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- Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ronald Horii, Kitty Monahan, Paul
Vincze, Jenel Vincze, Mario Blaum, Holly Davis, Sam Drake, Ed Jackson,
Woody Collins, Jan Shriner, Robin Schaut, Doug Hutten
- We reviewed last meeting's minutes. We talked about the
proposal to have cows grazing in Santa Teresa Park to improve the
conditions for the bay checkerspot butterfly and about the Coyote
Valley development plans. Ron talked about the meeting at the Almaden
Community Center about the Coyote Valley wildlife. At that meeting
there were presentations about how the Coyote Valley is a very
important corridor for animal migrations between the Santa Cruz
Mountains and the Diablo Range. They also talked about how Coyote Ridge
was restored to prime butterfly habitat by allowing controlled grazing.
The side effect is that the ridge is covered with wildflowers. Holly
asked why park money should be spent on grazing if ranchers are already
providing grazing on their properties. The answer may be in the soil.
The ranchlands that are being used for grazing may not have the
serpentine soil that provides the habitat needed by the butterflies. In
parks where cattle are being used for grazing, like Ed Levin and Grant,
they are not allowed to graze year-round.
- We voted to send a letter commenting on the Coyote Valley
Environmental Impact Report to preserve animal crossings in the valley.
- John Dorrance ordered cement to repair the retaining wall
at Santa Teresa Spring.
- The steep volunteer trail from the Hidden Springs Trail to
the Ohlone Trail near the entrance on Bernal Road has been closed off.
There is an endangered plant species there.
- Robin Schaut and Jan Shriner talked about the next Fandango
Day, which will be called California Ranch Spirit Day. It will be held
on August 25 in the evening. Last year's Fandango Day focused on the
founding of the valley, at the time of the DeAnza Party, around 1776, .
This year will focus on those founders' descendants, from 1800-1900.
Olga Loya will be performing as Juana Briones. The El Grito de la
Cultural dancers will doing traditional Mexican dances. Food will be
served around 5:30 pm. Next will be the dancers and Juana Briones.
There will be an activities period from 7:30-8:30 pm. Volunteers are
needed to help out with parking, unloading, distributing flyers. The
flyers will be bilingual. They can't be distributed to schools. Some
ideas: We suggested working with St. Julie's church and seeing if they
want to participate. See if Patrick Joice can speak about the ranching
days. See if Chuck Ferrier, who gave blacksmithing demos at the BGJ
Ranch opening, can come. Get old farm equipment. Ask 4H to bring
animals. Have the mounted rangers bring a horse. There will be no parks
booth, but there will be an info booth. We can make flyers. Last year,
200 people came, and we ran out of food. 200 is OK. 500 is too much.
Flyers were passed out for 3 streets beyond the ranch, but not many
neighbors came. We suggested putting up a banner at the ranch. We could
advertise at the farmer's
market at Kaiser Santa Teresa. We can dress up in period dress. Ask
John Dorrance if he can show movies in the barn. Last year's tent cost
$1600 to rent. By having the event in the evening, we won't need it.
- Doug Hutten runs a kids and horses program with the Santa
Clara County Adoptive Parent Association. They do field trips with
kids. He has worked with autistic and special needs kids with horses.
He's now working with foster kids. He's at the Almaden Equestrian
Center. He came to talk about the old corral at the Pueblo Area, which
is falling apart. The Santa Clara County Horsemen fixed it in the past
for events, but now the county charges too much: $600 to ride and do an
equestrian obstacle course. There could be fundraisers, getting
equestrian groups to participate. We suggesting talking to Julie Lee,
Drew Merry, Jim O'Connor, who is the head of maintenance, or Eric
Goodrich about repairing the corral.
- We had $273.44 in our account. Mario Blaum donated $60. Ed
Jackson donated $60. The total is now $333.40.
- We talked about the UNSCC membership, which
costs $200 and includes insurance. Ron attended a class at UNSCC on
event planning and
insurance. He found out that we could get the membership fee for free
by applying for a CAP grant from the City of San Jose. The grant will
cover liability insurance, but only through UNSCC because it is the
cheapest available. The next CAP grant application
is due in January. The UNSCC membership covers general liability during
regular meetings. Special events are extra and typically cost $100.
Only 2 UNSCC events cost more than $100. They were large and cost $150
and $200. UNSCC insurance does not cover directors and officers
liability. Holly got a quote for Directors & Officers insurance,
which cost $1200. Most D&O claims are related to employee issues
and sexual harassment. The county, like the city, is self-insured, and
they typically deny claims. If someone is injured at our meetings, and
if they can't get money from the county, they will go after us. If the
UNSCC insurance pays off, they will be less likely to go after us as
individuals. Mike said he talked to John Goldsworthy, who is in charge
of insurance for the county parks, and Tony Guiles, who is in charge of
insurance for the county. The county insurance does not cover meetings
and activities. Mike also talked to an insurance agent, who said that
$200 for liability insurance is a good deal.
- We voted to pay the $200 UNSCC fee (8 in favor, 3 opposed)
and to have Ron apply for the Cap grant next year to pay for next
year's fee, along with the cost of the website and for 5031c3
application fees ($500).
- In future meetings, we will be focusing on the park's
master plan, which should be coming up in 2 months. The designers have
been hired. They will come and discuss their plans with us.
- Ed talked about problems at Santa Teresa Spring. The
spring's drain got clogged, which flooded the street. He has called the
rangers to come when he saw troublemakers at the spring, but the
rangers said they came too late to catch them. Ed suggests putting
cameras by the spring to record the license plates of vandals.
- June 24 will be Festival in the Park at Hellyer. Mike will
be helping in the information booth. Ron will be taking pictures.
- Volunteer Hours for May:
- Ronald Horii: 41 hours
- Mike Boulland: 30 hours
- Holly Davis: 10 hours
- Kitty Monahan: 3 hours
- Paul Vincze: 20 hours
- Jenel Vincze: 2 hours
- Mario Blaum: 12 hours
- Sam Drake: 15 hours
- Ed Jackson: 6 hours
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