Dear Friend,

I’d like to invite you to a community meeting regarding the re-planting and re-landscaping of the creek area by the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) parking lot.

Topic:             Claremont DMV Tree Replanting Community Meeting

Date:               Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Time:               5:30 – 7:00pm

Location:         Rockridge Library Meeting Room, 5366 College Avenue Oakland , CA 94618

This summer the DMV cut down 9 mature trees in the creek area.

This meeting is to get community input on what should be included in the plan to replant and re-landscape the area. Representatives from the DMV, the City, and the FROG park community will be present.

If you are not able to attend – you may also participate in this online survey developed by community members: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JW996C3

The survey will close at 8pm on Sunday, November 27th.

Yours,

Jane

The work – and the extent of it – surprised residents living nearby. Clumps of chipped eucalyptus the loggers left along Temescal Creek blew into the water and blocked the grating, causing backups and some flooding.

The tree felling and severe bush pruning drew a flurry of concerned phone calls and e-mails from DMV neighbors, Farmer’s Market patrons and Frog Park users who expressed their concerns to Councilmember Jane Brunner, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, and to the DMV.

The DMV heard the concerns, and hired Arborist Steve Batchelder to develop a planting plan that will be presented at a community meeting, on October 16, 12:30pm at the DMV Farmer’s Market. Meet at the carport. Steve will present an initial design and species list, discuss the results of the site analysis, and solicit community input. His preliminary planting design will be posted to this article prior to the meeting.

A second meeting date to finalize the plan will be held on October 23, 11am, at the same locaton, setting the stage for re-planting in November in time for the rainy season.

Planting will be in the DMV parking lot, some near the Farmer’s Market area, and some in the Frog Park and Temescal Creek areas.

For more information, contact Jane Brunner’s staff member, Elinor Buchen, at 510/238-7240, or e-mail EBuchen@oaklandnet.com.

Provide your input for the plan by leaving a comment at the end of this article or e-mailing your comments to chair@frogpark.org.

Hardy and Redondo playgrounds are focal points for children and families. Walkers stroll the connecting greenbelt path, which is fully accessible for the disabled.

Park features:

• Play structures and sand boxes at Hardy & Redondo parks (see map)
• Swings, tire and individual
• Picnic areas, both seating areas and grass
• ADA accessible play elements
• Fence and gate along major streets
• Faux Temescal Creek May-October for water play

College Preparatory students sift the sand

Saturday, Sept 10, 8:00-4:30pm.  Your help is appreciated!

September 10, 2011 is our annual maintenance day at FROG Park and the park play areas will be closed all day. We will be cleaning and sealing the structures wood, replacing plants, sifting sand, clearing the creek and other general cleaning.  The College Preparatory School freshman class and their advisers and teachers are helping again this year.

The park will be closed all day and adults are welcome to help out.  As usual we will be using a sealer so children are not asked to help for this work.

We will begin at 8:00AM and finish at 4:30.  Bring gloves, smoothing rakes, and pruners if you can.

Contact me for details, Howard Ferrier, volunteer coordinator, hwferrier@sbcglobal.net or leave a message at 510-220-4249.  See you there

Over the years, FROG volunteers worked with city staff to find a way to get a bathroom with a flush toilet and sink. In 2007, Mike McDonald and others worked with Councilmember Jane Brunner’s staff to obtain a capital improvement budget allocation for this much-needed resource. Project planning began in 2008, and it took almost 2 years to find the optimal site for the bathroom, close to sewer and water lines and as far away from homes as possible. Once CalTrans’ permission was finally obtained, the contract was bid and construction started this spring.

FROG restroom It may seem a little odd to have an opening celebration for a bathroom, but given how long this has taken, and how important an amenity this is for the park, it’s important to recognize the people who made it possible:

City of Oakland: Zac Wald, Nila Kim, Kate Whitlow, Justin Horner, Denise Louie
FROG: Mike McDonald, Ronnie Spitzer, Jennifer Cooper, Jimmy Pedersen, Theresa Nelson

And finally, the group hopes to renovate two large, barren Claremont Ave medians underneath the highway and BART tracks next spring. The larger of these medians (nearly 9,000 square feet!) separates Frog Park from the historic mural on the underpass. We think there is terrific potential to link these areas together with vegetation, pedestrian walkways and art installations such as sculptures or water features.

These public lands have long been weed and trash strewn eyesores, despite their prominence to both residents and visitors entering our neighborhood. Scenic Streets motto is “We think our community deserves a better first impression” and neighbors seem to agree – dozens have already donated to the project. The RCPC has agreed to serve as fiscal sponsor for the first two phases and Councilperson Jane Brunner’s office has also offered support.

We are encouraging Frog Park supporters to contribute to this nearby project. Plan details and status of the various phases can be found on the group’s web site www.ScenicStreets.org where shrubs can be ‘bought’ for as little as $10 instantly online or by printing a mail-in form.

New FROG committee member Carol Behr chaired the cleanup and Family Fest this year, backed by other committee members. Carol said, “I’m in awe of the seasoned FROG committee members, Ronnie, Theresa, Howard, Jimmy, Jennifer, and community volunteers who were vital in the planning and the doing to make the day. It was also great to see all the families participating in the festivities.” A certified project manager, Carol organized the hundreds of tasks, materials, communications and activities needed to make the event smooth and effective.

