San Benito County Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a contract for fire services with the Hollister Fire Department.
The vote for the three-year contract – which could have resulted in the county nullifying a 60-year arrangement with Calfire – occurred after local residents spoke during a workshop on the proposal, approved a day earlier by the Hollister City Council.
In a twist of sorts, Supervisor Robert Rivas voted against the contract. Rivas and two other supervisors, Anthony Botelho and Jaime De La Cruz, had officially preferred talks with Hollister on a contract – voted on at an April board meeting – over negotiating with the state agency.
San Benito County contracts with Calfire for responses out of the Fairview Road station. Upon request from the county, Calfire and Hollister each estimated they could provide annual services at about a cost of $1.1 million. Calfire has pushed its so-called Amador Plan, featuring a varying level of resources depending on the time of year and needs to fight wildland blazes. Hollister has vowed it can provide more resources, while officials had talked about eventually adding a third fire station on the city’s west side.
Rivas during the meeting stressed that through his communication with constituents, he decided against the contract with Hollister, where he served as a paid-call reserve firefighter before his election in 2010. He also mentioned that the city had not followed its commitment to boosting services after approval of the 1 percent sales tax Measure T in November 2007.
Supervisors expect to revive talks with Calfire, possibly on a one-year extension to the current deal expiring at the end of the fiscal year June 30. They are expected to pick up talks on the matter May 22.
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