Meeting called to order at 7:17 PM PRESENT: [15 people present]
Members: Robert Solis (President) Loui Tucker (Secretary) Sabine Zappe (Treasurer) John Leyba (Board Member) Joe Carpenter Jose Gonzalez Brian Habekoss Jens Hansen
Beth Kramer Larry Kress Michael LaRocca Marisol Leyba Shelby Palms
Guests: Lara Tran (representing City Councilmember Pierreluigi Oliverio’s office)
Jason Condit (representing San Jose Parks Dept.)
BUENA VISTA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION Minutes of the Meeting Tuesday, March 29, 2011 At the Home of John and Marisol Leyba at 323 Mayellen
MINUTES - Approved of prior meeting presented and approved as posted. TREASURER’S REPORT BVNA currently has $495.27. Two checks have been received for
dues that have not been deposited.
NEW-TO-THE-‘HOOD Jens Hansen recently moved into the neighborhood, lives at 458 Richmond. He found out about the BVNA and its meetings when he was shopping for a hot tub and the owner, Chet Lockwood (lives on N. Buena Vista), mentioned it to him.
PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS 1. Status of Buena Vista Park and the Extension. Jason Condit reviewed the plan for the
renovation of the existing park and the park extension. The goal is to make one big park with a seamless transition so it will not be obvious that this was originally two residential lots. There will be a child-tricycle path around the grassy area, including a series of ride-thru trellises. There will be a picnic area with an arbor. They will remove the fast- growing vines on the existing side of the park, as well as the various tree stumps, and replace the vines with less-aggressive vegetation. There will be two new concrete signs and the existing wooden sign will be removed. The new signs will be off the grass area and mounted on the fencing. There will be some additional play structures and one par-course “pull-up” station. The type of grass (slow-grow, no-mow, low-water) that will be used is still under discussion but it will be grass. There will be more trees planted and more native plants. The tan bark will be removed and a rubberized surface installed.
There is also an issue with the power lines and poles, and the wires running near the ground that present a tripping hazard. The old basement walls will have to be removed as well.
The first bit of bad news is they cannot work on the NEW section before starting the renovation of OLD section. The park will need to be worked on all at once, which means it will have to be closed “for a while.”
Additional bad news: This plan has to go through the Parks Department, then the Planning Department and then the City Council for approval. Then it has to go to bid (possibly with incentives if completed early). We’re looking at 18 months before we’ll have the park.
Minutes of BVNA General Meeting 3/29/2011
Joe asked about City ordinances that might be developed to keep adults from hanging around the park alone (homeless, drug deals, etc.). For example: San Francisco has an ordinance that requires any adult to be with a child. We will certainly want “No Alcohol” signs posted. If there are benches, they should have barriers in the middle to making sleeping on them more difficult.
Marijuana Dispensaries. Lara Tran reported on the medical marijuana store that opened at the West San Carlos shopping center. Code Enforcement is looking into this problem. These stores cannot be within 500 feet of a residence and this one is clearly in violation of that regulation. Four similar stores are in the BVNA, and it was remarked that there are over 100 in the City limits.
The City is the process of limiting such establishments, but the concern then comes up that if the County does not develop something similar, these stores will simply move into un-incorporated pockets, and there are a lot of such areas in this part of town. We should encourage City and County officials to get on the same page and set up the same rules and limits.
With all that, it will still take as long as 90 days to actually remove the store from its present location, because of the legal processes that must be followed. Lara said she would stay on top of this situation and keep us advised.
Misc. Announcements. Lara announced: a. ‘Bag-It’ Movie will be shown on Monday, April 4. You’ll received a free cloth bag if you
RSVP.
The stop sign at Menker that was hit was fixed (and rather promptly!)
Monday, May 2 there will be a Budget Meeting in District 6 at the Hoover Theater.
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
There is a sign up at 361 S. Willard about a proposal to put in a lot of units. Nobody has been able to reach the Planning Dept. or the City Architect. There will surely be density and parking issues.
There continues to be dumping at various locations along S. Willard. Sometimes the same couch moves from one side of the street to another, or into the street, taking a parking space.
The BVNA now has a new phone number 408-641-9764. It is a voice-mail message phone that Jose set up through gmail. Messages will be sent to bvna.phone@gmail.com and Robert will be taking the calls (via email or voice mail). Loui will make the change on the BVNA website.
There is another meeting about the “Friends of the Bascom Library” on April 2, 10:30AM- noon at the Farmer Insurance offices of Jeff Senigaglia at 950 S. Bascom, Suite 2113. The goal is to get the library opened by September 2011. The meeting after that one is on May 7, 10:30-noon, at the Rose Garden Library on Naglee Avenue. There is a petition that you can sign on-line. Robert will post the link.
There is a big push for equity and parity, that the available resources should be shared out so all the communities get a little, so libraries can all be opened at least a few days in all locations, instead of a few libraries being opened all week while others stay closed.
Minutes of BVNA General Meeting 3/29/2011
The Rose Garden Library is available to organizations for meetings - for free. There is an on-line application process. This represents a nice option. Robert will look into the possibility of meeting there next month.
United Neighborhoods is holding a Solar Forum on Saturday, April 30 from 9:00 AM- 3:00 PM. There will be classes and credits available for those needing them for their CAP grant.
Loui and Sabine will be leading the yearly weed cleanup on Moorpark west of Leigh, across from City College. It will be April 9 this year, and we will gather with implements of destruction at 10:00 AM. Hopefully, with this early start this spring, the weeds are still pretty small and it will not be such a big job.
Reminders: a. Elections of officers coming up soon. b. Dues should be given to Sabine. Joe noted that the BVNA website still has dues at
$20 per year, and that should be changed to $25 per year.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Shelby’s bee hive has swarmed again. If anyone would like a hive in their backyard (and the honey they provide), get in touch with Shelby.
The next BVNA meeting will be on Tuesday, April 26 - hopefully at the Rose Garden Library. Robert will advise once he finds out if it’s available.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.