Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 8/4/05
	Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Sam Drake, Kitty Monahan, Paul Vincze, Cynthia Greenblatt, Holly Davis, Mario Blaum, Ed Jackson, Tony Ruiz The Park Commision will review the site plan in February for the Santa Teresa Historic District. Laura Wegl of the Muriel Wright Center sent us an E-mail asking if someone could take the kids there on a summer hike. Mike said he would when he has time. We talked about the class Sam, Mike, and Ron took at the United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County. We talked about insurance issues. The insurance costs have gone up. We got a booklet with advice on how to hold safe events. We needed to have a list of activities for a year ahead. Ron put a meeting schedule on our activities calendar. We need to inform UNSCC about special events. We think we are covered if the parks department is organizing the event and we just help. We need to check on this. We need a safety offiicer at events. Our meetings are technically not supposed to be open to the general public, but we can say that people visiting are prospective members.  Sam recommended setting up a Yahoo group so we can post messages and have people communicate with us. Ron showed pictures of the park taken since our last meeting in June: weeds have been cleared from the top of Coyote Peak, weeds on the Hidden Springs Trail (since cleared), school bus driver practicing in the Pueblo Area, new "No Parking" sign on Bernal Road, marker by the volunteer trail below the Mine Trail, cleared Ohlone Trail below the Hidden Springs Trail, heritage garden flowers at the BGJ Ranch, dying bushes at the BGJ Ranch that we planted in the spring. Tina Monarrez of the San Jose Neighborhood Development Center is pursuing getting more signs in the neighborhood pointing to Santa Teresa Park.  Cynthia brought up the issue of the checkerspot butterfly. Even though Santa Teresa Park has serpentine soils, which are typically checkerspot butterfly habitat, because of competing non-native grasses, the plants that the checkerspots need are prevented from growing. See: http://www.greenfoothills.org/news/2002/10-2002_CoyoteRidge.html: " Serpentine grasslands in Santa Teresa County Park, protected from development, are devoid of butterflies because they are devoid of cows..."  Checkerspots are found on Coyote Ridge on the other side of the valley, particularly around Kirby Canyon. Despite the lack of butterflies, the Santa Teresa Hills are a federally designated habitat all the way to the Coyote-Alamitos Canal.  We suggested asking Craig Breon, director of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society to come talk to us about the checkerspot butterfly.  see: http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/lp0012_CoyoteValley.html. He once came to talk to the Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association. There will be a public hearing on the new trail around the Buck Norred site in the fall. The flags that marked the trail route have been removed. They are no longer needed. The trail route is on the trail planners' computers. Holly estimates our bank account balance is $503.44. She wants to get her name on the account to be able to write checks. Paul said he saw people going up old Bernal Road on an ATV. A ranger arrested 3 people ages 18-21 who were smoking and drinking at Santa Teresa Springs. Ron showed a picture of the fence rails kicked out on the viewing platform by the springs. We suggested putting a camera at the springs. Mike will talk to Ken Silveira about getting more of a ranger presence at the springs. The neighbors have tried called the County Communications line to report trouble at the springs, but have encountered delays trying to explain to the dispatchers where the springs are. The dispatchers need to be informed as to where the springs are. Ed Jackson talked about the ban on bikes and dogs around Santa Teresa Springs and the BGJ Ranch. There are new "no dogs, no bikes" signs on the fence posts near Santa Teresa Springs. These are up for review. Robin Schaut does not want dogs around the BGJ Ranch area. People can bring bikes and dogs into the BGJ Ranch area if they are going up the trail. At Santa Teresa Springs, people want to walk their dogs or bike on the Coyote-Alamitos Canal. The problem is that it is not a trail, yet. Jeff Nickel of the Santa Clara Valley Water District came to talk about issues relating to the Coyote-Alamitos Canal. The Water District stopped using the canal in 1967. It was built to move water from Coyote Creek to the Guadalupe River. It is now useless as a water supply. The Water District wants to get rid of it as it offers no benefit to the district customers. There were studies done in the 70's and 80's on what to do with the canal. Alternatives included burying the canal, putting a pipe in it, restoring the hillside, or turning into a trail. They decided it was cheaper to keep maintaining it as-is. The Water District spends about $75K-$100K per year to on maintenance of the canal, including putting up gates, removing sediment, and repairing the canal road. The district has approached the city and county to take over the canal, but neither wanted anything to do with it. The district does not own much of the canal. It has an easement, which varies from property-to-property. In places like the Buck Norred area, they only have an easement for maintenance and water conveyance.  The city of San Jose did a feasibility study of using the canal for a trail. They are trying to identify parts of the canal that can be used for a trail. In some places, the people below are opposed to it. In other parts, there is more support. Mike suggested that the Water District should review the master plan. Jeff said the district will review the plan. They will work with the parks department and can support different alternatives. They can even become a partner in funding projects.  The canal was never intended to collect rainwater. The amount of water that flows off the hills does not require a structure as big as the canal to channel it off. (The other side of the Santa Teresa Hills does not have a canal and does fine.)  The gate on the canal on Bernal Road was placed there partially in response to complaints from the neighbors. People were driving trucks on the canal. There is no public right to use the canal. The Water District does not in principal oppose turning parts of the Coyote-Alamitos Canal into trails, but some other agency has to take responsibility to do so.  Ron will be teaching a class in outdoor photography at the BGJ Ranch on Sept. 17 at 9:30 am. Volunteer Hours (July/August): Ronald Horii:: 28/30 Mike Boulland: 10/10 Kitty Monahan:  6 tot Sam Drake:  10/10 Paul Vincze: 35 tot Holly Davis: 25 tot Cynthia Greenblatt: 3 tot Mario Blaum: 10/10 Tony Ruiz: 25 tot Ed Jackson: 3 tot Return to the Friends of Santa Teresa Park Home Page

Created 8/24/05 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park