Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 8/3/06


  • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Paul Vincze,  Mario Blaum, Ed Jackson, Sam Drake, Holly Davis, Woody Collins, Martin Hendess
  • We have $193.44 in our account.
  • Mike E-mailed Eric Goodrich about security problems in the park. Eric sent the information to his staff.
  • Mike talked to Matt Anderson about the security issues at Manila Drive and Santa Teresa Spring.
  • Matt said the CEQA document for the new trail is coming along, and the new park master plan the historic area is on schedule.
  • Ed said the response time for calls to the sheriff about problems at Santa Teresa Spring has been getting worse. He has been calling the number given by the rangers to call in case of emergency. The dispatchers usually don't know where the spring is. Ed even gives map coordinates, but it doesn't help. It's been taking about 40-45 minutes for the sheriff to respond.
  • The rangers were coming by the spring first, before dark, then going up to close up the park and then go on to Hellyer. They were missing what was happening at the spring in the early evening. Now they will close up the upper park first, then drop by the spring before heading to Hellyer.
  • Ed suggested putting a camera on the hill to record illegal activities at the spring and another one on a tree by the street to record them getting in and out of their cars.
  • The canal road near the spring has been tagged. The retaining wall is missing some caps.
  • There is a new camp host at the Mounted Ranger Unit.
  • Mike talked to Joe Schultz. The master plan is on-schedule, and the planning is funded. They are working on the CEQA document for the new trail.
  • We saw a copy of the new negative declaration document for the new trail. The old document said the trail was for hiking and biking on one page and said it was for hiking only on another page. The new document doesn't specify the usage of the trail at all. It only says that it is a single-track trail, 4'-6' wide. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the neg. dec. on 9/26/06. Comments must be sent before then.
  • There is a small fence to the left of the Brockenhurst car gate, blocking entry to the Mounted Ranger Unit on that side. The homeowner to the left of the gate complained about not being able to back out of her driveway because of traffic coming out through that side. A sign on the gate says to use the right side of the car gate. There's a gap there.
  • Sam talked about geocaching. The county is drafting a policy. Ed Souza will write the policy. The rangers don't have time to police the caches and find out who owns what. They are looking at a self-policing policy. They asked for geocachers to help monitor the caches.
  • Ron said he was monitoring the Santa Teresa Park caches by reading the logs for all the caches in the park. Ron read a quote from the log for the cache at Santa Teresa Spring: "2nd time back looking for this cache. Still new at this game but im catching on. Most people dont kow this place exists but its really kind of a cool place. Saw a turle sunbathing and another 1 swimming around. Plan to go back to pick up trash as people have dumped stuff around. Plan to take a trash bag with me from now on."
  • Kathleen Hooper wants to get recreational activities in all the parks. She wants to spread the activities around. Almaden Quicksilver and Santa Teresa are already heavily. She wants Mike to lead senior tours, but outside of Santa Teresa Park.
  • The county counsel said that volunteers can't drive county vehicles. This means the staff has to drive, and it means more work for them. The county is self-insured. No accidents with county vehicles have involved volunteers.
  • We talked about the documents required for us becoming a 5013c organization. Ron had some questions about the bylaws. On page 3, section 2, Qualifications for directors, it says directors must "Reside within five miles of the Santa Teresa Park neighborhood." We had some discussion about whether that was necessary and that the reference to "neighborhood" was vaque. We agreed to change it to just "Reside within five miles of Santa Teresa Park." Ron also questioned page 9, Section 8, Duties of Secretary, where it talks about keeping documents at the principal office of the corporation, which is Mike's house. Mike said that as long as he has access to our website, he has access to the documents. Mike has to fill out a 26-page form, the Application for Recognition of Exemption, as part of the 5013c process. We have to list what we do as an organization. Sandy Soto, Zoe Lofgren's aide, reviewed our bylaws and helped with the form. It costs a one-time fee of $150 to file the form.
  • Mario reported on the trails. They are in good shape. The Coyote Peak Trail has been graded. They graded many of the trails on Wednesday. The Calero unit got the grader for a month.
  • Woody said there is a radio in the lockbox at the BGJ Ranch for Trail Watch volunteers. He used it once already. Volunteers walk the trails and radio for help if they see problems.
  • There is a trail day at Uvas Canyon on Saturday. It may be on the Nibb's Knob trail.
  • There is a pig meeting sponsored by the Forrest Williams' office on Wednesday 8/23 at 6 pm at Southside Community Center.
  • Santa Teresa Community Fest: Ron is organizing this event. It runs from 11 am to 5 pm. We get a 10'X10' space. It's first-come, first-served to get spaces. We can start setting up as early as 7 am. The tables need to be ready for Fire Marshal inspection by 10 am. We need to man our area the whole time the fest is open. We need to bring our own tables, chairs, and shade. Otherwise, we can rent them. Mike can't be there, but he can run off flyers. We'll need park maps to hand out. We need volunteers to take turns manning the booth, hand out literature, and pass out flyers. Ron will be there the whole time. Art Boudreault wants to come for awhile and sign his books. Mike suggested giving away a night hike as a prize. Ron suggested doing a hike for everyone interested and getting sign-ups.
  • We pay $200 a year to UNSCC for dues, which pays for insurance. We also need to volunteer time. They require 2 hours per month, plus 8 hours at their annual conference. (See the UNSCC FAQs.)  We talked about whether it's worth the time and money. It may become more or less necessary after we become a 5013c.
  • Ron showed a slideshow showing: new radio box on the BGJ Ranch restroom, 2 logs pulled from the Joice Trail, bulldozed trails from the Joice Trail to the Bernal Hill Loop Trail, burned area near the free parking lot on Bernal Road, burned areas in the Pueblo Area (controlled burn for fire training), signs on the Brockenhurst Gate, new camp host at the MRU.
  • Upcoming events:
    • Dog Days of Summer: Saturday Aug. 5, 10am - 12pm, Pueblo Area, dog walk with ranger.
    • Praying Mantis Night: Saturday Aug. 12, 7:30-9:30 pm in the Bernal Ranch Barn. movie and bug expert with real praying mantises.
    • County Parks Links: beginning golf for kids 3-9, Saturdays July 29-Sept. 2, 1pm - 2 pm, Santa Teresa Golf Club.
    • Calling All Coyotes: Saturday Aug. 26, 8-10pm, Pueblo Area, night hike.
    • Coastal Cleanup Day, Saturday Sept. 16, 9am-12pm, Stevens Creek, Coyote Lake, Calero, Los Gatos Creek @Vasona, Coyote Creek @Hellyer, Uvas Reservoir.
  • There will be no meeting in October.
  • Volunteer Hours for July
    • Ronald Horii: 19
    • Mike Boulland: 10
    • Kitty Monahan: 3
    • Holly Davis: 2
    • Sam Drake: 4
    • Woody Collins: 2
    • Paul Vincze: 15
    • Ed Jackson: 5
    • Mario Blaum: 12
    • Martin Hendess: 3
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Created 8/9/06 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park