San Benito County wants public weigh-in on future fire protection services
SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The County of San Benito is opening a town hall to the public on January 9 from 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. to discuss the county's current Fire Protection Services situation.
The free and open meeting will be held at the Paines Restaurant on 421 East Street in Hollister to go over options that the county has in addressing its Fire Protection Services.
The county is interested in hearing from people about what they would like fire services to look like in the future, and have been in talks with Hollister City leaders about how to continue fire services.
The City of Hollister has previously told the county that they will need more funding to meet county-wide services.
According to the county, the City of Hollister has been providing fire services for San Benito County since 2013 and the current contract is set ran from January 1, 209 set to expire on December 31, 2025,
The City of Hollister submitted a letter to the county on June 20 this year advising termination of fire protection services in the unincorporated San Benito County areas, which would also alter the termination date.
The county said that they have since contracted an outside consulting advisor to help with fire protection services. The company, called MRG, has experience assisting local governments on issues like fire protection services.
Topics that MRG has identified as areas to address, include renegotiating a contract with the City of Hollister; exploring hybrid models of CalFire with local staff; forming a regional fire protection district with neighboring counties; building the county a new fire department; contracting with other private fire service providers; leveraging volunteer models; and creating a Joint Power Authority (JPA) with the City of Hollister as well as other agencies.
To learn more about what the county has planned, as well as information about the meeting, visit the county's website at sanbenitocountyca.gov/services/community/fire-protection-services.
