Friends of Santa Teresa Park Zoom Meeting, 12/7/23

 


    • This was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting link for this Zoom meeting.
    • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Joan Murphy, Ron Horii, Greg Koopman (calling from Delaware, will be back soon), Park Interpreter Rob McDonnell.
    • Our next meeting will be on 1/4/24. The next First Friday Work Day (FFWD) will be on 1/5/24. We can decide what to do based on the weather and the conditions at the time. If it's raining, Rob said we can clean up the barn. We can bring vacuum cleaners to clean up the dust on the concrete. Rob can provide dust masks.
    • We talked about the east barn. It's been closed since the pandemic because of concerns about rodents. There's a new pest management person, so this may change. We talked about getting cats to control the mice. (They wouldn't affect the squirrels.) The concern would be who would take care of them. If they run around loose, they could be eaten by coyotes.
    • We got 3 new people helping with the First Friday Work Day. Last time, 2 of the new people were from Santa Clara.
    • For our last FFWD, we spread wood chips around the picnic tables by the bus stop. The wood chips came from Martial Cottle. There were piles of chips already there when we arrived. It took 3 additional truckloads to fill up the area. It's still a little thin near the south end and could use some more.
    • For a future work day, we could spread bark around the picnic tables by the ranch house. The bark is getting thin. It is redwood bark, not wood chips.
    • Alex Ale is assigned to do maintenance at the Bernal Ranch while Jason Bombardier is working temporarily in the Volunteer Program office as Volunteer Coordinator. Jason is subbing in for Blair Pagano, who is on maternity leave.
    • Mike hasn't heard from the Boy Scout who was interested in doing interpretive signs for the farm equipment. We may need to look for another scout who is interested in doing it.
    • Joan suggests having signs along the Gulnac Trail to identify the trees. Many of them are non-natives, but that's OK. There could be QR codes on the signs that link to more information on a website. The tree identification signs on the Nature Trail had QR codes that decoded into more information about the plants, but the stickers wore out or were scraped off. The posts could have numbers, with more information on a website or a brochure. (Like the history tour at Almaden Quicksilver.)
    • There are restrictions about digging post holes for signs because of concerns about disturbing Native American burial sites. Signs could be put on posts set in concrete blocks resting on the ground. They could also be put on fences.
    • Greg was concerned about goatheads on or near the trails. They are invasive non-native weeds that have hard, spiny seeds that can puncture bike tires. He's seen them before on the Joice Trail. If we see them, we should remove them.
    • We talked about the new Adopt-a-Spot program and whether we should adopt Santa Teresa Spring. However, we effectively already adopted the entire Bernal Ranch, so it would be redundant for us. We get more recognition now than we would with the Adopt-a-Spot program.
    • Rob has a flyer template. He could make up a flyer for us for our FFWD's.
    • Joan asked if it would be appropriate to have workers come to our FFWD's who are doing required community service. Rob said that since our work days coincide with school programs, that might cause concern among the parents.
    • Rob has A-frames for our FFWD banners. We have been attaching them to fences with bungee cords. Having them on A-frames gives us more flexibility for placement. The banners are wider than the A-frames, so we would need to back them with something stiff, like foam boards or cardboard.
    • Treasurer's report: we have $2748.82 in our Wells Fargo account.
    • We got an additional $100 grant to buy tools. Mike spent $97 on tools: heavy duty branch loppers and 2 Hula Hoe weed scrapers.
    • Mike ran off newsletters for the local library. We need more copies at the Bernal Ranch house.
    • Mike got requests for doing ranch tours from the Preservation Action Council and the California Pioneers. Supervisor Joe Simitian's staff may want a tour.
    • We should do our Pre-Mother's Day hike again next year.
    • We talked about ideas for activities. We could do a hike for volunteers only. How about doing a monthly hike? How about programs on bats or on rocks?
    • We suggested that Greg do a bike tour for e-bikes, but the trails may be too steep for group bike rides.
    • Day of the Dead is on Saturday November 2. Maybe we can do an event then. Kelsi did La Fuente to coincide with Day of the Dead. She had an offrenda set up in the barn, where visitors could leave pictures and messages about their departed loved ones.
    • La Fuente will be in September to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month. Dates under consideration were 9/14 or 9/21. Mike pointed out that 9/14 is New Almaden Day. Mexican Independence Day is 9/16. They need to check with Lance Beeson and Elena Robles to see when their groups are available. 
    • Note: Pioneer Day is the second Saturday in October. It's also Day on the Bay in Alviso, so that's not a good day to schedule an event.
    • Ian got sick and couldn't staff the ranch last Sunday. There's a new intern coming, who will be able to help on Sundays.
    • We are finishing up our Beautify SJ Cycle 5 grant. The application for next year's Cycle 6 grant is due on 1/11/24. Ron will be filling it out, based on the Cycle 5 grant.
    • We need to decide whether to do National Night Out next year. Last year, we got the grant money too late to plan for it. We don't know if we have enough people to put it on this year. They are other NNO's going on that some of our members are going to.
    • Ron started to show pictures, but his Internet connection died, so he couldn't show them. Most of the pictures are on Facebook anyway. He called in and described them. They included the last 2 FFWD's, Mike's ghost tour (not on Facebook), the reconstruction of the Joice Trail, sunset from the Joice Trail, board at the end of the Santa Teresa Spring viewing platform that broke and got replaced, cut fence and break-in at the Pyzak House, rocking and smoothing out the junction of the Bernal Hill and Joice Trails, new solar panels at the Muriel Wright Center, closure of the Norred Trail for repair, trailwork on the Mine Trail, tree tubes, our luncheon at El Amigo's after the last FFWD, replacement of the bridge on the path to Santa Teresa Spring, conditions around the ranch and spring that we can work on next month. 
    • Greg is still concerned about the unused power poles along the Rocky Ridge Trail and the lack of trash can lids on Coyote Peak.
    • We talked about the end of the Gulnac Trail across from Bernal School. The city built ramps inline with the end of the trail and on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. However, there is no crosswalk there, just a stop sign limit line, and it's several feet past the trail entrace. Ron said he watched kids leaving Bernal School. Most of the pedestrians used the sidewalk on the other side of Curie Drive. However, a lot of kids on bikes used the Gulnac Trail. They crossed the street in front of the school and rode down the sidewalk to the trailhead. We talked to the principal of Bernal School about the trail several years ago, but the school has a new principal (Tamara Unck). We should talk to the principal about the use of the trail by students.
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       Created 12/15/23 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park
    Funding provided by a Beautify San Jose Grant