Guest View
During the 1990’s, many of us felt we built too many houses too
quickly. However, in the last five years, a state mandated building
moratorium has produced severe consequences that negatively impact
our quality of life.
Guest View
During the 1990’s, many of us felt we built too many houses too quickly. However, in the last five years, a state mandated building moratorium has produced severe consequences that negatively impact our quality of life. For example:
1. We have lost 2,510 jobs since 2001 representing $92 million of income per year.
2. We have lost over 300 students resulting in cutting teachers, thereby increasing classroom size from 27 students to 35 students per classroom in elementary and middle schools.
3. Job-creating industry and businesses had to cancel their expansion plans or “pass” on Hollister. For example, Holiday Inn Express would not build without a sewer connection. The hotel would have produced jobs, hotel taxes and much needed hotel rooms.
4. Hazel Hawkins Hospital successfully passed a bond to expand the hospital services and cannot construct without the moratorium being lifted or installing expensive and cumbersome sewer holding tanks.
5. The new fire station on Union and Airline Highway could not connect to the sewer and had to install holding tanks at an added expense.
6. The planning-stage YMCA of San Benito County designed with water play areas and swimming pools may be faced with installing expensive holding tanks increasing the cost and altering the design of the facility.
Community Leaders for Economic Activity and Recovery (CLEAR) was formed by a group of leaders who love our community and whose goal is to increase our quality of life by restoring opportunity through job growth, presenting affordable housing options, securing a quality education for our children, expanding medical services, and providing recreational and cultural activities for all of our residents.
That is why CLEAR supports the city’s proposed wastewater rates.
Doing nothing is not an option. The state requires a new sewer plant. The city of Hollister will be fined in the tens of millions if we don’t build a new plant. And we need to build it with the future growth of Hollister in mind. If we built a new plant to just take care of present sewer users, Hollister residents’ monthly rates would actually be higher than the proposed rates. In addition, the design of the plant is state-of-the-art, which the state requires. The city isn’t building anything we don’t need.
Join us in supporting the City of Hollister’s bold and crucial plan to move Hollister forward.
CLEAR Steering Committee: Nenette Corrotto, Marilyn Ferreira, Tim Foley, Curtis Hill and Rick Pennington
