The Hollister City Council on Tuesday approved construction of a
second fire station
– an expansion to reduce response times to residents on the
south end of town.
Fire Station No. 2 will be located at 1200 Union Road. Its
construction is set to begin immediately at a cost of $2.1 million,
and an additional $400,000 has been set aside for unforeseen design
changes that may arise.
The Hollister City Council on Tuesday approved construction of a second fire station – an expansion to reduce response times to residents on the south end of town.
Fire Station No. 2 will be located at 1200 Union Road. Its construction is set to begin immediately at a cost of $2.1 million, and an additional $400,000 has been set aside for unforeseen design changes that may arise.
Meanwhile, that station – with an expected opening of early to mid-2005 – could launch without a fire chief if plans don’t change to lay off the department’s top administrator. A decision whether to approve his departure and 35 other city employees should happen at a special Council meeting Jan. 28.
Fire Chief Bill Garringer has aggressively pushed for Fire Station No. 2 since his arrival to the department almost three years ago.
“This is the greatest improvement they could do to the Fire Department that would benefit the most citizens,” Garringer said Tuesday.
Previously, Hollister has operated only a downtown station – the one at Fifth and Sally streets was a tractor shop before its renovation in 1976.
A second station, he and other officials say, is long overdue. Garringer has lived in Hollister for 18 years while working in San Jose and here, he said. He remembers studies and discussions of a Fire Station No. 2 sprouting a dozen years ago.
“We’re finally getting it done – that’s all,” he said.
He’s argued in favor of added fire protection – while claiming the department’s response times have been inadequate to the north and south sides. Firefighters from the downtown station have struggled to arrive at destinations within a four- to six-minute industry standard, he said.
Funding for the station’s construction will come from the Redevelopment Agency, which received a boost this past summer from a $35 million bond sale.
A fire impact fund paid for the land at a cost of $1.1 million. That was after officials experienced difficulty acquiring the property from the previous landowner.
Owner Richard Hall disputed the city’s initial appraisal of $730,000 for the four-acre plot. After each side commissioned additional appraisals, they reached a final agreement in December on the increased amount.
While Council members expressed optimism that fire protection will improve, their emotions were mixed Tuesday because Hollister’s finances may prevent the city from fully staffing it.
“There’s a sense of accomplishment and a sense of anxiety,” Mayor Tony Bruscia said.
Compared to departments in like-sized cities, the department will continue lacking in its total number of firefighters, Garringer said.
As an example, he mentioned the Paso Robles Department of Emergency Services. In Paso Robles – a town of 26,000 people, or about 10,000 fewer than Hollister – two people died during the 6.5 magnitude earthquake in December.
That department maintains three stations and a total of 18 firefighters per shift. Hollister’s department mans eight firefighters per shift at its one station.
The perceived staffing shortage, however, could be partly solved in 2005, Garringer believes. A federal grant program under the recently approved SAFER Act will award funding to local fire departments to pay for additional firefighters’ salaries.
Awarded through a competitive application process, it funds 90 percent of the first year’s salaries – the allocation decreases each year after for four more years.
Another problem the Council will have to eventually address is the building moratorium, which runs through at least October 2005. A holding tank will likely be used for waste disposal between completion of construction and the expiration of the moratorium.
On the plus side, the station will be “energy efficient,” Garringer said. It will have better insulation and roofing. And it will also house a “community room” for use by the public, he said.
Of course, Garringer hopes to be around when it opens.
Bruscia said he spoke with Garringer over the weekend. And the chief expressed a willingness to help the transition, even if he is laid off.
Bruscia also mentioned the possibility of contracting fire chief services out to Garringer, which would exempt the city from paying benefits while Garringer still may be able to collect retirement incentives.
“We’ll need his help,” Bruscia said. “It’ll be nice to have his leadership to transition.”
Garringer said Monterey recently did the same thing with its retiring chief. But he didn’t say whether he would accept such an offer in Hollister.
“I don’t know if I’d be interested or not,” he said.
In other business:
– Bruscia spoke at length about the layoff situation during the “reports” period of the meeting. He talked about the city’s financial problems and said, “I’ll start by taking responsibility. I truly wish that I had anticipated our financial future better.”
He discussed the state budget problems and how the Legislature has continually taken money away from local government.
“Potentially, most threatening to our financial solvency, is a great risk of the state taking a lot more of our money.”
He directly addressed the layoff proposal.
“Even with cutting the 36 proposed positions, the city is still looking at bankruptcy within six years.”
He also defended Shaddox, who has been criticized by city employees for the plan.
“To those who ridicule him and suggest that he be sent packing – shame on you. To speak with so little knowledge, and to be so ungrateful for a job so well done, again, shame on you.”
Finally, Bruscia ran down a list of positive activities occurring in Hollister.
“There is no denying the fact that we are facing some tough times. We need to continue to work hard to find solutions and to plan for our future.”
– The Council approved $3.9 million for the San Benito Street Beautification Project. Funding will come from the RDA Fund.
Oakland-based McGuire and Hester won the contract through a bidding process. Improvements will include replacing sidewalks downtown with decorative pavers; installing pedestrian lights; installing crosswalks; improving alleys; and installing electrical receptacles at tree wells and replacing trees on San Benito Street with Capital Pear trees, and on side streets with Crape Myrtle trees, according to a staff report.
The work should be done by July, according to officials. Four bids came in, and McGuire and Hester’s was the lowest at $3.4 million. Additional funding was also allocated for “unforeseen construction contingencies,” according to the staff report.
– The Council adopted the 2003 Overall Economic Development Program Update. Each year, counties that receive federal funding are required by the Economic Development Administration to compile such a report.
It includes information on demographics, employment, business closures, agriculture, retail, tourism, infrastructure, mineral resources, environmental issues and development goals.
Among the “highlights,” San Benito County is not among the fastest growing areas in the state for the first time in more than a decade. That was largely due to the building moratorium inflicted by the state after a 15 million gallon sewer spill in May 2002.
– The Council approved a weather station at the Hollister Municipal Airport. Construction will cost about $100,000, but the city will be reimbursed through a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to officials.
The Automated Weather Observing System will provide more current weather information to pilots.
– The Hollister Police Department received a $1,000 donation from Maple Leaf Investment Co. – a San Jose business that owns the Mission Oaks Mobile Home Park in Hollister. The donation was unsolicited for “continuing support” to the park, according to a staff report.
– At a March 9 meeting at 7 p.m., the General Plan Steering Committee will present the Council with the draft General Plan update. The committee has been meeting since March 2003 to help plan the update, which is the first since 1995.
A General Plan is a blueprint for how a city wants to grow. After that meeting, the update will go through an environmental review, which could take several months.
