Friends & Neighbors Meeting: Can an Elevation Certificate Reduce Your Flood Insurance Premiums?

Join us Tuesday, May 27th, 6:30-8pm at Word of Faith Church on the corner of Delmas & Fuller

when we discuss the merits of elevation certificates and volunteer creek restoration.

Many of us are required to pay hefty amounts for flood insurance due to being in a flood zone. In many cases an elevation certificate can mitigate those costs. Insurance agent Natalie Arola will walk us through deciding whether it is appropriate for each specific home to get one.

Our other guest speaker will be Friends of Los Gatos Creek (FOLGC) founder, Steve Holmes. FOLGC is a volunteer group focused on the preservation of Los Gatos Creek through cleanups & habitat restoration from Lexington Reservoir to its confluence with the Guadalupe.

Head's Up for Next Water-Wise Wednesday: Lawn Replacement Talk

Replace Your Lawn with Drought-Tolerant California Natives, a talk by Cayce Hill 

Wed., May 21, 6:00-7:30 PM, SJPL Calabazas Branch, 1230 S Blaney Ave., San José, (408) 808-3066

Ready to lose the lawn, but don't know where to begin? Come to this talk and be inspired to create a beautiful, water-wise garden! See a variety of no-lawn landscaping styles and ideas. Get professional landscaping tips on removing a lawn, choosing the appropriate plants, and watering more efficiently. You’ll see how to have a lush landscape without a water-hogging lawn.

Cayce Hill has been growing California natives since she moved to San Jose in March 2008. She works as a professional gardener, designing and maintaining culinary gardens for restaurants and homeowners in the Bay Area. Her previous experience includes being a head gardener, program manager, and the treasurer for the Friends of Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County.

Keeping Creeks Clean is Water-Wise as Well: Join Us!

National River Cleanup event on Saturday, May 17 and Friends of Los Gatos Creek is asking for volunteers. Please arrive at one of the locations below 8:30-8:45am. This great organization has done a lot of good work removing debris from the creek to protect the wellbeing of our water supply and the wildlife in and around Los Gatos Creek. Please consider joining your neighbors this weekend to help out.

Auzerais Avenue Site
Cross streets are Wright Place & Auzerais Ave., our Sign-up table will be adjacent to the entrance of the bike trail next to LG Creek.

Park Avenue Site
Cross streets are Montgomery St & Park Ave, parking is in the 3-Story Business Complex (grey building) at 595 Park Ave. Sign-up table will be located in this parking lot.

FOLGC will be providing trash pick-up tools, trash bags, gloves & water. We ask everyone to wear heavy soled shoes, long pants, hat and sunscreen. The work will begin at 9:00 running through 11:30am. Thanks to all for supporting this effort. The Community is making a difference on our Los Gatos Creek!

 

Water-Wise Wednesday Tip

While it may not help you use less water, it does help the environment. By simply directing your runoff water to permeable land (rather than down a driveway for example) you feed your plants and help recharge the aquifers we rely on for so much of our drinking water. If that water otherwise goes to the street, it collects pollution and pulls it to the Guadalupe River, both making the river dirtier and contributing to a potential flood. Hard to think of flooding in a time of drought but there is a reason so many of us in North Willow Glen have to pay for mandatory flood insurance. If not for flood mediation than certainly consider it for the well being of our creek critters, and for our continued supply of drinking water.

The corner of Willow and Clark

Before and after shots of the work underway to redevelop this corner for housing.

Farmer's Market starts this Saturday

The Willow Glen Community Farmer's Market starts this Saturday. Fruits, vegetables, foods, crafts, and more will be available from 9:30 to 1:30 every Saturday behind the Garden Theater, 1165 Lincoln.

Water-Wise Wednesday

This week we have some great news. Maybe you've already heard about the rebate program for converting your high water use landscape to a low water use landscape. As of April 22nd, those rebates have doubled! Due to the severe drought conditions, through September 30th you can earn $2 per square foot from Santa Clara Valley Water District's Landscape Conversion Rebate Program.  As the saying goes, some conditions apply.

Be sure you get pre-approval before killing or removing your lawn. They will need to know what you started with to get a baseline. Consult their Qualifying Plant List. That's not as restrictive as it may sound - the sucker's 15 pages long so there's a good chance you can find plants you'll be happy with. If you have an irrigation system, it will need to be converted to a drip system. This is easier than it sounds. It's easily within DIY parameters. Finally, make sure that once you've received your approval, your landscaping is completed within 90 days.

Water-Wise Wednesday: Going Native Garden Tour

What would you guess is our nation's number one irrigated crop? Corn? Wheat? Oranges? The answer might surprise you: It's turf grass.

Lawns began to permeate our culture roughly 100 years ago in order to emulate the estates of Europe. America's vast expanses of land and the invention of gas-powered mowers after WWII made it increasingly easy for us to give our land the same treatment once reserved for royalty. The areas adjacent to homes, once reserved for native, edible, and medicinal plants gave way to the monoculture grass we call lawns.

