The San Benito County Board of Supervisors refused to build a
temporary bridge over the San Benito River at Hospital Road with a
4-1 vote Tuesday morning.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors refused to build a temporary bridge over the San Benito River at Hospital Road with a 4-1 vote Tuesday morning.
The temporary bridge would have cost the county about $36,000 to purchase, and $3,000 to install, and would cover the portion of the road washed out during the 1998 El Niño storms, until a permanent one is built in 2006. California Fish and Game regulations would require the county to remove the bridge from October to April each year, because high waters from the rainy season could potentially wash it away.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Arman Nazemi of the Public Works Department was asked how they’ve managed to have no major fire or medical situations in the area without the bridge in the past six years.
“We’ve been lucky,” he said.
Residents of the west bank of the river have mixed feelings about going another two years without a bridge.
Jack Pollus spoke at the meeting, expressing his frustration and concern about the delay in reaction time of medical and rescue crews. He said he is afraid the county’s luck may run out.
“We could all burn to the ground by the time they get here,” he said. “It’s just really ridiculous.”
As of right now, rescue crews must take Cienega Road to reach homes, instead of being able to take Southside Road to Hospital Road, crossing directly over the bridge.
The San Benito County Fire Department, which responds to the rural neighborhood’s calls, admits that with a bridge in place their response time would be much quicker to the more than 30 homes in the area.
Administrative Fire Captain Jim Dellamonica said the inconvenience of having to take Cienega Road adds an extra three minutes to the response time. He explained that once a person’s heart stops, there is exactly six minutes to start some sort of resuscitation, and the three extra minutes of travel time could cause a problem in a serious situation.
“After six minutes a person’s percentage of survival sharply drops,” he said.
Another concern is fire safety. According to Dellamonica, a fire doubles every minute. With an extra three minutes to response time, this could lead to smoldering results.
“With the summer weather here in Hollister, if we have something happen out there it would be off to the races by the time we got to it,” he said.
Supervisor Reb Monaco, who represents that district, cast the single vote for the temporary bridge.
“I don’t particularly like being pushed into a position by fish and game regulations, and I don’t want to deny my constituency what they need,” he said. “Something is better than nothing, and there is definitely a need out there.”
Despite the concerns of many residents, Joan Sanchez, who lives on Cowen Road, doesn’t really want to see the bridge rebuilt.
“I’ve only lived here six years so I have never known what it’s like with the bridge,” she said. “But I wouldn’t like the bridge rebuilt because I enjoy not having the traffic through here.”
Supervisor Pat Loe voted against the temporary bridge because of the costs and the regulations.
“I didn’t see the need to spend that kind of money when residents would only be able to use it six months out of the year,” Loe said.
Staff writer Kollin Kosmicki contributed to the article.
