T J Martin Park neighbors, with back yards adjacent to the park from Burchell Avenue to Weimar Avenue, woke up to the sounds of chain saws, trucks and heavy equipment at 8:30 am the morning of Thursday, Oct. 8.
After years of allowing the growth of weeds, volunteer tree sprouts, and dense brush build-up, the fence line area was in for a good grooming! A strike team from Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) brought workers and equipment to clear out the large area that had become a dumping ground for litter, and a nocturnal meeting place for partying.
Dead limbs
Dead trees
Mulch pile removed
Tree trimmed
Trimming by the fence
The large mountain of mulch, deposited three years ago, was moved to the Fleet St. rose garden where MFPA member, Larry Sasscer, spread it among the roses and native plants to deter weed growth and hold in moisture. Tree canopies were lifted to provide an easy sight line down the fence line while shrubs were pruned or removed to enhance the area.
The PRNS team worked from 8:30 am to noon clearing out and cleaning up the former nuisance area which had been left to grow wild for the last ten years. Martin-Fontana Parks Association brought the blighted area to the attention of PRNS, and thanks them for their hard work and effort they made to clean it up. Now it is once again an area of TJ Martin Park where walkers can enjoy the variety of birds and native plants along the fence line.
*Thanks to our MFPA President, Linda Wilson, for the story and photos
TJ Martin and Jeffrey Fontana Parks are part of Maintenance District One, divided into three areas, or routes. Our parks are two of twelve facilities including the Almaden library and community center and four other parks. The staff caring for all 12 facilities consists of one Gardener and two Grounds workers. We currently have an unfilled position of Maintenance Assistant that needs to be filled. Two mowers are assigned to mow the 82.2 acres of turf in the district, so we are assigned every other Friday for our mowing days. On June 13 the soccer field renovation was mowed for the first time.
Irrigation, weeds, and rodents continue to be our worst nightmares. Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services are discussing the possibility of creating an irrigation strike team for the city to help with our never ending problems with our ancient irrigation system.
Remember, if you see an irrigation break, or something in the park that needs to be taken care of, send an email, with picture, if possible, to rzahner1@mac.com.
MFPA Vice President, Richard Zahner
Tell the San Jose City Council to improve the maintenance of our Parks
The San Jose City Council approved some token additions to the 2017/2018 budget for parks maintenance. We are not likely to see any improvements, as the additions will go to parks that are rated much lower than ours. There are still NO plans to fund the rehabilitation of neighborhood parks. If the city council would take a realistic approach to maintaining our parks, we would definitely see some improvements. Otherwise it will be business as usual in our parks and they will continue to deteriorate.
So how do we get the council to take action that will benefit Jeffrey Fontana and T. J. Martin parks? The answer lies in LETTING THE COUNCIL MEMBERS KNOW THAT WE WANT TO SEE CHANGE AND THAT WE VOTE. Here is an example of something that happened during the council’s last budget planning session. There were a token number of attendees from MFPA and other San Jose park advocates. However, one group that wanted a budget addition of $183,000 for their cause showed up in force. They had Tee Shirts that identified them and they took the opportunity to make their two-minute pitches to the council. The end result was that they got their $183,000 addition. And by the way, their addition came out of the Park’s budget.
That action was effective but it’s only one way to get the council member’s attention. Here are some suggestions that all of us could take to make our concerns known:
Send hard copy letters to our council member and to the other city council members expressing your concerns. The letters are even more effective if they are signed by multiple residents. If there is a pending discussion of parks or park budgets send the letters to the City Clerk as well.
Hard copy letters are the most effective but e-mails will also work.
Attend the neighborhood budget planning sessions.
Attend the pertinent council sessions and be vocal. All attendees are allowed two minutes to make their points to the council. You can include PowerPoint presentations if you like. The atmosphere is not overwhelming and the Mayor and Council members will listen to what you have to say. The more attendees who speak on the same subject the more effective the message will be.
Continue to support MFPA as membership numbers count.
Pay attention to MFPA requests for support when they are posted on the web site and/or sent via e-mail. We will alert you to the important issues.
And please consider joining San Jose Park Advocates. There is no membership fee but you will get timely and insightful information about overall San Jose park issues. The website is: www.sjparksadvocates.org Click on “Contact” to add your information.
Remember there is strength in numbers!
Richard Grialou, MFPA Political/Agency Liaison Chair
SAN JOSE — Preserving some of the city’s most prized natural treasures has been an ongoing challenge for the Martin-Fontana Parks Association, which hosts its seventh annual “Heart of the Park” fundraiser and membership drive on Saturday.
This year, the volunteer group is spotlighting its struggle to maintain or upgrade TJ Martin and Jeffrey Fontana parks with dwindling resources.
The group and San Jose’s parks and recreation department want to see new irrigation systems and turf installed in three areas, including the soccer fields. Native plants and mature oak trees thrive in the 33 acres that make up both parks, but non-native assets such as a grove of redwoods have been struggling to survive this past year due to budget cuts, drought and even gophers and squirrels.
On Monday, April 11th, 2016, Martin-Fontana Parks Association members attended the San Jose City Council Parks Study Session at the San Jose City Hall, City Council Chambers. Please click here for a video link to Study Session.