Though we have gotten to the point of optimizing our lawn care, it continues to take a toll on our resources. And though we are fortunate that the Santa Clara Valley Water District has done an excellent job of maintaining our aquifers, we also rely on a vastly decreasing supply of water from the mountains. Fortunately there are alternatives to the lawn and they are surprisingly easy. For millennia, plants had evolved on the lands we inhabit without the benefit of humans, cutting, irrigating, or showering them with fertilizers and pesticides. So it is with little effort that they can once again establish themselves near our homes, with relatively little effort.

This weekend you will be able to see native gardens all around the area - many of them here in Willow Glen - which use very little more than rainwater to thrive. You may find yourself surprised to see the variety of plants and how beautiful they can be. When you realize that they can look so good with so little effort, you may also find yourself tempted to try it on your own. The Going Native Garden Tour will be in our area this Sunday. It is self-guided and free. When you register you will receive a brief description of the sites and a map of their locations. Then you are free to decide which sites interest you the most, and which you will have the time to see - there are a lot! When you get there you will find all of the native plants neatly labeled. The homeowners are there and happy to show you what they've done and share their thoughts and experiences.

Beautiful landscape? Low maintenance? Low cost? Low water needs? More hummingbirds and butterflies? Check, check, check, check, and check.

Submit Questions for Thursday Evening's Mayoral Candidates Forum

What questions would you like asked of the candidates? You have three ways to try to get your questions answered, 1) approach a candidate at the meet and greet from 6-7:00 pm, 2) fill out this online form (by Thursday morning at the latest), or 3) fill out one of the 3x5 question cards at the event from 6-8:00 pm. Organizers will do their best to coordinate the questions you want answered.

The event will be at the Starlight Banquet Hall, 680 Minnesota Avenue - just a 15 minute walk from most of North Willow Glen. Festivities start at 6:00 pm when you can mingle with candidates and neighbors for some one-on-one discussion. At 7:00 pm moderator Damian Trujillo will begin the Candidates Forum.

2014 Mayoral Candidates Forum

NWGNA is pleased to co-sponsor of the 2014 Mayoral Candidates Forum from on April 24th at Starlite Banquet, 680 Minnesota. Guests will be Supervisor Dave Cortese and City Councilmembers Rose Herrera, Sam Liccardo, Madison Nguyen, and Pierluigi Oliverio. You are welcome to speak directly with the candidates from 6-7:00 pm. Damian Trujillo will moderate the forum, from 7-9:00 pm.

Master Gardeners Spring Market - Saturday

The Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County invite you to the 20th Annual Spring Garden Market, Saturday, April 12, 9 am-2 pm, at beautiful History San Jose, 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose.

The group will be selling a huge variety of tomato, pepper, herb, and flower seedlings that theyraise right here in Santa Clara Valley. They will also host gardening talks and a Green Elephant Sale.
Also, Main Street will be lined with a vendor fair including 40+ booths ranging from plant nurseries, gardening societies, urban farmers, beekeepers and conservation groups to vendors of containers and raised beds, apparel, mosaics and even chicken coops.

More information is available from the Master Gardeners. 

Running Out of Dog Waste Bags

Thanks so much to those of you who have already donated! We're down to our last month or so of dog waste bags, and we still need donations before another order can be placed. We buy in bulk to get our best price, and we're about half way to our fundraising goal for that amount. Please remind your neighbors, or talk up the drive to both fellow dog walkers and others who enjoy our parks. Once the bags run out we know from history that the dog-poop piles, well they start piling up. That's unpleasant for everyone, and especially unsanitary for the kids. 

Donations of any amount are welcome. $25 pays for about three months at one dog station of which we have four throughout the neighborhood. 

You can donate via Paypal by clicking the "Donate" button to the upper left. To ensure the donation goes to the dog bag fund, please e-mail us so we know which account to place it in. We will also happily accept checks made out to North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association. Please e-mail Alison for the address.

Public hearing on proposed garbage rate increase

The San Jose City Council is holding a public hearing about proposed rate increases for garbage and recycling fees. More information on this hearing is available online, but the deadline to submit a written protest is May 13, the same day as the hearing.

The hearing details:

Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 1:30 p.mm.
San Jose City Hall Council Chambers
200 East Santa Clara Street
San Jose

Public hearing for development at Willow & Clark

The City of San Jose Planning Department is holding a public hearing to consider a development permit at the northeast corner of Willow and Clark. From their public notice:

Planned Development Permit File No. PD13-035 to allow demolition of existing buildings except for one (1) single-family detached residence and construction of three (3) new single-family detached residences and a Tentative Map Permit File No. PT13-052 to allow subdivision of one (1) parcel into four (4) lots on a 0.49 gross acre site in the A(PD) Planned Development Zoning District, located on the northeast corner of Willow and Clark Streets (650 Willow Street) (Diablo Ventures, Inc. Owner), Council District 6, CEQA: Exempt.

Reports, drawings, and documents are available for review from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and a draft permit and recommendations will be available for review seven calendar days prior to the public hearing at:

Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement
200 East Santa Clara Street, 3rd Floor Tower
San Jose CA 95113
(408) 535-3555

Dog found, Bird Avenue near Fuller

Is this cutie yours? If so, call 408-209-5063 to connect you with the folks who are caring for him after finding him on Bird near Fuller Avenue.