Tensions run high over fire service at San Benito County special meeting

SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Updated: 1:20 p.m. Heated disruptions and tensions between supervisors ran high as the San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted to move discussions forward to Hollister's next City Council Special Meeting 3-2 to further dialogue.

The amended contract will go before Hollister City Council. Hollister Fire Station 3 was originally set to go on the chopping block.

Now, the county explains how they will try to prevent this station from closing.

A fire service contract will soon fall in the hands of Hollister City Council

This contract from the San Benito County Board of Supervisors, recommends keeping Hollister Fire Station Three near the airport.

"Station number 3's potential brownout will impact, contains farms, ranches, and also contains highway 25, which we all know that there are public safety and accident concerns, first response concerns," said Donald Wirz, President of San Benito County Farm Bureau.

"We voted on basically sending the contract back to the council for potential consideration with one primary amendment being to take out language in the contract that would allow for browning out station three at the airport," said Kollin Kosmicki, San Benito County Supervisor.

The county chose this decision after hearing the concerns from people at the meeting.

"No brownouts, which they seem to be on board with," said Carol Lenoir who lives in Hollister.

The current contract expires in December of 2025, but the city voted to end it early, arguing that they should be paid millions more to offer the services.

And say the fire department is low on funding.

"We're going out on a limb, offering another $1.1 million to the current contract, a 50% increase in contribution from the county from the current dollar amount, along with an additional. Several $100,000, $400,000 in impact fees and another six-figure dollar amount in inspection fees," said Kosmicki

Closing down the station brought concerns to people who live in rural areas.

"We have a huge county, 1496 square feet. It goes clear down to almost King City down there. So it's a large demographic, a lot of rural. Takes time to get down there. We really would be nice to have something closer to serve the people," said Lenoir.

To protect rural communities in fire-prone areas, Kosmicki says a plan is in the works.

"We are ultimately working toward finding more stability with fire protection. And what we've discussed in what's moving forward is studying the possibility of a fire protection district countywide," said Kosmicki.

Hollister City Council is set to review that contract in their meeting tomorrow.

San Juan Bautista rejects Hollister Fire Service contract

HOLLISTER, Calif. (KION-TV) -- It's back to the drawing board for Hollister fire service contract talks after the City of San Juan Bautista voted to deny the changes the county and city of Hollister voted in favor.

The county says San Juan Bautista will need to renegotiate the terms with the city of Hollister.

As it stands, the county would offer just over a million dollars more for fire services.

Supervisors concerned about the contract say they want to hear more about the concerns from the fire chief and believe the contract as written now will hurt rural communities.

"The residents in this community need to understand a fire district is needed in this community. We needed it years ago but it has never happened because politicians cannot get out of the way," San Benito County Supervisor Angela Curro said.

San Benito County Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez said there should not be a divide, but rather a team effort to set up a new fire district.

"This should not be Hollister, county of San Benito or san juan bautista, it should be all of us working together. We have the committment from the city manager and chief to work toward a district and that's what the goal here was to give us three more years to get to that point," Velaquez said.

It's worth noting supervisors Zanger, Velazquez and Kosmicki were those who approved the contract talks to move forward.

There were also talks to find a way to implement a volunteer firefighter program but Hollister's fire chief says it wasn't feasible.