|
- This
was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting
link for this Zoom meeting.
- Attendees: Mike
Boulland, Kim Gardner, Ron
Horii, David Huntley, Joan Murphy, Katrina Semene
- There
was no meeting in June due to Mike Boulland having surgery. We tried to
have a meeting, but didn't know the password for the Zoom account. We
did have work days on May 2, June 6, and August 1.
- There was no meeting or work day in July because of the 4th of July holiday.
- Our next meeting will be September 4. Our
next work day will be September 5, and it is listed as a volunteer
event on Samaritan. We expect external volunteer groups to show up. We
will probably be weeding and cleaning up the banyards to prepare them
for La Fuente.
- Katrina is the acting interpreter at the Bernal Ranch until October.
- We need a vice president. Nobody volunteered.
- Ron showed a slideshow:
- Our work days on May 2, June 6, and August 1.
- 5/10: Our "Mothers and Flowers" hike.
- 6/26: break-in of the East Barn, the door was broken, but nothing was taken.
- 7/8: prescribed burn and firefighter training in the Pueblo Area.
- 7/10:
cut branches were piled up on Manila Way, Greenwaste said they were not
going to haul them away. They were not trees typically found in the
park. Alex Ale said that Park Maintenance didn't put them there.
Somebody picked them up because they were gone later.
- 7/10: somebody left a wall plate with Mary and Baby Jesus on it at the shrine at Santa Teresa Spring. It was gone later.
- 7/10: there was a dead turtle floating in the pond in Santa Teresa Spring. Other turtles were picking at it.
- 7/17:
there was a sign on the Calero Creek Trail about a proposed 177-unit
housing development on 20202 Harry Road. It was by the Neighbors for
Responsible Growth and was seeking for community action in response to
the project. (This is the community action form.)
- There is a proposed 99-unit housing development called Argyre Farms
near the Stile Ranch entrance between McKean Road and San Vicente
Avenue and behind the homes on Fortini Road. This could affect traffic
going to the Stile Ranch entrance of the park.
- Katrina talked about news in the parks.
- There
is a new Volunteer Program Manager, Veronica Johson. She takes Julie
Lee's old position and starts 9/15/25. She worked with volunteers at
the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and was with the National Park
Service for 20 years. Blair Pagano, who was filling the Program Manager
role temporarily, will go back to being the Volunteer Coordinator. Iam
McDermod, who was temporarily serving as Volunteer Coordinator, is
going on paternity leave at the end of August, returning in late
November. Veronica wants to meet with the long-term volunteers.
- Ali Henry is the new chief ranger. She was a ranger at Calero/Quicksilver.
- Starting
next Tuesday, they will be taking requests for school programs. They
will be on Fridays at the Bernal Ranch. Other programs are at Anderson,
Martial Cottle, Chitactac, Quicksilver, and Alviso. (Martial Cottle's
programs are on Wednesdays.) There are supposed to be 6 interpreters,
but there are only 4, so programs had to be cut back.
- Lee, Youngmee, and Robin have adopted the garden boxes at the Bernal Ranch. They are weeding them and have planted 3 of them.
- The
garden boxes are falling apart. The wood is rotting. The paint is
peeling. Mike bought paint. We partially scraped and re-painted the
boxes during our work days. The boxes need repair, but their long-term
fate is still undecided.
- The Adopt-a-Spot program is for
volunteers who want to adopt a particular spot or trail. FOSTP
long-term volunteers are land stewards. We've essentially adopted all
of the Bernal Ranch, so there's no need for us to adopt-a-spot.
- Joan
said that the chicken coop should have a thermometer in it to record
the temperature inside the coop to make sure the chickens aren't
getting too hot.
- Treasurer's report by David:
- We
got our Beautify San Jose Cycle 7 Grant for $1500. It runs from 4/1/25
to 3/31/25. Our previous Cycle 6 grant ended 12/31/24. There's an
unfunded gap from 1/1/25 to 3/31/25.
- Our bank balance is
$1965.28. The allocation for future expenditures breaks down to $377.95
for event supplies, $440 for communications, $100 for our PO box, $200
for UNSCC membership, $150 for website hosting, $170 for Zoom, $500
minimum to avoid bank fees ($10/month), $27.33 unrestricted.
- A
total of $998.76 is unreimbursed (spent by Mike): $118.86 on
3/8/25 to Turbify for our website, $159.90 on 2/8/25 for Zoom, $20 on
5/23/25 for the California SI-100 form, $600 penalty on 6/27/25 for
California late filing, $100 deposit on 5/7/25 to make sure we have a
$500 minimum in the bank.
- We talked about becoming a
501(c)(3) non-profit, instead of a 501(c)(4). It will mean that
donations made to us will be tax-deductible. The filing fee may be up
to $600. We need to find out what the impact will be on our Beautify
San Jose Grant.
- We talked about the new Presidio
Tunnel Tops in San Francisco. We should take a field trip there in the
spring when the wildflowers are blooming.
- We need to have our
newsletter ready for La Fuente, which is on 9/20. It needs to be
available for Mike to print copies before he goes on vacation on 9/12.
Ron will be editing the newsletter. Send stories to him. Printing in
color is very expensive. It is cheaper to print in black and white, but
the pictures lose their impact. We could print most of the copies in
black and white and only a few in color. The color ones could be used
as desk copies and to hand out to VIPs. We could put it online like NAQCPA does and email it to people or have a flyer with the URL to retrieve it.
It needs to be available before Mike goes on vacation on 9/12. Joan
wants to write an article on bats and has pictures. Ron will edit the
newsletter as usual and will fill in the spaces after the main articles
are in place.
- At
the Park Commission meeting, they discussed the Fortini Road Trail.
Construction will start next year. There was a community meeting and a
Zoom meeting to discuss the options for the development of the
property. Neighbors along Fortini Road were concerned about increased
traffic on Fortini Road and were opposed to putting a parking lot at
the Stile Ranch end.
- La Fuente will be held on 9/20/25.
- Ron and David will be the lead event volunteers for FOSTP. Mike will be on vacation from 9/12 to 9/26.
- Booth
setup at 2 pm, volunteers arrive at 3 pm, event starts at 4 pm, ends at
7 pm. Volunteers are needed to clean up and put away supplies.
- Ron, David, and park volunteers will setup the booth.
- We need to buy supplies for the booth and prizes for the games, which can be pencils, pens, and candy.
- The games will be sponge toss, cornhole pumpkin toss, table games.
- We
will load up the booth supplies and games in Mike's truck and
store them in one of the barns. After the event, we'll put them back
into the barn and store them until Mike can pick them up after he gets
back from vacation.
- Joan will buy pizza for the volunteers. Dorene will buy candy for prizes. Kim will get pumpkins for booth decoration and prizes.
- We'll have historical displays.
- Ron will bring posters with pictures of the park and FOSTP activities.
- Meet at Mike's house on 8/22 at 2:00 to discuss the logistics further.
- IBM
is closing its Almaden Research Center (ARC) and moving the employees
to its Silicon Valley Lab on Bailey Avenue. They haven't revealed what
they are going to do with the 700-acre ARC property, which adjoins
Santa Teresa Park. Most of it is undeveloped open space in the hills,
used for cattle grazing. Most of the Stile Ranch Trail runs through an
easement on IBM's property. However, there is a flat portion that runs
along the Calero Creek Trail. It is a retired orchard and could easily
be developed. We need to keep an eye on future plans for the
property.
Return to the Friends of Santa Teresa Park
Home Page
|
|
