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- This
was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting
link for this Zoom meeting.
- Attendees: Mike
Boulland, Joan Murphy, Kim Gardner, Steve Crockett, Ron
Horii, Park Interpreter Rob McDonnell.
- Report from Rob McDonnell:
- Rob
is the interpreter for Region 2, which includes Hellyer, Santa Teresa,
and Martial Cottle. Rob mainly works at Martial Cottle and Santa
Teresa. Colter Cook is the interpreter for Region 1, which includes
Almaden Quicksilver and Calero. Ruben Suarez is the senior ranger for
Region 2.
- Rob is on the County Parks' Social Media Team, along with Luke, Sofia,
Colter, and Ian. Ian will be leading hikes in Ed Levin. Colter is
marketing Raptor Fest.
- School
programs have begun at the Bernal Ranch on Friday mornings. Rob runs
the school programs at the Bernal Ranch and at Martial Cottle.
- The ranch house is now open on Saturdays and Sundays only.
- Rob coordinates the volunteers at the Bernal Ranch. He organized La Fuente.
- La
Fuente included the County Public Health's Parks Rx Juntos Program,
which is aimed at Latino families. Ranger Roberto Romero led a hike in
Spanish. He is now the senior ranger at Anderson.
- Feedback: they need extra banners to give directions to the check in tables.
- The
parking lot was used for ADA parking for La Fuente and a taxi
turnaround for Juntos participants. Rob dropped off letters in the
neighborhood to inform the neighbors of the event. There were no
parking problems. 157 people came last year. 211 came this year. The
increase may have been due to Juntos.
- The field by the
spring couldn't be used for parking for La Fuente this year because it
had big cracks in it after drying up from the heavy rains this year.
Cars could have gotten stuck, and people could have tripped in the
cracks walking to the event. It was used for parking last year. They
want to keep the field unpaved. There was a plan to plant fruit trees
in it, but there's been no money to fund it.
- Digging is
problematic at the Bernal Ranch because of archaeological concerns. One
of the lands stewards wanted to plant a native plant garden at the
ranch, but wasn't allowed to dig. She will do it as Vasona instead.
- The white picket fence around the ranch house was painted by Boy Scouts.
- Tamara
Clark retired as the Public Information Officer. Victoria Heyse is
working out of class to fill that position temporarily. Audrey Diaz
will fill in later. The department is reviewing job positions and will
need to complete the process before permanently filling the positions.
- Rob has been filling in the squirrel holes along the path to the spring.
- Rob
made a "no fishing" sign and posted it at the mapboard at the ranch.
Fishing line gets wrapped up around the ducks and turtles in the spring
pond.
- Alex Ale in Park Maintenance is assigned to work at the
Bernal Ranch, while Jason Bombardier is working in the Volunteer Office
temporarily.
- We dropped off copies of our newsletter at the Bernal Ranch house. They are almost gone. We should drop off more copies.
- We
talked about the garden boxes by the ranch house. Steve Cassidy has
native plant seeds that bloom at different times. They could be planted
to have flowers in the garden boxes for now until the issue of what to
plant in the gardens get settled. They may eventually plant a heritage
garden with vegetables that would have been planted by the Bernal
families. Rob has some seeds. Youngmee was working on the boxes. Rob
will meet with Carolyn to discuss the garden plans.
- We
will have a FOSTP First Friday Work Day on 11/3/23. We will clean up around Santa
Teresa Spring. The next work day after
that is on 12/1/23.
- We
could have a sign posted on the mapboard for our First Friday Work Day
cleanups. We need to send the file for the sign to Rob, who will print
it out.
- A Boy Scout has proposed an Eagle Scout project: putting up signs labeling the farm equipment around the barns.
- The
Adopt-a-Trail program has been discontinued. We had adopted the Norred
Trail. Woody Collins had adopted the Ohlone Trail. The new program is
called Adopt-a-Spot. Should we adopt Santa Teresa Spring? What's the
difference between that and our First Friday Work Day? We have
essentially adopted the entire Bernal Ranch. The difference may be in
publicity and recognition.
- We have $2748.82 in the bank. There's no change from last month.
- Mike
will be giving his annual whopper's tour to a Meetup group on 11/4 at
2:30. It will begin at the Bernal Ranch, go to Santa Teresa Spring and
the Bear Tree Lot, and beyond. The ranch house and barn will be open.
Ian will be there.
- We need to renew our annual group activities
work plan. Should we do National Night Out (NNO) next year? We did it
annually except during the pandemic. This year we couldn't do it
because of the delay in getting the grant. While there's some overlap
in activities with La Fuente, the emphasis not the same. La Fuente is
about the history of the ranch. NNO is about neighborhood safety. We
had police, sheriff, fire, and the city at our NNO, which don't
fit in at La Fuente. Organizing it is a lot of work, and our members
may be busy with NNO's in their neighborhoods.
- We need to
decide what we're going to do next month for our annual recognition
event. Should we have a potluck at night, go to a restaurant, or have a
picnic during the day, like after our FFF Work Day?
- Raptor Fest is this Saturday 11/4 at Calero.
- Ron showed pictures:
- 10/6/23: FOSTP cleanup at Santa Teresa Spring and the garden boxes.
- 10/13/23: new memorial bench in the Pueblo Area wetland by the corral, trailwork on the Mine Trail above the Pueblo Area.
- 10/26/23:
fence newly painted around the ranch house, blackberries growing back
along the drain above the retaining wall by Manila Drive and the ramp
to the spring, tree trimming in the Bear Tree Lot, Bernal School
students on bikes are using the Gulnac Trail, trash along Heaton Moor,
benches being made from cut tree trunks by the Special Projects crew,
widening of the Norred Trail, "no fishing" poster, tree and land
steward poster, Adopt-a-Spot poster.
- 10/28/23: filled-in
squirrel holes along the path to the spring, deep erosion grooves on
the path below the spring, lots of ducks in the pond, dirt and rocks
have fallen below the spring and shrine and along the cistern, weak
board in the walkway.
- 11/1/23: new memorial bench in the Pueblo
Area at the end of the connector trail by the first parking lot,
condition of the sycamore trees, hike along the Rocky Ridge Trail to
Coyote Peak, showing trail construction results and multiple bypass
trails on top of Rocky Ridge, grafitti removed from a bench in the
Pueblo Area.
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