Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting Summary for 7/1/04

  • Meeting attendees: 
    • Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Holly Davis, Mary Berger, Cynthia Greenblatt, Lance Burrows
  • Ron read the minutes.
  • On Saturday, June 26, Mike and Ron washed down the outside of the ranch house at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch.
  • Ron Horii showed slideshows showing the Bernal Ranch House, signs at the site concerning dogs and horses, pictures of volunteers, a bare spot on the hill above the springs where kids have been sliding down on cardboard, changes at the Mounted Ranger Unit, and views from Bernal Hill.
  • There is a new gate at the Mounted Ranger Unit blocking the old access road leading up to the canal by Cynthia's house. The road has been torn up above the canal. The trash that was on the corner next to the base of the access road (which is private property) has been cleaned up and disked. Round-wire fences are planned to go up around the ends of the canal above the houses west of the MRU. There is already a new gate at the west end, which was put up by the Water District.
  • There was a question about why the county should pay for the fence, when it is surrounding private property. Cynthia said this is because park visitors have been trespassing on private property and the fence would help prevent that.
  • We talked about people getting into trouble for walking dogs and riding horses around the Historic Area. The signs do say that dogs, bikes, and horses are allowed on the trails, but not in the historic area. There have been problems at the ranch with animals dirtying areas where kids sit and walk for interpretive programs. There needs to be more clarification on where horses and dogs can go. Mike will draft a letter to the parks department addressing this.
  • The Coyote-Alamitos Canal between the Bernal Ranch House and Santa Teresa Springs is not an official trail. It is owned by the Water District, who would prefer that the parks department take over responsibility for it. The parks department is reluctant to because of fears of liability if someone falls into the canal. In the meantime, it is heavily used as a de facto trail. People walk their dogs or ride horses along it. The problem is when they reach the other end, they are not allowed around Santa Teresa Spring, since that is part of the Historic Area. The canal usage needs to be addressed.
  • There is a law that says that public agencies are not liable for injuries that occur on public recreational trails.
  • There was a movie night scheduled in the barn, but it was canceled because snakes were found in the barn. They were attracted to rodents, which were attracted by the hay bales. The hay bales have since been removed. However, there is now no place for anyone to sit in the barn. Because there are no sprinklers in the barn, they can't put benches in there. If they put in alfalfa or orchard grass, it won't attract mice.
  • We talked about having the neighbors on Heaton Moor around the Mounted Ranger Unit get together and organize "watch" units. The City of San Jose has a Neighborhood Watch program. The County Parks department has a Parks Watch program. The Santa Clara Valley Water District has an "Adopt-a-Creek" program. Ron will look up and put information on the Website about these. Eric Goodrich has helped setup park watch programs before. We could ask him.
  • Someone abandoned a rabbit at the ranch. It is now living in the barn near the other rabbits, who are in cages.
  • Holly will not be handling the chickens at the ranch anymore.
  • Santa Teresa Community Fest: 11 am to 5 pm, September 18, George Page Park. We will have a table there, like last year. We need volunteers to help man it and pass out literature. 
  • We got our parks use permit.
  • Mary Berger, park interpreter, said that the teaching guide for the Historic Area will go online in 1-2 weeks. There is a page in the guide showing how activities line up with state educational content standards. The guide will be put online on the county parks Website, under the linke "For Teachers and Kids." It will be a PDF file. This will be the first such file on the Website.
  • Donna Gillette will do a workshop on rock are in October. 
  • Treasurer's report (Holly), balance: $603.46.
  • Cynthia heard gunshots that sounded like they came from the park around 10:00 pm yesterday.
  • Holly will talk to the new 4H leader about doing a 4H demo.
  • We would like to have a special event at the ranch on 9/25. Ron could make up a multimedia presentation to show. We could have a sing-along and campfire. We need to talk to John Dorrance to see if we can schedule this.
  • Scheduled Events
    • 7/17/04 – Ghost night hike – Dorrance
    • 7/10/04  - Wash Days
    • 8/21/04 -   Movie night – Zorro
  • FOSTP Volunteer Hours for June:
    • Kitty Monahan: 4
    • Holly Davis: 4
    • Riley Davis: 4
    • Madeline Davis: 2
    • Ron Horii: 42
    • Mike Boulland: 30
    • Mario Blaum: 18
    • Hazen Anderson: 7
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Created 7/1/04 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park, updated 8/22/04