February 2001 editor: Larry Ames

Happy New Year to you and yours. What has your board been doing? Well, with the election season now over, we can redirect our efforts to community based projects. So that's where we are headed. But first a report on old business.

Long's: WGNA met with Long's architects in mid-January. Present at the meeting were WGNA board members Sharon Fierro, Jim Gardner and myself, as well as representatives from the immediate neighborhood, Janice and Brad Santos. The purpose of the meeting was threefold: 1) to review Long's list of commitments; 2) to review the final building design; and 3) to review the plan for demolition of the old building and construction of the new building.

I'm happy to report that it appears that Long's will live up to the commitments that WGNA and the community helped negotiate. Regarding the building design, only a few items remain to be clarified regarding the enhancement of the front door, upper level windows and the Lincoln Avenue canopy. Overall the Long's building remains consistent in design and materials with the design guidelines in effect for downtown Willow Glen. On the construction side, without going into a lot of detail here, Long's will provide a construction phase representative to the immediate neighborhood to take care of problems impacting residents. All indications are that the Long's building will be a quality architectural addition to Lincoln Avenue and not just knock-off of a suburban mall Long's in Blossom Hill or West San Jose. It should be considered "the" example of what corporations, developers or property owners who want to develop in downtown Willow Glen should do to add to, and not detract from, our community. The building Long's initially wanted to put in was very different from what will now go in. Long's is to be congratulated for doing the right thing.

However, the positive result for the Long's building was no accident. It happened because fifteen years ago Willow Glen residents volunteered their time to develop guidelines for developing in downtown Willow Glen. It happened because dozens upon hundreds of WGNA members and members of the community attended community meetings to express their opinions. It happened in a word because people cared enough to get involved. Thanks to all who got involved in our volunteer efforts. At this point the major outstanding issue on Long's will be the future traffic study to measure their impact to neighborhood streets: we reserve judgment about this subject until the study is completed.

New Projects: Briefly, the WGNA board has plans to move forward on two new projects. The first project will be the possible installation of two information kiosks for downtown Willow Glen to advertise lost dogs, guitar classes or community meetings. These bulletin boards will be accessible to all residents and won't require any computer expertise. Project number two will be a set of recommendations to create a friendlier pedestrian environment around downtown Willow Glen. We will be sharing these ideas with other local groups like the Willow Glen Downtown Business Association and the Willow Glen Elementary School. Two WGNA board subcommittees will be working on these projects. If you are interested in helping get these off the ground call us at WGNA line at 408/294-WGNA

Congratulations to Ken Yeager, new Councilmember for San Jose District Six (representing northern Willow Glen). His aide, Denelle Fedor, regularly attends WGNA's monthly board meetings. Both can be reached at the District Six phone number, 408/277-5166. (Southern Willow Glen continues to be served by District Nine Councilmember John DiQuisto, at 408/277-5275).

Congratulations to Kris Cunningham, too. She will continue to serve the Willow Glen area at her new job as a staff member to County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado (County District Two, generally east of Meridian). They can be reached at 408/299-2040. Those portions of Willow Glen west of Meridian are served by Supervisor Jim Beall (District Four, 408/299-3924), who has just started his term as Chair of the Board of Supervisors.

The WGNA Nomination Committee is once again looking for some involved residents who are willing to serve at least a one-year term on the Board of Directors. Due to term-limits and personal lives, there will again be a number of open seats this year that need filling. Our by-laws require that officers of the Association (President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) must be members of WGNA for one year prior to the May election date. In addition, four directors are also elected (along with another 2 - 4 members appointed by the incoming President), but there are no minimum time requirements on their memberships.

Following the process laid out in our by-laws, a five-member nominating committee (elected the previous year and this year chaired by Lupe O'Malley) solicits members who are interested in serving on the Board of Directors. (That's the purpose of this article: consider yourself solicited!) The committee may also actively recruit persons they think might be interested in serving. They then present a slate of recommended officers and directors to the membership for possible election. All qualified candidates who have submitted their names to the committee may have their names included on the ballot. The ballots will be mailed to all WGNA members in good standing in a newsletter several weeks before the May General Meeting. The membership then votes by mail or in person at the General Meeting, and the ballots are tallied about a week later, with the results announced via the WGNA.NET website, the media, and in the next newsletter.

If you would like to be considered for a position, please contact us by March 7th. Feel free to tell us of your qualifications, interests, community involvement, or anything else that you think is pertinent (a short paragraph would be perfect). You can also help the Association by suggesting names of other members who, with a little encouragement, might decide to volunteer for consideration. To submit a name, or if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us by mail (Nominating Committee, WGNA, P.O.Box 7706, San Jose CA 95150-7706), by phone (408/294-WGNA) or on the internet (write to admin@wgna.net), and we'll quickly get back to you.

