appreciation.
  • Kitty talked about Adopt-a-Trail. We'll adopt the Norred Trail. We asked Heidi about having a trail day for the Norred Trail, but she said it doesn't need work yet.
  • We talked about geocaching. There are geocaching rules for the parks now. One of the caches in Santa Teresa Park that was on a recently-closed volunteer trail has been disabled.
  • Ron talked about leading 4H'ers on a geocaching hunt later this year from the Bernal Ranch, over the Norred Trail after it opens, to the Mine Trail, and out the Brockenhurst gate. There are several geocaches along this route and new ones will likely be put on the Norred Trail.
  • Mike reminded everyone to fill out the award nomination ballots (here are the award guidelines) for the Volunteer Recognition Dinner in April. It will be held at the Santa Teresa Golf Course Upper Banquet Facility on Thursday April 5 at 6:30 pm in place of our meeting. Volunteers should have received invitations. RSVP by Friday, March 23, to Irene Tsobanakis at (408) 355-2278 or e-mail irene.tsobanakis@prk.sccgov.org. (Contact her if you have been volunteering and haven't received an invitation.) Award nomination ballots are due on 3/9/07.
  • John Dorrance will provide entertainment at the awards dinner. He will show a video.
  • We talked about doing some kind of presentation at the awards dinner. Ron said we could put up posters of the park and he could make a new poster on the Norred Trail.
  • Volunteer Hours for February and number of years volunteering with the FOSTP:
    • Ronald Horii: 26 hours, 10 years
    • Mike Boulland: 12 hours, 15 years
    • Holly Davis: 4 hours, 8 years
    • Kitty Monahan: 3 hours, 15 years
    • Paul Vincze: 12 hours, 3 years
    • Mario Blaum: 12 hours, 15 years
    • Sam Drake: 6 hours, 3 years
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Created 3/1/07 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park