Three projects might set the course of Hollister Airport
Three projects at the Hollister Airport will go before the
Hollister City Council in June and July. If approved, the projects
will complete airport expansion, a subject debated by council
members for at least a decade.
The projects up for approval are a hangar project, a new
California Department of Forestry (Cal Fire) air attack base and a
Cal Star helicopter airlift base.
Three projects might set the course of Hollister Airport
Three projects at the Hollister Airport will go before the Hollister City Council in June and July. If approved, the projects will complete airport expansion, a subject debated by council members for at least a decade.
The projects up for approval are a hangar project, a new California Department of Forestry (Cal Fire) air attack base and a Cal Star helicopter airlift base.
If approved by city council, local developer Ken Lindsay would develop hangars on about half of an undeveloped 20-acre parcel.
A subcommittee of airport commissioners is evaluating the proposal, City Manager Clint Quilter said.
“Then it’ll go to the full airport commission for a recommendation to city council,” Quilter said. “I would hope they get something to the city council this month.”
Lindsay built the industrial parks that surround the airport, including Airpark Business Center.
Airpark is adjacent to the 10-acre parcel, Lindsay said. About half of the lots at Airpark have direct access to the airport.
“It’s a unique asset,” Lindsay said. “Not many of the cities in the United States have that. I think it’s a great tool for us as a community to be able to attract business.”
Lindsay would develop hangars for small planes and corporate jets on the parcel.
The exact mix of hangars would depend on market demand and community goals, Lindsay said.
“The next step would be to work with city council and the airport commission to see what the goals would be.”
While some people would like the airport used to promote economic development, others want it to stay exactly the same, Lindsay said.
“I think we could have a good balance, a good mix,” Lindsay said. “I would assume they wanted a lot of corporate jets because that’s where you get the property tax.”
A corporate jet costs around $35 million, Lindsay said.
“The personal property tax would be roughly 1 percent of that annually,” Lindsay said.
City officials would also collect money from fuel fees, Lindsay said.
“My hope is that we just don’t get the jets, we also get the companies that come with the jets,” Lindsay said.
To determine the value of land at the airport, city council members sent out a two-part request for proposals (RFP) in February on an undeveloped 20-acre parcel.
Developers could propose to develop the entire parcel or about half. A development on the entire 20-acres would have left Cal Fire unable to build a new base at the airport.
Several hours before the April 16 deadline, local developer Ken Lindsay submitted the only proposal.
No one contacted him regarding his proposal, Lindsay said.
“I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t heard anything,” Lindsay said. “I put a fair amount of effort into designing different hangar types so I could put some costs to it.”
Sharing the 20-acre parcel would be Cal Fire, which currently operates a base at the airport.
The new base proposal will likely appear before city council on June 16, said Quilter.
Cal Fire would use about 10-acres.
“We were essentially done negotiating a year ago,” Quilter said. “I’m just waiting to get stuff back from the Department of General Services. That’s who prepares their leases.”
Negotiations have been on going for about 10 years, said Reno DiTullio, assistant chief of Cal Fire San Benito-Monterey Unit.
“I see the signatures on the lease agreement, then I’ll be happy,” DiTullio said. “It’ll be interesting to see it happen. I’ve been waiting a number of years now.”
The old lease agreement was for $92,000 per year, DiTullio said.
Cal Fire staff agreed to a smaller piece of the 20-acre parcel to allow for more development at the airport.
“That price may be less because it’s a smaller parcel,” DiTullio said.
Although it is good that Cal Fire has a base at the airport, they do not directly stimulate economic development, Quilter said.
“By paying market rent, they certainly don’t hurt the airport by being out there,” Quilter said. “They pay rent, they do some good for the surrounding community. But, they don’t bring jobs, they don’t do any good for Hollister.”
Due to height restrictions at the airport, Cal Fire staff cannot expand at their current site, DiTullio said.
Some of the buildings on their current facilities are 30 years old, DiTullio said.
“They don’t meet current standards for health and living conditions for one thing,” DiTullio said. “They don’t meet a lot of [American Disability Act] ADA standards for another thing.”
The new base will provide fire protection for the entire region, which stretches from San Luis Obispo north through coastal California.
“It’s not the San Benito County issue,” DiTullio said.
A Cal Star base at the Hollister airport would benefit San Benito County residents, said Mike Chambless, Hollister’s code enforcement officer and interim airport manager. Cal Star is a non-profit company that uses helicopters to airlift people to the hospital.
“The two bases here in Gilroy and Salinas are the two busiest Cal Start bases in our entire organization,” said Michael Baulch, director of base operations for the Cal Star bases in Gilroy and Salinas.
Last year, staff in Gilroy and Salinas transported more than 1,100 patients, Baulch said.
Due to insufficient capacity, they missed more than 700 calls, Baulch said.
“That’s a pretty significant chunk,” Baulch said. “They might have had to get something from much farther away, down in San Luis Obispo or Stanford.”
Cal Star staff would pay 15 cents per square foot for 4,100 square feet, Chambless said.
That is $615 per month.
“That’s what the going rate for a ground lease at the airport is,” Chambless said, referring to 15 cents per square foot. “That’s what skydiving pays.”
Cal Star is not a cheap ride.
“It would not be uncommon to see a bill that would run anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000,” Baulch said. ‘It’s the cost of having that kind of experienced crew that ensures its done in the safest manager possible.”
Their crew consists of two specially trained nurses and a pilot, Baulch said.
The parcel that Cal Star would occupy is currently planted with hay, Chambless said.
“This is his last crop,” Chambless said.
If approved by city council, a crew would operate the Hollister base Thursday through Sunday, Baulch said.
“I would expect, probably within a year, that would be a full-time base,” Baulch said.
