Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 5/5/16

 


  • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Greg & Roxanne Koopman, Kim Gardner, Ron Horii, Sam Drake, Woody Collins.
  • The Volunteer Office is moving out of the Muriel Wright Center, but we don't know when or where they're going. The County Executive directed the Mental Health department to move there. We don't know what's going to happen to Americorps, but they are not housed there constantly.
  • Mike sent out the thank you's to the officials who came to our March meeting.
  • Roxanne suggested we pay for parking for June-July to get more people to come to the park, but we don't know how much that would be. Woody said the ticket machine is frequently broken.
  • Ron showed pictures: the tamarisk bush near the Bernal Ranch entrance, the 4/17 and 4/30 wildflower hikes. firefighters training near the Pueblo Area, the route and distance of the trail extension from Santa Teresa Spring to Manila Way, a new poster on butterflies at the Bernal Ranch, views from the Norred Trail, thistle growth choking the Norred Trail, grass and brush clearing around the Pyzak-Bonetti Ranch, and plant growth around Santa Teresa Spring.
  • Ron measured the distance from the end of the trail at Santa Teresa Spring to the end of the fence at Manila Way. It's 246 feet, +/- 10 feet.
  • We're going to pay the UNSCC membership dues, which are due in June for $200. We have $1018.50 in the bank.
  • Mike talked about grants. Mike, Kim, and Ron met to discuss getting grants to building a trail extension from Santa Teresa Spring to Manila Way. We need help designing the trail. Kim Brosseau in the planning department wants to see a plan. Sr. Ranger Phil Hearin OK'd the idea of building the trail. Kim Gardner will put together a grant file. We'll have a 12-month calendar with dates and deadlines.
  • We can use the Historic Heritage Commission grants for projects in the County Parks.
  • We want to put out our newsletter in time for Festival in the Park on June 4. Ron will layout the newsletter. Kim can help edit the newsletter articles. We should try to get the articles written by May 15. Mike will write an article on Dorothy Wuss, who is a Bernal Family member. He went to her 94th birthday party at the San Jose History Museum. Mike will also write about March's safety meeting and the Manila Drive trail project. Monika might be able to write about the tamarisk bush next to the Bernal Ranch. Ron will write articles as needed to fill in the newsletter. Mike or Kitty will write about Phil Hearin and the rangers.
  • We can get a County driver's license, which is good for 3 years and allows us to drive park vans, for van tours. Greg is interested. Mike gave Greg an informational booklet and will show a video at his house.
  • Barbara Brown runs the historical museums in Monterey. She has offered to give us a tour of the museums. We can go to their Fandango event on Aug. 28. We'll try for that date, with an alternative date of 8/20.
  • We discussed the tamarisk bush next to the Bernal Ranch entrance. It's a notoriously invasive plant that can cause environmental damage. Don Rocha knows about it. Parks can't do anything about it, but they'll keep their eye on it in case it spreads into the park.
  • Don Rocha is now County Parks deputy director, as of yesterday. He was the park dept.'s natural resources manager.
  • Ron is teaching an outdoor photography class at Coyote Lake on 5/7 at 10 am and will be leading a hike on the Mummy Mountain Trail.
  • Measure A will be coming up on the June ballot. It renews the Park Charter Fund and changes the budget allocation from 15% for acquisitions/5% for development to 10% for each.
  • The Board of Supervisors will be voting on May 10 to add the Mt. Umunhum tower to the county's historic inventory. It's #20 on the agenda. It will probably be discussed somewhere between 9 and 12. Send an e-mail to the supervisors if you can't make it.
  • Adopt-a-Trail: we need to work on clearing the Norred Trail if Park Maintenance doesn't do it.
  • Bikes are speeding on the trails. More bike courtesy signs are needed.
  • Woody worked on the Ohlone Trail earlier this year.
  • The Open Space Authority has a community grant program for urban open space projects. They have been holding meetings in each of OSA's districts. Ron has been going to the meetings. They are gathering information about what the communities want. They want non-profits to apply. They have a draft application form, but the process has not been finalized. We could use the grant for the trail extension at Santa Teresa Spring and for projects at the Pyzak Ranch. Kitty said it may be too difficult for us to apply this year. We should wait until next year, after we see what the process is like.
  • Fandango is on August 13 from 5 to 8. Mike and Dorene are doing story-telling. Greg and Roxanne will be helping with activities, like cattle-roping. Ron will be taking pictures. Kim will help at the booth. All of us will help with setup and cleanup. We'll spend $20 on take-away gifts for kids.
  • There will be a V-O-Cal trail day at Almaden Quicksilver on 5/20-22. They will camp at the Mockingbird Hill Lane staging area, arriving on Friday. They will work all day Saturday and half a day on Sunday.
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   Created 5/13/16, updated 5/31/16  by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park