*NOTE: Public comments start at the 39 minute mark and the Martin-Fontana Parks Association presentation starts at the 42 minutes mark.
Martin-Fontana Parks Association included this slide show to accompany our comments before the Mayor, Council Members, and the Dept of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS). The following MFPA members spoke before the Council on these subjects relating to or two parks:
Introduction – Linda Wilson
Irrigation – Linda Wilson
Rodent Damages – Rod Carpenter
Park Safety – Rod Carpenter
Weed Control – Rich Grialou
Volunteers – Mike Kalashian
Sense of Community – Rosy Bowring
We encourage you to email your park maintenance concerns to the following city officials:
Property owners are outraged at the lack of maintenance in our Almaden Valley parks, as the City of San Jose fails to allocate appropriate funds and staff to keep the parks not only maintained, but safe.
How Does this Affect You??
1) Shabby weed infested parks affect property values.
2) Weeds left to seed are spreading all over the neighborhood. Do you like weeding??
3) The gophers have taken over not only our parks, but have now invaded the yards of many adjacent houses causing damage to homeowner’s landscape. If you like your gardens and want to keep your sprinklers from being chewed like a toy, you’d better hope they don’t make it to your yard.
4) The grass areas you once enjoyed with your families, friends and neighbors are now so demolished by the burrowing holes of rodents that it is unsafe to even walk on without fear of breaking your ankle.
5) You know the big check you just cut for your property taxes??? Well the part of your money that is supposed to pay for the City parks is being allocated elsewhere, while your neighborhood parks suffer. Seem fair?
6) Reminiscing about the day of green lawns before water restrictions? While you conserve, the City of San Jose fails to replace our broken 1980s irrigation system that is corroded, leaks continuously and sprays tens of thousands of gallons of wasted water in the wrong areas as the rest of the turf dries up and dies off. The system is so old that they can no longer find replacement sprinkler heads to replace the broken ones.
Join your fellow Almaden Valley neighbors as they stand up,
and demand the
City Council and Mayor support and maintain our parks.
Together we can make a difference.
We encourage you to email your park maintenance concerns to the following city officials:
Thanks to Martin-Fontana Parks Association Vice President Larry Sasscer and a crew from Parks, Recreation, Neighborhood Services led by Jose, 26 additional native plants were added to the large chipped area in west TJ Martin Park.
Poles in the picture are for native grape plants.
Funds to purchase the plants were provided MFPA. Thanks for a job well done, guys!
With California facing the most severe drought in history, and residents being asked to reduce usage by 30%, the City of San José takes its responsibility to conserve water seriously. PRNS is dedicated to maintaining our facilities in a way that both conserves water and preserves our parks. Although public parks are exempt from the watering restrictions, we plan to reduce our potable (fresh) water usage while keeping areas of our parks green, to provide our residents a respite from the drought conditions and a safe environment to recreate.
The Martin-Fontana Parks Association (MFPA) and the TJ Martin and Jeffrey Fontana neighborhoods would like to thank all those who participated in Saturday’s park planting and mulching event. We especially would like to thank the large number of volunteers from the Church of the Latter Day Saints for their service to our community. We were amazed that the volunteers completed all five areas in one day!
Signing in the late comers
MFPA worked closely with the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) to plan the conversion of water thirsty turf to wood chip mulch and drought tolerant plants. PRNS put a lot of effort into prepping the five areas by modifying the irrigation to limited low flow heads to support a modest amount of vegetation to make the areas attractive. The perimeters near sidewalks and curbs were dug down and the areas scraped so the wood chip layer would be thick enough to block weeds, and to help keep the sidewalks clean.
Sixty pink and red low maintenance carpet roses were planted and should look fantastic as they begin to bloom. Additionally, about 40 attractive drought tolerant flowers and shrubs will be planted this spring and in the fall.
From PRNS we would like to thank Nicolle Burnham for her collaborative work to plan and organize the project; Jaime Ruiz for helping plan the project, supply the PRNS staff, and for purchasing the 60 carpet roses that were planted; and Kevin Gainor and his Capital Improvement Team, who did the irrigation and trenching work, as well as augering all the holes for planting. Steve Hammack and Mike Will were early initiators of this project when Steve met with MFPA last spring to begin discussions on the topic of reducing water use and maintenance in our underfunded San Jose parks.
From our local park area, we thank Troy Trede, Louie Anaya, Joyce DelReal and others who delivered plants and tools, helped prepare the areas and helped manage the volunteers, while working side by side with them.
We could not have managed this project without our San Jose Adopt-a-Park Division led by Mollie Tobias, who reached out and organized students needing community service hours and the wonderful volunteers from the Church of the Latter Day Saints to help our own neighborhood volunteers with this large effort.
And last but certainly not least, we thank District 10 Council member Johnny Khamis and his staffer Michele Dexter, who facilitated communication and helped the project stay on track. This “pilot” project was not without its problems as PRNS and our nonprofit association worked through and finally resolved several issues of working together as a team.
It is our earnest hope that the pitfalls we encountered will be used as guidelines are produced for further projects of this nature in other large parks in San Jose.
Warm Regards,
Linda Wilson, MFPA President
Larry Sasscer, MFPA Vice President and Project Coordinator
MFPA Board of Directors
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MARTIN-FONTANA PARKS ASSOCIATION 