Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 5/5/05
	Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Holly Riley-Davis, Sam Drake, Kitty Monahan, Paul Vincze, Tony Ruiz, Mario Blaum, John Patterson, Cynthia Greenblatt, Jen Brecheen, Eric Brecheen, Kay Jackson, Ed Jackson The Upper Clubhouse at the Santa Teresa Golf Course was unavailable due to construction, so we met in Holly Davis' house. Ron has a new calendar page on the Website, mostly with park activities in Santa Teresa. There is a petition on the Brockenhurst entrance with 172 signatures. There are new signs in the Pueblo Area warning of entering restricted areas. John Patterson said it was because people have been going off-trail. Volunteers trails that they notice will be marked off. People are supposed to stay on marked trails only. This isn't targeted at Santa Teresa only. They will do this at any park where this is a problem. They want to make sure people don't trample on environmentally-sensitive areas. The parks director has the power to close off any area in the parks. Our bank account balance is $603.44 United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County membership provides a number of benefits. They provide a service for neighborhood groups to form associations with 5013c benefits, without being 5013c organizations. They have speakers that will come out to talk to member organizations. They have a meeting every 2 months. They give insurance training. They provide board of directors insurance. We are protected by their insurance. Our membership dues are due. It expires in June. It was $45. It went up to $150. (NAQCPA pays $345 for $3 million in coverage. They had to have a policy to get a park use permit.) We asked about what the policy covered. We voted to renew the membership (and policy). Kitty will get information on what the insurance covers. [There will be a workshop on Wed., June 15 at 6:15pm.] <> John Patterson talked about park maintenance. One crew covers Almaden Quicksilver, Santa Teresa, and Calero. Drew is back. Henry is back on the grounds crew. They have the most trails to cover in the parks system. There are 2 new employees. One is back-filling for an injured employee. They hope to have a real caretaker at the caretaker's house at the Bernal Ranch that will act like a camp host. Lydia Carlson, who used to be the caretaker, has left to join the sheriff's department. There is a new person living in the house now. The trail crews have been busy at the Bear Ranch. Greg Bringelson is the liaison to the trails groups. The Adopt-a-Trail crews need help with single-track trails in Santa Teresa Park. Crews can't do weed-whacking without a pumper nearby. They don't need a trail day to work on trails. Heidi can say who has adopted trails. They want to do trail days once per park, once per month. They need help identifying trails. They are stretched thin. The Coyote-Alamitos Canal is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, Vector Control has been called. Correctional crews are doing work at the Mounted Ranger Unit on the paddocks. They can't be used for trails. They can use the Wright Center crews. It costs $1400-1500 a day to use San Jose Conservation Corps crews. The Wright Center crews cost less. Heidi Fortwengler, who has been acting as the volunteer coordinator, is going on maternity leave. Eric Goodrich will take over. They are looking for a permanent person to fill the post. On the wet spot on the Mine Trail by the corral, they will turn it into a rock swale. They will put a split rail fence to keep cars out. The entrance will be blocked by a bollard 36-40" high. Kids have been skipping stones on the pond. We suggested putting pooper scoopers at the park entrances. Hellyer, Ed Levin, and Quicksilver have them. They want to remove/replace the barbed wire around the field across from Bernal School. They are trying out concrete fencing, molded to look like wood. There some at Metcalf and Grant Ranch. There will be a new concrete sign at the field at the Santa Teresa Park entrance. John Dorrance needs a volunteer helper to replace Brian Shively, who has a job with the parks department. The new trail from the Bernal Ranch to Buck Norred's is being mapped out. (Here is the map.) They have a rough draft of the trail route. Don Rocha is handling it. It may change depending on what environmental conditions they find when they put the trail in. Joe Schultz says to expect the trail to be put in by fall. The trail runs along the hillside above the canal, then goes behind the Mounted Ranger Unit and joins the Mine Trail. The trail does not use the Coyote-Alamitos Canal, but there is an access trail that crosses the canal, leading up from behind the Pedro Bernal House. We wondered if parts of the canal could also be used to access the trail. There are concerns about kids sliding down the hill above the pond. Will the trail be multi-use? We are in favor of that. We talked about naming the trail. There is a committee that does that. We can give recommendations. We suggested Pyzak, Norred, Bonetti, and Muwekma as possible names. We talked about the person who wrote about allowing gliders at the Pueblo Area. There is an ordinance that says no powered or non-powered airplanes are allowed. SCCMAS has a special use permit to use their field. That's what it would take to have a glider field. The update to the master plan for the park is coming up. We need ideas of what we want to see in the park. Mike has 3 copies of the plan. The plan was done by a consultant. Sam will try to get a new copy. Sam Drake talked about California Trail Day at Almaden Quicksilver on the New Almaden Trail. There were 45 people there, of which 22 were geocachers. (There is a geocache commemorating it.) The County Parks Commission approved $350K to restore the old barn at the Bernal Ranch. They chose the cheaper option, which is to tear it down and rebuild it, preserving some of the wood. Mike wants a meeting room or classroom there. (Here is a report on the restoration options.) There will be a trail day on the Rocky Ridge Trail Saturday and Sunday, May 7-8 [Sunday was cancelled.] Coyote Bear Ranch Dedication May 14, 2005, 10:00 am. Historical plaque dedication at Mike Boulland's house in New Almaden, May 15, 2005. Kathleen Hooper is in charge of the outdoor recreation program. The first event will be the wildflower scavenger hunt on May 7. Ron is planning to do an outdoor photography class. Sam may be interested in doing a program on geocaching. The city of San Jose has a Community Leadership Academic Training program. We submit a form to the city saying who we are. They  help form organizations and inform them of the rules. We got a note from Neighborhood Development Center, 43 East Gish Road, Suite 100, San Jose, CA, Phone: (408) 392-6771, E-mail: NDC@sanjoseca.gov, website: www.sanjoseca.gov/prns/ndc.htm. They have programs to help neightborhood organizations. Paul talked about people speeding on Curie from Camino Verde to San Ignacio. People are drag-racing. The city sent traffic people out to measure the traffic. Paul would like to see a stop sign in the middle, but it doesn't meet guidelines. Ron passed out slideshows of the Volunteers Recognition Dinner, the Santa Teresa Spring Wildflower slideshow shown at the meeting, California Trail Day at Almaden Quicksilver 4/23/05. He also showed pictures of the new trail route from the Bernal Ranch to Buck Norred's. Volunteer Hours (March-April) Ronald Horii: 21 March, 64 April Mike Boulland: 15 March, 10 April Holly Davis:  9 Kitty Monahan:  3 Sam Drake:  10 March, 15 April Paul Vincze: 30 Tony Ruiz: 30 Return to the Friends of Santa Teresa Park Home Page

Created 6/1/05 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park