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- Attendees: Mike Boulland, Kitty
Monahan, Sam Drake, Ed Jackson, Roxanne & Greg Koopman, Ron Horii,
and Barry Hoffman (new).
- Treasurer's report from Greg Koopman: Our bank balance
$974.95. We got money from the CAP Grant.
- Roxanne and Greg talked about cross-country racing. There
were 2 races at Santa Teresa on 9/19 and 10/3. The one on 9/19 was an
Oak Grove School District run, including 3 middle schools in the
district. The race on 10/3 was an invitational, including Bernal,
Herman, and South Valley from Gilroy.
- There were 2 volunteer work days in exchange for waiving
the parking fees at Santa Teresa. One was at Santa Teresa, and one was
at Anderson. If the races get bigger, they will need to rent
port-a-potties, which cost $250. Mike suggested asking for a CAP Grant
to help pay for them.
- The Oak Grove School District has a SLUG run. SLUG stands
for "Science Learning Unleashes Goals." The run is a fundraiser to help
send 6th graders to science camp. It starts at Sakamoto School and runs
for 5 km on neighborhood streets. The race is getting bigger, and they
may need a new venue. It needs to be flat, so the cross-country route
at Santa Teresa may not work. Maybe they can run around the Pueblo
Area, but the route may be too short. Martial Cottle is a possibility.
They are building the perimeter trail there. (Eric Goodrich is the new
manager at Martial Cottle.)
- Mike reported on County Park staff news. Aniko Millan, who
was the senior ranger at Hellyer/Santa Teresa, got promoted to
supervising ranger. There are 3 supervising rangers, who handle the 29
parks. The parks are divided up into 3 regions. Each ranger is in
charge of a region. [Eric Goodrich was a supervising ranger. Matt
Anderson is in charge of all the rangers. Aniko is in charge of Region
2, which includes Hellyer, Santa Teresa, Ed Levin, Grant, Alviso, and
Field Sports.]
- Kitty talked about the Volunteer Recognition BBQ.
Because of spending restrictions in the wake of the George Shirakawa
scandal, the Parks Dept. had to get a special exemption to pay for the
food for the event. It was catered. It was held at the Pueblo Area in
Santa Teresa. A couple hundred people were there, including lots of
staff. The spring recognition banquet was canceled this year and will
not be held next year. There will be another volunteer BBQ next year,
possibly in August.
- Free park parking passes are awarded for 50 volunteer hours.
- Kitty talked about the Parks Commission meeting. They
talked about the STAR reports. This was an initiative from County
Executive Jeff Smith to revamp and improve the county departments.
- Also at the Parks Commission meeting, they talked about ADA
improvements in the parks. They include changes to restrooms and
trails. There are new requirements from the federal government, which
came out in 2011. The Parks must be in compliance by 2016.
- Mike talked to Ron Bricman, the Grant Ranch docent who is a
stargazer. He noticed some of the trees at the Pueblo Area lined up
with certain constellations. The rock outcropping by the restroom could
have been an ancient dance ceremony site. Mike is going out to the
Pueblo Area tomorrow with Rich Robertson to check it out.
- Sam's geocaching class was at Almaden Quicksilver on 11/2.
It was full. There's another class in February.
- On Dec. 15, Basim Jaber will be giving a talk on the
Almaden Air Force Station on Mt. Umunhum at the Casa Grande. It will be
his 50th talk. They'll have a little celebration then.
- Greg talked about getting rocks onto the parts of the Stile
Ranch Trail that get muddy. The problem is that there is no gate to
bring in a truck. It would have to brought in by hand or with the
little motorized wheelbarrow.
- Ed says there has been lots of activity at Santa Teresa
Spring after hours. The sheriffs have been responding quickly when
called. To report problems at the spring, tell the dispatcher at County
Communications it's at 400 Manila Drive. There has been graffiti on the
upper deck of the pond.
- Ron showed pictures of his photo class at the Bernal Ranch,
Pioneer Day at the Casa Grande, Day on the Bay at Alviso, Bernal Hill
trails, and Sam's geocaching class at Almaden Quicksilver.
- Ron went to the meeting of the Santa Teresa Foothills
Neighborhood Association yesterday. Ash Kalra, Johnny Khamis, and
Assemblyman Mark Stone were there and gave updates. Johnny Khamis said
that wild pigs have been invading neighborhoods in the Almaden Valley.
The city authorized a special exemption to allow trappers to shoot
trapped pigs, but to not hunt them. Supervisor Dave Cortese, and Alex
Kennett and Virginia Holtz from the Open Space Authority were also
there. The Open Space Authority is now called the Open Space Authority
of Santa Clara Valley. They are still interested in preserving the
Santa Teresa Hills, which was one of their original mandates. John
Hesler of STFNA reported that Summerhill Homes is looking at a deal
where they would be allowed to build homes at the base of the Santa
Teresa Hills below the Coyote Alamitos Canal in exchange for buying
land to build trails higher up on the hills. They originally proposed
trading 7 acres of land in Almaden Quicksilver County Park for
development in exchange for 365 acres of land in the Santa Teresa
Hills. They met to discuss this with many agencies, including the
County Parks and Open Space Authority, but the plan fell through.
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