Most of you remember our wonderful Code Enforcement officer, Cindy Gil-Blanco - she decided to relocate last November. We will miss her high energy and drive to make District 6 a better place. Our new officer is Michael Soda; he's more than qualified with over 10 years of experience within the city. He's looking forward to working with WGNA and others on city code enforcement issues. You can contact him at 408/277-4528.

Measure "B" on last November's ballot received the necessary 2/3rds vote, authorizing a $39/year parcel tax for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. This will enable the SCVWD to, among other things, implement their long-planned flood control project along the Guadalupe River in Willow Glen.

First things first: it is necessary to fix the downstream portions of a creek before upgrading the upstream parts -- otherwise, the upstream improvements would make things worse by quickly getting additional water to a flooded downstream section. So, the SCVWD is presently enhancing the levees in Alviso (they had settled some over the past couple years), and is now working on the downtown San Jose section. Construction on the Willow Glen reach may begin as early as 2003.

This is quite an interesting project. It is designed to finally protect the area from the 1% flood (the "once in a hundred year" flood). Originally, the Federal partner, the US Corps of Engineers, proposed to construct concrete channels for the stream in downtown, but the City objected. A more public-friendly design, with widened channels and pooling areas was proposed, but the environmental community objected: too much habitat would be lost the by the widening, and the water would become too warm for the fish in the shallow ponds. Finally, a design was created that makes everyone happy: the creek will remain in its original channel through most of downtown, and a buried concrete culvert will carry excess floodwaters past the area (on the average of once every couple years). The stream remains in its natural state, with trees shading the water to keep it cool, and the city is protected from flood by the several 25' ´ 25' culverts that carry the flood waters around the narrow sections of the creek. One culvert has already been built (it's under Woz Way), and two more will be built, starting this year, from near the Arena on down to Coleman Avenue.

Further upstream (south of I-280), land is (relatively) cheap, and open bypass channels are planned instead of culverts. Again the original stream is left generally undisturbed, but there will be wide shallow areas off to the side that occasionally will carry floodwaters around the narrow spots. The rest of the time, these shallows will be grassy open spaces, with recreational trails along the edges. "Fish ladders" are being built to enable native salmon to migrate upstream to spawn. Native trees and shrubs will be planted to restore a native riparian ("streamside") habitat.

A City Task Force has been meeting regularly this past year on the design of the downtown portion. A number of issues have been considered. Trail continuity through the project is a major goal of all, along with connections to the Guadalupe River Trail that will be built to the south (to eastern Willow Glen), the Los Gatos Creek Trail (also going to Willow Glen), and the Guadalupe River Trail north (to the San Jose Airport, Alviso, and connecting to the San Francisco Bay Trail).

Another feature of the project is that a number of old houses had to be moved or removed to make way for the flood control work. Rather than demolishing them all, many were saved and moved to "River Street" (near Julian and Freeway 87). There they are being restored and developed, creating an "Old Town" district, hopefully soon to include restaurants, shops, artists' studios, and other facilities that will transform it into a "Destination". Hopefully, in a couple years, we in Willow Glen will be able to stroll, jog, or cycle down the Los Gatos Creek Trail to the Arena and then hop across to Old Town for a quick snack and afternoon out.

Speaking of the Los Gatos: the City is now working on the Lincoln / Lonus / under I-280 / Auzerais / Park section. They have received a number of state and federal grants (thanks in part to all of you who have written letters of support!). One of the first pieces will be a bike/ped bridge from the creek trail over to an isolated neighborhood at Gregory and Fuller (just west of Bird), which should be completed by the end of 2001! The City is still working to finalize the easement agreements with Reed and Graham and with Del Monte (or the purchasers/developers of that property), so that the trail can continue north to Park.

The native trees and shrubs we planted on the Los Gatos as part of our "Urban Stream Restoration Project" of a few years back are thriving. The City planted some additional plants two years ago near Leigh, and they are also doing well. And just in the last couple months, the SCVWD did some extensive earthwork to restore a washed out bank (by St. Elizabeths), and now they too have planted some oaks and other natives along the bank. The place sure looks different from the barren wasteland of a couple years ago!

Also: You will recall from a previous newsletter that WGNA "adopted" both the Los Gatos Creek and its trail between Meridian Ave. and Blackford School, with both the SCVWD and the City. We have not needed to host a "clean-up" of the park yet as it generally remains clean, thanks to those of you who pick up the stray soda bottle or wind-blown newspaper as you enjoy the trail. (Thanks! Keep up the good work!) WGNA was recently honored by the SCVWD with a beautiful plaque, presented by their Board of Directors, for our adoption of the creek and the restoration project. We, in turn, gave their Board a copy of a paper on the creek restoration project that we presented at the American Trails Conference last fall.]

The Fruitdale Kmart is going to close soon. A Light Rail train ("the Vasona Corridor") will run along the tracks by the SW Expwy. from Campbell to the Arena downtown, and there is to be a station at Fruitdale. The City allows and promotes high-density development adjacent to transportation stations, and so this area is going to be rebuilt. This could very well be a good thing (the site is certainly underutilized now and in need of repair), but nearby residents may want to pay attention to make sure there aren't any details that may adversely impact them.

