Friends of Santa Teresa Park Zoom Meeting, 7/2/20

 


    • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Kim Gardner, Greg & Roxanne Koopman, Woody Collins, Marilyn August, Ron Horii
    • This was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. The Santa Teresa Golf Course banquet facility and clubhouse are closed, and we are under a shelter-in-place order due to the coronavirus crisis, so we can't meet in person. (Restaurant alternatives are also closed.) Mike sent out a meeting link for recurring Zoom meetings. Ron put the link on the FOSTP homepage, as well as the agenda for today's meeting.
    • Ron showed the updated homepage and the minutes from our June meeting.
    • Ron showed a slideshow. Some highlights:
      • Hike on the Hidden Springs, Ridge, Boundary, and Coyote Peak Trails on 6/8/20: the trails were busy, there's graffiti on a big boulder at the peak of the Ridge Trail. The Santa Teresa Golf Course and driving range were open. A large hole in the Ridge Trail has been repaired. The horse trough at the Laurel Springs Rest Area is dry. The storage area on the hill above the Ohlone Trail looks abandoned, and the storage building is covered with graffiti. Hairy gumplants were still blooming by the Coyote Peak-Boundary Trail junction. There's a new bench on the Boundary Trail in memory of a man who died of a heart attack in Colorado. Laguna Seca in the Coyote Valley is almost dry. There were lots of people on top of Coyote Peak. Our sign on top is OK. The power poles leading to the now-demolished microwave relay station by the start of the Rocky Ridge Trail are still there. (Greg said one of those power lines is down, but it's been de-energized.) There are rock stacks on the Coyote Peak Trail. The pond by the Hidden Springs Trail still had some water in it, and was surrounded by lots of tiny chorus frogs. Soaproots were blooming in the late afternoon. (Facebook album: Santa Teresa Park Hike to Coyote Peak, 6/8/20)
      • There was a Neighborhood Naturalists training event online, hosted by the County Parks, led by Elizabeth Evans and Luke Bailey. Normally, it's a live event with field trips. This included presentations by Elizabeth Evans on journaling, geology, and geography. Natural Resource Coordinator Dana Page talked about local wildlife. Natural Resource Program Supervisor Jared Bond gave a presentation prepared by Mason Hyland on vegetation stewardship.
      • Pictures at the Bernal Ranch: fruit on the loquat and orange trees, crops in the garden boxes (thanks to the Koopmans), butterfly box needs tending, owl box and owl pellets, blossoms on the ornamental pomegranate tree, rotted wood on the ranch house fence gate (Greg told maintenance about it), different sizes of the trees around the chicken coop, blackberries, weeding needed around the farm equipment by the west barn, cut grass around the barns, picnic tables inverted and stacked to prevent use.
      • At Santa Teresa Spring: one of the turtles in the pond was injured, koi and sunfish in the pond, some graffiti on the fence rail and upper sign by the spring, water flowing in the spring, cut grass around the spring. The brambles have been trimmed away from the spring and shrine, but they still need to be cleared of dirt.
      • Firefighter training and a prescribed burn was held at the Pueblo Area on 6/25-26. They burned invasive weeds and grass, but not trees, around the Pueblo Area and Trench Hill. They created fire access roads, which people were using as trails after the fire was out. (Ron created albums: Firefighter Training, Santa Teresa Park Part 1, 6/25/20Firefighter Training, Santa Teresa Park Part 2, 6/26/20Aftermath of Prescribed Burn, Santa Teresa Park, 6/27/20.)
      • Bear Tree Lot/Pyzak Ranch: The grass was cut by the parking area, but was high in the Bear Tree Lot. The Pyzak House was boarded up and appeared to be free of graffiti. Kids who were vandalizing the house were caught in the act by rangers. Their parents will probably have to pay for the damage. There is plenty of room between the fence and house to widen the road without touching the house. There are highly invasive trees of heaven growing near the Bear Tree. A large native black walnut tree by the fence will have to be removed to widen the road.
      • There was a Zoom retirement party for Park Interpreter Chris Carson Seals. She and her husband will be moving to Nevada next spring.
    • Volunteer Program Manager Julie Lee has been reassigned to the County's emergency housing program during the COVID-19 crisis. Park Interpreter Jan Shriner has been reassigned to the County's COVID-19 contact tracing program.
    • New park interpreters: Rob McDonnell and Travis Trinh.
    • Woody has been working on the Ohlone and Hidden Springs Trails in Santa Teresa Park. He's also been working on the Little Llagas Creek Trail at Calero. The Rancho San Vicente parking lot at Calero has been very busy. Trail use in Almaden Quicksilver has been very heavy.
    • Treasurer's report by Greg: We have $1547.70 in our account. All checks have been cashed. No payments are pending. $970.49 from our SJB3 Grant is unallocated. Out of the $2480 SJB3 Grant, we spent $1709.51 total so far: $200 for the UNSCC membership, $763.70 for printing and copying, $72 for our PO box, $162.52 for web hosting, $362.29 for event expenses, $140 for our Zoom subscription.
    • There is no news about SJB4. We don't know if there will be another grant cycle and how much will be available.
    • National Night Out has been delayed until October by the national organization. If we held it then, it would be past the end date for our SJB3 Grant and would have to covered by an SJB4 Grant, which may not happen. There's no guarantee that the Parks Department would allow us to hold it at all this year. Most likely, we won't be able to hold a National Night Out event this year.
    • It's highly unlikely that there will be Fandango/La Fuente this year, since Kelsi Ju left, and all park events are on hold indefinitely.
    • Mike wants to put together a photo book about the park for ourselves and to display in our booth. The grant won't pay for it if it's for us, but will if it's for display. We can't sell it without a license [and a photo permit from the Parks Department].
    • Mike, Marilyn, and Kim will meet to talk about branding and packaging our booth setup.
    • We need to publish our next newsletter. Usually, we target it to be available to hand out at the next major event, which would have been National Night Out. We can publish it online and pass out hardcopies at other venues. The grant will pay for printing costs. We set the end of July as a target date. We can write about favorite parts of the park to visit during the shutdown, social distancing in the park, favorite memories, dog walking, pictures of the park, history, etc.
    • We need business cards, flyers, and contact cards. The grant covers printing and publishing costs. We may need to request moving money from the events category. [Note: standard business cards cost $20 for 1000 at Staples.]
    • Our grant will pay up to $15 per shirt for T-shirts with our name on it. It will not pay for other items, like hats, polo shirts, scarves, etc. We can't sell the shirts without a business license, so we'll have to pay out-of-pocket for the amount over $15. Since we already have T-shirts and no events scheduled, there's no urgent need for them.
    • Mike submitted our application for 501c3 status, but got a letter saying we made $50K/year. That was obviously a mistake. Mike checked the application, and it didn't say that, so it wasn't our fault. He needs to wait until the end of the month to get it fixed.
    • Our calendar of events needs to be re-scheduled, since all events in the parks are on hold or cancelled.
    • Mike has a presentation on the Berryessa Family, who owned Rancho San Vicente. Maria Zacarias Bernal from Santa Teresa married Jose de los Reyes Berryessa from Rancho San Vicente. Jenny Clendenen's book, Mine, is about her.
    • The next meeting will be on August 6, 7 pm on Zoom.
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       Created 7/3/20 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park