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At a Sept. 10 special meeting the San Juan Bautista City Council approved a resolution calling for proposals for fire protection services and forming a special district to address unbalanced fire protection cost sharing. San Juan Bautista relies on the city of Hollister for fire services, as does San Benito County.
According to City Manager Don Reynolds, San Juan currently budgets $268,279 a year for fire protection, while Hollister budgets $16 million for fire services across the county. Reynolds said that while San Juan pays for approximately 1.7% of Hollister’s total cost, its actual share of the total is between 3% ($480,000) and 5% ($800,000), leaving Hollister responsible for increased costs between $212,000 and $532,000.
According to Reynolds, the city has approximately $50,000 in budget reserves, which is insufficient for managing such an increase. The proposal, in part, calls for establishing an “equitable cost share” percentage for the city.
The Hollister Fire Advisory Committee tasked the city of San Juan with drafting the request for proposals (RFP), which the committee will consider at its October meeting.
The winning contractor will be responsible for researching, writing and presenting a feasibility study on the following:
- Whether it’s feasible to form a joint Fire Protection District
- Whether a distinct can be created with the current costs
- Whether there are potential funding sources in the future
- The county’s current and potential commercial growth
- What is needed to maintain adequate fire protection services in the future
The contract for services expires in July 2025, though Reynolds said Hollister was willing to extend the term until 2028. This would allow time to study the creation of a fire protection district, such as the one between Livermore and Pleasanton, which Reynolds suggested using as a model.
Hollister Fire Chief Jonathan Goulding, who attended the council meeting, said the recently released San Benito County Civil Grand Jury Report identified a need for feasibility studies and impact reports and that those studies had been done “and placed on a shelf” without further action.
“The fire service, including emergency services, are drastically underfunded,” he said. “My concern is to come up with somebody who could look at a fire district, if that’s the best option, and also give us a framework for a strategic plan for the county.”
Goulding said it was time to move forward and arrange for the fire services the county needed. He said the existing four fire engines and two available ambulances were insufficient to cover the county’s 1,389 square miles.
“The community as a whole is suffering from that,” he said. “I think this RFP is a great product regardless of whether it recommends the district. Hopefully, we can take it and move forward with fire service in this county.”
Following the advisory committee’s approval of the RFP, bidders will have until Dec. 16 to submit proposals. Reynolds said that an agreement on how costs will be shared between the city and the county has yet to be determined.
The Hollister Fire Advisory Committee consists of San Benito County Supervisors Kollin Kosmicki and Angela Curro, Hollister Mayor Mia Casey, Hollister Councilmember Dolores Morales, San Juan Mayor Scott Freels and San Juan Councilmember Leslie Jordan.
Other business
The City Council also briefly discussed a draft vacancy ordinance, which creates a plan to press owners of vacant or boarded-up businesses to repair their buildings or pay a fee. A subsequent resolution will set the fee amount. A final version of the ordinance will be proposed at the council’s October meeting.
There was also a discussion of removing the wine barrels from streets in the downtown area and returning Third Street to a two-way street. However, no action can be taken until the one remaining parklet on Third Street, belonging to Dona Esther’s Restaurant, is taken down.
The City Council had previously set the removal date for all parklets for July 1, 2026, which is the expiration date set in AB 1217. That bill responded to the pandemic and was intended to temporarily allow outdoor alcohol sales.
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