Many thanks to neighbors

Our thanks to Mara Glendell who created the festive graphics, with new posters and flyers. We are grateful to the dedicated captains who supervised volunteers and led the many projects accomplished on Saturday: Howard Ferrier, Barney Smits, Jimmy Pedersen, and Jennifer Cooper. Our thanks to Ronnie Spitzer, who solicited donations of food and beverages to keep our volunteers refreshed throughout the morning and was our “gofer.” A special thanks to Rockridge’s Girl Scout Troop #32619 and Cub Scout Troop #274 for their hard work all morning. And thanks to Barney Smits who built the new “feed the frog game” that will re-appear at future Frog Family Fests (the frog painting was done by yours truly, re-awakening those dormant arts-and-crafts genes).

This year, FROG sponsored a Family Fest with games, crafts, bubbles, face-painting, planting, and other family fun, organized by Carol Behr and Ronnie Spitzer. We appreciate the game and activity supervision from Barney Smits and Joan Bletch, and teen volunteers Daniel Orenstein, Tyler Lee, and Ruby Spring, who handled face-painting. Thanks to John Gomes for his wonderful kid-friendly music, and to Annette Floystrup for storytelling. Chabot Elementary School lent us the hula hoops, Daniel Brownstein from the Peralta Parent Teacher Group and Chabot PTA President Kelly Weigel helped with activity suggestions, and Michelle Blakely connected us with the East Bay Depot for Creative Re-Use. Thanks to Howard Ferrier, Jimmy Pederson and Gideon Ur for many planning, setup and shut-down activities.

Thank you, business neighbors

We’re grateful to our neighborhood businesses that donated for the event:

• Rockridge Kids for stickers
• Starbucks for hot coffee
• Katrina Rozelle Bakery for delicious cookies, cupcakes and cheesecake
• Grand Lake Ace Hardware for hand shovels and weeding tools
• Bakesale Betty’s for their wonderful banana bread
• Trader Joe’s for fruit and snack bars
• We are also grateful to local businesses and the Rockridge Library for posting flyers and announcing the events.

These Earth Day events show that Rockridge and Temescal neighbors know how to get things done. Everyone is welcome to be part of planning and to participate in our fall cleanup and festivities celebrating the restroom opening this summer.
We’ll have a FROG planning meeting in June, to be announced in The Rockridge News and the Frog Park e-news. Please let us know if you’d like to get involved by emailing info@frogpark.org.

The FROG Committee (Friends of the Rockridge-Temescal Greenbelt) worked extremely hard since last September to get the repairs done quickly and correctly. City staff from Public Works handled the actual renovation work, and FROG worked closely with the play structures’ original designer, Leathers & Associates, to make sure the renovations were done consistent with the original design. Once the fibar was removed from the play areas, the extent of the damage was apparent, and work began to obtain the specifications for the specially-treated wood, the synthetic wood, tot slide, fasteners, fibar, and geotextile cloth. Some of these are unusual materials specific to this kind of play structure; the specially-treated wood alone took 8 weeks to receive here in Oakland.
Spearheading the effort for FROG was treasurer Ronnie Spitzer, who worked countless hours to keep the work moving, ordering materials, and communicating with City staff and Leathers & Associates. Carol Behr brought in a pro bono arborist who advised on the redwood roots that had invaded the play area at Redondo. Jimmy Pedersen (who was part of the original Big Build) used his industry construction knowledge and contacts to advise on replacement surfacing to minimize future drainage problems. Howard Ferrier, FROG’s maintenance manager, began the work last September at the Fall Maintenance Day and continued to provide in-depth advice on renovations.

We also appreciate the help of many community members who turned out in October and November to clear roots and clean the gravel sub-surface.
We appreciate the efforts of Jim Ryugo and Wes Ramsey from Public Works who spent many hours with FROG on site, on email and on the phone assessing the damage and determining how to proceed, and Brian Carthan and Luciano Cortes who did so much of the repair work. We thank Councilmember Jane Brunner and her Chief of Staff Zack Wald for their efforts to speed the work and help re-open the park.
And now … please enjoy the re-opened play structures and all of Frog Park.  And join us in helping to keep this vital community asset open and in top shape. Come out on Earth Day, the 16th of April, with your family and friends, to do some planting, clean the creek and clear vegetation.  We need you, and the children of this community need you and all of us as stewards of the Park. Visit our website, www.frogpark.org and see “Contact Us,” or send an email to info@frogpark.org More details in the next issue of the Rockridge News.

Currently, both have fibar, an engineered wood chip specifically designed as a resilient surface for use underneath play structures. Fibar has many advantages, but one challenge is that sand from the sandboxes mixes into the fibar area, causing the fibar to become hard and matted. Eventually, it loses its resilience and begins to rot, requiring full replacement annually.

There may be new options, and we want to hear the community’s thoughts about this. There will be a meeting at the Rockridge Library in the fall, and we invite everyone to attend to see physical samples of the options, and discuss them.

There’s also a survey online, where you can tell us what you think: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FROGSurvey2010

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Join your neighbors and friends to sweep, rake, paint, refill the wood chip cushioning, clear, and replant at the annual Fall Maintenance Day at FROG Park.

All adults and kids over the age of 13 (with parental supervision) are invited – there’s something for everyone to do.

Come to either the Hardy or Redondo playgrounds, and bring your own trowel, pruners, small garden tools, and work gloves, if possible. We’ll also maintain the existing structure and new Kiosk. FROG will provide cold drinks and snacks for all volunteers.

Visit the FROG website at www.frogpark.org for more details, or contact Howard Ferrier at info@frogpark.org. Come out for a few hours or the entire day – we’ve got lots to do this year!