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Assoc. has not been extensively involved in the planning process (the City worked with an adjacent neighborhood association), and WGNA has not taken any position on the matter. Nonetheless, it may have an impact on some in Willow Glen, especially those in the north and west part.

The City of San Jose is having a public hearing on the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the "Fruitdale Station General Plan Amendments (GP00-06-05)" at 6:00 PM at City Hall (801 N. 1st St), on Valentines Day, Wed. Feb. 14. As they say at weddings, "if you have an objection, speak now or forever hold your peace". For more information, contact Janis Moore of the City's Planning Dept. at 408/277-4576.

Measure "P" passed overwhelmingly (78%!) in the last election (Thanks!). This is a bond measure that will provide funds for the maintenance and improvement of City parks and trails. First up for Willow Glen: this next year, Biebrach Park is due for an upgrade.

Ever wonder how Meridian Avenue got its name? It obviously is not on the Prime Meridian - that runs through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. But Meridian Avenue doesn't line up with any reasonably numbered longitudinal line - it's at roughly 121^o 54' 48" west. However, looking at a USGS survey map, one can see that the road is laid out along the "Mt. Diablo Meridian". When the area was first surveyed, a single north-south line, called the meridian, was established through the peak of Mt. Diablo, along with a single east-west line, called the baseline. From these lines the surveyors mapped the region with a one-mile square grid.

The Mt. Diablo Meridian is mapped from at least the Santa Cruz Mountains to the south up into Solano County in the north. Meridian Ave. north of Curtner, and Harwood Rd. south of Branham, are the only streets that are on the Meridian. Portions of Bascom, Union, and Winchester lie on the adjacent one-mile survey lines. (By the way, Meridian is not truly north-south: they made a slight error in the original survey, and the northern end of the 75-mile-long line is about a thousand feet too far to the west.)

The Friends of the Willow Glen Library (FWGL) is a non-profit organization that raises funds for the sole benefit of the Willow Glen Branch Library. The FWGL provides some of the books, videos, and CD's that we all enjoy, as well as children's programs, author readings, and various other accouterments that enrich the library's offerings. As a volunteer-run organization, FWGL relies solely on its dedicated members. If you are interested in joining the FWGL (annual dues are only $5), please ask at the library reference desk, check out

http://www.sjpl.lib.ca.us/Branches/wg/, or call 408-998-2053. Thank you!

The Willow Glen Middle and High School Foundation is asking for donations to help update the WG Middle and High School Library. This library serves approximately 3000 students, and it is also open to the public during certain hours. The planned update will not happen without tax-deductible donations from the community. For more information, please email us at Willowgf@aol.com.

Thanks!

Volunteers are being sought to serve on various City Commissions. To quote from the flyer we received:

"Isn't it time for YOUR VOICE to be heard? You can make a difference in your community on a number of issues being considered by the Advisory Commission on Rents, Airport Commission, Arts Commission, Child Care Commission, Community Development Block Grant Steering Committee, Disability Advisory Commission, Disadvantaged Business Development Commission, Historic Landmarks Commission, Human Rights Commission, Library Commission, Mobile Home Advisory Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission, Senior Citizens Commission and Traffic Appeals Commission.

Qualifications: You must live in the City of San Jose and have a commitment to being active in the community.

Application Process: To take advantage of this unique opportunity, please call The Office of the City Clerk at (408) 277-4424. Applications will be accepted until Wednesday, February 28, 2001."

Ever wonder what WGNA does with the dues we collect? This past year we collected about $3,300, and we spent just about the same amount. We have about 650 addresses on our mailing list: roughly two thirds are household memberships (at $10 each), and one third individuals ($5). We also have a few Associate members ($10 each), and we give out about two dozen "Complimentary" memberships (to local churches, newspapers, and elected officials). About 10% of the membership donate additional funds (much appreciated!), either to compensate for late renewals or to help us do more for the community.

We generally publish four newsletters per year, each of which costs about a dollar for printing, stapling, folding, and mailing. We spend an average of 50¢ a member in mailing (multiple!) renewal reminders. In addition, we have phone bills, meeting hall rental fees, insurance, and website fees.

We currently are carrying a balance of about $8,000, much of it left over from our Urban Stream Restoration Project of a few years back. We are lucky to have this cash reserve, as it allows us the flexibility to consider "cash-in-advance, refunded in arrears" projects such as a tree-planting project. We also occasionally spend some money on joint projects with other groups, such as the dedication of the Beautification Project (a ceramic mural) at the Willow Glen Library. And, by not living "hand-to-mouth", we don't have to hound you, our members, about payments due, and we are able to grant you a "grace period" before we drop you from the mailing list. Nonetheless, we do appreciate it when you renew in a timely fashion. Check your membership expiration date after the "EXP" on the mailing label, and use the following form if you wish to renew at this time. Thanks!

Membership information and application form

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