Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 11/5/15

 


  • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ed Jackson, Greg & Roxanne Koopman, Marty Reinders, Ron Horii, John Dorrance (visiting)
  • Minutes were approved. 
  • Mike will get a gift card to thank Tom at the golf course for letting us have our meetings in the banquet hall.
  • Treasurer's report by Greg: We have $512 in the bank. We owe $270. We are expecting a grant of $740. Our balance will be $790.
  • John Dorrance came to ask for donations of popcorn and lemonade for movie nights at the Bernal Ranch. He used to ask teachers who come for tours for donations, but since they now have to pay a $50 fee for the 2-hour tours, he stopped asking them. He can't use department money to pay for them, since there are county restrictions on buying sweet treats. He asks for donations at movie night, but they go into the general fund. He wants to know if we can help buy popcorn and lemonade. He needs a box of 40 microwave popcorn bags per movie and a large can of lemonade mix. First we need to see how much it costs. We can buy it from our bank account, individually donate, or have a fundraiser.
  • Santa at the Ranch is coming up in December. John has a notice posted at the ranch, but won't have it advertised on Play Here or the Parkhere.org website to keep the crowds manageable. John has candy canes to hand out to kids, but he needs hot chocolate mix. He could also use donations of stocking stuffers, knicknacks, little toys, games, books, etc.
  • We may not be able to do fundraising on County Park property. The SLUG Run in Martial Cottle Park took in $15K, $11K profit, but the fundraising activities were at the school, not in Martial Cottle.Kitty will look into whether it's possible to do a fundraiser on park property. She said that NAQCPA raises funds at Pioneer Day, which is in Almaden Quicksilver. 
  • John thanked us for the cleanup of Santa Teresa Spring. He cc'd Robin Schaut and Janet Hawks.
  • Mike talked to Julie Lee about the County Parks' historical archives. He got a template for putting information into the database. In the future, we can put records for Santa Teresa into a database.
  • For Historic Heritage Grant projects, Julie Lee suggested going over the park master plan and seeing what needs to be done. Current ideas are to termite-treat the Pyzak house and build a path from Bernal School to Santa Teresa Spring. Other ideas: signage for the buggy and hay wagon in the east barn and grinding wheel. 
  • Mike talked to senior ranger Phil Hearin. He said a tree service was called to clean up the treefall at Santa Teresa Spring. A dead cottonwood tree fell and took out 2 branches of an oak tree. They found that another cottonwood tree was rotten, so they removed that too. They ground up some of the wood, but left big pieces in place as animal habitat. There is a work order to fix the fence. John wants to make sure the treefall debris doesn't change of the flow of the pond outfall.
  • The ranger coverage for the park is stretched thin. They are short 2 rangers for 2 parks. The rangers get off duty at 8:30 pm. They have had 15 contacts this month. They issued 6 citations. Most of the violators ticketed are 18-22 years old and live within 4 blocks of the park. Some are first offenders. They are given a warning, unless there is a serious violation. Nighttime activity is partying. Thievery happens in the daytime. Gangs from Oakland are hitting houses along Curie Drive. 
  • The neighborhood could put up Neighborhood Video Watch or Neighborhood Watch signs.
  • Phil suggested having a joint meeting with other law enforcement agencies. Mike talked to Stacie Shih, who works for Ash Kalra, about meeting at the new police station. We may be able to do something jointly with the Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association.
  • Ron showed a slideshow showing the volunteers BBQ, rocks on the Joice and Bernal Hill trails placed by PGE, treefall at Santa Teresa Spring, cattle-watering troughs, erosion on the path to the spring, flowers and rock walls on the Stile Ranch Trail, the Albertson Parkway, the Pyzak House, Manila Way, the Norred Ranch and Trail, and views from the Norred Trail.
  • We talked about moving the entrance to the spring opposite Manila Way. It puts it in line with the Albertson Parkway. There are no houses facing Manila Way, which is much wider than Manila Drive, so would be better for parking.
  • The sign at Santa Teresa Spring has been vandalized. Faces are burned. The signs cost $350 and are very time-consuming to replace. The signs can't be covered with plastic, as the gap between the plastic and sign can get wet and mossy.
  • There are no lids on the Coyote Peak trash cans. Trash can blow out.
  • We got the MOU for the CAP Grant, which means we should get the grant money soon.
  • Greg says there are trail signs missing. He should tell the rangers.
  • We talked about the Historic Heritage Grant. Montalvo Arts was the only County Parks program submitted for a grant. Grants can be projects in any park. If the termite damage to the Pyzak House is too extensive, it could be rebuilt, like the East Barn. Marty asked if the house could be moved to San Jose History Park. 
  • The Open Space Authority's 20% fund was used by Councilmember Forrest Williams to help buy the Pyzak Ranch.The fund is used to help cities with urban open space projects. There's a new formula now. More money is available in 2016. Cities or any group can apply for it. We could see if OSA money could be used to pay for work at the Pyzak Ranch.
  • We can do a fun hike on Christmas Day and ask for donations as a fundraiser.
  • Upcoming events:
    • Nov. 14: Ron Horii's Introduction to Outdoor Photography class, Bernal Ranch, Manila Drive at Camino Verde, 10am-1pm: "Join a Docent for a FREE outdoor photography workshop. Learn how to choose and use a camera, how to take better outdoor pictures and about photo composition. Workshop begins with an indoor slideshow, followed by demonstrations and a walk around the historic area to take pictures. Meet at the Ranch house with your camera. Register online or call (408) 355-2201."
    • March 19, 2016: Anza Expedition Hike, Pueblo Day Use Area, 10:30am-1:00pm.
    • There will be a big cleanup day at multiple parks in April.
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   Created 11/5/15  by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park