Notes from First Meeting

Post date: Oct 15, 2009 8:21:23 PM

We Met in the Park 6:00 PM Tuesday 9/20/11

1. Goals of this group
   1. Identify needs of the park
   2. Identify resources for filling needs
      1. Things this group can do
      2. Things that the city must do
      3. Outside resources
2. Focus Items
   1. Dog Park
   2. Landscape/Hardscape
      1. Develop the circle
      2. Add Trees/ Shade
         • Vicki Ortiz and Chuck Hagenmaier have contacts with Our City Forest and have planted hundreds of trees in the past. They will meet with Tony (city parks maintenance supervisor) and discuss how and where we can plant trees. Fall/Winter is a good time to get trees planted so we need to move fast on this.
      3. Complete the entry pathway & larger sign at 22nd and Jackson,
      4. Benches
      5. Bike Racks (Malissa has a contact who may give/install racks)
      6. Bulletin Board near Restrooms on 22nd St.
   3. Community Outreach
      1. Field day/Community events/Kids engagement through schools and after school activities or teen center
   4. Need Liaisons with: (Volunteers/Nominations, some of whom were not present but were nominated because they seem to be the best person for the job)
      1. Santa Clara Valley Water District for Creek Development (Pat Columbe)
      2. 13th St NAC (Malissa Magallanez)
      3. Empire Gardens School (Sonia Barron)
      4. County Parks Foundation (Tony Magallanez)
      5. Northside Neighborhood Association (Chuck Hagenmaier)
      6. San Jose High (Steve Novotny)
   5. Maintenance (Graffiti, Weeding, Litter pickup, Water leaks)
      1. Contact:Tony DeAnda, Parks Maintenance Supervisor
         • tony.deanda@sanjoseca.gov
         • Tel. 408.975.7206
      2. Group can report issues directly, and may also compile into a petition from the group to submit to the city
      3. Can the group get a copy of the Contractor’s Punch List so we know what issues have been noted
      4. Does the City use a Materials Recovery Facility to sort Recyclables from trash, and if not, can we get recycling bins in addition to waste bins.
      5. If community members collect refuse, where can we put it for the city to pick up and dispose of? (Possibly yard at the north end of the Dog Park)
   6. Soccer Bowl
      1. Don Gagliardi spoke on the history and goals of the Soccer Bowl in the context of the Soccer Community:

The master plan for the Umberto Abronzino Soccer Bowl at Watson Park calls for a small field house, with restrooms and a concession stand, to be built adjacent to the fields. There is currently no city funding for this, so Don is hoping to galvanize the soccer community to raise funds to build it. The adult children of the late Umberto Abronzino (who is in the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame and is regarded as the father of soccer in Santa Clara Valley) are hoping to fund a memorial for him on-site, and the field house would serve this purpose. A small sum of initial funding has been obtained through the Little Italy project (the Abronzino's have asked that the fundraising for the soccer field house be administered through Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation, www.ssvcf.org, a 501c(3) non-profit which Don G leads.) Don hopes to get the San Jose Earthquakes organization involved in supporting the efforts of that group. It is Don’s intention to keep FoWP apprised of efforts in this regard and to enlist neighborhood support for fundraising events when they occur.

1. Meeting participants suggested that the Field House might be able to serve the local community by including a meeting room that could be used for a supervised Teen Center and also could be used for meeting such as Friends of Watson Park. They suggested that the building include a kitchen that could be used for community fundraisers such as a spaghetti feed. A covered outdoor eating area would benefit all.
2. Don said that the City was gathering Soccer League sign ups to use the fields starting with the 2012 season
1. Community Garden
   1. Meeting Attendees felt that the Community Gardens were a high priority since they serve the local community.
2. Skate Park
   1. The location of the proposed Skate Park was noted.
1. Organizational Needs of the Group: (Get ideas for what works from Co Parks and from Friends of Bakesto and Friends of Joyce Ellington Library)
   1. Don G gave us the following history:
      1. There was a pre-existing Friends of Watson Park (FoWP) which went dormant when the park shut down. It is an official, autonomous sub-committee of 13th St. NAC with over $650 currently in its account, under the umbrella of the NAC's 501c(3) charitable non-profit status, so we are able to accept tax-deductible donations. Don sees the new group as a revival of the prior one, much like the current Friends of Ellington Library,
   2. Structure: Chair? Steering Committee?
   3. Standing Sub Committees?
   4. Communication
      1. Existing
         • Email all who sign up
         • Northside Newsletter
         • Northside Facebook Page
      2. Needed
         • someone to phone those without email (3 on list)
         • Forward to other local lists
         • Fliers at dog park, bathroom, Bakesto Park, other dogparks
      3. Fundraising
         1. Bake Sale
         2. Spaghetti Feed
         3. Business Sponsors
         4. Event (Like Chalk Art?