Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 7/2/09




  • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Ed Jackson, Jenel Vincze, Woody Collins, Sam Drake, Mario Blaum, Shirin Darbani, Holly davis, Roland LeBrun.Visiting parks staff: Robin Schaut, Jan Shriner. Visiting SCVWD Commissioner Rosemary Kamei.
  • Budget: $101 for event insurance for the Mounted Ranger Unit farewell celebration, which we initiated and organized, with the help of the parks dept. We spent $140.43 for food, $40 for trophies, $10 for the BBQ, $37.17 for drinks. We owe $200 for the annual UNSCC dues. We got $50 + $20 in donations. Matt Anderson said he'd pay us back $70 for expenses.
  • Ron showed pictures of Festival in the Park, the Mounted Ranger Unit event, and pictures of the Los Gatos Creek Trail.
  • At Festival in the Park, Mike and Kitty manned the information booths. Sam was at the Geocaching booth. Ron took pictures. Steve Crockett was at the County Parks booth. There was a Healthy Trails table. What was new this year was the food court (no more free groceries and sandwiches, except for volunteers), the rock bands, and the watermelon-eating contest.
  • About 40 people came to the MRU event. We brought drinks, cake, and side dishes. We setup the chairs and Easy-Ups. The parks dept. supplied the meat and BBQ. Eric Goodrich's daughter cooked the hot dogs and hamburgers. We had speeches by Mike, Lisa Killough, and Matt Anderson. Awards and mementos were given out to the Mounted Rangers, and treats were given to their horses. The kids got to pet the horses.
  • Shirin Darbani, from Councilman Ash Kalra's office, talked about city news. There was a kickoff ceremony for the Hitachi Parks. The fields are available for use. They need to be reserved for organized events. The city budget passed. The city parks rangers have been saved. Their jobs will not be cut. The police horse mounted patrol unit has been saved. The Albertson Parkway should be opening around July 6. There will be a dedication ceremony later. The crosswalk will come later. (Connecting to the Albertson Parkway will be part of the Santa Teresa Historic Site Plan.)  August 4 is National Night Out. August 14 is Indian Flag Raising. The Lowes hardware store development on the former IBM site is in the permitting process. It will take about 1-1 1/2 years for the store to come in, depending on the economy. At Metcalf Park, the pigs are not destroying the turf, but they are raiding garbage cans in the neighborhood.
  • Roland LeBrun says that pigs have been following the Norred Trail and are coming down the hill. They used to cross the canal behind the Pedro Bernal House until barbed wire was put across the bridge. They are coming down behind Santa Teresa Spring and invading the neighborhood. He suggests putting barbed wire to the left of Santa Teresa Spring and removing the barbed wire across the bridge over the canal. Holly says the pigs have been going in the canal behind her house.
  • Rosemary Kamei is a Water District commisioner. He district is the largest and runs from Capitol Expressway south to Morgan Hill and Gilroy. She talked about the Coyote-Alamitos Canal. She said that Forrest Williams had a study done on the canal. The Water District is willing to work with the community, the city, and the county on the use of the canal. Parts of the canal are private. Parts of it are Water District property. The Water District allows maintenance roads to be used as trails, but a city or county parks agency must be willing to maintain it and accept liability for its use. Rosemary can bring more information and maps to a future meeting.
  • Antoinette Romeo wants to have a CEQA meeting next month for the Santa Teresa Site Historic Plan. It may be held in place of our next meeting in August or may overlap with the VCC meeting.
  • We talked about plans for Fandango with Jan Shriner and Robin Schaut. It starts at 5:00 and ends at 8:00 on August 1. The park staff will be starting at 2 pm. Volunteers can help set up the tables and help the exhibitors unload and setup. Kitty will handle getting the list of FOSTP volunteers. Kitty can help at the welcome table. Dot Wilson will be greeting people inside the ranch house. Gloria has Vincent helping to get volunteers. The activities should wrap up by 7:15. The dancers will start about that time. Jan is working on getting food. Meal tickets will probably be given to volunteers who sign up. Robin will have the tickets.
  • 4H won't be coming to Fandango. They will be at the County Youth Fair. They will have awards that evening. Sam will be at the fair at the Geocachers booth.
  • Chitactac Family Day will be on July 11 from 10:00 to 2:00.
  • Sam will be having a geocaching class at Mt. Madonna from 8:45 to 12.
  • On Sunday July 26, History San Jose will be having their Founders Day Fandango event at the Peralta Adobe from noon to 6 pm.
  • Robin talked about the status of the second barn at the Bernal Ranch. The construction documents are done. Contractors can prepare bids. They will start accepting bids in mid-July. Construction can start this fall.
  • The Santa Teresa Community Fest is Sept. 19. This is also River Clean-Up Day.
  • We talked more about the canal. The sprayer in the parking lot of the Bernal Ranch was put there to block access to the canal west of the Caretaker's House, at the request of the resident at the time. The canal leads outside of park property and runs behind houses. It is in the City of San Jose's jurisdiction as far as whether it can be used as a trail.
  • Ron said there are 3 areas of the canal in the park that have different concerns. One is the section between Bernal Road and the Norred Ranch. Sam commented that the Water District put a high fence there on Bernal Road. There are no residents below this section of the canal except for a few homes right near the Norred Ranch. The other section is between Santa Teresa Spring and the Pedro Bernal/Bonetti House. This section is entirely within the park, running above the Pyzak/Bonetti Ranch, but there are signs saying it is not a trail. Then there is the short section from Santa Teresa Spring to the Joice Trail. This is entirely within the park, running above the parts of the park that are developed, and people commonly use it as a trail. (The section of the canal above the homes west of the Norred Ranch is private property.)
  • The port-a-potty at the Norred Ranch is gone. It was there temporarily because a sewer line broke at the MRU.
  • On 10/24, the Kiwanis will hold another ghost tour fundraiser. There will be movies shown at the New Almaden Community Club. Mike needs to coordinate the part of  the event at the Bernal Ranch with John Dorrance. Mike wants FOSTP to help sponsor the event and use it as a fund-raiser.
  • Mario said that people have been going up to Santa Teresa Spring at 3 am.
  • Kitty said they are finishing up the plans and details for the Adopt-a-Trail program.
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Created 7/6/09, updated 7/12/09 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park