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Meeting attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Holly Davis,
Pui Kwan, Mario Blaum, Kevin Pietschker, Sam Drake, Dorothy Wuss, John
Patterson, John Reynolds
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Sam Drake talked about geocaching. (See here for FAQs
about geocaching.) There are 10 geocaches hidden throughout Santa Teresa
Park. They are located with GPS coordinates given on a geocaching Website.
The geocaches are not buried. They are out in the open, but camouflaged.
Sam showed an example of one that was hidden in a small wooden branch.
The GPS has a 20-foot resolution, so it requires some searching to find
the cache. Inside the cache is a log that people sign and date before they
reseal the cache and replace.
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There was a person who got bitten by a rattlesnake while geocaching. He
was not actually searching for it at the time. He was sitting on a log
and put his hand back when a rattlesnake bit it. He had to spend 4 days
in the hospital. John Dorrance had to fill out a report on it.
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John Reynolds is a Boy Scout leader. He came to talk about the need for
Boy Scout service projects, particularly Eagle Scout projects. The scout
leaders have a monthly roundtable where they can share information about
projects, like trailwork. The projects can be at Santa Teresa or county-wide.
He can put the project information on the council webpage.We recommended
that he talk to Beeny Sander.
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John Reynolds said that the Boy Scouts had their camporee at Santa Teresa
Park in the past because of schedule conflicts at other campgrounds. He
said the scouts liked it, but some had problems with allergies because
of the grass.
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Pui Kwan said that he lives nearby. He's from Hong Kong and used to go
hiking there. He is looking for places to go hiking in this area.
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Mike got a grant of $125 from the Native Plant Society and Yvonne Menly
to give to 4H to establish a heritage garden at the Bernal Ranch. The 4H
was given an historical time period that the plants need to be from. They
can't be roses. Mike has a list.
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Forrest Williams asked Mike when we could have a dedication ceremony for
the Pyzak Ranch. The City of San Jose helped secure the funding that helped
the county purchase the ranch. The problem is that the Pyzak Ranch is not
open to the public yet. Even the adjacent Bear Tree Lot and the Bonetti
Ranch field are restricted. However, when the proposed trail from the Pyzak
Ranch to the Mine Trail at the Mounted Ranger Unit is completed, this will
provide an ideal occasion to dedicate both the trail and the Pyzak Ranch.
Joe Schultz is looking into this. If the trail is completed by then, we
can have the dedication in the spring.
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We talked about the Brockenhurst Drive entrance to the Mounted Ranger Unit.
The problem with it is that it is not in the park plan as a public entrance.
When Buck Norred was running his ranch, hundreds of cars per day were using
the entrance. However, the houses to the west were not there at that time.
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The house to the east of the Mounted Ranger Unit entrance was abandoned
by the previous owners. The bank foreclosed on it and is fixing it up to
sell it.
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Park report from John Patterson, park maintenance supervisor:
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Lydia, who lived in the caretaker's house at the Bernal Ranch, has moved
out since she's buying a house. They have offered the house to Calero maintenance
personnel. If no one takes it, they will offer it to all maintenance personnel.
They want to put a real caretaker in the house, like a camp host, who can
do maintenance around the ranch. They can live in the house for 4 years.
If no one from maintenance takes the house, it will be offered to park
operations personnel and rangers. It costs them about $650/month.
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Rob in the Pyzak house is with maintenance. There's a ranger in the Pedro
Bernal/Bonetti House. A maintenance person is in the Rosetto House at Fortini.
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The fence around the houses west of the Mounted Ranger Unit are done as
far as the parks department is concerned. They started to put a fence around
Cynthia's property, but she stopped them because they used metal posts
instead of wooden posts. John said the ground was too rocky, so it was
impractical to put in wooden posts. They recently painted the metal posts
and T-stakes. One section is not done. The department isn't going to do
anymore. If Cynthia wants the fence completed, she can have it done herself
on her side of the property line. The people at the west end seem to be
satisfied with the fence on their end.
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A fence needs a post every 16-20 feet. Pressure-treated wood is hazardous
to work with. You need respirators and goggles. There are environmental
restrictions. No arsenic-treated wood and no railroad ties are allowed.
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Mike talked about potential Boy Scout projects. Beeny has a list of projects.
The scouts can send a request to her if they want to do one. Mike recommends
that if they want to get involved in trail work, the scout leaders should
get involved with trails traning with Greg Bringelson. Other possible projects
that Mike suggested are rattlesnake control (taking measures to control
mice), heritage gardens, wagon re-building, orchard, owl boxes, new trail
around the Mounted Ranger Unit, cross country trail markers, water bars
on the Stile Ranch Trail, barbed wire removal, worm and compost bins, lookout
pipes on top of Coyote Peak, and help with restoration of the Johnson House
at the Buck Norred Ranch.
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The volunteer barbecue is on 10/16. We will delay our multimedia night.
We'll target Saturday Nov. 13. We'll tour the barn. When John leaves, we'll
do our show. We'll lock up. We can't cook there, so we'll have a potluck.
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Mike said that Joe Schultz is planning to come to our November meeting.
(He's in a conference and could not come to this meeting.)
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Ron: The farm equipment in the yard around the Bernal Ranch could use plaques
to describe the equipment. This might be a good Boy Scout project.
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Kevin and Mario: The entrance in front of Santa Teresa Spring is not in
the park master plan. It causes problems with people parking in front of
the neighbors' houses to reach the spring. The neighbors recommend that
the entrance be moved to the intersection of Manila Drive and Manila Way.
Manila Way is wider than Manila Drive and has more room for parking.
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Volunteer Hours:
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Kitty Monahan: 3
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Ronald Horii: 20
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Mike Boulland: 10
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Mario Blaum: 12
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Holly Davis: 20
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Dorothy Wuss: 3
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Kevin Pietschker: 20
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Pui Kwan: 3
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Sam Drake: 3
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Treasurer's report (Holly): balance is $603.44.
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Scheduled Events
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9/11/04: New Almaden Days
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9/18/04: Coastal Clean Up
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9/18/04: Santa Teresa Community Fest at George Page Park. We need to put
a table out.
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10/7/04: Next FOSTP meeting.
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10/8/04: Santa Teresa’s Historic Bernal Ranch: Owls on Silent Wings
6:30-8pm
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10/16/04: Volunteer barbecue.
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10/30/04: Movie Nite and Moon Viewing at the Bernal Ranch, 7:30-10:0 pm.
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11/13/04: Cleanup at the Bernal Ranch, contact Beeny Sander.
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