Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 3/5/09




  • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Ed Jackson, Woody Collins, Mario Blaum, Sam Drake, Lynne Paulson, Rick Mandel, Shirin Darbani
  • Shirin Darbani, Communications Manager for Councilmember Ash Kalra, came to visit. She started in her job in January. She has been reaching out to neighborhood groups. She deals with all park issues and spoke at the most recent meeting about the Santa Teresa Historic Site.
  • Mike re-submitted our activities calendar into 2010 for our next CAP Grant application.
  • Our Friends agreement was accepted by the County Parks.
  • A drug dealer was caught at the Pueblo area. He has $10K in cash and coke. He was selling drugs at the Pueblo and Santa Teresa Spring.
  • Someone took the turtles from the pond to sell at a fish store. They were retrieved.
  • There is a resident at the Pedro Bernal/Bonetti House.
  • We had $725 in our account at the end of the year. $200 went to reimburse Mike for the UNSCC insurance. $143.50 goes to Yahoo for our website.
  • Mike completed the forms required by the state attorney general to recognize us a charitable organization.
  • We unanimously elected the following as officers:
    • Mike Boulland: president
    • Kitty Monahan: vice-president
    • Ronald Horii: secretary
    • Mario Blaum: treasurer
  • The Volunteer Recognition Dinner is April 3. We are all invited. It is at the Campbell Community Center.
  • We submitted our CAP Grant application. We requested the minimum: $500. $200 for UNSCC fees, $120 for website fees, $100 for event insurance, $80 for newsletters.
  • We should work on the next issue of our newsletter to pass out at future events. Sam can write an article about geocaching. Mario can write one on trails.
  • Mario went to the 2/19 HHC meeting on the Santa Teresa Site Historic Plan. There's no need for a turn-around at Manila Drive. The city does not require it. Curie will be widened by the fences at the Bear Tree Lot. Buses will park there.
  • Lynne Paulson from the STFNA also talked about the HHC meeting. The STFNA sent a letter with comments, including the need for a connector to the Norred Trail and the use of the Coyote-Alamitos Canal as a trail. They had a separate meeting on it. In the plan, there will be a placeholder for the trail so that one can be added later.
  • At the HHC presentation, they said there was no provision made for equestrian access. They said the equestrian staging area at Brockenhurst Drive was not being used. We said there is no equestrian staging area the Brockenhurst entrance. That's the Mounted Ranger Unit.
  • The Pyzak House has been mothballed. Lisa Killough is looking for grants to repair the house.
  • We want to have an event at the Bernal Ranch to dedicate the grist stone. Mike has the story to go with it. We should schedule it for July 6 or 13. We need to get Robin to approve it. We'd like to invite Paul Bernal to come talk at the event.
  • August 1 is the next Fandango Day. They want us to have an interpretive booth to have kids make adobe bricks. Mike has an adobe brick, and he knows someone who has made adobe bricks.
  • Mike met with the Berryessas. They are excited about tracing their family history.
  • 7:00 next Tuesday, Mike will give an historical talk at Bernal School, filling in for Paul Bernal, who can't make it.
  • Ed said that they have been getting flooding in the street by Santa Teresa Spring. The gate is not up yet. Someone was cutting blackberries in preparation for putting up the fence there.
  • 4/4: Ron's photography class/wildflower walk at the Bernal Ranch, 9:30.
  • 4/11: Sam's geocaching class starting at the Stile Ranch/Fortini trailhead, 9:00 to 1:00.
  • 5/3: Mother's Day hike on the Fortini-Stile Ranch trails.
  • The VCC will be working on the Adopt-a-Trail policy.
  • The Rocky Ridge Trail is closed to everyone.
  • The Fortini Trail is still getting muddy in places. People are walking on the side of the trail. It needs more out-sloping.
  • There was a smash-and-grab car break-in Sunday at the parking lot on Bernal Road near IBM. There was a similar break-in at the Silver Creek staging area on the Coyote Creek Trail.
  • On March 28 is the annual hike to the top of El Toro mountain in Morgan Hill.
  • The city is working on the Albertson Parkway. It will have interpretive signs about Rancho Santa Teresa. There will be sidewalk markers pointing to Santa Teresa Park.
  • Shirin said that the city can help with publicity for our events. That can help pass out flyers.
  • The parks dept. leveled the microwave building on the Coyote Peak service road.
  • The Coyote-Alamitos Canal Trail is being planned from Snell to Cahalan, but it needs funding. The canal here is owned by the Water District.
  • 5/16: wildflower treasure hunt on the Wood Road Trail from 10-2. It will be self-guided.
  • Volunteer hours should be reported online.
  • Volunteer hours reported at sign-in:
    • Ed Jackson: 4
    • Mario Blaum: 2
    • Kitty Monahan: 3
    • Woody Collins: 2
    • Lynne Paulson: 2
    • Rick Mandel: 2
Return to the Friends of Santa Teresa Park Home Page

Created 3/29/09 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park