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- Attendees:
Mike Boulland, Kitty Monahan, Greg Koopman, Joan Murphy, Marilyn
August, Steve Crockett,
Woody Collins, Sam Drake, Ron
Horii, Ed Von Runnen.
- This
was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting link for this Zoom meeting. Here's the agenda for today's meeting.
- There's
a new park staff member at the Bernal Ranch, Katrina, hired as extra
help. She lives nearby, so she knows the area. She will be at the ranch
house on Sundays from 12 to 4.
- Park Interpreter Rob McDonnell has returned from disaster work assignment. He will be at the Bernal Ranch on Fridays.
- Mike
wants to have a picnic to celebrate when the new trail opens. It will
just be an informal picnic for our group. The construction sign says
the work will be done in September of this year. That may be the
earliest it will be done. Joan suggested that Mike do a ghost tour
then. We probably can't hold our own public celebration event because
of the cost of insurance, but if the parks department has one, we can
help out.
- The San Jose Fire Department had a training session
and controlled burn at the Pueblo Area today (7/1). They will continue
tomorrow. Ed watched. Ron took pictures.
- Permanent volunteers
need training, including a sexual harassment class, Livescan
fingerprinting, filling out a disclosure statement, and signing
waivers. Occasional volunteers just need to sign a release at or before
an event. Volunteers need to self-certify for vaccination status.
- We
had a cleanup at Santa Teresa Spring on 6/4. We cut vines, invasive
broom, and poison oak and cleared dirt away from the spring and shrine.
Helping out were Mike, Woody, Ron, Marilyn, Kim, and Youngmee. Somebody
graffiti'd the spring font. We did not try to clean off the graffiti.
- Park
Maintenance cleaned off the graffiti from the spring font by grinding
it off. It exposed the dark rocks underlying the font. It may need to
be covered up again with cement to restore its historic look and to
prevent water from seeping in between the rocks and the cement.
- Greg
talked to Dave Zitlow, who is the lead volunteer at Martial Cottle. He
can talk to us about maintaining the Bernal Ranch gardens.
- We
will postpone our trip to see the grinding rock with the Bernal
inscription. It's between Bernal Road and the canal near the golf
course, but are there tall weeds growing there. It will be better to
wait until winter, when the weeds are down.
- For our next work
day on Friday 7/2, we'll meet at the Bernal Ranch. We can work on Santa
Teresa Spring or weeding the garden boxes.
- We can talk to
Jason Gormon about the removal of the power poles along the Rocky Ridge
Trail that used to provide power to the microwave station. They are
unnecessary and unsightly now.
- Ranger Bryan Lue is on vacation. Ranger Christopher Shear is acting senior ranger for Hellyer/Santa Teresa/Martial Cottle.
- Treasurer's report (Greg): we have $1922.70 in the bank. We got a $20 refund for a fee we paid.
- We
got Our Beautify San Jose Grant in 2019. It was supposed to pay for our
operating expenses and events for 2019-2020. Since all events were
cancelled in 2020, the grant period was extended to the end of 2021,
but no new money was allocated. That means we have to make our grant
pay for our operating expenses for 2 years. We may not have enough to
pay for events, like National Night Out, even when we're allowed to
have them again. Mike wants to gather up receipts for expenses, figure
out how much we already spent and for what categories, see how much we
have left in our grant, what we still need to pay for, and request
reallocating grant money to different categories to cover those
expenses.
- Mike wants to thank Jeremy Farr for his work in planning the new trail and Jeremy Celaya for maintaining the Bernal Ranch.
- We
want to visit Little Uvas Preserve. It is not open to the public. Tours
can be held there, led by Open Space Authority docents, like Ron. Ron
will ask for permission to take a tour there on 7/10.
- Marilyn
said that we need more publicity for our group. Can we put up a flyer
on the mapboard at the Bernal Ranch? We could ask for help for our work
days.
- Ron showed pictures: our work day at Santa Teresa Spring,
graffiti on the spring font and its removal, the opening of the ranch
house and barn, the wheelchair ramp at the barn that has to be moved in
and out, the volunteer's Zoom meeting featuring Keep Coyote Creek
Beautiful, Katrina: the new help at the Bernal Ranch, nature pictures
from a hike to Coyote Peak, construction of the new trail, the Norred
Trail conditions, garden boxes and weeds at the ranch, firefighter
training/controlled burn in the Pueblo Area.
- Sam said that repairs and sealing of the Mt. Umunhum radar tower are in progress.
- Our
next meeting in August will still be on Zoom. Kitty would prefer to
meet in person. Mike will see if and when we can meet in our usual
meeting place at the golf course banquet facility or some alternative.
- According
to Kitty, New Almaden Days will be held on 9/25. The Jump-In Parade
will start at 11:00 am. There will be games and a BBQ lunch at the New
Almaden Community Center. There will be no 4th of July party there this
year.
- Kitty said the Casa Grande is still not open. The County Executive has not yet decided when it will be open.
- Kitty
said that NAQCPA has been a park friends group for 42 years. It
won't be any more. Most of the board members have died or become
incapacitated. There will still be a small group that will work on
projects. There will still be one last Pioneer Day in October at the
Casa Grande, celebrating past members.
- Possible future
field trip: Black Diamond Mines near Pittsburgh. There's a new tunnel
there. It's underground and cool, so it can be done in the summer.
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